We just want to extend a huge thank you to everyone for the wonderful feedback on Wednesday's post of our visit with the Kwa Watoto school. We're so thankful to everyone who shared the story of the school and we really would love to keep it going. If you haven't read it yet, check out the previous post.
Our trip wasn't ALL business though. We took a few days and headed down the extremely long and bumpy road to Massai Mara for a safari. Here's a few photos from the wild...
NOTE: You may have noticed that we took a mini-blogging hiatus. The two weeks off were the longest we've ever gone without posting. As many of you already know, we were in Kenya. The following post is a story of the organization that we were there to work for. Some of it may be graphic or hard to read. It's a very long post and we ask you to please take the time to read the story behind each photo or come back when you have the time. Thanks!
Around 6 years ago my good friend Adam (this is Tony talking) was interning at a church in Nairobi, Kenya. Despite all the excitement and lead up to a trip where he was moving halfway across the world, the email I got went in a totally different direction. Adam quickly knew that the internship wasn't what he was looking for and had crafted a plan which would later become EduKenya. I thought he was crazy. It was extremely ambitious, very costly and seemed like a lot for one person to take on. Luckily Adam never tried to take it on himself.
From the start, EduKenya was built to empower people who would otherwise not get a chance. Starting in a very small village in one of the biggest and poorest slums in the world, EduKenya partnered with a very small, very humble church located within the community. The goal was to build a school. But not a school that would be funded by rich donors. A school that would be run by local Kenyans, serving local Kenyans and, eventually, would be self-sustainable from any outside aid. It was a big goal.
We've been hearing about EduKenya for years and this year we finally got a chance to visit. It was amazing. As you will see and hear below, children at the Kwa Watoto school are thriving and show a rare glimmer of hope in a place where hope is hard to come by. The teachers in the school (many of whom grew up and still live in the same slum) have risen from incredible circumstances and are now leading a school with students who are thriving academically.
The school (and the Mathare slum) doesn't come without challenges though. Big challenges. We saw things that seem unimaginable. The village where most of the students come from has streets (if you call them that) literally lined with trash and human sewage. Entirely families homes are constructed from tin and are smaller than many American bathrooms. Many children are orphans. Many don't attend school. Many wander the streets barefoot everyday with no supervision. Many have HIV contracted from their parents. As awful as the conditions are, that's not even the most heartbreaking part.
We met a boy who was around 9 years old and was completely emotionally distant. His teacher (the person who sees him the most) said that he never smiles. Never. Spending a few minutes with him seemed to make it clear that something has happened to him. Probably something terrible. It was easier to not even think about it.
Amy met a young girl who walked 20 minutes to get to school every day. Her walk should be less than 10 minutes, but it's dark in the morning and she has to avoid certain streets. That night as we discussed this, I asked why she has to avoid those streets. After all, they're her people and she's so young. I won't repeat the answers I got, but just hearing what could happen to such a small girl brought tears to many of our eyes. But the truth is that even on the 'good' streets, we needed two local escorts to be there.
These are just a few of many things you find out by spending a few days in the slum. But luckily there's hope. Programs like EduKenya and schools like Kwa Watoto give these children hope. They also give them food, shelter, clothing and education. They might not prevent every young boy from joining the gangs, but when you see the hope that exists inside the school walls, you realize that big things are happening.
As I mentioned before, EduKenya is in the process of making investments in the community. The return on these properties will help to eventually make the school self-sustainable. They're teaching skills to adults so they can earn income. But right now the organization and the school badly need support to get to that point. In any given month a shortage of just a few thousand dollars could prevent them from being in school. If you're interested in the story, I would urge you to check out and share the story of EduKenya. They need your support.
To move on to the photos, here is our documentation of our time at the school and observing the programs. Beneath each image you'll see a story or some facts about what you're seeing. Soon we'll be sharing some other photos from our time in Africa as well. Thanks again for taking the time...
