5 Ways to Honor Veterans with Your Photography

There are special times of the year in which we can challenge ourselves to go out and do some good with our photography; this Veteran's Day is a great opportunity to shoot with some extra purpose.  With over 23 million veterans in the United States, there is a very good chance that you might know a veteran, have one living on your street, or have a Veteran's Day celebration of some sort in your town.  Below are five ways to give back to the brave men and women who served, fought, and sacrificed for our freedoms.

1.  Document a Veteran's Ceremony.

Documentary-style photography doesn't have to be your niche to take good photos for a good cause.  Towns big and small will have concerts, flag ceremonies, speeches, and parades from veterans that beg to be documented.  Consider attending an event with your camera and capturing those special moments, then offer the photos to the organizations or people you meet as a way of showing your support and/or appreciation.

2.  Shoot family photos for a veteran's family.

If you know a veteran or someone who is currently serving in any branch of the military, ask if you can shoot a free family session as a promo for Veterans Day.  Family photos are precious items for most people, especially those who are far from home, who may be deploying soon, or perhaps those with a long lineage of military service.  You don't have to schedule the shoot for November 11th, but you can introduce the promo and schedule a shoot when it is convenient for all parties.

3. Visit an army hospital, convalescent home or homeless shelter.

There’s a good chance you’ll meet at least one veteran in a recovery home with a military buildup around WWII and the Korean war.  Arrange to visit one of these places that take care of veterans and take your camera.  Listen to veteran’s stories and take their portraits to remember their stories.  It is unfortunate that many of our veterans end up in places like this without family and your company and attentive ear has the power to make a huge difference in their day of celebration.











4. Take photos of your hometown.

Take landscape photos of notable spots in your hometown and make them into cards to send to a veteran serving from your area.  There’s a good chance that with so many people currently in the military, some of them are bound to be from your hometown and having a photo of home could hold a lot of sentimental value to someone who is serving far away from home.  If you don't know of anyone to send these to you find an organization that pairs up service members with people who want to send encouraging notes such as USO's, VFW's, American Legions, and MWR's.

5. Volunteer with an organization.

Many non-profit organizations serve veterans and their families and often these organizations often need or could greatly benefit from photography to help further their mission and raise awareness for the people that they are serving.  Consider reaching out to an organization in your area to volunteer your services for a good cause.  It doesn't even have to be photography-related but will look good as a donation of your time that you can promote on your business site.


Do you have any other suggestions for honoring our veterans with photography?  Post a comment below or if you get the chance to try out one of these five suggestions I would love to see the resulting images!  Here is one of my own:

Works Cited

Donner, Nicholas. "5 Ways to Honor Veterans with Your Photography." craftsy. Craftsy and Sympoz Inc., 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.craftsy.com/blog/?p=126291&ext=FB_PC_PP_Registrations_20141108_blog_26&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social%20Engagement&utm_campaign=Photography%20Club-Registrations&initialPage=true>

"Flags and Tombstones." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/139_1992968/1/139_1992968/cite>

"Florida, Miami, Biscayne Boulevard, Bayfront Park, Veterans Day PARADE." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/300_1821366/1/300_1821366/cite>

"Memorial Day Ceremony In Coconut Grove, Florida." Photographer. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/115_2720589/1/115_2720589/cite>