I am offering 5 FREE photo shoots to women and girls recommended by you.
Nominate your favorite human, who identifies as she/her/they, for a free photoshoot in honor of International Women’s Day.
Is there a woman or girl you know who is working hard for her community, her family, the environment, her passion? Someone who is overlooked? Someone who could use some love or a self-esteem boost?
Send me an email paige(at)paigegreen.com or click the “Sign Up” button on IG and recommend a woman who inspires you. Tell me what you love about them and why you think they could use a photo shoot.
At the end of International Women’s Day, I will select five women to receive the free photo shoot based on the information provided. So the juicier the information you share the better your chances.
You can enter as many women as you like. The offer is for a 2-hour digital portrait photo shoot with me, and quite possibly some film.
The women can live anywhere in the world, but those who live close to the San Francisco Bay Area will be able to redeem their photo shoots sooner. However, I do love to travel, so I would be thrilled to hear about inspiring women in other regions too. Feel free to submit women in other parts of the world and maybe I will do an inspiring women scavenger hunt.
Thank you for reading this silly little blog that I have been keeping alive since 2007! I am grateful for my community and couldn’t do this without your support and encouragement.
People often ask me, “What do you photograph?” This is a quick peek of some photo shoots from the first two months of 2024…
Artist, teacher, mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend, Marla, is living with stage IV breast cancer and wants to document her complex emotions of living with cancer.
Ashley Jones and Grace Borata with their family who stand for, “Social justice, decolonization, LOVE!”
Yoga teacher and adventurer, Diana Estey, is looking for her soul mate.
Fielding and Sebastion are looking forward to getting married this spring.
Researcher and author, Frances Moore Lappé, celebrating her birthday with her family in St Helena, CA.
Farmer Will Holloway reflecting on land access while standing in his soggy winter field on Longer Table Farm in Santa Rosa, CA. Photographed for Made Local Magazine.
Fibershed’s ‘Borrowed from the Soil’ Design Exhibition, located in Point Reyes Station, CA. This exhibition spotlights 13 of the 30 local California designers who joined a year-long Design Challenge, to explore and connect with local soil-to-soil materials, and the land and people involved in creating them.
Promotora María “Lulu” de Lourdes Pérez Centurión from The Botanical Bus providing traditional plant medicine in Sonoma County. Photographed for Made Local Magazine.
Sue Davy, the human bridge between a dog-in-need and their forever home, with dog mommas Elsa and Natasha. Photographed at Keller Street Co-Work.
Pen needed headshots for her emerging acting career. Photographed at Keller Street Co-Work.
So what do I photograph? I photograph all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons. My schedule is open and the rain seems to be slowing down, if you have been thinking about photos for any reason, I would love to connect.
I love breaking through insecurities and helping women and girls feel confident, strong, and beautiful.
Emma Christopher photos after college graduation.
So, my goal for February is to photograph at least five females. Each photoshoot will get a roll of medium format film, to honor my other love and niche (I can have two niches, right?)
The goal of the photoshoots will be to try new things. To push our creative comfort zones. To have fun. And to create photographs that make us both feel confident and empowered.
Lauren’s senior portrait.
So if you are a female in need of photos of any kind. Or if you know a female who could use a creative empowering boost. Or if you want to pay it forward to a female you don’t know, someone who is just starting a business, graduating high school, running a nonprofit, or any number of reasons they don’t have the funds to have professional photos taken of them, then please connect.
Michele Dearborn founder of Little Heart of Blues
Don’t be shy. This is the year of the (female) dragon.
Arann, Harper, Ally and our dog Juno perched in an orange chair in our mustard forest front yard.Medium format film.
2024 is the Year of the Dragon. “A year that encourages us to be ambitious, creative, and strong in facing challenges. By setting big goals, being imaginative, staying resilient, building good connections, and balancing our efforts, we can make this year successful.” I hope so because this is also the year that…
Ally standing confidently on a beach and pointing in the distance with a sandy beach scene and palm tree behind him. Medium format film.
Our marriage turns 15. (The traditional 15th-anniversary gift is crystal, a beautiful and transparent glass that represents how well a couple knows each other after 15 years of marriage.) Appropriate because, “If you don’t know me by now,” is one of our most favorite song lyrics to sing at each other.
Babies Paige and Arann in 2009 ready to take on a lifetime together.
