******UPDATE  08.22.2014******

So if you haven’t heard by now….Anthony Carbajal’s youtube video just went certifiably viral. It has garnered almost 10 million views as of August 22nd, 2014. And #ALSIceBucketChallenge has become an international sensation. I can’t say how happy I am to see ALS finally getting the recognition it deserves. And I’m especially proud of my friend Anthony for becoming the spokes person for this awful disease.  We are all pulling for you buddy!!  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Anthony and I am actually shooting his sister Vanessa’s wedding next month. Such an honor!

Here are some of the highlights of Anthony on the news!

 

 

******UPDATE  02.01.2014******

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your generous support! We have heard from almost 200 photographers who have offered help for Anthony. I am humbled and privileged to be part of this industry.  The full list has been forwarded to Anthony, and he will contact his clients in picking the most appropriate photographer for the clients. Thank you again for all of your support. I will be updating here for future development.

Also, many many of you have mistakenly emailed me. You should email Anthony instead if you want to offer help outside of what we are doing. I’m sure he will appreciate hearing from you! You can email him at Anthony@AnthonyCarbajal.com

And I’m excited & honored to represent Anthony for his wedding on August 31st!

******UPDATE  02.01.2014******

One of our industry’s rising stars, Anthony Carbajal with Anthony Carbajal Photography has just been diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He had been experiencing twitching, cramping and muscle loss in his hands for the last 6 months. Since ALS runs in his family, he most likely knew what it was. He finally decided to have it checked out and that’s when he found out the devastating news. In his own words;

“The past six months my hands became noticeably weaker and both arms began twitching constantly… My last few weddings I had difficulties changing my camera settings because my hands were so weak… I tried to convince myself it was carpal tunnel even though I knew these were the same symptoms my mother & grandmother experienced before they were diagnosed with ALS. I finally got health insurance and was seen by a neurologist… I was diagnosed on Monday January 27th. I had to cancel 26 weddings and need to return about $30,000 in deposits. I’m selling ALL my camera equipment to help refund all my brides and my family is attempting to raise money to help pay for my future medical insurance/costs, as well as my business expenses and taxes.”

So you are probably wondering why I am writing a blog post about this.  Well, Anthony happens to be a very talented photographer and has already booked about 25 weddings this year.  He was advised by his doctors that he will have to quit wedding photography, COMPLETELY.  Despite of the devastating news, he still tried to do the right thing. He is going to return all of his deposits back to his 2014 clients. As you can imagine, that will take a huge hit on his livelihood. Now he has medical bills, therapy, and who knows what else he has to pay for.  I don’t know Anthony personally (although I hope to meet him soon), but I’ve decided to help.  And here’s how you can help as well.

ONE FOR ANTHONY

I am challenging you, the talented wedding photographers out there in Southern California and beyond. To donate ONE day of your talent & time to Anthony and his clients. You will take over one wedding from him, and essentially shoot the wedding for him and his clients. That way he can still keep the fees he’s worked so hard to collect, and it won’t be such a devastating hit to him financially.  This is the time we come together as a community and let’s all pitch in and help Anthony Carbajal fight against this awful disease.  It’s one day of your time, and a life time of appreciation from Anthony Carbajal and his family.

Ready to shoot ONE FOR ANTHONY?

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SIGN UP ON THE DAY(S) YOU ARE AVAILABLE.

Once you sign up, Anthony will go through the available photographers and submit it to his clients. The clients will then choose the photographers they would like to work with in lieu of Anthony.  Big shoe to fill since Anthony is such a talented photographer!!

If you can’t commit to a date, no problem. You can still donate to Anthony by CLICKING HERE. 

Let’s come together as an industry to help one of our own!