Kids of Vancouver
If you have yet to have taken the plunge into getting professional portraits of your wee ones, Kids of Vancouver and Veridamo Photography might be just the ticket. Tanya and Jeff Harrison started Veridamo Photography back in 2001 primarily shooting weddings and have since grown into one of Metro Vancouver’s top children and family portrait photography studios. Not only do they offer fun, child centered portrait sessions, but as of last year they now also use their photographic skills to raise money and awareness for two fantastic local charities, Share‘s Tiny Bundles program and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Kids Picks, through the Kids of Vancouver project.
Kids of Vancouver is a beautiful coffee table style book featuring the portrait photography of children all around Metro Vancouver, at beaches, favourite parks, playing soccer or cuddling a teddy. Parents donate $100 to either of the two charities and receive a professional photo session, the opportunity to purchase any of the prints taken at the shoot and then of course their child will have a one page feature in the book that gets printed just in time for Christmas. What more could you ask for!
After seeing a photographer friend of theirs run a similar project in Australia successfully for a number of years, and after taking a bit of a break from working on and promoting their photography business in 2008 due to the birth of their daughter Alexia, Tanya and Jeff decided to give it a go here in Vancouver, “We chose the project because of its win/win/win – charity receives donations and awareness, clients finally get a professional portrait sitting of their children, and we receive new clients” Jeff explains. They were absolutely right, too, raising over $9000 last year while at the same time creating a stunning debut edition. After the success of their first book, they have set a goal of raising $15,000 for this year, which would purchase a whopping $45,000 worth of food for needy kids. Tanya and Jeff chose Share and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank partly because of that very reason, that they focus on children but also because they have a local community presence and receive a lot of exposure at Christmas but not as much during the summer months when financial support is still vitally important.
Make sure you check out the Veridamo Facebook page to keep track of what they’re up to, and nominate your child on the Kids of Vancouver site to be photographed and featured in this years book. You can even have your portrait session done up on beautiful Grouse Mountain, and as part of a cross promotion Grouse Mountain will provide free day passes for the entire family! An excellent deal considering adult passes are around $40.
Veridamo have also generously offered a free 16×20 print to one Vancouvermom.ca reader who nominates their child and follows through with a portrait, which they will receive at the end of the year.
I just saw our photos from our Veridamo photo shoot this week. They are absolutely fabulous and exceeded my expectations. Tanya has an incredible way of connecting with kids and it shows through her work. Add this to the fact that it helps other children in my community. We’ll be back for our Kids of Vancouver shoot every year!