Photographer donates talent to seriously ill children

Published 3:00 pm Monday, June 19, 2006

Lori Aschbrenner wants to preserve memories for families whose lives are overshadowed by serious illness.

She knows first-hand how precious photos are to survivors after a loved one is gone.

Her best friend, Marla, was only 32 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. They were both Navy wives at the time, living in Virginia while their husbands were away at sea.

“She was sister to me,” Aschbrenner said.

Marla had three young children, so she fought the disease every step of the way. But after four years, the cancer overwhelmed her defenses and she died.

“You never think that something like that is going to happen to you or someone you know — especially someone that young. When it does happen, you never want to give up the hope that your loved one will overcome this disease, which is probably why most people don’t think about having their precious moments captured in print,” she said.

The family photo album can serve as a visual link for youngsters to a mother they knew for so little time.

“Marla’s death illustrated the need for someone to take photos — to capture the memories,” she said. “Family members have so much on their minds they often forget.”

Aschbrenner works as a portrait photographer in Oak Harbor.

She is offering free photo sessions to seriously ill children and to seriously ill parents of young children.

Moments In Time by Lori specializes in lifestyle photography, which she said are images that focus on relationships and personalities instead of posed portraits.

The photo sessions will be conducted either in the home or in the hospital.

Will sick people shy away from photography when hair is gone and skin is pale because of chemotherapy? She doesn’t think so.

“It is part of the story of their life,” she said.

And she’s confident families will still be eager to seize the opportunity of high-quality images that include a loved one, even though bald or wearing a wig,

Aschbrenner wanted to ensure families could have high-quality photos without any additional financial burden.

She said she became affiliated with The American Child Photographers Charity Guild (ACPCG). The guild is a nationwide network of professional photographers who donate their time and services.

The photographers present a CD of high resolution images for printing and a slide show set to music to families with seriously ill children. Aschbrenner has expanded her offer to include seriously ill parents of young children.

Chief Petty Officer Cory Aschbrenner, Lori’s husband, was stationed in England when Marla died. His family had accompanied him to a village in Somerset, where they lived for three years.

Marla’s death inspired Lori Aschbrenner to study photography in England, in between raising four children and giving them a home-school education.

When the family returned to the U.S.A., Lori Aschbrenner took photo workshops and classes to perfect her skills.

In addition to serving her paying clients, she is now getting the word out to hospitals, hospices and chaplains about her free photography offer to Whidbey Island residents.

When she gets a call, she is willing to spend up to two or three hours with a family to get perfect images.

Anyone who knows of a seriously ill child or seriously ill parent of young children is invited to call Aschbrenner.

“They only have to ask and the photos are theirs,” she said.