You’ve probably heard us talk about Wish Upon a Wedding.  It’s an amazing organization doing great work across the Unites States, though I’m sure it will be global before long.  Wish Upon a Wedding is a collaboriation of wedding vendors who have come together to grant wedding wishes to individuals who are facing terminal illness.  We were privileged to be able to photograph Christian & Rehanna’s Wish Upon a Wedding in April and it was truly a blessing and it seems, life changing for all involved.

Some people wonder what the big deal about that is, it’s just a wedding wish after all! But after you read the stories on the WUW blog, you will have a richer, deeper understanding of why it’s important and makes a difference in the lives of the people touched by it.  For some, this is their dying wish…to share a very special day celebrating their love with friends and family.  For the latest wish recipients, Wally & Debra, this is an opportunity to renew their vows in a wedding that they never shared with family and friends. “Wally was diagnosed with Parotid Gland Cancer in December of 2008.  It is Wally’s wish to renew his vows with the love of his life, Debra, in front of his daughter Riley, and before Debra gives birth to their next child.  Debra is currently pregnant. His biggest dream now is to see his baby be born and hold his baby in his hands. Wally and Debra know that Wally will never have the opportunity to see his children grow up, but the couple dreams and hopes that he can be there for them in the beginning. Although they do not know what the future looks like, they are looking forward to this very special celebration with those closest to them, and plan to celebrate life, love and family.” You can read more about their story and the other wish recipients as well on the WUW Blog.

After you read stories like this, you begin to understand the importance of what WUW is doing.  Not everyone is a wedding vendor, but there are ways that everyone can help.  This November, WUW is sponsoring the Blissful Wishes Ball at 12 locations across the nation to raise much needed funds.  Please click on the link to find out about the locations. The raised funds are designated for purposes such as purchasing airline tickets that will allow 4 members of the couple’s family to fly to their wedding ceremony, hard costs such as food for the catering, etc.

We are formally inviting you to get involved!  You can do so by purchasing tickets to the Blissful Wishes Ball in your area, donating items (needed from all industries and areas of life) to be auctioned off at the Blissful Wishes Ball, or purchasing items from our nationwide auction beginning in September!  We also welcome monetary donations to further meet the couple’s needs. If you would like to donate an item to be auctioned off to benefit Wish Upon A Wedding,  be sure to include your company name & logo for greater exposure!

We have just purchased our tickets for the Blissful Wishes Ball, won’t you??

Keep giving to make a difference,

Julie

Well, the great news continues!! Today is the official launch of our 2 BRAND NEW WEBSITES!!! First, we have completely revamped www.damionhamilton.com to show off Damion’s work and provide you with more up to date information, galleries, and slideshows. And secondly, we are launching a spectacular Damion Hamilton Details website featuring much of the detail & decor images that Damion captures for some of the best vendors in San Francisco and Northern California. If you are an event designer, florist, caterer, lighting designer or anything else that needs detailed attention, this website is for you! These images are mostly used for publication and advertising for our super talented vendors.

Keep evolving, Julie

Beautiful work from Got Light?

Gorgeous design from Blueprint Studios at the SF Symphony Gala

We are over the moon to see our good friend and colleague Sarah Lane, featured on the hip and happening blog, The Creative Mama! Yippee!! Here is a link to the article and interview and you can see her gorgeous work with senior portraits as well!! Way to go Sarah!! Here’s a cute little portrait Damion did of Sarah in the midst of one of her senior portrait shoots!

Keep creating!!

Julie

The arrival of the NAPCP (National Association of Professional Child Photographers) convention in Napa, brought with it lots of great photographers and fun people!  (AND a rockin business card from founders Kyu & Alice Parks–I am so in love with their circular letterpress card…and Alice too (what a sweetie!) Although we weren’t involved with the conference, Damion had a chance to help out a little with some techie issues while Dane Sanders and Tamara Lackey were capturing a live podcast from Judd’s Hill winery (luckily just down the road from us!) for AskDane.com! AskDane.com is a great site where Dane invites noted photographers to come share on topics that are meant to help out every photographer and provide them with information on how to do things in a wiser and better way.  His interview for this podcast was with Tamara Lackey, who owns a very successful studio out of North Carolina and whose article was recently featured in Rangefinder magazine.  This link will take you to the podcast where they were discussing “Life and Work Balance.” Tamara shared some great tips about being able to focus (not multitasking) and how to structure your day to get more accomplished…ahem…don’t check your email until 10:00.  Ouch, we are still working on that one.  If you haven’t seen the webcast, I would really encourage you to check them out as Dane does a great job of taking questions and tweets right on the air and will try to get your questions answered as soon as he can…great resource guys!  Lastly, thank you to Dane, Tamara, Alice, Sarah, and all of the other photogs for being so welcoming to Damion and our family at dinner!  So nice to meet you all!

Keep connecting,

Julie

D

Dane checking your tweets and questions!

Some of the NAPCP Photogs!