Last week I had the honor of photographing these beautiful children and their families for Flashes of Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides powerful, uplifting portraits of children fighting cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Our session took place at the Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, and it included a visit from Nashville Predators hockey player Mike Fisher.

It was a busy and wonderful day, and I was happy to do my part to help these families in this small but important way. I am so aware that this could be any of us at any time, and I loved photographing these bright faces.

Flashes of Hope provides the families with books of their black-and-white portraits from the day – a priceless keepsake for them to keep forever.

Hug your children, friends. Every moment is precious. Here are a few of my favorites from the day, and I’ll post more soon.