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Illuminate: Lighting the Path To Photographic Healing
I was 20 weeks pregnant when we lost her. Our sweet, much loved, much wanted first child. Our daughter. My world came crashing down around me the moment she was gone. Photography was the healing outlet my heart needed as I learned to live a life without her. 6 months after Bella was stillborn I flew to Tampa, FL to attend a workshop to learn the ins and outs of running a successful portrait photography business. As we introduced ourselves that first day, I was the mood crasher. As most of the women in that room shared how their living children were the inspiration behind wanting to photograph I got to tell that room full of family photography business hopefuls “Hello, my name is Beryl, I want to learn photography, and I am here because my baby died.” I went on to tell them about our angel Bella, my inspiration.
Amazingly, as that weekend of learning began to unfold 2 more of the 12 women at our photography seminar approached me. Told me how moved they were by Bella’s story. How they too experienced their own losses. How they had never told anyone. How no one wanted to listen.
Most women keep it to themselves.
Most women suffer in silence.
Most women don’t know where to find healing.
From Miscarriage. From Stillbirth. From Infant Loss.
1 in 4.
That’s the mind-blowing statistic. That’s the number of women who experience the loss of a child in their lifetime.
Grab a cup of coffee (or tea or hot cocoa if that’s your thing), and stay here awhile. Go and read the story of our Bella.
This is a safe community for you to remember your loss, to talk about your babies, and to find healing behind the lens of a camera.
After losing Bella due to a series of complications, I scoured the internet looking for bereavement resources that spoke to me. I searched for a community that could relate to my pain. I needed someone to talk to who wouldn’t mind if I needed to talk about the pain of losing Bella all day every day. I longed for an audience who could understand the source of the imagery I was creating. I came up with nothing. I learned photography on my own, as I grieved, and slowly grew from amateur to professional. Over the course of the past 2 years I’ve built a successful photography business from the ground up and I vowed that one day, when the stars aligned, I would create a photography experience exactly like the one I was looking for after our loss.
And now that experience, Illuminate, is here.
During your Illuminate experience you’ll have the opportunity to:
- Learn how to use your camera to capture beautiful images that speak to you and your journey through grief.
- Join a tight knit community of women who know exactly how you’re feeling.
- Manage your grief in a creative way and grow because of it.
- Focus attention on the family members who are still in your house and in your life.
- Create a body of work that serves as a testament to your lost child.
What Will This Online Experience Offer?
- 24/7 access (for the duration of the course) to a password protected e-course website containing all the assignment information.
- Weekly assignments to complete at your own personal pace.
- Access to private Facebook group for members of your course only to provide a safe environment of support from other Baby Loss parents (this group will continue even after class is over).
- Small class size of no more than 20 to ensure that the personal healing needs of each individual student are being met.
- Weekly video tutorials led by Beryl containing words of wisdom, technical knowledge, visual inspiration, and guidance through each assignment.
- Weekly PDF guide books to keep the assignment information in an easy to access format.
- Bonus video tutorials on how to create a free WordPress blog, edit and upload images to WordPress.
- Bonus video tutorial on editing techniques using Picmonkey.com
- Weekly “Ask Beryl” videos to answer questions from class members about blogging and photography
- Weekly written feedback and positive reinforcement on assignments from Beryl and other classmates.
- 20% of your class fee donated directly back to an organization ‘doing good’ in the baby loss community.
This Illuminate session’s proceeds will be donated to: Molly Bears
Week-by-Week: At A Glance
Getting Started: Blog Set Up, Meet Your Classmates, Earning ‘Extra Credit’, Editing in PicMonkey
Week 1: Tell Your Story – Where Are You On Your Journey?
Week 2: Finding Your Way – Exploring Light and Shadow
Week 3: Change in Perspective – Re-discovering Your Joy
Week 4: Life’s Journey – Where Do You Go From Here?
Wrap Up: Last Minute Questions, Feedback, Send-Off
Registration
$149
Registration is now underway for the next session of Illuminate.
March 6th, 2013 – April 10th, 2013
Payment plans are available upon request. Contact Beryl to set up a customized payment plan if needed.
What Other Baby Loss Moms Are Saying About Illuminate
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Illuminate?
Illuminate is a 5-week course that takes place online. Participants will receive assignments weekly via a password protected website and will turn in each assignment once complete. Even though the weekly assignments end after 5-weeks, participants will also gain access to a secret Facebook group that will remain active forever. This will ensure that class members can continue to keep in touch and share photographs and healing tips and tools long after class has ended.
What kind of camera do I need to participate?
Any kind of camera is welcomed and encouraged! Some participants choose to participate in class solely with their iphone or cell phone, others use their point and shoot, while others use a dslr camera. What matters most is that you are making the effort to get out and take photos, the type of camera is secondary.
How tech-savvy do I have to be?
If you know how to navigate to a webpage, send an email, and shoot/upload photos you’ll be set. Class members are encouraged to share their photo assignments via a blog platform, but Beryl will walk you through creating and posting to that blog (and even password protecting it to make it private) in step by step video tutorials. Beryl also provides bonus tech tutorials for class members interested in editing and tweaking their photos once they are taken.
How long does an Illuminate assignment take to complete each week?
This really will vary from person to person. It depends on how much time you devote to prepping, planning, shooting, editing, journaling and blogging your photos each week. The time will also depend on the type of camera you choose to use as well. Cell phone photos will most likely be processed and posted much quicker than photos taken with a dslr. However, past class members have estimated that each Illuminate assignment takes on average 2-3 hours to complete. Weekly assignments include one journal entry, one photography lesson, and one blog post.
Do you have a refund policy?
If you take Illuminate class and decide that it’s not for you, or discover it’s not giving you the healing outlet you need, you may request a full refund. No questions asked.
Registration
$150
Registration is now underway for the next session of Illuminate.
March 6th, 2013 – April 10th, 2013
Payment plans are available upon request. Contact Beryl to set up a customized payment plan if needed.
