In the News
Read about the success of the Front Steps Project Darien Halloween in the front page Darien Times article!
We’re bringing #TheFrontStepsProject to Halloween!
October 31 is the most fun COMMUNITY holiday, right?
Don’t we need a little FUN this year?!
Halloween 2020 looks a little different this year. Feeling all dressed up but no place to go? Why not capture your fabulous costume and spread a little community cheer?
As many of you may remember, Corbin Cares, an initiative borne of the COVID-19 crisis in March of 2020, provided nearly 12,000 meals to front-line hospital workers and food insecure individuals and families throughout Fairfield County, as well as Darien seniors. Through the generous financial support of our community and The Darien Foundation, Corbin Cares raised over $200,000 to fund this mission.
As a result of the longer-than-expected duration of the COVID-19 crisis, Corbin Cares is going back to work to support local businesses and to express our thanks to those essential workers doing amazing things for our community today. In this next phase, donations to Corbin Cares, supported by The Darien Foundation, will be used to fund monthly appreciation lunches for Darien Public School teachers and staff, and meals for Darien EMS workers, Darien’s volunteer firefighters, and members of the Darien Police Department. Corbin Cares will also be positioned to provide meals for other Darien residents and neighbors as the need arises over the coming, uncertain winter months.
Katharine Calderwood, Bambi Riegel, Mary Wade, and Ben Larrabee, the Darien photographers who carried out the Front Steps Project in Darien at the onset of the COVID crisis, are bringing The Front Steps Project to us for Halloween.
Corbin Cares is sponsored by Baywater Properties and PG Properties, co-developers of The Corbin District, a transformational redevelopment in downtown Darien (www.thecorbindistrict.com).
A donation in support of Corbin Cares and the Darien Foundation will save your spot for a personal photoshoot in front of Darien’s own Haunted House in the Corbin District. Book your spot today!
Sign me up!
Please use this link to schedule an appointment time that works for you. We ask for your email in order to send an appointment confirmation and reminder.
Please use this link to make a requested minimum $50 donation to Corbin Cares and The Darien Foundation. You will receive a confirmation email and a letter for your tax records.
How it works
Process
Reserve your session! Use the big yellow button to pick your time and photographer. Then make a donation to Corbin Cares/Darien Foundation using this button below. We request a suggested minimum donation of $50 for all sessions.
We will be posting images on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtags #thefrontstepsprojecthalloween and #thefrontstepsprojectdarienhalloween.
Dress Code
This is the big moment – wear your COSTUME! Wild and wacky, homemade and crafty, storebought and silly, we want to see everyone in front of the lens with their best Halloween spirit.
How About Social Distancing?
Wear your mask to and from the photo session and keep your social distance! All participants will wear face masks until you are in the spot for the photo. We will have set up a safe, VERY clearly marked, socially-distanced space for you to stand with your family for the photo and all photographers will use LONG lenses. Once you are in the photo area, you and your family members may remove your facial coverings for the photo if you like – or not, if it’s part of your costume!
Meet the Photographers
Katharine Calderwood, Calderwood Digital
I fell in love with family photography after meeting 175 families in Darien doing the Front Steps Project. Previously, my business offered web design and photography to build gorgeous, powerful websites and marketing campaigns for entrepreneurs and small businesses. I really love making the process as painless, straightforward, and fun as possible for other people who don’t love computers and cameras as much as I do. Now I am delighted to offer more of my photography to families in Darien and neighboring towns.
View more of my photography on my website right here at Calderwood Photography!
Katharine will be photographing 6 sessions between 3 PM and 4 PM on October 31. Please use the button below to schedule a session with Katharine (me!).
Bambi Riegel, Riegel PictureWorks
Bambi Riegel is the woman behind the camera at Riegel Picture Works since 2014. Bambi offers event, portrait, and landscape photography as well as videography services in Darien, CT. She loves capturing the perfect shot that says it all. Bambi looks forward to helping you create wonderful memories.
View more of Bambi’s photography and video work on her website Riegel Picture Works.
View more of Ben’s work on his website Ben Larrabee Photography.
Bambi will be photographing 6 sessions between 1 PM and 2 PM on October 31. Please use the button below to schedule a session with Bambi.
Mary Wade, Leap Year Images
Mary Wade fell in love with photography when I inherited my grandfather’s Pentax K-1000 in the ’80s. She went on to earn my degree in Fine Arts & Photography from Loyola University in Maryland.
As a mother to four kids and two dogs, Mary embraces the unexpected and really shines when capturing the natural joy and exuberance of kids.
When not wrangling kids and pets, she also specializes in landscape photography, particularly beachscapes. Mary fell in love with Nantucket beaches in 1977 and was an island resident in the mid-1990s.
View more of Mary’s photography on her Leap Year Images.
Mary will be photographing 6 sessions between 12 PM and 1 PM on October 31. Please use the button below to schedule a session with Mary.
Ben Larrabee, Photographer, and his muse, wife Trudie
Ben lets go of expectations and assumptions about how things should look or how to photograph his clients. He looks at situations and subjects with fresh eyes. Each photo session is an experiment with his clients, playing with the surroundings and the context, capturing serendipitous moments as they arise organically.
Ben’s formal training as an artist began at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. Later he continued his studies at Yale University, where he earned an MFA in graphic design. His photographs are in museum permanent collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
View more of Ben’s work on his website Ben Larrabee Photography.
Ben will be photographing 6 sessions between 2 PM and 3 PM on October 31. Please use the button below to schedule a session with Ben.
Front Steps Darien in the News
About FrontSteps
#TheFrontStepsProject, a “coffee moment” idea between Boston photographer Cara Soulia and her friend Kristen Collins, kicked off in Needham, MA on March 17. Within 24 hours, over 100 residents asked to participate. Rock star professional photographer friends Topher Cox and Caitrin Dunphy came on board. Cara, Topher, and Caitrin spent the following week taking images of over 400 members of the Needham community.
Within days, photographers from around the country started their own #TheFrontStepsProject efforts. It is amazing to witness so many creative individuals doing their part to document their communities in this unprecedented time.
#TheFrontStepsProject
FrontSteps in the News
“With so many feeling isolated or disconnected from friends, family and the rest of the world these days, something as simple as a happy photograph can help keep us going.”
— CNN’S RECENT ARTICLE ON #THEFRONTSTEPSPROJECT
Read the CNN story about #TheFrontStepsProject
Watch the NBC Boston segment on #TheFrontStepsProject
Watch and read the ABC News story on #TheFrontStepsProject
Check out the Yahoo! Lifestyle article on #TheFrontStepsProject