A village called Jangwani resides as a section of the Mathare slum. It is roughly the size of 5 football fields but is home to around 20,000 people.
From this vantage point, three Jangwani homes are easily seen. These shacks make up the entire home for a family to live in. Often times when a tenant hasn't paid rent, their door is removed, which opens the opportunity for theft and rape.
Like many in Jangwani, this boy rarely sees a mzungu (white person) and can't help but stare. Many children have never left the slum, even for a day.
Dozens of homes are crammed into a small street. In Jangwani, privacy is virtually non-existant, while crime runs rampant.
A young boy stands in Jangwani, one of the poorest areas within an extremely poor slum. He is related to a student at the school.
At the Believer's Centre church in Jangwani, the bathrooms are marked with chalk. However, most people use the government built community restrooms, which are extremely unsafe at night.
The Jangwani landscape often includes drying clothes, a running trench filled with human sewage and homes that are less than 100 square feet for an entire family. On the left side of the photo alone are around 10 homes.
A disinegrating pile of trash is located between several homes in Jangwani. A school-aged boy walks the village barefoot during the day.
The roofs of two Jangwani homes converge. Most homes are only 6 or 7 feet tall. In the street, a boy without a school spends his day by himself.
Beans dry outside a home in Jangwani. In a residential area, it is rare to see business initiative. These beans are drying less than 15 feet from the sewage stream.
In Jangwani, two twin boys smile in the street. Like most streets, they are filled with trash and sewage. The tin buildings are several different homes.
A woman plays and poses for a photo with her young boy inside Jangwani. One of the rare times a child is seen with a parent.
A faded bumper sticker on an abandoned car reflects the very religious nature of the Kenyan people.
Two boys in the street of Jangwani. These boys may never go to school and may never learn English or Math. Without school, their prospects for employment become dramatically lower.
Bishop Isaiah sits in the church that he is the pastor of. It is the only church and safe haven in Jangwani and was the founding place of the Kwa Watoto school.
The street and building where Kwa Watoto school is located. The 4 story building (on left) includes apartments (owned by EduKenya) and parts of the school.
A view of the apartments above Kwa Watoto school. EduKenya owns (and is in process of buying) apartments whose rent will help to make the school self-sustainable.
A classroom in Kwa Watoto is roughly 10"x12", which, although small, is larger than some of the student's entire homes.
Outside the school hangs a P.E. jacket from one of the above apartments. Some of the student's families live directly above the school.
Two children run in the courtyard, as seen from inside a staff room in Kwa Watoto school.
Students in Class 4 search for an answer in their workbook. The natural light is sometimes the only light in the room, as electricity often fails.
Dominic, a teacher at Kwa Watoto, started volunteering at the church in Jangwani. With the support of EduKenya, he now has his teaching certificate and is pursuing his degree.
Two students raise their hands to answer a question. In most cases, when the teacher asks a question, nearly all the students will try to give the answer saying "Cha" (short for teacher) in hopes to get called on.
With the teacher's watchful eye, a student draws out circles to complete his math problem.
The youngest students are often well-aware when cameras are present and, unlike many Amercian children, rarely miss the opportunity to have their photo taken.
Mr. Mule, the teacher of Class 5 and the school's disciplinarian, is one of the school's newest teachers and is very proud of his relationship with his students.
A student turns in her test and awaits her scores. Despite the schools limited resources and incredibly difficult circumstances, the students have very high test scores in comparison to many other city schools.
Students await an answer from their teacher. Class 4 is one of 8 classrooms in the school.
A teacher takes pause during a test. The test questions are written on the board and the students each have a notebook to record answers.
Students play and laugh in the courtyard.
Students in the youngest class take their daily afternoon nap. Remarkably all the students sleep despite the surrounding noise and the teacher's adjustments to their body positions.
Students pose for the camera in the way most young Kenyans prefer… the thumbs up.
