Help Rick D'Elia, and in turn help the children of Uganda

Rick D'Elia is donating his time to a very worthy cause by documenting the day to day struggle of survival in Uganda. Rick is trying to head up a trip that will benefit 4 charitable organizations by allowing them to use his images as part of their education and fund raising efforts. What Rick needs is help to raise the funds to make his trip to Uganda possible. I will let Rick tell the story.

STREEETCH and help some kids.

Help three small organizations that focus on education and other necessities mostly for kids in Uganda keep their programs running.

Let me explain.

As it is, small orgs must use whatever resources they have available not only in keeping the lights on but in trying to draw donations from a diminishing pool of donors in a increasingly competitive arena.

They draw donor attention through their communications tools, websites and mailers. Powerful photographs help make those tools successful. If the photographs are compelling, they convey the importance and strength of an organization. They motivate donors.

Small organizations, however, often can’t afford to bring an experienced, skilled photographer to their site. Their photographs are taken by staff-members whose expertise lies in education and social work. Those staffers are not trained in finding telling and emotional moments that make powerful photographs from which a viewer cannot look away.

Many of these organizations wish they could have work done by a pro.

With a little help, a little funding, a pro could be put into place without cost to an organization.

Wouldn’t it be even better if there were three or four organizations in the same area in Uganda with a similar need, the photographer is already in place to help out not just one, but several organizations accomplish the same goal?

Three for the price of one?

Just by pure coincidence (!?) atleast four organizations have expressed excitement at the prospect of getting great photographs of and for their programs:

Teach a Child to Fish http://www.teachachildtofish.org

Bega Kwa Bega (Shoulder to Shoulder) http://begakwabegaugandaorphans.org

Uganda Community School Project, Nawantale http://www.nawantale.org

Kirabo http://www.kirabocanada.ca

My plan is to spend about two weeks photographing these projects as a volunteer, as well as another five or six days of post production time. Travel expenses for two weeks, which would include, transportation, food and lodging, etc., will range between $3,000 and $3,600 depending upon the cost of the airfare. Departure depends upon how quickly these expenses are raised.

Teach a Child to Fish, will collect the funds, so, just fill out a check, and send with one of those “forever stamps” (remember the price is going up very soon) to:

Teach A Child to Fish
P.O. Box 491
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Enter in the notations, "NGO photo project."

TCF is 501(c)3 so, donations are deductible.

Once the expenses are covered, the rest of the donated funds will help TCF with their program.

Tony Blei featured in Southwest Graphics Magazine

We have known for some time that Tony Blei is an amazing photographer. Tony was one of the first artists in our Shop for Art gallery. We were happy to see that in the Winter 2008 addition of Southwest Graphics Magazine, they gave Tony the chance to talk about his passion for photography and some of the reasons behind his success. Tony has had a extensive career shooting a variety of subjects, including six U.S. presidents.

Southwest Graphics does not publish their magazine on their website. Excerpts of the article are available here.

High on Blei

Tony Blei of Tony Blei Photography has been in business for three years, but he's actually been photographing people for more than 20. Tony previously was a photojournalist, and he says that experience helped to shape his creativity.

"There's a beauty to photojournalism that often gets missed. The beauty is that you have a steady stream of people to photograph, but very little time to plan. It requires that you think on your feet and be creative," Tony says. "Photojournalists are incredibly creative people who have to solve huge problems on a moment's notice - with no budget."

..."I'll run through walls for my clients. I do whatever it takes to get them what they need. Period." Tony says, "I see my photography as an investment for my clients. The pictures they're hiring me to produce will be used to attract business or sell their products. They deserve a high return on their investment."

When he was a young photographer, Tony photographed an author. "I don't remember his name, but I remember the lesson he taught me: Unless you're at the J.C. Penny Portrait Studio, nobody wants their picture to look like everyone else's. I ended up putting a computer keyboard in the author's hands and posed him as if he were a rock star playing lead guitar. It was great! We each ended up with a picture we loved, and I ended up with a lesson that served me well for more than 20 years."