SkipCohenUniversity
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us

the SCU Blog

Photography, Giving Back and NILMDTS

4/11/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
© Nikki Zalewski
Picture
 Intro by Skip Cohen
  
Many years ago I heard Jay Conrad Levinson speak about the top one hundred things guerrilla marketers need to do to build their business and brand awareness. Right near the top of his list was community involvement. I remember him saying, "People like buying products from companies who give back."  The reality is, you're looking for the community to be good to you, so you have to find ways to be good to your community!

I've shared a lot of stories about Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) over the years. I used to think NILMDTS wasn't for everybody, but the longer I've been one of their ambassadors, the more I realize it is for everybody! I've heard so many stories from photographers who panicked over the idea of their emotional involvement photographing a dying or even deceased baby, and later describe their experience as life-changing.
 
The NILMDTS video below is still one of the very best ways to understand how you can help, and at the same time start to learn how NILMDTS will help you. You'll grow as an artist and more importantly a member of your community with a more significant passion for family values, love and yes, photography.

I wanted to share the short post below by Jennifer Smith about her experience as a NILMDTS volunteer. She does such an excellent job of describing her involvement, especially her last sentence: "I think it’s important the parents know I’m honored to be a part of their child’s life, I’m grateful to have met them and photograph them. I will remember their child, and I was impacted by them."

NILMDTS needs volunteers at all levels, not just photographers. To find out more about how you can help click on the thumbnail to the right.

I volunteer …
Because sometimes I think it’s not fair.
Because I understand the importance of remembering and acknowledging those feelings are there.

I can’t always help with words or cards, but I can help with my gift of art.
I can help with my eye for photography
So, I do.

Jennifer Smith, NILMDTS Volunteer Photographer
My best friend and I were pregnant at the same time, due in October. Only she gave birth at the hospital in July, and didn’t leave until April the next year when he passed away at 9 months old. Meanwhile, another friend of our family was due in September and had her daughter, stillborn. Their grief, their timeline of survival, I was a bystander through it all. I was left in a very awkward position because my baby was healthy.

This past spring, I received a random email from a member of my camera club saying “Cheryl Haggard, the founder of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, will be in Cincinnati on Monday”. I had never heard of her, or the organization, but I was strongly compelled to do some research. So I took time to learn more and went to the in-person meeting a few days later. I picked up some literature and information, applied to be a volunteer photographer, and here I am.
​

After going to a handful of sessions, I’m happy I decided to walk this path with the other volunteers. It’s sometimes hard to stop my routine, especially with two small kids, and decide to take a session, but I do decide to have a few hours of stillness in my body and mind and to be present with the baby and family while I’m there. I think it’s important the parents know I’m honored to be a part of their child’s life, I’m grateful to have met them and photograph them. I will remember their child, and I was impacted by them.
1 Comment
Heather link
4/11/2018 11:11:40 am

I was able to have the opportunity to be a part of a friends birth with anticipation little Baby Amyas wouldn’t live past birth. It was a tough but beautiful experience. He was in the hospital for 9 months before he was taken back to heaven. But I’ll never forget that experience and have wanted to be able to do it again. Those images are priceless to my friend.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Click for more info
    Picture
    Click to visit Platypod.com

      Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter

    Our Partners

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    "Why?"

    Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

    Categories

    All
    Beyond Technique
    Business
    Clean Up Series
    Customer Service
    EDU10
    Excire
    F64 Lunch Bunch
    Faculty
    Fast Food Friday
    Guest Post
    Humor And Sarcasm
    Hump Day
    In The News
    Lessons Learned
    Lighting
    Luminar
    Lumix
    Marketing
    Mark's Corner
    Mind Your Own Business
    Miscellaneous
    Motivational
    One Step At A Time
    Photodex
    PhotoShelter
    PhotoTexting
    Platypod
    Podcasts
    Profoto
    Sales
    Search
    Skylum
    Social Media
    Sunday Morning Reflections
    Tamron
    Tamron Recipes
    Technique
    Throwback Thursday
    Wedding Photography
    Westcott
    Why?

©  2019 Skip Cohen University
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us