A Kenyan recording artists named Insect is surrounded by many of the younger children. His visit was to check out the school. Afterwards, he offered to volunteer to start a weekly music program with the students.
Two students play hide and seek in the school courtyard. In the background is the main entrance for the school, a small, open door within the gate.
Students in Class 4 (ages 9-10) stand to recite the entire chapters of Psalm 139 and Psalm 125.
Students at Kwa Watoto stand and smile as they greet a visitor.
Michael, the Head Teacher at Kwa Watoto school stands in front of a list of his teacher's assignments. Michael is only 25 and is already the equivalent of a Principle despite growing up in a slum where many of his schoolmates are now infamous terrorists.
Students wait nervously in line to enter their health screening on the day that the clinic visits the school.
A student gets his medical screening during one of the schools regular clinics. Every student gets a checkup that they likely wouldn't have otherwise.
A doctor gives medicine and instructions to a student after their health screening.
A worker builds a necklace in the home-based care program run by EduKenya. This program is set up so that women of the community can learn skills that they can use for income.
The items made by home based care are laid out on a table and ready to be sold. They surround a Bible which is being read by a participant.
The teacher demonstrates hair techniques to the student who watches in a mirror.
This faucet serves as the sole water supply for the students to wash their hands and the kitchen staff to wash dishes.
A member of the kitchen staff prepares shallots for the student's lunch. Behind, a child washes his hands.
A kitchen worker prepares a large pot of rice that will feed all 171 students at the school. The small kitchen employs three kitchen staff members.
The kitchen staff looks on as a teacher serves meals to his students.
Without the school-provided meals, many of the children would go without lunch or would have to find it for themselves while wandering the slum.
A student displays his lunch, which today consists of rice, lentils and an orange slice (oranges look much less orange in Kenya).
Children from the community are often bystanders to shool activities. With the school students at lunch, these children were happy to receive some attention.
Two students have some fun at the expense of their orange slices.
Once they receive their lunch, students return to their seats in class to eat. When finished, they'll return their plates to the kitchen. Students spend almost the entire 8 hour day in their classroom.
Students line up on the way to Physical Education. Kenya requires schools to have about 1 acre for P.E. classes, so the students need to walk to the Salvation Army lot (one of the few with enough space).
Students stretch in unison during P.E. class.
A boy performs a back bend and finds a camera on his way back.
A teacher demonstrates a jump to the students. Since the staff is limited, teachers are also in charge of P.E. as well as the clubs.
As the classes break up, they have their own activities. Here a girl jumps rope with her class.
The students dance by mimicing and listening to their teacher, who dances in the middle of the group.
Students do crunches during P.E. class. The whole school participates in the activities at the same time.
Students run through a series of streches, jumps and exercises.
A student runs from the outhouse to the Salvation Army building where the school talent show is being held.
Students cheer on their fellow students during the school's talent show in the Salvation Army building. Like most buildings in the slum, the roof is made of tin.
A class recites a poem to the onlooking students. The Salvation Army building, despite being largely unused, is by far one of the largest open spaces in the entire slum and is constructed of concrete.
Students leap up to answer a question during the talent show.
A student shows her face paint and P.E. shirt during a break in the talent show.
Class 4 performs a memorized reading of Psalm 139 at the talent show.
Njenga dances with a class during their performance. It's very common to see teachers and staff dancing with their students.
Among the most common talents is drumming. Uncommonly good drumming. Most classes have a designated drummer for when they sing.
A blindfolded girl attempts to find a piece of candy with the help of the other student's voices.
Two teachers have fun while participating in a balloon blowing contest in front of the students. The Kwa Watoto teachers form a special relationship with the students and often sing and dance with them.
Students of the Pre-Unit class display their painted faces and perform a song during the school's talent show.
A girl wanders in to the talent show off the streets of Jangwani. Like many children, her parents are nowhere in sight as she wanders the slum.
