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©2011 Neil Shelby Long Photography.
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Butterflies and Angels
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August, from The Butterfly Babes Calendar © Neil Shelby Long 2011
So here it is.
The secret calendar project I’ve been working on since March this year, was finally launched at a glittering ball attended by over 420 people last weekend.
What an honour it’s been working with this amazing group of people. I was asked if I could create a calendar that would raise funds for two charities, Children are Butterflies and Brain Tumour Research, by Nicola Wright and April Hanlon. Nicola lost her daughter Imogen in 2010 to a brain tumour only seven months after it was diagnosed. Imogen was 10 years old. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have met Imogen and from all I’ve heard about her and the love that’s been shown for her, I consider that to be my loss. However, I have gained some wonderful new friends through this journey.
As it turned out, organising and shooting this calendar wasn’t a one man job. I’d researched the types of charity ‘Calendar Girls’ calendars that had been launched in recent years and it appeared a lot of them hadn’t had much thought (or effort) put in to them. I knew that just having a semi naked woman standing in in some random location was never going to cut the mustard for me and I wouldn’t offer such blandness to people who had entrusted me to come up with something to represent something so personal to them. It was time to call in the A-Team.
And boy did we. We called in favours, begged and borrowed, planned, altered plans and finally shot a calendar to be proud of. The sun shone when it had to outdoors and there were no mishaps when in the studio. There was definitely an angel looking down on us all with this project.
Each image represents something to do with that month. From burning off the excess Xmas food with long walks in January and a nod to Barbara Windsor’s Carry On Again Doctor character in February for valentines, through to beach bars in August and back to school in September, you’ll find that each month gives you something to smile about.
So now I want to ask you, the reader, to do something for me. Firstly, share this page with your friends and family, link to it from Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, your own blogs or wherever, we need people to see this now. Secondly, go to The Butterfly Society Facebook page, or email thebutterflysociety@sky.com and order a calendar or three. Christmas is coming, so let’s put some smiles on peoples faces. Thank you.
February from The Butterfly Babes Calendar 2012
