This past year I was one of hundreds (maybe even thousands) of people who volunteered for Do Justice, a massive volunteer effort each year that is sponsored and organized by Buckhead Church or Northpoint Ministries. For the project individuals may sign up for what type of volunteering they are interested in and, I ended up signing up to volunteer at a local boutique-like thrift store in The Highlands called Wellspring Treasures. Wellspring Treasures is one way for Wellspring Living to raise funds to support their mission, which is to confront the issue of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation through awareness, training, and treatment programs for women and girls.

This brings me to the primary reason for writing this post and waiting till now to post it. Registration for this year’s Do Justice just opened yesterday, so maybe, somebody will decide to be part of the effort and volunteer just through reading this blog post, and maybe even volunteer for Wellspring Treasures when they can throughout the year. The store sells donated items to generate funds to maintain everything that Wellspring Living does. The Wellspring Treasures store in the Highlands is unlike any thrift store I’ve ever been in — very cool in how it looks overall — much like any other boutique-type store, but at thrift store prices with the proceeds going to a great cause. Sorry guys, nothing there for you really unless you’re into cross dressing. Yes, women’s clothes only, unless that has since changed. And yes, they will take volunteers throughout the year to help in the day-to-day operations of the store.

So, this brings me to the photos I’ve posted here.  I noticed some really cool demask pattern wallpaper on one of the walls in stores backroom and thought it might make a great backdrop for fashion-type beauty shots. I photographed it with my iphone to keep it on my mind — thinking I would go out and buy material like that to do something with in the future. Well, it wasn’t long before I remembered the manger of the store as being a pretty girl — so why not just do the portraits / beauty shots of her there at the store in front of the wall. Why go out and buy material when it was already there with a great subject and story behind it all? So, I went back one afternoon and ask if she’d be up for it and she was. Over all I’m very happy with how it all turned out. I was lucky enough to get local hair stylist and make-up artist, Jacquelyn Taylor, on board with it — and Brianna was an all around good sport and very photogenic. They both did great. Check ’em out, and please do what you can to support something you believe in.

This is an outtake from the shoot that I find hilarious. Brianna had the sniffles during the shoot, so this is her, sniffing, and looking pretty snooty. The following shot is of her laughing a split second after this, realizing I had caught her. Shots like this can may not be the desired outcome from a shoot, but can often be the most fun. Good times!

Yours truly with Jacquelyn and Brianna.