A girl plays drums while the dance club dances in the background with their teacher. Their costumes are made from recyclables.
The drama club performs an emotional poem about the problematic parenting that many of the children face.
The dance club performs. The school has many after-school clubs to learn skills but to also keep the kids in the school environment longer, which most students welcome.
The Head Teacher Michael holds up a Bible as he speaks to his students during their talent show. Kwa Watoto is a Christian school that started in a church in Jangwani.
One of the staff addresses the students. In Kenyan culture, it's common for the authority figures to give a formal greeting or talk.
Before we (their visitors) left, the students each said an individual prayer for the departing friends. During the assembly, the students sang for us, danced with us and recited their school song. Then they prayed for us. It sounded like a swarm of bees. A very, wonderful and emotional swarm.
Thanks again for taking the time to read. You can find out more about EduKenya here.
Beautifully written and photographed. This was so moving and I will be sure to post this blog entry in hopes that many will read it!
Tony! Wow! These pictures are absolutely amazing! Beautiful pictures representing Beautiful work!
This reminds me of my three months working in the Kibera Slums. Incredible images which brought back so many memories of the sights, smells, tastes and sounds of the nairobi slums. welcome home!
what a touching and heartbreaking story. thanks so much for giving of yourselves and taking the time to document such a great need. your photographs are all fabulous!!
Sure take 2 weeks off and come back with a book. The images are sensitive and wonderful and it sounds like a great cause. Thanks for sharing!
beautifully captured, beautifully written. thank you for sharing!
absolutely amazing images! such a huge fan of all your work. just curious what you shot with over there?
Beautiful.
Scott, we shot with most of our normal gear, but didn’t take too much lighting with us into the slum. The more we carried, the more attention we got… and we already got a lot since we were some of the extremely rare white people to be in there.
Awesome, just awesome. This is one of your blog posts that I will share with many.
Tony – Simply incredible. What an opportunity, and thank you for sharing your story, and the story of these wonderful people.
These photos are amazing and such a reminder of how blessed we are in this country. Even in the dire situations these kids face the light in thier eyes and joy on thier face as they smile is just humbling.
Amazing work Tony. The hiode and seek picture really touched me. great stuff!
The picture of the little girl who wandered in to the talent show breaks my heart. She is so young to be by herself. Beautiful post – very moving!
Incredible Tony! Brings a renewed appreciation for the country we live in. Amazing what you captured in photos. Thanks for sharing.
Really powerful images here. Very cool of you guys to take the time and go there, and cover the story. A lot of people don’t realize how lucky we are here in the states, and what terrible lifestyles people have to live through in 3rd world countries. My native country is somewhat similar, so seeing the images made me remember how similar and terrible things were in my country when I was little. Hopefully this brings more awareness about the organization, as well as poverty around the world.
Excellent documentary work! Please use your skills to do more work like this! As a former photojournalist, and one who has travelled globally a lot, I was very impressed!
Simply Beautiful and very sad Tony. It was a pleasure to Adam and his wife yesterday in your passing trip through London. Thank you for sharing and I’m humbled by the work you are all doing over there.
I agree with Steve Babuljak, you have to do more of this, you are a greater talent then you let on my friend.
Yea, I should have waited til I was home to read this entry. I was okay Until I got to the end and thought about them praying aloud for you all at one time and well, now I’m in search for Kleenex. Amazing.
Your pictures are so beautiful! Reading and looking at the pictures reminds me of when I went to Ghana, Africa back in 2005. I can only hope that i can have that experience again someday. It really reminds us how blessed we are to have the “simple things” in life. Thanks for sharing!
Touching and Amazing! I can’t wait to share these pictures with my 4th graders.
AMAZING and beautiful photos….I am glad you are sharing your experience so others can learn about these beautiful children! These photos brought back tons of memories of teaching in Malawi.
Powerful story and pics, Tony. You did a great job!