And my photography turns 20. I started my internship at a photo studio in SF and committed to photography in February 2004.
Black and white photo of Half Dome in Yosemite with Ally blurry, giving the peace sign in the foreground and Harper and Arann looking at the view. Medium format film.
We have big plans for how we would love to celebrate… Arann wants to go to Japan, get a new guitar, and have a concert.
Arann Harris playing at his new favorite music venue in Petaluma, California. Medium format film.
Our eldest wants to catch a tuna.
Harper sitting quietly bundled in an orange jacket in the fog on a fishing boat in San Diego with poles behind him. Medium format film.
My youngest desperately wants to learn to hunt and go to Alaska.
Ally happily holding a BB gun at a rental house in Louisiana. Medium format film.
I am dreaming of a trip with Photographers Without Borders to document the all-female ranger team and their orangutan relatives on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Baby Paige holding an orangutan at a rescue facility in Indonesia when she was maybe 9.
But after a year of inflation, we will celebrate by becoming more financially stable and focusing on our health. Yay!!!!
Ally blurry in the foreground giving the middle finger with his dad and brother in the background.Medium format film.
Financially Stable: Two self-employed folks are not ideal. We live very much in the moment and are always crossing our fingers. We have been so lucky to make it through economic downturns, fire seasons, a pandemic, and now inflation… boy are we feeling the inflation. But we both want more stability and this is the year it starts. We’d love to connect with folks who can help us with this challenge.
Three people and a dog are all looking off in different directions on a sunny dock at Tomales Bay. Medium format film.
Health: we are figuring out the heart and mind needs for our eldest.
Harper looking at the camera on top of a brightly colored plastic playground on a beach in Mexico.Medium format film.
And trying to solve the mystery behind our youngest’s perpetual runny nose and belly aches.
Ally timidly looks at the camera standing on a wood plank above a pit of rusty toy trucks. Medium format film.
So it will be a year of celebrating, and hard work, and celebrating hard work.
Blurry photo of Ally playing in water fountain at San Diego Zoo. Medium format film.
We may not make it to Japan, or Indonesia this year, but I am kicking off the new year with an art show at the Petaluma Arts Center in the group exhibit, Souvenirs: A Reflection of Memory. I am grateful to Llisa Demetrios for her lovely invitation. Reception is on Thursday, January 18th – 5:30 to 7:30 PM. I’d love to see familiar faces!
Ally and Harper standing on large rocks in the fog at the edge of the ocean at a beach in Carmel. Medium format film.
In my 20th year in photography, I am excited to: dig deeper into my personal work, photograph with more film, strengthen existing relationships, and build new ones.
Maddie in her yellow dress holding her French Bulldog staring at the camera. Medium format film.
I am starting to get that life-after-photography feeling. I look forward to someday being free from the schlepping of stuff, the all-or-nothing schedule, and the continuous technology chase. I am not sure what will be next: teaching, nonprofit work, researching pinnipeds and sea otters (yes, please.)
A beach in La Jolla, San Diego full of people surrounding a sea lion. Medium format film.
Because I feel the end of photography around the corner, I am going to appreciate every remaining second and celebrate the fact that I have been making it work as a photographer for 20 freakin’ years!!! That is amazing and I couldn’t do it without you.
Blurry silhouette of three kids running toward the ocean at sunset. Medium format film.
Two things I am loving so far in 2024:
The 30-day Drawing Habit with Wendy Mac. I was originally a drawer and I always hoped I’d get back to it someday. This is the perfect way to slide back in. And Wendy is such an incredible teacher. Her message this week was inspired by Julia Childs:
Have the courage to make mistakes, to turn them into something else, to not take ourselves so seriously. And just to DO IT. Do it with love! Learn by doing! Make mistakes! Fail Bravely!
Drawing of a mug given to me by a friend in North Carolina.
And puppy snuggles with ReMap puppies. I call it puppy therapy. My friend Sue adopts momma dogs from shelters, who either have puppies, or are expecting puppies, and she gives them a soft place to land and grow before she helps them find their forever homes. Connecting people with dogs is quite possibly the best feeling ever. We couldn’t make it through life’s challenges without our two dog loves.
Harper sitting on our front steps looking at the camera with his arms wrapped around our two dogs. Medium format film
As always, thank you for your love and support. 99.9% of my work has come from word-of-mouth. So thank you for believing in me and sharing my work with others.
