Join Our Network - Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

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Responsibilities of a NILMDTS Affilated Photographer:

We would love to have you join us in this mission. Help a Family to soften their pain, just a little, and to help create photographic memories of their Angel that they can be proud to share with other family members, and future generations.

Want to volunteer? Please read through the following information. We do review every application by visiting your website. If you are a Professional Photographer, please fill out our application form, and select 'Affiliated Photographer', from the drop down menu on the form. Are you adept at working with Adobe Photoshop as a retouch artist? If so, you can select 'Digital Retouch Artist' and help the photographers to do their retouching for them. This level can be very challenging. You can also volunteer as a parent by selecting 'Parent Coordinator'. There is also another position that you can apply for named 'Assistant to the Photographer'. For this position you will need to include the name and email address of an Active NILMDTS Affiliate Photographer that you will be assisting. So, as you can see, there are several ways that you can offer your services. Please select the Membership Category that fits you best.

The NILMDTS Membership Application Committee (MAC) will sort through and evaluate these applications. This process could take between six and eight weeks depending on the current volume (although it is sometimes longer during the busy Trade Show season).

Please view this application as you would any application for a professional photographers position. If you were applying at a magazine for a photographers position you would submit the appropriate professionally crafted photos, your best photos in hopes of obtaining that position. In this case, we need to see abilities in portrait work. Wildlife, flowers, buildings, etc., do not show us what we need to see. Please view this application in that same manner and submit your best portrait work showing your ability to use auxiliary lighting and natural lighting.

We use a ten item scoring system, each item can score from 0-10 (0 is lowest and 10 is highest). An application must score at least 40 to be considered for approval. We have a committee of ten experienced Affiliate Photographers that do the actual scoring. To be sure that a family will not be disappointed in a photographer's work, we have to take all precautions that our photographers are able to create professional level images. Since the internet is one of a professional photographer's strongest means of self promotion, we feel very strongly that a website is needed for us to make a determination as to an applicants position within the industry. Hence, it is a requirement that we have a website to be able to review your skills. A Social Network (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Youtube, etc.) is Not acceptable as a professional website for review purposes. On the website, we will be looking for examples of the use of more than just natural light. While we all know how beautiful natural light is, we also know that there are times that a little extra manmade light is necessary to fill in shadows and to enhance the client. On our sessions, it is not unusual to have to use some added lighting. Of course, this is easily accomplished using bounced flash or even a studio strobe in a small, hand held softbox. These sessions can not be done 100% of the time via available light.

It will take two of our reviewers to give a favorable score before an applicant can be approved, however, it will take a minimum of three reviewers before an applicant is denied. All applicants that may be denied are always more than welcome to re-apply at a later date, after their skills have improved.

Here is what our MAC team uses for their scoring:

Proper use of Studio Lighting (0-10)
Proper use of On Camera Flash (0-10)
Proper use of Available Light (0-10)
Posing (0-10)
Attention to detail (0-10)
Expression (0-10)
Prop usage (0-10)
Creativity (0-10)
Skill level (0-10)
Website Appearance (0-10)
Score Total 0-100 (Minimum of 40 for approval)

While this is a volunteer organization and we do appreciate your heart to serve these families, we must operate within our standards as we only get one opportunity to capture memories for the families we serve.

Applicants for the position of Digital Retouch Artist will be sent a series of images to be retouched. These images range from very simply basic retouching, to a much more difficult image involving some bruising, skin discoloration, etc. The work that you submit back to us will be reviewed and scored differently from that of a photographer.

The following is what is required from our Members

Agree to the Photographer's Code of Conduct and the Volunteer Service Agreement (VSA).
Sign and return the VSA to our headquarters office (fax: 720-283-8998, scan and email to headquarters; snail mail: 2305 E. Arapahoe Road, Suite #220, Centennial, CO 80122)
Agree to provide (when you are available) an on-site session and a high resolution CD of images at no charge to the family.
Not to use this as a means of promoting your business.
Make an Annual MEMBERSHIP Donation of $25.01 which helps cover forum maintenance and training materials.
In many areas of the country, we have established an Area/Hospital Coordinator network. The local hospital will call the coordinator, and the coordinator then goes down their list of photographers and calls them till they locate someone to handle the session. You must respond when called. If you are unable to provide the services at that particular time, return the phone call and let us know. There will be times, though, that a parent may actually call you directly. This happens when they come to the website and performs a search for a photographer. If your contact information changes, especially phone number and email address, you can come here to our website, access the account that is setup for you, and make the necessary changes. This is a very important, and you will be required to keep this information current. Click Here for more info on the Coordinators program

What’s next?

Those accepted into the volunteer program will receive a welcome notice via email. At that time, you’ll be asked to donate an Annual Membership Donation Fee of $25.01 to help keep the organization running, to provide you access to the “Forum” at www.nowisleep.com and to provide you with a training manual in the mail. (We will grant a waiver if the donation is a hardship.)

Once approved for membership, we require that you sign a “Volunteer Service Agreement” and either fax or scan/e-mail it back to headquarters. That step completes the application process. We then will upload your contact information to the web site and you become "active" - allowing hospitals, families and Area Coordinators to find your contact information (via a search engine) when the need arises. We suggest that once you are approved, you contact the Area Coordinator in your community and let them know you are now on the website and available. This is also a great time to let them know your hours of availability. (To find your Area Coordinator, go to www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/locate_photographer/, agree to the terms and then input your zip code. Your “AC” will come up in RED at the top.)

Complete all steps necessary to have your name listed on the website, complete your first solo photography session or assist another experienced photographer on a session, within 12 weeks of your membership approval. Your membership will be eligible for cancellation if this is not accomplished.

Being on the NILMDTS active volunteer list does not ensure that you will be tapped for services, especially if the hospitals in your area do not know about NILMDTS and if you do not have an “AC” in your area. It is our team of volunteers like you who initiate those discussions with hospitals to introduce NILMDTS to administrators, NICU and Labor & Delivery staff members. Hospital staffers are often the ones who offer our services to patients and make the call to see if an NILMDTS volunteer is available.

Our photographers enter the hospital as a guest of the patient (like a chaplain or pastor), not as a hospital vendor, thus, we are not a HIPAA covered entity. There are several resources on the Forum to support NILMDTS photographers including how to perform your first session and how to make first introductions at a hospital. Thank you for your interest in volunteering!

Okay, thank you for reading through this information. We feel it is important that you understand a little more about what this work involves, what we look for in a potential volunteer, and why it is not all that easy to become approved.

Still Want to volunteer? Please click here to start the process of becoming one of our Affiliated Photographers.

Questions? Email our office