This is really inspiring man!! Great job!! I´m sure God has a lot to do for many people around the world through your talent.
hi tony , this pictures are worth a thousand words… amasing.. thanks for sharing it…
AMazingv!!!!
So touching! I went on a mission trip to Tanzania last summer and I will never be the same. I left part of my heart there and these photos just made me long to go back
Beyond speechless…
I LOVED this. So beautiful and so glad these children are being fed the word. There’s hope for them!
Amy and Tony, I am so glad that you took the time to write about each picture and bring those of us who are viewing them into the experience with you…hearing the prayers from these beautiful kids must have been a once in a lifetime moment.
Looks like you have made some memories! What an experience. Fantastic Photos.
VERY MOVING…THANK YOU FOR SHARING.
so so great, This tells it all, God bless you for great photography.
Amazing!!! So proud of you guys and the work you’ve done here.
Wow…You really nailed the unspoken pain of the people. Have you seen this photo book – Marthare Inn?
Wow. This photo essay is as powerful as anything I’ve seen. It’s truly inspirational to know that there’s hope in a place where you would never think hope could exist.
amazing, heart warming, deeply touching images, reminds me to be thankful for all we have, their joy is contagious, what an incredible experience
AmazinG…Absolutely amazing..
absolutely incredible- the images and message they bring to we blessed people is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing..hope many will see this post. The last picture was especially moving. What an opportunity.
Amazing job, Tony and Amy. The story and pictures were inspiring and heartwarming, but also heart wrenching at the same time. Beautiful children, wonderful teachers! Fantastic!
these images are so beautiful and your story makes it come to life. Thank you for sharing your experience and artistry.
wow!! Thank you for sharing these amazing moments from your journey! I hope these can be used to gain awareness and support for the inspirational school program.
These are freaking amazing tony and amy. Very striking. Your trip sounds extraordinary. Hopefully your work will shed a little more light on people that are trying to make a difference in the world
What an amazing experience! And what a gift you have given these children. I am sure it was life-changing. Thank you for sharing this with us all. I definitely fought tears through the entire post. :-)
very poignant images. mission trips like these helps make us realize how good we have it here. but it’s amazing that the kids can still find joy in situations where we ourselves would end up in a wreck. God bless them!
I FEEL LIKE I WAS THERE WITH YOU. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THESE AMAZING PHOTOS AND THE AWESOME WORK ADAM IS DOING THERE.
this is great. i am really happy that you guys understand what is happening int he world and took an active role in trying to change that. God bless you and your friend and mother Africa.
The photos of the children are some of the most beautiful photos I’ve ever seen Tony.
The photos of the children are some of the most beautiful photos I’ve ever seen Tony.
They are awesome..this is a very goo
d job done…blessed.
My heart swells and aches after seeing these images. Outstanding work for an outstanding cause. Thank you for giving us a beautiful window into their lives, as difficult as their situations may be – they are beautiful people.
A great job!! Mixing slum scenes with eduKenya school children , color and black/white, happiness and sorrow, the promise of education and the insidiousness of poverty. Congratulations to the Hoffers!!!
Thanks for sharing – a beautiful set of images. It makes a nice change to see these Kenyan kids portrayed as just normal kids who play and want to have fun in spite of their surroundings. Their circumstances are sad and not unlike so many other children across the African continent but not hopeless. I think EduKenya is a great initiative, most importantly because it helps the community help themselves, which is the only way the cycle can be broken. Will definitely share this post and wish Adam and the Edukenya team the best of luck in the future. God bless them for their good works.
We've been enjoying some much needed down time from the cameras. But fear not, we'll be back posting photos later this week. We didn't forget about our faithful blog stalkers though... So while the northeast enjoys a very rare (for this year) snow, here's a winter portrait we dug up today...
Be the first to share your thoughts on this post.
Before we officially move on to 2012, here's one last remnant from 2011...
