Brandy Zollars takes photos of a military spouse with her three children during the Military Mini-Sessions event Nov. 16 on Fort Sill as Lisa Johnson assists. Professional photographers and volunteers gave the images to the families of deployed servi...

FORT SILL, Okla. --Photographers from all over Oklahoma came together Nov. 16 on Fort Sill to donate their time and skills to families of deployed Soldiers.

With many units deployed to various locations from the area, the event, titled Military Mini-Sessions, professionally photographed more than 50 families so spouses can send the photos to their service members far away or use however they want. The photos will also be edited and distributed for free.

"We are so excited to have pictures for a Christmas card this year, even if my husband is only present in a framed photo we were holding. It means so much," said Missy Broadhurst, a spouse having her family's photo taken without her husband who is deployed to the Middle East.

Jenn Pineo, a volunteer assistant, was photographed as part of last year's event. This year she wanted to be on the other side of the camera and help give others the gift she received.

"I am one of the lucky ones this year to have my husband home but last year I wasn't," said Pineo. "When you're homesick, all you want is home. You want to grab onto whatever pieces you can so that even for a few seconds you are right back where you want to be. I believe these photos will do exactly that for the Soldiers who receive them."

Some spouses of deployed Soldiers even showed up to just to lend a helping hand.

"I won't have my husband here for the holidays and I know how important these images are," said Samantha Ruzicka, spouse of a Soldier in Afghanistan. "I wanted to know I was helping provide smiles for these families who have shed so many tears."

Internet in a deployed environment is often scarce, so the high resolution professional photos are especially appreciated by the service member's away from home.

"During this last deployment to Afghanistan last year the Internet was shoddy at best," said Lt. Col. Damon Wells, 214th Fires Brigade deputy commander. "We were lucky to be able to check our personal mail and there was no way we could get Skype or other video chatting out there in the middle of nowhere."

Laura Fleming started the event in Hawaii in 2010 all by herself after promising herself that if her photography business was successful she would find a way to give back to military families.

"My husband Paul has been deployed three times and while he was away I would send him photos of our three daughters often. He would also ask for photos of me with them which gave me the idea of how I could give back to the Soldiers and their families," said Fleming. "We knew so many families who would be missing their Soldiers for Christmas, and all I could think of was how I wanted to do something to send those Soldiers a little holiday cheer, which resulted in the idea for the sessions."

Fleming found families of deployed service members and started the sessions alone for the first two years then began recruiting additional help.

"I would set aside an entire day from sunrise to sunset to photograph, but last year I had the idea to try to get another photographer on board which led to two photographers and one volunteer assistant. We did 29 families last year and this year I wanted to go bigger," she said.

It went bigger indeed, with nine photographers and 17 volunteers showing up to give back at the event.

"This year's mini-sessions couldn't have gone more smoothly," said Fleming. "We had parking directors, greeters, prop masters and assistants in addition to our photographers with everyone working together to make our event a huge success."

Fleming is scheduled to move with her family to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., in June but hopes that the sessions will continue on Fort Sill with someone else leading. In addition to photos for deployed Soldiers, Fleming and other volunteers also do a similar event for military homecomings, capturing the moment the families see their returning Soldier so the family doesn't have to worry about shooting their own photos of that precious moment.

"Families who are interested in finding a photographer for their homecoming can visit welcomethemhome.org to find a photographer in their area willing to photograph their service member's homecoming free of charge," said Fleming.