TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Photographer Misty Dameron narrowed her eyes and sized up her subject, a 9-year-old foster child named Haley.

"Can you turn around just a little bit toward the light for me?" she asked. Haley complied and Dameron started firing off shots with her camera. "Oh my goodness, you're so beautiful."

And she was, with long, blond ringlets pouring over her shoulders thanks to Curl Talk, the hair salon next door. Later when it was his turn, Haley's 6-year-old brother, Gaspar, had to be coaxed over to the camera, distracted as he was with his new Iron Man wristband toy, which shot foam darts.

"You got me!" a case worker cried, throwing up her arms in mock distress when a dart bounced off her stomach.

Eventually Gaspar reluctantly parted with the toy to take some individual photos, then posed for a few shots with his sister.

The photo shoot and the coiffing were part of a collaboration for Heart Gallery, a traveling exhibit of formal portraits of foster children. The youngsters who are showcased need permanent homes but are difficult to place for adoption because they're older, have special needs or are part of a sibling group.

"People want babies, usually," said Heart Gallery Coordinator Jana Slagle. "But there are so many kids in long-term foster care until they're 18 who never get adopted, and that's what we're trying to avoid."

The Heart Gallery displays photos of children in need of homes at public events where prospective parents might be recruited. The newest installment in the ongoing exhibition will go up at a booth at next month's Kern County Fair.

The program is part of a broader network of Heart Galleries across the country. Santa Fe, N.M., photographer Cathy Maier Callanan and the New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department put together a gallery in their home state in 2001, and enjoyed so much success that the program has been replicated in dozens of other cities.

The Kern County Department of Human Services launched the local Heart Gallery in 2007. Children participate voluntarily, Slagle said, and case workers discuss with them ahead of time what it will mean if their photo is displayed publicly and what to say if anyone asks them about it.

Misty Dameron Photography and Curl Talk both donated their services Tuesday.

Stylist Molly Quarnberg, 21, said she was happy to help out.

"It's a good cause, and the kids are cute," she said. "It's a lot funner when clients are kids because they talk more."

Haley had been quite adamant about her hairstyle. "I want curls," she said.

After she got them, she beamed in the mirror.

Gaspar wasn't as concerned about his hair, which was trimmed and spiked with a little gel, as he was with his new toy. Bakersfield Diamond Divas, an all-girl, flat-track roller derby team, had donated backpacks for the kids for back-to-school, as well as a couple of toys. Gaspar got the Iron Man dart shooter. Haley got a pair of Barbie dolls.

"Pow!" he shouted enthusiastically as the harmless darts bounced off his victims.

Dameron took a few candid shots of the kids playing along with traditional shots of the siblings looking straight into the camera lens.

"Kids are a little harder because whatever your vision is for what you want, you just have to let that go and go with whatever their personality is," she said. "It's nice when there's more than one because then you have the relationship. The best pictures are the ones with a story."

Dameron has done four Heart Gallery photo sessions so far, and plans to shoot more.

"This is my ministry. It's my mission," she said. "My husband and I aren't in a position to adopt, but this is something I can do, lend my talent to help these kids find homes."

And the timing couldn't have been better. Dameron recently moved into a studio at The Ice House after years of working out of her home and will be hosting a grand opening celebration at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The red brick of the historic building provided a wonderful backdrop for the portraits. The children alternately grinned, giggled and looked down bashfully as Dameron's camera clicked away.

"You're doing great," Dameron prodded, occasionally asking the children to exchange knock-knock jokes in order to elicit smiles.

The brother and sister seemed to enjoy themselves.