About 6 months ago I (Tony) posted a photo of Amy on Facebook that I took while we were working. Someone mentioned that we should post more of those. Then I had a brilliant idea to wait until the end of the year and post a bunch of them. Clearly I didn't realize a few things:
1. We have way too many photos of ourselves making ridiculous faces.
2. There's no chance that anyone will actually be entertained by all of these.
3. Amy's hair color changed about 5 times throughout the year.
So, without further ado, here's a bunch of photos we took of ourselves (and interns and assistants) during 2011. Don't judge us for it... It's your decision to be here :)
I told you it was long.
I love this! Amy, you are too cute!
Uncle Tony hides elmos in his Jean pockets?!?!
I have too many favorites to even post them here, so so many. thanks so much for sharing these, love the elmo in pocket one. Amy is adorable
I really love this! Thanks for share this moments! To be a photographer is to be happy :)
This is awesome!! So funny!
incredible moments, relaxed.
I like that.
I love the last image
Very funny: yoga poses, and keeping Elmo in your back pocket. :-) What a wonderful year! Thanks for sharing.
What a way to start the new year!
Believe me, I’ve waited a long time for this.
Some more b.t.s. from you would give back to the photo community so much. I’m fed up of trying to reverse engineer your technique and lighting.
There are SO many funny pictures here, it is obvious you all have a great time and enjoy what you do. May 2012 be a huge blessing to you two.
This is great! Thank you for sharing! the personal touches you add to your blog really add to the awesome factor!
I loved this post!!!!!
What a joy to see you two in action!! Thanks for posting this!
Love your Essex Surf housing! I have one too and it has been a total blast to shoot with.
Love these! So fun!
Amy makes some hysterical faces! Troy has a good funny face too! I like the one where the couple looks great and you can see Tony hiding in the brush!
So many of these made me laugh out loud. What a really fun post!
AWESOME BTS guys, you rock…the shot where tony is in the air in the pool is like DANG!! :)
You guys are funny ;)
I like Amy’s blonde hair best. You guys are awesome.
It's hard to believe 2011 is over. As I was writing the title of this blog, I had to double-check to make sure it was actually 2011 that we were commemorating. It's been an absolute whirlwind of a year. We did some things we had never imagined, met some people we wish we had met years ago, and ate much more food than any human actually should. But now with all of our shoots wrapped up, it's officially time to share our annual slideshow of our favorite photos from 2011. But before we do...
Amy and I owe you guys a huge debt of gratitude and thanks. This year, we hit the 5-year mark with our business. Back when I started the business, my father-in-law shared a book with me that had two stats I've always remembered since: 80% of businesses fail within the first year. 80% of those that survive fail before the 5th year. For those scoring at home, that means that we're officially part of the other 4% now... and it feels great. But it really has very little to do with us.
From the beginning of the business until now, there are a few things that have stayed the same. While we've grown, expanded and improved, we still have never had to pay a dime to advertise anywhere. And we owe all of that to YOU. If we're being honest, we owe this whole business to YOU. From the get go, we learned just how amazing our clients are. The fact that you guys take your time to look at our work, share it with other people and recommend us to friends still blows our minds. We have some people (other than our parents) who have been looking at our blog for almost 5 years now... and that was an UGLY iWeb site back then. We honestly cannot thank you enough times for what you mean to our lives. YOU have given us a career that we love, and made us so happy to do it for you. From the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you.
2011 really was a remarkable year for us. We had 148 shoots (that's one more than last year if you're scoring at home), delivered around 50,000 finished images and met hundreds (maybe thousands?) of new people. We shot everywhere from our own living room to Munich, Germany, for newborns and in hospice facilities. made our way across the country a few times and even out of it... and next year promises to take us even further away!
