Christin & Jason - engagement portrait

Christin and Jason are getting married in a little over two weeks on Santa Rosa Beach, FL. I am really excited to photograph another beach wedding and especially to document their intimate ceremony with only 20 people. The celebration will continue a couple weeks later at Barnsley Gardens so that's where we decided to go for their engagement portrait session.

They are so in love and excited about the wedding, and I loved being able to capture some of that emotion. I'd never been to Barnsley Gardens before and I really think I could have spent a week with C & J photographing them all over the grounds. From the ruins and the lush gardens, to the wide open fields and hiking paths, it's a photographer's dream. Good thing we'll be back there again for the reception. :)

Click the image below to watch the slideshow. As always, this slideshow can be purchased in widescreen DVD or downloaded to your iPod by clicking the link at the bottom of the show.

Sara Speert Photography, engagement portrait photographer

New Orleans trip - we're published!

Nick and I were flattered when we were asked to write about our recent trip to New Orleans with Jewish Funds for Social Justice in the organization's monthly e-newsletter. I totally recommend the trip and JFSJ so be sure to check out the next trips to Tampa, Asheville, Savannah and New Orleans. It was a rare opportunity to help the people of New Orleans who really need volunteer support in order to get back on their feet.

Be sure to watch the movie of my images from the inspirational and emotional weekend here.

New Orleans Movie

Click the image to watch the movie

It's hard to believe that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans 3.5 years ago. I kept having to remind myself that we were not in some 3rd world country because the conditions that many are surviving in is truly unacceptable.

So many thoughts filled my head as we met survivors of the storm, talked with community organizers, witnessed many homes still marked with an "X" indicating the number of people found alive in each home, heard about the educational, healthcare and housing conditions before, during and after the storm, and learned what a large impact we, a group of 16 young adults, could have on such an overwhelming situation.

When my husband, Nick and I, heard about the trip to New Orleans with Jewish Funds for Social Justice, I have to admit that I was surprised that there was still need there for help. I haven't heard anything about New Orleans and the recovery efforts from Katrina in a long time, so I naively assumed that things were back to normal.

New Orleans is not back.

New Orleans still needs help and I believe that it can only get to a better place than before the storm with the help from volunteers. The two projects we volunteered with are proof of that.

The image above is especially emotional to me.

Click on the picture to watch the movie and find out why I was brought to tears.

And please, PLEASE, share this with your friends and family. My hope is that by sharing my images and thoughts, that you will look into what is really happening in New Orleans and help those in need and the organizations that are there to help.

This movie has been a true labor of love and hope. So please comment if you are moved to do so.

For more information:
St. Bernard Project
The School at Blair Grocery
The House of Dance and Feathers
Beth Israel Congregation

For more information about volunteering with other organizations:
Volunteer New Orleans

Harper's 1st Baby Album

Harper's portrait a couple weeks ago was the first of the Growing Baby Package. Mom and dad decided since they loved so many of the pictures that the Carry-About Album would be a perfect baby album. And I couldn't agree more! After each session, they'll be adding to the collection and getting another album. How cool will it be to have such fun albums documenting Harper's first 12 months!

Check out this adorable 5x5 album. The colorful circles I used as backgrounds on many of the pages are actually on the wall in the nursery. I just love all the bright colors.

Margaret's 2nd Portrait

Big brother, William, has a lot to teach little Margaret, but one thing she has already mastered is looking adorable. For this 5th portrait with the family, mom had a wonderful idea to use the veil from her wedding during the session. I have mentioned toys, stuffed animals and books to parents to personalize the session and make the kids feel at ease, but this was so different and so beautiful. The soft sheer texture combined with her beautiful skin took my breath away.

And since I started photographing William when he was just a few months old, he's become quite the ham. Every time I aim my camera in his direction, he is so aware of me and looks up to give me a big smile. So cute! He had a blast in the back yard with bubbles. Bubbles have become a recurring activity at many sessions. They are so fun and encourage complete uninhibited laughter and joy. Love William's smile as he reaches for the bubbles in the air.

