Operation Smile

April 6, 2012 by Kelly Hahn | Leave a comment

Hi!

I thought you would want to know about a very special promotion I will participating in with an elite group of photographers from around the country. On April 21, 2012 I will host “Celebration of Smiles Day” a wonderful opportunity for you to update individual portraits of your family members and at the same time support the work of Operation Smile, which treats children around the world who suffer with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

Along with other participating members of the Professional Photographer’s of America (PPA), I have pledged to donate 100% of each $24 donation made to PPA Charities, which has chosen Operations Smile as its charitable partner. This donation includes the mini-session fee and a 5×7 gift portrait. For every 10 individuals that I photograph, another child will receive a gift of surgery. It costs as little at $240 for Operation Smiles medical volunteers to provide a life-saving surgery that can take as little as 45 minutes. One hundred percent of each donation will go to operation smile.

Recording the smiles of children and their families is my greatest pleasure. That’s why I believe so strongly in the work of Operation Smile. Each year this incredible organization of more than 5,000 volunteer doctors, nurses dentists and specialized health care professionals, perform free reconstructive surgeries for children suffering with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

Every three minutes a child somewhere in the world is born with a facial deformity. One in ten will not survive to see their first birthday. Those who do survive often live in isolation and pain. More than 100,000 children are born with a facial deformity each year in Operation Smile’s 26 partner countries.

I hope you will join with me in helping to make this vital work possible. As always… I look forward to creating some truly wonderful portraits of you and your family member.

To schedule your appointment session, contact me at 240-285-3677

A Wedding at Hollow Creek Golf Club

April 6, 2012 by Kelly Hahn | 2 Comments

The wedding season has begun! My first wedding this year was that of Kelly and Ronnie at Hollow Creek Golf Club in Middletown, Maryland. (http://www.hollowcreekgolfclub.com) The weather was a typical spring day, cloudy, then sunny and most definitely cool. Kelly and Ronnie were really looking forward to an outdoor wedding and Hollow Creek made it happen! Although I saw a few chattering teeth and the father of the bride was very temporarily wrapped in a blanket prior to the ceremony, the sun shone through the clouds, a rainbow appeared in the fountain on the lake and the two had a gorgeous outdoor ceremony.

Kelly and Ronnie decided on a “First Look”. This is when a couple views each other for the first time prior to the ceremony. All the photos can be taken then and the couple can enjoy their guests and their carefully planned cocktail hour and reception in its entirety.Some times things can get a bit rushed in that hour between the wedding and the reception so the first look allows a more extended period of time to create dramatic, unique images like this one. I just love how her veil blows against the color of that blue sky.Oh, and I have to give a shout out to best man Abdoul for being my veil handler. He made sure it blew in the right direction and not away between takes.

When I asked the couple what was one of the things that drew them to having their wedding at Hollow Creek, they said they loved the architecture around the clubhouse. So we posed many of their photos highlighting those areas.

Is Kelly absolutely gorgeous or what?

Near the end of the night at Hollow Creek Golf Club. Congratulations to a fantastic couple!! I couldn’t have had a more perfect first wedding of the season Thanks for sharing it with me!

Things I didn’t know about the work of Bridal Consultants…

February 27, 2012 by Kelly Hahn | Leave a comment

I was invited to the Association of Bridal Consultants state meeting in Silver Spring this weekend by my friend and fellow Frederick Area Bridal Network member, Carolyn Carr of BlackTie and Diamond Affair, http://www.myblacktieplanner.com/#/Home and gained even more of a respect for the profession.

Not only did I enjoy meeting a dynamic group of people and eat a great meal, in addition it was real eye opener as to all the things wedding planners need to know and all the things they do! The speakers discussed the art of planning Allergen Free Events (Stephanie Courtney) and Cultural Weddings (Lois Pierce). The allergen free talk pointed out all the different allergies that couples or their family and guests may have and how to minimize any reactions for the comfort of all . Now, I carry around an emergency kit for the bride with safety pins, scissors, clear nail polish for runs in stockings, mints, little things like that and I consider that, an emergency. But the ready wedding planner may be carrying an epipen for reactions to bee sting. Or, they may have to figure out how to minimize reactions to molds and grasses at an outdoor wedding. She/He has to work closely with the caterer for guests with food allergies or gluten free diets.

In the cultural wedding talk Lois Pierce talked about how varied not only the wedding, but the engagement rituals in different cultures. Completely fascinating!

The most exciting part of the day was when Carolyn won 2nd place in the tabletop competition. Brave consultants who were ready to be judged by their peers, brought all the accessories to compete to create the most pleasing table top.With the help of her associate, Delphine, Carolyn created a beautiful and stylish arrangement in pink and black. Her favorite part was the rotating “diamond” in the center of the flower vase. The flower centerpiece was designed by another fellow FabNet member Renee Shiffler at Blossom and Basket Boutique in Mt. Airy http://www.blossomandbasketboutique.com/.

It was so unique to view the layers of a wedding day through the eyes of another wedding professional and gain some new insights.Thanks for inviting me Carolyn!

Delphine, at left and Carolyn

Goodbye to a beautiful soul

February 21, 2012 by Kelly Hahn | Leave a comment

The world lost an amazing woman this week, Kate Leckie, pictured here with her sons John,center and James.

Kate and I worked together during my time as a photographer at the Frederick News-Post. Her dimpled smile and soft southern accent was only eclipsed by her strength of spirit, her kindness and her joy of life. She deeply loved her boys and her family.

She was an amazing human being and a friend to me. She looked out for me, suggesting ways to increase my business, that maybe if I took a photo of the Frederick County Courthouse, I could sell prints of it to its employees with room for signatures, kind of like a workplace yearbook. My new home needed some outdoor furniture and Kate was on the phone, offering us some of hers. I started my photo business and was sorely in need of clients. Kate was there, inviting me to photograph her family at their home and refusing to pay anything but full price.

I photographed the graduation party of her son James. It was there, in her lovingly restored home, that I could not only see but literally feel all the love in the room. I took candid photos of listening and laughter and posed family photos of everyone hugging and mugging for the camera.

At that party, Kate really wanted some nice photos of her grandmother with graduate James and a special request, John and Grandmother and the car that Grandmother had given to him. It was raining lightly, but the 80-something woman and her twenty-something grandson, walked arm and arm under an umbrella to pose by the gifted car.It was such a privilege to be able to capture these special moments for Kate. I hope that these images bring some small comfort to her family as they remember their time with Kate and her beauty, inside and out.

And in her final days, she became not only a friend, but an inspiration as she finished her life with grace, dignity and love, always love.

God bless you Kate. You will be missed.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=132115

How to Photograph a baby, Landon style!

January 13, 2012 by Kelly Hahn | Leave a comment

Photographing babies is not always the easiest job.

You’ve probably seen all those lovely images of infants, sleeping peacefully, looking so unbelievably cute! Why, oh, why, I wonder, does that never happen for me? The first time I photographed Landon, for most of the session, he was a snot-flying, crying mess. Still cute, but crying. The second time he was happy, smiling and amazingly cute. Took one of my favorite baby photos ever that day.

Today, with the help of Mommy, and the patience of Landon, we created some really fun images. He put up with multiple clothing changes, getting stuffed in a basket with a bunch of sock monkeys and hearing unlimited “peek-a-boos” from me. I hate to use the word cute again…. but seriously, is he not CUTE!!!