Silhouette of Ally standing with arms stretched out to the side staring at the sunset over the ocean. Medium format film
Happy Year of the ambitious, creative, strong, imaginative, and resilient Dragon! Let’s fail bravely together.
It’s GIVING TUESDAY… Let’s give on Giving Tuesday to our favorite nonprofits like we give to Amazon on Cyber Monday! If you don’t have a favorite nonprofit, here are some of my local favorites who are making the world a better place, and who I have been lucky to document…
The Sonoma County Family YMCA is an inclusive, charitable organization that enriches community through the areas of Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility. Photographed for Made Local Magazine, who tells stories that reflect our local economy, with a special focus on the rich bounty of agriculture, and food and beverage production.
Fibershed is a non-profit organization that develops regional fiber systems that build ecosystem and community health. “Our work expands opportunities to implement climate benefitting agriculture, rebuild regional manufacturing, and connect end-users to the source of our fiber through education. We transform the economic systems behind the production of material culture to mitigate climate change, improve health, and contribute to racial and economic equity.” Click here to see the incredible work they do in their beautiful annual report: https://fibershed.org/annual-report/
Kitchen Table Advisors fuels the economic viability of small sustainable farms and ranches through practical business advising and relationship building.
Homeward Bound of Marin is the primary provider of Marin County homeless shelters and services for homeless families and individuals in Marin, California. Check out their newsletter to learn more about the adorable ChaBrea and her baby, Xayn.
Canal Alliance offers immigration legal services, education and career programs, and social services to help Latino immigrants and their families overcome the barriers to success.
Momentum for Health is one of Santa Clara County’s largest nonprofit providers of behavioral health services. “We offer treatment for both adults and teens — delivering comprehensive, integrated, accessible, culturally competent care.”
Side By Side operates in four counties – Marin, Alameda, Sonoma, and Napa – across the Bay Area, reaching nearly 2,500 children, young adults, and family members per year with much-needed services related to behavioral and mental health, early intervention in schools, LGBTQIA+ support, transitional housing for foster youth, and special education.
Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco builds homes and sustains affordable homeownership opportunities for families in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. “Our values focus on building partnerships, equity, stability, and legacy.”
Audubon Canyon Ranch, is a not-for-profit environmental conservation and education organization founded in 1962. “Today, we collaboratively steward a system of nature preserves totaling 5,000 acres across 26 properties in Marin, Sonoma and Lake counties and work to meet our mission through the integration of education, science, and stewardship in a rapidly changing world.”
ReMap helping one momma dog and her puppies at a time find their forever homes. (We currently have a ReMap foster pup at our house and we are in LOVE!)
Photographing for nonprofits is my most favorite kind of photography, so I am always eager to collaborate with more. I’d love to hear what your favorite nonprofits are. And if you would like to give the gift of photography to your favorite nonprofit that would be AMAZING… let’s connect! (Trying to get better at this networking thing… can you tell? 🙂
As a human and as a parent to two young humans, it is all I can do not to be in a puddle of despair as I see image after image of crying children being pulled from the rubble, or worse, during the Israel-Palestinian Conflict that started on October 7th. It feels impossible. I do not know how this ends, or how people survive once it does end.
But what gives me so much hope is my community.
I offered a free photoshoot if we could raise $2,000 for Doctors Without Borders and Anera and you all responded immediately. So I offered another free photoshoot if we could make it to $4,000 and we made it with my donation included.
So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for giving me hope. Here are some of the generous people I have been lucky to photograph over the years who donated. There were many more donors I have never even met before, and I am floored by your generosity. Thank you.
I wish I could give a free photoshoot to every single person who donated, but the winners for this round are Varsha and Suzanne. But stay tuned, we just may have to do it again.
Kira and her love photographed with medium format digital camera.
Once again we have multiple massive humanitarian emergencies, and once again I am offering a FREE PHOTOSHOOT in the SF Bay Area with donation!
Susie and BooBooBear photographed on medium format film in South Carolina.
After being broken by the endless photos and videos of the thousands of displaced, wounded and killed children, because of the Israel-Gaza war that started on October 6th, 2023, I am holding a raffle and will donate an hour digital photoshoot with one roll of film ($750 value) to anyone who donates $30 or more to either Anera or Doctor’s without Borders… IF we are able to reach $2,000 by midnight on November 8th.
