Service Captured II
One of the reasons that I decided to pursue photography seriously was so that I could help people--help people by providing an excuse to bring together family and friends, and to document the product of that reunion; help people by providing them with images that record certain milestones in their lives and in the lives of their loved ones.
My deployment to Southwest Asia for Operation Iraqi Freedom, in 2003 (the first of two trips to Iraq), marked one such event in my life. Almost overnight, my life was transformed from a classroom teacher within the safe confines of Jersey Community High School, to a soldier in a war zone.
Throughout this experience, and to this day, few things have provided me with more comfort than photographs—photographs of our unit training during the mobilization process, images of our work in Iraq to try and provide those people with a better life, photographs of that magical time known as “R & R” and finally, images from my loved ones back home holding signs of encouragement.
As a teacher of history, I believe very strongly in the power of words. To be sure, letters are important to our troops, but there is nothing quite like photographs. Images lift the spirits. They remind us of where we have been, and often prompt us to seek new horizons as well. It’s in this spirit that I created the Service Captured Project.
*The purpose of the Service Captured Project is to provide veterans and their families with access to quality digital images, free of charge. Those who qualify must fall into one of the following categories:
-pre-deployment and post-deployment photographs for active military
-veterans returning home from deployment for R & R
-veterans of any foreign wars (for purposes of honoring these veterans and recording their images for community and family history)
-families and/or family members of veterans (for purposes of sending to a deployed soldier)
*Please keep in mind that the extent of my services is limited to providing the photo session, editing and then making the images available to you online and or on a CD. If you would like to have some actual prints, you can order those easily as well. Smugmug does all of the printing. The quality of the prints is impeccable and their prices are very reasonable. I receive ABSOLUTELY NO MONEY from any prints that are ordered.
*If you know anyone who meets the above qualifications and you think they might be interested, feel free to have them contact me. If I can find the time in my schedule, it would be my honor to help.
Read More