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helping hearts session jewelimage photography

Julie Miller — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:13:26 +0000

Just this past year I joined a group called Helping Hearts.

This is how they describe themselves: “Helping Hearts is a project created by Melissa Knowles & Michelle Regner with the goal of being able to provide free photography sessions for families with children who are suffering a life-altering illness or disability. Over the last couple of years we have acquired an entire team of photographers who are dedicated to donating their time to Helping Hearts because they believe in sharing the gift of photography with as many families as possible.”

Just this past month I was able to photograph my first session for Helping Hearts. It was truly a highlight for me. I felt so honoured to be able to go into their lives, if only for a moment, and share in these special memories with them.

Our session was a long time in coming since we had to keep putting it off as Ryan, the three year old, was too sick. Finally he was feeling better and they were able to have me over.

The family just wanted a picture of Ryan where he appeared happy. He had suffered and battled through so much that just a smile in itself would be a victory. Not only had he been suffering with brain stem cancer, he also had neuropathic pain and many other issues. His older brother was also such a sweetheart. He has autism which added more challenges to their everyday life. I sure had fun with these boys though. We played on the floor the whole time and they were so sweet with one another.

It was great seeing the family interact with one another. The love they shared was palpable. I was just so happy to be there and be a part of it.

Just a few days after their session, Ryan’s mom wrote this to me, “ I am so glad you came when you did. We found out on tuesday that Ryan’s tumor has progressed so much in such a short amount of time that we now have only a short amount of time with him left. We will cherish these photos forever, they are so special.”

I cannot pretend to even understand a little of their pain. I am just glad that I was able to give them something to cherish forever.

As I was leaving the house, Ryan hurried over to me and gave me the biggest kiss on the lips. I think of that kiss often and feel blessed to have received it.

I look forward to helping more people through these sessions.

i love my family! calgary photographer

Julie Miller — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:15:46 +0000

I wanted to be sure to do a session for my nephew as he turned one. It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by so quickly. One year ago, I was overjoyed to share THIS post. Fast forward one year and life is still good!

I love these pictures of little Wallace but I equally love the pictures of my beautiful sister and her husband and my gorgeous little niece.

sooooo in love with families calgary family photographer

Julie Miller — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:51:30 +0000

SInce I am totally obsessed with my own family, it gives me so much joy to capture memories for other families as well. It’s so much fun to see families at different stages of their lives. Babies, kids, dogs, spouses, friends. It’s all so wonderful and so unique.

It was a pleasure spending a beautiful Fall day with this incredible family.

calgary cutie calgary child and family photographer

Julie Miller — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:42:13 +0000

What more can I say? I had a lot of fun playing, photographing and following this little cutie around on a beautiful day!

Love these eyes!

summer fun calgary kids photographer

Julie Miller — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:31:57 +0000

Photographing kids is always fun! Especially when they are this cute :) Here are a few shots from earlier this summer.

titanic party! calgary children’s photographer

Julie Miller — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:08:18 +0000

I thought I would share some shots from my niece’s birthday party this past June.

They had studied the Titanic in school this past year and the kids became very interested in the topic. They could tell you everyones names, the dates of the important events, the time the Titanic went down, who survived… it was amazing. It also coincided with the Titanic display at the Calgary Science Centre so I was able to go on two field trips to view it. It was incredible.

My sister and brother in law don’t hold back when planning parties and this certainly was no exception. The kids received invitations that looked like an actual boarding pass. They were instructed to come dressed as first, second or third class. The kids played pin the iceberg on the ship, made fancy hats and necklaces with antique jewels and buttons and the girls even made their own watches using antique watch faces. The kids were then seating the dining room where they enjoyed a four course meal. Usually at birthday parties the kids hardly eat because they want to do nothing but play. But at this party, the kids took their dining experience very seriously and must have eaten and chatted for over an hour. They were served at the table and enjoyed listening to a violinist. She even played “Nearer My God to Thee” which was the last song the musicians on the titanic played while they sunk with the ship.

The kids were so inventive with their costumes!

Below we have a waiter on the left, a stoker in the middle and of course the captain of the ship on the right. He even went overboard during the party (jumped off of the deck) and had to get stitches in his lip.

Below we have “Rose”, John Jacob Astor the wealthiest man on board, and sadly a passenger who did not make it.

In true form, the third class got a little rowdy while the live music was playing. It was so funny.