Hope you enjoy the slideshow. Click the image below to view it.

Michele, Hilly & Max

Ok. This portrait session is one of my favorites for so many reasons. My friends, Michele and Hilly, are so special to me. I've known Michele since before she met Hilly (which is hard to remember now because they are just so perfect for each other). Back in 2002, I photographed some family portraits for her and her sister as a gift to their parents for their anniversary. How amazing is this picture, and look at Harvey... he's hot! (sorry, bit of an inside joke.)

Soon after that session, Hilly proposed (yay!) and I photographed an engagement portrait session at Piedmont Park in the exact spot where he popped the question.

When their wedding came around, they wouldn't allow me to photograph it because they wanted me to enjoy the wedding as a guest, (which I DID!) but of course, I HAD to photograph their first dance.

And now....little Max has joined this beautiful, loving and fantastic family. We had such a fun evening - reading, jumping, eating dinner, taking a bath and generally just watching Max being a bundle of cuteness. Michele and Hilly have been blessed with Max and it was such a pleasure to photograph this next chapter in their lives. As Michele says, I will be photographing their entire lives, and I can't wait to sit down with them and go through all the pictures of their amazing little "dude." I couldn't resist starting off the slideshow with this awesome picture. You guys ROCK!

Click the picture below to view the slideshow.

WARNING to Michele, Hilly and family:
DO NOT BEGIN THIS SLIDESHOW WITHOUT A BOX OF TISSUES.

Love you guys!

a teaser

And because I know my dear friends, Michele and Hilly, are DYING to see pictures from yesterday's portrait of Max, here's a teaser....



More to come this week.

Harper's 1st Portrait

What a week! I am still working on getting the pictures from New Orleans up so check back soon. This past weekend was a busy one with two portrait sessions, a wedding consultation and a shoot at B'nai Torah for the membership directory cover. I'll start with adorable Harper.

Harper's mom acted quickly back in December when we offered discounted gift certificates for the holidays. The timing was great because Harper was born just a few months ago and they have been anxious to schedule a time for me to start photographing her. This is the first of the Growing Baby Portrait Collage series so I am really excited to see how much she changes over the next year. It was wonderful meeting this beautiful family and seeing the love that mom and dad have for little Harper.

Enjoy the slideshow by clicking the picture below!

Day 1: St. Bernard Project

So this is the house that we worked on today. It's in St. Bernard Parish. It's owned by a wonderul old man who used to be a shrimp fisherman. We spent the day insulating the house, ceiling and walls. I've never had such great knowledge of fiberglass insulation. I have a bunch of pictures but can't seem to figure out how to get multiple pictures here from my iPhone without doing multiple posts. So if anyone has an idea, please comment below. Off to sleep....

Arrived and settling in

So, Nick and I arrived in New Orleans tonight without any travel drama. It's amazing! Our group is 16 strong and everyone seems really nice and excited to start working. Our day tomorrow starts early at 7am - translation: so early that I don't remember what that time of day looks like. I am so - correction - we are so not early risers. We stay up usually til around 1 or 2am so getting up tomorrow is going to be interesting.

But I am so excited to finally get to the first project and get my hands dirty. Since all of the renovation I've done in the last 2 years has been on our house, I'm excited to put all my newly acquired knowledge to use. Did you know that I know how to do drywall, tile, paint, stain and I'm really good with a hammer? I am! They are so lucky to have me. :)

More tomorrow with some "before" pictures.

