Lesley Jones
Otherwise know as Zooey
While I'm waiting for my web site to magically re-appear (thanks Hamish) I would appreciate your thoughts on my current predicament.
Over a year ago I stumbled upon an organisation that provides photography for parents who have lost babies. I won't go into details, but without a doubt, every single person I came across is passionate about what they do. It is truly a wonderful gift from those who feel able to handle such a difficult situation. Not having children myself, I felt I was in a position to offer my editing services - some of the images can be more than a tad upsetting. I passed the test and worked pretty much solidly for eight months.
However, passion about the cause and organisational skills don't always go hand in hand. Communication with the team leader or second in command was zero - whether by private message or e-mail. Questions were only asked in order to get the job done, but they seemed to have no interest in building (and keeping) a team. As a result, every single new member since I started, left before I finally gave up. I was distraught to spend ten days on a session that literally left me crying over the finished work, but there was no photographer to return the images to the parents. I tried so hard to get someone to tell me what I should do and sadly I believe they were never sent and quite possibly causing the parents even more upset.
I suggested a section in the forum where agreed editing problems could be put as "stickies" and people could add their solutions. That way if you were the only one around when a rush job turned up, you could refer to it for help if necessary. Nobody replied and then I found the same suggestion had been made (and ignored) a few years ago. The final straw was when somebody duplicated images that had taken me over a week to do, while other folders were left untouched - a lot were never done at all.
So... fast forward a few months and I stumble upon an article by one of the photographers - only it's a different organisation. Much smaller and seemingly much better organised. Or so I thought. I enquired by e-mail and filled out the form. Three weeks later I was asked to supply before and after images - only nobody would have access to the sort of images I used to work on and I said so. I can't send what I did before because the parents only gave permission for editing help. I replied, but four days later submitted some of my own work to help them as much as I could.
Over four weeks later I had heard nothing although the person I e-mailed is active on the organisation's social media site. I chased as politely as possible saying mine was a genuine offer of help. They did reply, but only to say images of ANY damaged skin will do, but I don't have any. I caved in and sent one I had worked on previously. I had to explain the "before" because I recently flattened the file, but the "after" should speak for itself.
That was nearly two weeks ago and I've heard nothing again. The truth is that I don't really have the time for this, but I wanted to give something back. I'm now upset and frustrated again and wondering if I should just stick with my own photography...
Over a year ago I stumbled upon an organisation that provides photography for parents who have lost babies. I won't go into details, but without a doubt, every single person I came across is passionate about what they do. It is truly a wonderful gift from those who feel able to handle such a difficult situation. Not having children myself, I felt I was in a position to offer my editing services - some of the images can be more than a tad upsetting. I passed the test and worked pretty much solidly for eight months.
However, passion about the cause and organisational skills don't always go hand in hand. Communication with the team leader or second in command was zero - whether by private message or e-mail. Questions were only asked in order to get the job done, but they seemed to have no interest in building (and keeping) a team. As a result, every single new member since I started, left before I finally gave up. I was distraught to spend ten days on a session that literally left me crying over the finished work, but there was no photographer to return the images to the parents. I tried so hard to get someone to tell me what I should do and sadly I believe they were never sent and quite possibly causing the parents even more upset.
I suggested a section in the forum where agreed editing problems could be put as "stickies" and people could add their solutions. That way if you were the only one around when a rush job turned up, you could refer to it for help if necessary. Nobody replied and then I found the same suggestion had been made (and ignored) a few years ago. The final straw was when somebody duplicated images that had taken me over a week to do, while other folders were left untouched - a lot were never done at all.
So... fast forward a few months and I stumble upon an article by one of the photographers - only it's a different organisation. Much smaller and seemingly much better organised. Or so I thought. I enquired by e-mail and filled out the form. Three weeks later I was asked to supply before and after images - only nobody would have access to the sort of images I used to work on and I said so. I can't send what I did before because the parents only gave permission for editing help. I replied, but four days later submitted some of my own work to help them as much as I could.
Over four weeks later I had heard nothing although the person I e-mailed is active on the organisation's social media site. I chased as politely as possible saying mine was a genuine offer of help. They did reply, but only to say images of ANY damaged skin will do, but I don't have any. I caved in and sent one I had worked on previously. I had to explain the "before" because I recently flattened the file, but the "after" should speak for itself.
That was nearly two weeks ago and I've heard nothing again. The truth is that I don't really have the time for this, but I wanted to give something back. I'm now upset and frustrated again and wondering if I should just stick with my own photography...
