A nonprofit organization has been helping families cope with the heartbreaking loss of a loved one with a simple photo.
The Washington state-based Soulumination has been providing beautiful portraits for families ravaged by cancer and other terminal illnesses for the last several years.
The group says that its images serve as an 'enduring, positive record' of their lives.
Gone too soon: Charlotte, pictured in a photo provided by Soulumination, passed away on September 14, 2010 after battling a condition called progressive neural-muscular disease
Tender moments: Barry, who died from a rare genetic disease called Fanconi anemia in 2007, is pictured with his mother Cindy in this photo from Soulumination
Loving parents: David is pictured with his wife and two little boys, while Corine is kissed by her husband Elton in these emotional images from Soulumination
Under the group's Angel Babies program are parents who are struggling with a son or daughter under the age of 18 who is faced with a life-threatening sickness.
The Adult Legacy plan serves children who are coming to terms with the loss of a parent.
Among them are young Barry, who enjoys a tender moment with his mother in a photo taken before his death from Fanconi anemia in 2007.
Then there's Jada - who died just four days after she was born - who was photographed with the hands of her parents, Marla and Mark, in a touching image taken by a Soulumination photographer.
Celebrating life: Evan, a newborn who was only alive for 17 days, was pictured by Soulumination before he died of necrotizing entercolitis and sepsis
Love: Emmanuel, right, who died of gastric cancer on November 26, 2010 was the loving husband of Veronica, left
Loving: Kyle, left, is kissed by his wife Alison in this photo provided by Soulumination. He died of a rare form of cancer on May 20, 2011 at age 52
A father's love: Greg, right, holds his son Blake, who died in 2006 at just five years old
Each time, the pictures of the families are taken by professional photographers and given to them for free.
The woman behind the organization, Lynette Huffman Johnson, has more than 25 years of experience photographing children and families.
But that changed in 1996 when she received a call from her sister-in-law as tragedy struck her family.
That was when she received a call from her sister-in-law, who had just given birth to a stillborn baby.
Ms Johnson was asked to photograph her niece, Lanie.
Precious: Georgia, left, who suffers from a rare form of cancer known as Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia, is pictured with her mother Alison and father Brian in this photo courtesy of Solumination
Tragedy: Jada, who died just four days after she was born, is photographed with her parents, Marla and Mark, in this image provided by Soulumination
Brave face: Austen, pictured with her mother June, battled Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is pictured with her mother June before her death on August 14, 2012
That loss, compounded with the death of a friend’s baby 20 years earlier, inspired her to create Soulumination.
Ms Huffman Johnson told Slate: 'For a while I think people would worry about [the portraits] because a lot of local media would paint what we did a little more toward death than what it needs to be.
'We promote it as celebrating life. We promote ourselves as loving and accepting of the kids.'
Ms Huffman Johnson now has a staff of 40 professional photographers who volunteer their time and talent for the cause.