So without further ado, here's some of our favorite shots from the year. We're sorry in advance if we didn't include some people/favorites. We had to at least attempt to keep this to a reasonable length... I recommend you watch on full screen in HD mode :)
If you're curious, the music was (in order): Mat Kearny, Count on Me • Breanne Duren, Gold Mine • Brooke Fraser, Something in the Water • Josh Garrels, A Far-Off Hope
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each one of you for the very important role you play in our lives. God has blessed us tremendously by having you support our work and we can't thank you enough for that. We hope everyone had a great 2011, and we can't wait to see you all in 2012!
AMAZING!!!!!! & Congrats!!
What an awesome slideshow! Matt and I are so excited we found you two and cannot wait for you to photograph our wedding!
Hoffers, you are in your own league…’a league of their own’, if you will. great video!
You guys are completely AMAZING !!!Every Year The
“Best of video” gets better and better!!!
there are no words… your work is simply unreal!! the caliber of your work is unparalleled!! thanks for putting this together so we can watch in awe!
WOW! That was some year! All of these were beyond amazing! i don’t know how anyone even considers booking anywhere else. Wonderfully done and the music was great too!
These were so much fun to look at. Cheers to another great year!
Sweeeeet!! Give me your skillssss…
For the past few years, we've been running a contest called Shoot Me for FREE!. Although the results have changed over the years, the concept has remained the same: to allow people to enter to win a free shoot, no strings attached. In year 1 we gave away 2 free photo shoots based on stories that people sent us. In year 2 we changed it up and awarded winners based on who had an idea for the most creative shoot. Last year we changed it again and we had the wonderful privilege of having 35 winners for The Portrait Project.
Well, I'm happy to announce that this year will raise the stakes in a HUGE way. If you've been following this blog, you know that this spring we're holding The Genesis Workshop (our annual photography workshop) in Las Vegas. That's where YOU and the Shoot Me for FREE contest come into play...
The winner of this year's Shoot Me for FREE contest will win an absolutely free trip to Las Vegas. That's right. We will be choosing one couple to come to Vegas during our workshop, all expenses paid! This includes flights for 2 to Las Vegas, 5 night's stay in one of the workshop mansions, food with the workshop crew from our own private chef and a whole bunch of amenities (pool, pool tables, ect..).
Here's your part: We need a couple that will model for us during some of our workshop sessions on March 20-22. We will fly you out at least a day early to do whatever you'd like with your spouse/significant other. Then you can model for us for certain sessions throughout the week. The rest of the time is yours! And of course you'll be able to keep digital versions of any photos we take while we're there. So in exchange for us using your pretty faces you get a 5-night all-expense paid trip to Vegas with someone you love as well as all the photos we shoot of you throughout the week... all for FREE!!!
To recap, here's what you get:
2 round trip tickets to Vegas
5 nights stay in one of the workshop mansions
All meals
Photos from the shoots during the whole week
Here's what we get:
2ish hours of your modeling talents for shooting in the morning and 2ish hours in the afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The rest of the time is yours!
Here's the Rules:
- Contest entries start today (12/27) and end on Friday (12/30).
- You must be a couple to enter.
- You need to be available to travel 3/18-3/23
- You should be outgoing and very much in love.
- We'd love to choose a couple we've already shot for, but are absolutely open to anyone!
- No purchase necessary... duh.
- Bribes accepted
VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
Hope we win. :D
Love this post :)
LOVELY WEBSITE.
*fingers crossed*
You guys are my favorite :)
What a fun contest! I hope we have a chance to help you with the photo shoot!!
Thank you I want to meet brilliant photographers!
love this! Inspiring idea :)
SUch a great idea! hoping to win of course!
Really amazing contest! Good Luck to all!
That was fun! Hope we win!
Awesome! I just entered! :)
I am not allowed to take travel time from work the month before the conference I plan in April which is also in Vegas. My boyfriend and I love you so much though that we honestly considered putting that all in jeopardy to apply for a chance at this opportunity! I am so jealous of everyone who gets to work with you! Maybe we will get a chance at next years SHoot Me For Free Contest, but until then here is to hoping that we just get to work with you someday! Congrats to you both on all your success!
