by Whitney Barthel posted in Parenting

Most photographers make their living taking pictures of happy smiling families. But photographer Laura Stribling considers the photos she takes of grieving families to be some of her most precious.
On her off hours, Stribling donates her services to a group called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. The group is comprised of volunteer photographers who donate their services to families of stillborn or terminally ill children.

Stribling spoke to News 2 about her experience with the organization,
?When someone goes through a really hard time, a tragedy, we all say that we want to do something... And I specifically know how I can help and that is a huge gift to be able to walk into someone?s darkest hour and do something for them that physically helps them go through the grieving process, to remember their child and recognize the life that they had.? Unfortunately, there have not been enough volunteer photographers to meet the demands in many areas. The organization is active in the U.S., UK, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It is now accepting applications for volunteer photographers.
Stribling says many photographers don?t consider volunteering because they worry about how they may react in such an emotional situation. She stated,
"It is sad, but when I?m actually in the room I?m so focused on doing a good job that I really think about the sadness later. We tell new volunteers it?s okay to cry with the...