Engaged, Me? What?!

Nick proposed on Thursday night!!! I am so excited and couldn't be happier. The whole experience was so surreal. If that's any indication of what our wedding will be like, my plan of being cool and collected will go completely out the window! I couldn't stop crying - I was so happy. In fact, I kept crying and hugging him until he asked, "So, is that a YES?"

Beautiful holidays lights, a warm rainy evening and a group of girls who started clapping and cheering for us combined to make the moment feel like we were in the middle of some Hollywood scripted scene.

You know, since the onset of reality tv, I've witnessed a few proposals and I always say to myself that it is so irritating when the woman doesn't answer immediately. What's with the tears? What is her problem? Why can't she answer her nervous boyfriend? BUT I had no idea what was really happening until it happened to me. It was like I lost the ability to speak. I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't find the words, much less any words at all. So, no longer will I find fault with the bumbling women who just can't muster the words.

So, the next question of course is "Who will photograph the wedding?" It's a little early to make that decision, but I definitely have some ideas! But I'm not peeping.

I'll post some pictures soon of us and the adorable ring holder.

Special Thanks

It's been a long time since I last posted (ugh!) - all because we've been so busy. Lots of orders for the holidays from my super clients. I love to think about the moment these meaningful images are seen for the first time. My hope is that the most special moments last just a little longer with the help of my photographs.

I recently received a special thanks from one of my portrait clients. Marin and her parents, Bridgette and Will, were so great to get to know throughout the last 18 months or so. Bridgette and I have spent hours on the phone and in person chatting about everything from vacations to The Little Gym to Marin's new teeth. Hah! I photographed a series of three portraits of Marin for the Growing Baby Portrait Package. Marin is adorable and the pictures turned out so great that they are truly all over my website. They are also showcased in one of my sample albums at the studio. Check out some of my favorites below. I thought I'd share their comments with you.

Dear Sara,
Will and I would like to thank you for the beautiful photographs of our baby girl. We had a wonderful time with you, and we are so grateful we found a friendly, talented, and professional photographer. Each sitting went well (even though I somehow managed to be sick each time!) and the photos exceeded our expectations. You have given us the priceless gift of captruing beautiful moments in Marin's life, and we are truly grateful. We have great pictures to go with out memories, so we will never forget the fleeting moments of her infancy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Will, Brigette, Marin & Cloe

How sweet is that! That is definitely the best part of my career - seeing how much the stories I tell with photographs mean to my clients and their friends & family. It was especially nice of them to take the time to send a hand-written note (how rare!). So thanks again Bridgette, Will and Marin! Look forward to seeing you again for Marin's 2 year old portrait if not before then.

Five Months

8 months

13 months

Cool Weather and Hot Drinks

I can't beleive it's already Thanksgiving. It feels like it was just hot August and I was buying popsicles at the grocery store to stay cool. Whenever the weather turns cool, I am always reminded of what life was like at college in Upstate NY at Univ. of Rochester. We used to deal with freezing cold temp's for 6-7 months a year. Every morning, I bundled up with a fleece jacket, a heavy duty windbreaker, hat, gloves and maybe even a scarf to battle the "lake-effect" snow. If you've never experienced winter near a Great Lake, you probably don't know what this is. Imagine snowflakes the size of your palm. No, I'm not kidding. Something about being close to the lake and the moisture just grabbing onto the snow flakes made them huge. Those incredible snows, sledding down the hills on campus and snuggling up with a huge mug of hot chocolate were the best parts of winter there. Since I moved to Atlanta, it's amazing how I get cold at the slightest drop in temperatures. I mean, this weekend it was in the low 60's. In Rochester, this is a warm day and I used to walk around campus like it was summer, but here? Here, I still refuse to wear a heavy jacket but I find myself shivering in the shade. What happened to me?! :) Still, I love the winters because no one looks at me funny when I drink hot chocolate every morning. It's the looks I get for drinking cold chocolate milk in the mornings all through the rest of the year that I just can't help. Yeah, so I'm a chocoholic, I admit it. I've never denied it and I never will. :)

Pumpkin Portrait

On Saturday, I went to Lindsay & Scott's home for a 7 month portrait of their adorable daughter Hadley. I arrived while Hadley was still napping and snuck into the nursery to photograph her sleeping peacefully. How precious!

