A request

This week I got an email from an old family friend - she'd seen some of the photos I've done of dad during his cancer journey and needed a bit of help. "We are wondering if you can offer any advice for photographing such a tender situation - both as a photographer and as a daughter. How can we make them comfortable? How can we record joy in a sad time?"  

Instantly, my brain jumped full speed ahead - I had a thousand suggestions. Cancer patients are near and dear to my heart, and since the goal of my entire photography business is to help people celebrate their families... it was right up my alley. I instantly forwarded it to my mom and dad asking for help and suggestions.

Then I had an idea. A big idea. A big, scary, daunting idea.

Why not blog about it?

There's so much information to be shared; so much that people don't understand or realize about cancer and how families deal with it.

But sometimes we need help. We need help knowing how to respond, knowing what to say, or even knowing how to pray.

I'm going to interview my parents, my family and even other cancer patients that I know - asking for insight. Not only for photographers (how do we photograph families/people with such a deadly disease?), but for people in general. How do we treat them? There's so much information that it probably won't fit in one blog post...  I might even do a series. But I'm overwhelmed and daunted.

I'm asking for two things: firstly, would you pray for me? This is a sensitive issue and I want to be careful how I approach it. Secondly, if you have experience with cancer (yourself, or a close family member/friend) or have photographed a family/patient with cancer, would you email me (amanda@amanda-joy-photography.com)? I would love your help.