AHH doing his best beach in San Diego photographed on medium format film.
To qualify for the raffle, please send an email to (paigegreenphoto(at)gmail.com) with a receipt of your donation to either Anera or Doctor’s without Borders by midnight November 8th, 2023.
Aerospace engineer and beginner sewist, Rachel, photographed on medium format film.
Charity Watch listed both Anera and Doctor’s Without Borders on their recent list of top rated charities involved in the effort to assist the people of Israel – Palestine during active conflict in the region.
I chose Doctors Without Borders because of the work they are doing in Israel and Gaza, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
“Throughout 2022, fighting was concentrated in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu. While most humanitarian organisations left the area, MSF maintained regular activities, supporting health facilities in Rutshuru, Binza, Kibirizi, and Bambo to provide intensive care, surgery, therapeutic nutrition, and treatment for victims of sexual violence. In addition, we set up emergency interventions for displaced communities. Our teams are running mobile clinics and supporting essential care in health centers near displacement sites, as well as building latrines and distributing water and relief items such as hygiene and cooking kits.”
My cousin Claire Harper, who worked for Doctor’s Without Borders, with her fiancé and their dog.
After some time researching, I chose Anera, a nonprofit without political or religious affiliation, because of their success working on the ground with partners in Palestine mobilizing immediate emergency relief. This is from their press release:
November 3, 2023 Today, Anera delivered into Gaza our first external shipment of aid since the start of the war on October 7. The 14-pallet shipment, containing approximately 153,920 treatments, is part of the response to the dire healthcare situation resulting from the scarcity of medicines and medical supplies due to the war.
”Our Gaza team today distributed hot meals with enough food to feed 57,000 displaced people in UN shelters across Khan Younis, and Rafah. The meals are meat-based and fish-based. Gaza staff also distributed 1,500 fresh produce bundles to the middle area, Khan Younis, and Rafah. The bundles contain enough produce, picked directly from farms, to prepare 66,000 meals. We continue to re-clean five shelters a day in Khan Younis.”
According to Anera’s website, here is what your donation will provide:
$30 can provide the Central Blood Bank Society in Gaza with 16 blood bags - blood bags are a vital element in ensuring patient survival during a crisis
$50 can feed 33 adults with a hearty meal of chicken and rice
$80 can provide a hygiene kit to two displaced families - these kits include hand soap, shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent, toothpaste, and more
$100 can provide a displaced family with a food parcel that will meet their nutritional needs for 5 days - these food parcels include canned meat, cheese, kidney beans, jam, za'atar, and more
$200 can provide two displaced families with food parcels to meet their nutritional needs
Mori House’s Adrian & Chris Lewis-Chang Asian-American/British Husbands at their home in the Redwoods photographed on medium format film.
Why $2,000? The average US taxpayer contributed about $2,000 to the military last year, according to a breakdown Lindsay Koshgarian and colleagues prepared for the Institute for Policy Studies in 2022.
Collins-Geiser family photographed on medium format black and white film.
My hope is that together we can raise at least $2,000 to help bring some relief, and to attempt to offset our tax dollars spent on war. So if you’d like to win that free photoshoot in the SF Bay Area ($750 value) please:
Email a receipt of your donation to: paigegreen(at)gmail.com
Share this post and encourage others to donate, so we can reach the $2,000 goal.
If we meet the $2,000 goal, I will announce the winner on Thursday November 9th.
Teju Adisa-Farrar photographed on medium format film.
And if you’d like our government not to send more money for this war, keep calling your representatives. I use this app to help me call my mine: https://5calls.org/
Arann Harris and our crew photographed on medium format film.
Thank you again for your support. The amount of people suffering because of this conflict is devastating and I feel heartbroken, so I am grateful to connect to others and contribute in the way I know how.
Potts family photographed with medium format digital camera.
Second Line wedding parade through the streets of New Orleans.
When the new year started my family and I talked about where we wanted to go as a family in 2023. Both Arann and Ally said New Orleans. I remembered Fibershed, a nonprofit I have photographed for since 2010, has an affiliate program in Louisiana, so I reached out to see if I could document the affiliate program during our spring break.
Luckily Fibershed said ‘yes’ and so we made our plans. These are the photos of our family adventure on either side of the work portion of the trip. I am very excited to share the photos and stories from the affiliate trip in a later post.
