There is so much Beauty in the World you may have to open your heart to see it.
One of the things I love about being a photographer is taking some time to work in our community and in July of this year I volunteered to help photograph the
2013 Special Olympics Provincial Summer Games. I've covered many events over the years and this was the first time I ever got a little choked up. It was a good type of emotion drawn from the many smiles and the exuberant happiness. I had never seen so many smiles in one place and looked forward to the opportunity to photograph these beautiful people.
There is one story I'd like to share. Not surprising there were people who didn't want to be photographed, this is very common at a public event and I do what I can to respect their wishes. During the first day of the track and field events there was one athlete, a young lady who made it clear to me with nothing more than a "glance" that she did not want to be photographed. I moved on.
That evening in hope of getting the word out to our community and doing some promoting for the event I posted a selection of images on Facebook. I chose a combination of my favorite portraits and action shots, the response was very nice.
The next morning upon returning to the track events at the Pearl Gate Track and Field Complex, much to my delight I was approached by a couple of people who mentioned the photos I had posted and said the athletes were abuzz with excitement, they loved to see themselves and had a lot of fun looking at the photos. Shortly thereafter I came across the young lady, the athlete who the previous day didn't want to be photographed. This time things were different and I got a big smile. It was a smile of understanding and friendship. A smile that made my day. :-)
Now for a few photos ...
Some links to the galleries ...
Thank You for stopping by!
