Texture; Photo Project at OCCTAC

Here are the results of our first photography project at OCCTAC. My young adult students have done such an awesome job with the theme Texture.






These students are learning the technical side of SLR cameras and photography and I'm proud of their accomplishments so far. We hope to have more cameras next semester so we can spend more time shooting in our next class, so please keep us in mind and help spread the word that we can use digital photography equipment. Thank You!

Photo Competition Entries

Last weekend, the volunteers and I took the 8 young adults whose photos were accepted into the OC Fair Photo Competition to deliver their artwork. The OC Fair Competition workers acknowledged that over 2,000 photos were submitted and only 800 were accepted - and 8 of those were from our small group project at the Santa Ana Library Teen Space. We're so excited for the young adults who were accepted into the competition and we all look forward to the next photography project this summer!

Photo Project Entrants in OC Fair

I'm proud to announce that Eight of the Eighteen photos submitted from our Santa Ana Library - Teen Space Photo Project, were accepted into the Orange County Fair Photo Competition! Congratulations to all the participants! Everyone's photos are currently being displayed in the Santa Ana Library Teen Space and those accepted into the OC Fair will be sent out this week and as a group we'll get to go see them when the Fair opens this summer. This has been an inspiring project and I'm so glad I could be a part of it, Here are some photos of the final space and a few more photos from the project...

Thank You For your Donations!

I want to share a special Thank You to Professional Photographer Will Jacks from Mississippi. (www.wiljax.com) Mr. Jacks, kindly donated a used digital SLR camera body and we're so appreciative. I'm so happy to have another camera body for my current photography class and so are the students.

We're now seeking any new or used generic Nikon lenses so we can have another full camera body/lens when we shoot. It's exciting to see this project reaching so far across the country and I'm pleased that everyone is still spreading the word so we can gather and redistribute equipment in our community.

Thank You! To everyone who's spreading the word and going through storage to find old equipment and especially to Will Jacks for donating his old camera body to the Shutter Release Project!!

New Photography Class at OCCTAC

I'm excited to have the opportunity to teach photography to an under-served population in Santa Ana, CA and we could use your support. Starting this week I'm sharing my experience with and enthusiasm for photography to teens enrolled in an after-school arts program at the Orange County Children's Therapeutic Arts Center (OCCTAC). OCCTAC is a local non-profit (501c3) organization dedicated to education, empowerment and therapy of at-risk youth and children with limited resources. Learn more about the center here: www.occtac.org

If you're interested in learning more or contributing in some way, Please contact me regarding how to make a donation to the Shutter Release Project, which is dedicated to collecting photo equipment for use in these types of programs. This is a perfect place for used photo equipment to make a huge difference, right now, we have nothing... we're hoping to collect any used digital SLR camera equipment so we can have something specifically for use for the participants enrolled in this class. Please help us make a difference and get the appropriate equipment into the hands of these teens. Thank you for your support!

To get in touch with me, please email: caseylarae@gmail.com

Santa Ana Library Project

Good News! I've been working with some teens from the Santa Ana Library on a photo project funded by a state grant. The teens and the volunteering adults are enjoying the project so much we plan to do another one this summer. We could use more equipment so don't hesitate to contact me if you have something you can donate.

For this Project, our teens had the opportunity to take a digital camera and walk around downtown Santa Ana and snap away. Each participant got to choose their favorite photo to print and submit to the OC Fair Photography competition. Teens chose a poem, lyric or book excerpt to explain their photo and the results are so cool, this is a great community ready to explore photography further. Here's what four of the participants created:

Welcome, Please Contribute However You Can

The Shutter Release Project is simply about putting old photographic equipment to use and to putting working photo equipment in the hands of youth and young adults in our local communities. As a professional photographer, I feel it's important to enable the next generation of photographers or simply introduce potentially millions of youth to photographic-based arts. As a conservationist and serious believer in Recycling I see a direct connection with the need for equipment in our community arts programs and Professional Photographers donating their out-dated or used equipment (that would normally be retired, collecting dust or sold for minimal profit.) Through the Shutter Release Project, our communities benefit.

Currently there is a need for organizing the donated equipment, gathering monetary donations, creating relationships with camera manufacturers and repair shops, identifying community arts programs and connecting professional photographers with these programs so they can volunteer their time to teach other. Eventually we want to reach as many people as possible that's why we encourage our donating photographers to research and recommend a program in their local community - so we can help them reach out. We also encourage photographers to volunteer some of their free time to Teach and Empower the recipients of the recycled equipment. We are based in Orange County, CA but we see the Shutter Release Project as being capable of growing IMMENSELY, depending on who wants to participate!

If you would like to Donate your Time, Money or Resources, Please don't hesitate to contact us. Donations and Volunteers are the Two Essential aspects of our outreach.

Eventually we'd like our site to include:
An area for anyone to suggest arts programs in communities all over the country and world.
A suggested classroom curriculum for the photographers who volunteer to teach and have never done it before.
A forum for photographers to discuss their community projects and classes.
An online Art Gallery for the students in the programs that we help service.