My boyfriends sister’s due date is March 17th, so we will not be able to enter the contest (so bummed!). Congrats to whoever wins and know that I couldn’t be more jealous! I really hope that we get to work with you two in the future – Sincerely, a VERY freqyent blog stalker! :)
Pick me! Pick me!
You guys are amazing! my favorite by far!! pick me!!! :-)
Loveeeee you guys!! Pick us!! <3
Hope we win :) Love the website!!!
You guys just keep getting more and more amazing! I love watching how your business progresses and grows. I sooooooo wish we could enter, but my hubby’s blasted grad school schedule won’t allow us to travel then. argh! Someday I would love to be shot by you guys. Till then…good luck to all!
Such a cool opportunity you are giving!! Can’t wait to see the pictures you take!! Nothing less then amazing as always!! :-)
fantastic contest! You guys rock.
This is awesome! We entered… fingers crossed!!!
Pick us!!! Me and my Hubby would love to get pics done by you guys and we never had a honeymoon. So it would be awesome for us!!!
Second chance for true love..we are feeling very lucky!
We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving... We certainly did! We only took 3 photos with our 'real'camera. Here they are. They're all from the same spot in the mountains on our way up to Ontario on a foggy morning. More blogging to come soon!
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We're still in Memphis teaching our Genesis Workshop. But that doesn't stop the blogging. We were recently blessed with another wonderful nephew. Amy was up in Canada to visit our newest family member last week and she took a few photos while she was there...
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Great stuff man.. so jealous. It looks like it was an amazing trip.
Epic!
these would be so powerful in large format. thanks for sharing, they’re insane!
epic.
when i say these images are breathtaking i am not exaggerating. They literally took my breath away. beautiful.
i feel like I was there!!! beautiful.
amazing images! would you consider selling any of these as fine art prints?
Freakin Incredible!! You’re the man Hoffer!!
BEYOND WORDS! You guys touched my soul with stories from the school and now these… words can not express how rad these pictures are. Go Hoffers! :)
Love #12. Great composition!
Hi Tony, gr8 pix. What kind of camera do you have?
wow. just wow. what an amazing experience!
These are all awesome shots, I wish I could hang them all on my wall!
You lucky ducks!! What an amazing experience… I am so excited to see you guys in May! :) Welcome home.
Beautifully done, Tony!
Amazing photos! going on an safari is definitely something I’d love to do someday!
Amazing photos! I’ve always wanted to go on a safari. Love the shot of the single tree!
couldn’t pick a favorite if i had to! Epic doesn’t begin to describe these!
Amazing pics. i love animal and hare i got some lovely pics of animals. i liked your pics.
These are truly amazing! Very inspiring work, and not to mention, I could see any of these in Nat Geo! (Coming from a fellow photographer.) I am truly stunned and amazed by this, and very jealous you got so close and personal with my two favorite animals, elephants & giraffes! Amazing!
Absolutely awesome pictures!
These are breathtaking. AMAZING.
I really, really, really want a print portrait of the giraffe
Amazing Pics Tony. Makes me want to go there myself. Love the colours. My fav is the first shot with the lone giraffe.
these are sooo nice!
Wow. Just wow.
Last one is so NatGeo! So is the one with the lone tree and intense yellow sky…
You made me miss doing Nature Photography. Very cool stuff!
Wow, fantastic! Nick Brandt watch out for some serious competition in the wildlife dpt. ;)
These are stunning Tony. National Geographic, NY Times quality, seriously– super amazing. What an awesome experience for you and Amy!
Out of this world, mind-blowingly incredible. Thank you!!!
Just finally checking these out – stunning! breathtaking! magical!
These are simple incredible on so many levels. Great compositions.
Amazing images. Nice to see a truly different safari set!