After a citywide clean-up day for our creeks, I sent in images I had taken from our morning collecting garbage from the creek that runs through our downtown.  One photo was of my daughter and her friend showing the trash that we collected, and the other was a close-up of the trash. So grateful to the organization that added my name as a watermark to my images they shared.

Land Conservancy Carolyn Eicher photo

what-is-creekday

I am so happy to volunteer in a variety of ways for our community, whether that is through my photography, working alongside my family at creek or coastal cleanup, or helping write blog interviews and for a non-profit’s e-newsletter which I’ve been doing over the past four years.

 

This spring I participated in Kelly Rae Robert’s class, Wearing Your Joy. I put together a mini stop motion/slideshow with a few quick photos that I posted to Instagram and forgot to share here. I made this using Flipagram. I love trying different apps and this quick selection of clips is much different than the 15 second mini movies I make for Xanthe Berkeley’s class.

Click here to watch my tiny stop motion on Vimeo!

 

I’m a big believer in giving back to one’s community and I also know that there are different times in our lives where it is more doable. Volunteering has been a regular part of my life over the last 25 years. In the past decade alone, I have been a co-founder of one local non-profit, and as I’ve mentioned in my “About” page, I’m a co-founder of another program that was adopted by another non-profit.

Since my blog focuses a lot on photography and following one’s passions, I wanted to share one of the ways I’ve volunteered is by giving of my time, in the form of photography. I recognize the value of what I can provide by capturing moments, and how helpful that can be to a program or non-profit, whether they use the photos for marketing, documenting a grant that they received (as is the case for one of the programs I have helped), or for general Facebook posts such as the one below.

GleanSLO Facebook photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since photography is one of my passions, it is easy for me to show up to an event with my camera gear and take photos. Often people don’t think of the time involved afterwards with processing to upload, cull images, edit and then share. My tips for anyone offering pro bono work is to agree to an amount of time you’d like to give to an organization, and if you want anything in return, ask. One suggestion is to be really clear about photo credit.

Food System Coalition

See above for my photo credit (lower right corner). Giving photo credit is something that people in organizations often overlook or might not consider, however it is important to be recognized, especially as you are donating your time and expertise. Some of my photos have been used in publications and magazines and I haven’t always received photo credit.

CarolynEicherPhotography_0010

One solution around this is to use a Watermark. After I’ve taken hundreds and hundreds of images for one non-profit, it was recently suggested to me to use a Watermark in the lower right corner to make it easier to credit me for future reproduction use. Many artists may not like the visual distraction of a watermark, but if you are volunteering your time, and are wanting to build up a portfolio, this can often be a good solution.

 

Tomato Glean_ CarolynEicherPhotography

 

 

 

 

 

 

hard to find the right words at moments like these where you wished they came easily. when things are turned upside down, with suffering and tragedy around the world, it is easy to feel lost. but this is when we need to share our love even more. meditation for peace

Makings of Motherhood-Transition CarolynEicher image

 

 

I’ve made many beautiful connections with people I’ve taken photography classes with online. Some I’ve met in person at workshops, others I’ve connected with offline, over the phone, or through email. A few of these women I’m inspired by are Michelle GD, Barbara Paulsen, and Jennifer DeVille Catalano. They have a beautiful space they’ve created called Makings of Motherhood. Check out their website, and follow them on Instagram! They offer an opportunity for community involvement with a common theme where people can tag their images. I am happy that two of my images have been selected over the last year and featured with a few other photographers for that month’s theme. Shown here is my image, lower left, of my daughter’s hair. Shown above is a screen shot from their website where they shared the images.