Helping Out

This week, I am headed to New Orleans for an amazing opportunity. Nick and I are volunteering to help rebuild New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It was the costliest tropical cyclone to ever hit the US and is responsible for an estimate $81 billion in damage. It's hard to believe that 3 1/2 years after the storm, families and communities are still trying to rebuild. From what we've heard, the volunteer efforts have tapered off so we are really excited to help out and offer our support. Here's some info about the two projects we'll be working on:

St. Bernard Project removes barriers for families who wish to return to their homes in St. Bernard Parish. They are able to completely rebuild a house that has been gutted to the studs in 12 weeks and for $12,000, with a lot of volunteer labor. Since August 2006, they have helped 184families and recruited 10,000 volunteers.

School at Blair Grocery is a project started by teacher, Nate Turner. He has turned this neighborhood grocery into a home school for community youth. The goal is to teach the kids not only the standard disciplines, but also environmental education, community awareness, social justice and organic farming. They are even using adjacent abandoned lots for their own organic gardens. Check out the video of Mr. Turner discussing the project.


If you're interested in volunteering, the organization we're working with is Jewish Funds for Justice.

I hope to blog while we're there, with before, during & after pictures, and more information about what's needed in NO, so be sure to check back.

STuFF - Sara's Totally Fantastic Finds (Episode 3)

This image provided by GeoEye Satellite Image shows Washington D.C.'s National Mall and the United States Capitol (top), in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 taken at 11:19AM EDT during the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The image, taken through high, wispy white clouds, shows the masses of people between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. (AP Photo/GeoEye Satellite Image)

Check out some more amazing and inspirational images from President Barak Obama's Inauguration at the 44th President of the United States. The photographs are not only from Washington, DC but from all over the world where people watched the monumental day. Thanks, mom for passing this on to me!

STuFF - Sara's Totally Fantastic Finds (Episode 2)

In today's second episode, "episode" (kinda like a comic book, or for those more advanced, a graphic novel), I have two Finds to share.

The first I found by way of one of the many photography blogs I read, Anna Kuperberg's. She posted a link to this fantastic website that sells really cool baby, toddler, kids and mommy clothes. Everything from organic onesies to maternity shirts to cool diaper bags for dad. Check out this adorable infant t-shirt!

Can't you see trying to adjust that knob at 3am while your adorable baby keeps you awake?!

It's called www.babywit.com and if you're like me, you'll spend way too much time looking through the online catalog. But it's really fun!

Ok, the second Find I have to share is The Children's Boutique Warehouse Sale Friday and Saturday, February 20th and 21st. It's a month away so you have some time to get the girls together for a fun afternoon of boutique shopping at ridiculously low prices. A portion of the entrance fee goes to a local charity. The location has changed this year, so be sure to visit the website for directions.

Have a great weekend!

Announcing Portraits in Baltimore

For all our mid-atlantic and northeast US clients and friends, we're heading your way this summer!

We're scheduling sessions now for

May 30 - June 3
Baltimore, MD

Packages are available for baby, kids and family portraits. All portraits are done on-location at your home, at a park, at the Harbor, etc. These "day-in-the-life" portraits sessions last 2 hours and capture natural moments with little posing.

To RSVP, email us here.

STuFF - Sara's Totally Fantastic Findings (Episode 1)

It's a new year and so I thought a perfect time to start something new. I am always finding things, places and activities that I think are cool, fun, meaningful, useful, or otherwise just interesting. I keep thinking," this would be fun to share on the blog," so I'll be sharing those things with you and I'd love to get your thoughts about them. (Just click on Comments at the bottom of the post.) Hopefully I can do this once a week, but don't kill me if I can't maintain that. It is kinda busy around here.

So, being a recent Mac convert, I no longer have all the error messages, blue screen of death, or the irritating - no sound when surfing the web. (Yes, it was really time to upgrade.) This little discovery has been around for quite a while, so don't kill me for just experiencing it because work preempted any fun on the error-filled computer.