For now here are film photos of our family adventure in New Orleans and Cajun country. I love photographing film for our family adventures. It means I am limited how much I can photograph, so I get to be present in the moment instead of photographing, and I don’t spend time on the trip looking at and sharing photos. When the film is eventually developed it feels like a gift to travel back to our adventure and see what photos made and which didn’t. Which photos will live on to tell the story of our lives.
Arann Harris, my music man, on music street in New Orleans. “Abort the Court” graffiti on a wall in New Orleans. Crawfish boil in front of The Friendly Bar in New Orleans. Arann Harris very excited about his very first crawfish boil.Kayaking to our houseboat outside Breaux Bridge, LA.The view from our houseboat outside of Breaux Bridge, LA.The Whitney Plantation, the only former plantation site in Louisiana with an exclusive focus on slavery. Incredibly powerful.Fishing in Cut Off, LA. Muddy exploration of the wetlands still damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021, Cut Off, LA.Me doing my best to document myself on our family adventures, so someday my kids will know I was there too.
Spring break, summer plans, what school should our kids go to next year?
Refinance, home repairs: roof, fence or paint?
And then…
24 February, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine.
March 6th, 2022 PBS News: “1.5 million people flee from Ukraine, families choosing to leave their homes with only what they could carry, drag their children across borders.”
March 7th, The Guardian: “Children and volunteer soldiers: casualties of the war in Ukraine. UN has recorded 406 deaths and 801 injuries among Ukraine’s civilian population since 24 February.”
And now…
My Brain on War…
How many Ukrainians just finished remodeling their homes before they were bombed?
What is the insurance process like when your home is bombed?
My country falls apart when we are told we have to wear masks. What would happen if we were invaded and attacked by another country?Where would we go to get away?
My boys are obsessed with war: Star Wars, Marvel Wars, all the human wars. How do I take the glory out of war, without making them more anxious than they already are?
And what about the animals in the Ukraine Zoo stuck in their cages panicking during air raids. My dog is scared of the wind, the smoke alarm that beeps in the middle of the night, and the heater. I can’t imagine his heart would make it one night of air raids.
How are we supposed to go on living our lives, while millions of people are fleeing to save theirs?
Donate photo shoots and encourage others to give money. OK, here we go again: First 10 people to match my $750 donation to a charity of your choice from this list will receive a FREE 2 hour FAMILY photo shoot in the SF Bay Area, or one of the places I am traveling this year. (Businesses must donate $1,500 for a free photo shoot.) If 10 people make $750 donations… that will be $7,500 that we can raise together if you help spread the word. Send me proof of your donation to paigegreenphoto@gmail.com
Exercise. Drink water. Eat healthy. Sleep. (It is really late, so that last one isn’t happening tonight. I will try tomorrow.)
Most importantly, I am going to hold my family close and try to remember:
“Life changes fast.
Life changes in the instant.
You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.“
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking
If you want to help with the crisis in Ukraine and you need photos, or if you would like to gift a photo shoot to someone else on International Women’s Day, I have a list of single moms and women identifying business owners, who could use a free photo shoot, please make a donation to a nonprofit addressing the needs of those affected by the war in Ukraine ($750 for families or $1,500 for businesses) and send me an email with proof of your donation.
Thank you, as always, for your love and support. Together we can…
With your help, I was able to donate $1,000 (plus transaction fees) to The Lilith Fund, and $1,000 (plus transaction fees) to Women for Afghan Women.
And I was able to spend time with and photograph these beautiful people.
I also want to send a big THANK YOU to Keller Street CoWork, who generously donated the space for the photo shoots, and to Elizabeth Mori, who volunteered to assist during the photo shoots.
It feels really good to live in a community that cares so much about others and strives to make the world better, especially when the world feels upside down.
And when the world feels upside down, I feel very lucky to be able to use my photography to help in the way I know how. When I get discouraged that what I can do doesn’t feel like much, I remember my middle school motto: Together We Can.
Middle school photo for reference, see if you can guess which one is me. PS: I am grateful every day social media did not exist when I was in middle school.
Thank you for supporting my photography and women’s rights. While this fundraiser has finished, I guarantee there will be more fundraisers in the future. So let me know your photo needs and stay tuned for future photo fundraisers. Happy Giving Tuesday!
somewhere between a handshake and two kisses 