Well, it was quite the year for Cash for Comments! After meaning to do this for only December 2008, I decided to continue it along. Jane Photo, thanks to our lovely blog commenters, was able to make donations of either cans or cash in the unlikely final amount of exactly $1500! Woo hoo! Congrats to everyone who took the time to leave comments here.

I will always admire and support the Vancouver Food Bank, but I also recognize that our measly donation was only a drop in the bucket for them when orgs like the CBC can raise $300K for them in one day!

This year, after much discussion, we’ve decided to do our giving a little differently, and to choose a different organization every month. A donation of $100-$200 might mean buying that printer or doing a mail-out or, jeez, who knows? maybe helping one mom and her little kiddos out of a bad situation. In this year of economic downturns, small helping organizations are especially struggling.

If you would like to send along names of organizations for which a small donation would make a world of difference, I’d love to receive them.

In January, we have decided to fundraise for Battered Women’s Support Services, a local Vancouver organization I have long admired. In order to help us help them, just leave comments on any of our posts below. It can be a post from a long time ago, or a recent one, and you can take a few minutes and leave comments on several posts to help BWSS earn even more. There is a $200 cap for the month, but that’s the only limit! Each comment will net BWSS $1!

About BWSS:
A determined group of women started Battered Women’s Support Services in 1979. Over the years, BWSS has grown into a strong and dynamic organization. We continue to provide support and advocacy for women who have experienced abuse, as well as, training and education about violence against women. In 2008, we revisioned our mandate of system advocacy and law reform. As part of the feminist anti-violence movement, our long-term goal is the elimination of all violence against women.

You can find BWSS at: Battered Women’s Support Services

Though I’m waaay behind on my blogging, it’s not because I’ve been idle…

I’ve been having so, so much fun with Hollywood maternity shoots, I can’t tell you. While I still have tweeks and twists to work out, I love the direction in which they are going. They are fun and sassy and also trés, trés chic, custom-made for the woman who yearns to live the life of a Hollywood movie star for a few precious hours.

Our pricing for our new Hollywood Maternity shoots is $799 all inclusive. This is for hair, makeup, wardrobe, session fee, and then ten of approximately 15 sumptuous images in a custom-made brocade book.

Meet Ms S, who was heavily gravid and due in just one week–some 6 or so weeks after we might usually capture maternity pix. She had absolutely stunning bone structure, and the camera loved her.

Doncha just wonder what he’s listening to? What would be good sound for someone one week old? Maybe some of his mama’s heartbeat?

I was totally smitten with little Mr J! Loved his name, and at under 8 pounds, he was the tiniest bit of baby. I did his mommy’s maternity, and even though she was too shy to share online, they were gorgeous (I mean, move over Demi Moore)! Little J been a bit of a grumpster all morning, Mom said, but in the sauna we created for him, he settled right down and let us get to work. I don’t know how Mom managed, considering she’d just had a section and must have been very tender, but she was right in there helping little J assume his positions. Gramma is here from overseas, so she also helped us all along.

If you made it this far, leave us a comment! We so love them, and the Vancouver Food Bank profits from them, as Jane Photo gives them $1 for every comment rec’d in 09.

When I was in Toronto recently, I stopped by the Vanity Fair photography exhibit at the ROM to see work by artists such as Edward Steichen, George Hurrell, and Nickolas Muray; it couldn’t have been better timed considering my abiding fascination with replicating the look captured in early photographs of Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo and their contemporaries in motion pictures.

This stunning mom-to-be, who was extremely striking, came to Jane Photo for another of our first Hollywood maternities.

Congrats, everyone! It’s a new monthly record! With $175, the Food Bank can purchase $450 worth of food. That’s a substantial help to some family’s food bill–and probably a good help in sending well-nourished kids off to a new school year.

And just because…here’s a gorgeous woman posing in the Hollywood style for your viewing pleasure. This is Ms J.

Woo hoo! I never got around to posting about it, but our Jane Photo donation to Vancouver’s Food Bank for April was $102! Congrats, everyone. I know there will be many grateful families. And what a cool way to donate, eh? All you have to do is comment on any blog post, below, and ca-ching!