AOL Internet Radio is so awesome! Free radio from any CBS station across the country. My personal favorite station of the day is Boston's 80's Channel. They seriously play all of my favorite songs from the 80's, including the first song I ever bought on 45 vinyl, "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco. Seriously, I haven't heard that song in SO long. I have another preset to the local Atlanta station DaveFM. So when I don't feel like getting up to turn on the radio (yeah, sometimes I feel lazy!), I can still hear Mara rant about something during the lunch hour.

So if you haven't tried it out, take a spin. You can listen to any genre of music or talk radio you can imagine.

(wow, I'm listening now and you won't believe what just came on....."Joy and Pain" by Rob Base. Hello memories from junior high!)

The Very Best of 2008

2008 was both an amazing and trying year. The economy, the housing market and the growing unemployment rate has been felt by everyone, but instead of dwelling on that negative, I prefer to stay positive and note all of the wonderful things that happened this year. [Cause when I stay positive, good things happen. :)]

For one, I got married! On a beautiful October Sunday, I uttered my vows through tears to my best friend, Nick. The entire weekend was better than I ever imagined.

And the year was filled was so many memorable moments with my clients. So many cute faces, hugs and kisses, and tears. Ok, many of the tears were mine. I don't know what it is, but just about every time I meet with clients for the Viewing appointment, I tear up looking through the images with them and seeing their responses. Whether they are laughing or tearing up themselves, it means so much to me that my images can illicit that kind of feeling. I think of what my favorite childhood pictures remind me of, the feelings I had at those moments, the security and love I felt from my family, the memories of reading Goodnight Moon with my parents, the thrill at the moment that my brother and I were caught red-handed sneaking Oreo cookies while we thought mom and dad were still asleep upstairs, sitting on my grandfather's lap..... The thought that I am helping kids (and parents) keep memories of their childhoods is both powerful and humbling.

I've heard from clients and friends that they teared up looking at other clients' slideshows, so now I have proof that I'm not just a softy. Just brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.

Ok, I've wiped away the tears and I'm ready to move on to my favorite images from the year. I'm liking this idea as an annual ritual so let me know what you think. Be prepared - this is going to be my longest post ever. Enjoy!

Thanks for looking through all these images. Have an amazing 2009!

Jack is ONE!

Wow, it seems like a really long time since I last posted. I've been busy doing a lot of planning and reorganizing for 2009. It's going to be a fantastic year and I am so excited about some of the changes taking place. To round out 2008, I'll be posting my favorite images from the year soon. But if you're a fan on Facebook, you can already view the pictures.

Last week I had the honor of photographing a portrait session for my friends, Jenny and Pete. I photographed their wedding, only my 4th wedding ever, back in 2004. Here is Jenny looking stunning in her gown and veil at Frogtown Winery in Dahlonega, GA.

So photographing a storytelling portrait session for them with their one year old son, Jack, was a real thrill. I just love having an opportunity to document families at such special moments. Plus, the fact that Jenny and Pete are so wonderful makes it even more enjoyable. Here's Jack's slideshow... Click the image to view the show.

As always, the slideshow is available for purchase on DVD or digital download. Simply click the DVD icon in the menu bar of the show.

My New Year's

Hope you had a great new year's. Here are a few pictures from our time in Dahlonega, GA. The cozy Blue Ridge Mountain town is a great escape from Atlanta and not far away either. Just 1 hour away, we found ourselves surrounded by Christmas lights covering all the trees on the square, homemade maple syrup with Georgia pecans, an awesome jacuzzi in our hotel room, strange and funny items at the local antique stores and some very parched rivers and lakes :(

But first, Nick's birthday was on Monday. Here he is blowing out all the candles on his ice cream cake from Bruster's. Yum!

Nick performing at The Crimson Moon. Love the ambiance and the food at this place and the music isn't half bad either. :)


the countdown to midnight ... love my iphone!


On New Year's Day, we went to a park to take a short hike around the lake, only to find that the lake had been abducted.


But we were still happy because it's 2009. So happy, we felt like jumping for joy.


And I am happy it's my birthday!


The end.