children's miracle network

i recently returned from my second year of photographing the children's miracle network champions across america week in orlando and washington d.c. once again i return humbled from the opportunity i had to be a part of such an amazing experience. every year children's hospitals around the country nominate one child from their state to represent them and all of the children who suffer from/overcome illnesses, deformities, and accidents at their hopitals. each of the children chosen are amazing examples of how life can't be taken for granted, and what strength truly is while facing challenges and sometimes death.
each of these children travel with their families for a week of relaxation, fun, meeting other children they can relate to, and telling their story to inspire others to give, so more children can have the opportunites for recovery that they had.
we began the week in orlando where we went to disney world, met celebrities such as marie osmond, glen beck, miss america, and mark wills. we also had our celebration where each child crosses the stage and receives a medal for their bravery. after that delta chartered a flight for us to washington d.c. where we met president bush, went to museums, did tv/radio interviews, and had a finale party at the espn zone. it was busy, fun, and emotional.
there arn't too many things that i get a chance to do in my profession where i feel like i am actually making a difference, or giving back. this is one of those opportunities that i really look forward to for that reason.

it was my job to simply take candids of the 50 kids throughout the week. here are a few of my favorite photos. one of our computers is down and it has all of my florida photos on it, so these are only the washington d.c. ones.












i love this shot of colby with country singer mark wills. they were on a radio show and colby was singing his song "i kicked cancer in the butt"


grant totally stole this kiss from miss america during a television spot