Over the last few weeks I’ve had several guest posts, all talking about involvement in charitable events people believe in.  Obviously some have been much bigger than others, but the point is, these are photographers who went ahead and did something, instead of just talking about it.   We need more photographers to be involved in their communities, in charitable events and to help make a difference.

By my calculations, (and trust me, these numbers will rarely match what you hear quoted from PPA or PMA) there are approximately 260,000 professional photographers in the United States, when you combine both part time and full time  involvement.  While that’s not a very big industry, imagine the impact we could have if EVERYBODY made it a point to give something back, especially when you add in all the manufacturers, associations and conferences.

Every professional photographer has the power to help change a small part of the world, to make it a better place, simply with your skill set in imaging.  There’s an opportunity at conferences you attend as well.  For example, at Pictage Partner Con a few weeks ago Pictage organized a “field trip” for volunteers to take portraits of Katrina victims who lost all their family portraits in the hurricane.  At IUSA in January, you’ll see Bert Behnke in the PPA Charities booth, which he founded, along with a little help from a few friends many years ago.  I’ve heard so many great stories of other photographers doing things in their communities from teaching photography to doing free portraits in a local nursing home.

Here’s the point this morning:  You can sit on the sidelines and watch the world go by or you can be directly involved.  As a photographer you’re looking for your community to be good to you.  Well, it’s the holiday season and it’s not too late for you to finish the year with a bang and be good to your community.

Whatever you give will come back to you ten times over down the line…but nothing can happen until you take that first step to be involved.