Adoption Auction

By working on The Lens Loves I have had the opportunity to meet and become friends with lots of photographers who I may have not otherwise gotten to know.  One of those photographers is Chelsey Mach from MachC Photography in Alaska.  I’ve always had a fascination with Alaska and I love to hear her weather updates on twitter  If you follow Chelsey on Twitter you know that she is one of the kindest and most encouraging photographers out there.  She’s always ready and willing to help.  So, when Chelsey approached me about hosting an auction for her new twin babies I of course couldn’t say no.

Chelsey and her husband Ken started on the road to adoption in early 2010 with the intentions of adopting internationally from Ethiopia.  When rules and regulations changed and an adoption from Ethiopia seemed unlikely, they decided instead to pursue a domestic adoption.  The process moved fast.  Faster than they could expect and within a matter of weeks they were prepping for the arrival of their TWIN boys.

Adoption is, obviously, not cheap which is why Ken and Chelsey have decided to ask for help.  (Some of you may ask, why adopt if you can’t afford it?  And I love this article that Ken wrote on their blog that explains it all.)  If you are interested in helping and winning some cool prizes, please read below on how you can help!

From Chelsey:

On June 1st we got ‘the call’ that our babies were on their way! We raced to book tickets & start our travel! 15+ hours later, we met our boys for the first time. They grew in our hearts. We feel so very blessed to be their mama & daddy.

The main question that we get from friends & family that we love to answer is “how can we help you guys?” This is the hardest question for us, because neither of us like being in the position of needing help. So, to cut to it, we have a few fundraising options and a few ways you can help!

To start off, here are the auction items:

• (3) Organic Bloom frames (10×10, & 2-5x7s) – winning bid will pay shipping
• starting bid: 95

• (1) Erin Cobb (The PigBear & Erin Cobb Photography) offered up her Clean Color Bundle & 1 hour of Mentoring                       ( Clean Color bundle is worth $170…hourly mentoring $200)
• total value – $370
• starting bid: $200

What is Clean Color?

Clean Color is a workflow video tutorial designed to show you my image editing process from beginning to end. There are two versions – one for Full Photoshop and one for Photoshop Elements. There is also a bundled version which contains both the Full Photoshop video and the Photoshop Elements video. In addition to the comprehensive videos (each are roughly two hours in length) you’ll also receive the shortcut actions I’ve created to use in my editing process, all of the image files showcased in the video so you can play along at home, and an appendix detailing how to get the most out of the video tutorial and where to go for additional resources.

A year’s membership to the Bloom Forum and a silent seat to their next online workshop.
• ($60 + To be a Silent Member for the ENTIRE workshop, the cost is $500.00 = $560)
• starting bid: $300

The Bloom Forum is an extention from the Bloom Workshops hosted by Brenda Acuncius and Kristy Lane. Everything you need to know about photography is here. You don’t need to be in business to join, you just need to have the love and passion for photography as our  members do. You will find tips on how to take better photos, learn the ins and outs of your camera, post-processing tricks and much, much more. If you are in business, join other seasoned pros and talk about marketing, sales, branding, etc. Our forum is a private forum so you can share photos, ask for cc, share tips and post any questions that you might have. We are packed full with the BEST VENDORS in the industry that will share discounts and group buys with you.

*To place a bid, simply write your name/bid in the comments.  Auction ends Friday, 6/24 at 8pm PST.

And finally!

We introduced our Puzzle fundraiser back in January, click here. To sum up, for every $20 donation that comes in we are placing a puzzle piece with the name of the donor/family into a 500 piece puzzle! The completed puzzle will be framed and hang in the Twins’ room. We hare 309 pieces left in our puzzle! Please consider a donation to help us out. (click here to donate)

For those who are asking, we are currently awaiting paperwork that will let us travel back home. We couldn’t be more appreciative to Drew (and all the other bloggers!) who are supporting us & sponsoring via auction items or just posting the information to their blog(s). Every little bit truly does count!

Thanks again to all of our wonderful family, friends & each of YOU for making a difference in bringing home our babies!