I just love all the personalized things they added to her nursery. They make the room so warm and comfy.

The weather was perfect so after playing inside, we headed out to their front yard. The white blanket, a white pumpkin and playful Riley, their chocolate brown Labra-doodle, all combined for some really memorable images.


Click here to see Hadley's slideshow!

Newspaper print on my fingers

Ok, so I have to admit, when I found out I had won Best of Atlanta for Established Visual Artist, I just about ran out my door to find a kajillion (yes, that many) copies of the paper with my name printed in lights. Surprisingly, it took driving around for quite a bit to find a stocked newspaper stand. You would think that finding Creative Loafing in Little 5 Points, Candler Park and Virginia Highlands would be easier. But I did manage to find one. So cool! I still can't believe that I won.

Da-dada-dah! Here it is!

Beth & Tim's Wedding

Last Saturday, Beth & Tim's wedding was amazing. Beautiful venue, perfect weather and the most fun couple. Alecia and I had a great time documenting their day. My only complaint was that we couldn't stay longer. A week would do it next time. If you've never been to North Georgia and Neverland Farms, you've gotta go. Suzy and her staff were really great. Everything was taken care of, even to the horse-drawn carriage galloping to the reception!

Here are a few of my favorite images. Take a look at the slideshow to see some more.

Beth's gorgeous hand-made dress!

The perfect color shoes for that dress, after 4 dying attempts!

Beth & her sisters in their horse-drawn carriage en route to the ceremony.

. . . and the men anxiously wait . . .

Congratulations Beth & Tim!

View your Slideshow here.

BEST OF ATLANTA!

Today I was awarded the Best Established Visual Artist in Atlanta by Creative Loafing!


I am so honored (and psyched) to receive this award especially because it was voted on by the public. My clients and fans are the best! Thanks so much for voting for me. You just made my entire year! And how about timing?! Not only did I launch my brand new website last week, but it's also Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year. What better way to celebrate the new year than to get this kind of recognition?!

Click here to see the results.

Oooops, sorry about the bad link....

Just realized the link to Creative Loafing was bad in the e-newsletter I just sent out. Sorry about that. Here's the correct link.

Best of Atlanta

Brand New Website!

YEAH! The new website is here! It's sleek, elegant and easy to navigate. It took a long time to complete it, but I couldn't be happier with the results. I hope you enjoy looking through some of my favorite images and learning more about the studio. We've grown a lot in the last 3 1/2 years and it's so good to see the website reflect the caliber of photography and customer service we provide. Thanks to all our clients who graciously allowed us to use their photographs on the site.

Leave a message on the new message board at the right. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the site. (FYI, don't hit [Enter] until you're ready to post your comment.)

One-of-a-Kind Business Portraits

Last night I got together with one of my favorite people, Shellie, to create some portraits for her new business, Vonschmalhausen, an event planning business. Cool name, huh? We had a great time shooting Shellie in four completely different looks in and around Midtown. Shellie was looking for pictures that represent all the different types of parties and events she plans. Everything from corporate to blind date parties. Check these out! I call them, "All the Personalities of Shellie."

Chillin'

Workin'

Partyin'


Playin'

Jewish Festival Annual Report

Sunday's Atlanta Jewish Festival at the Jewish Community Center in Dunwoody, GA was a blast! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello. And welcome all my new friends!

This is the third year I've set up a booth at the festival and it's always a fun (and hot!) day. I was especially excited about this year's festival because I was able to get my sample AsukaBook album printed and bound in time to put it out on display. And WOW, I got a great response from it!

My entire display turned out great too and I have to thank Nick for all his help. There's no way I could have carried that wall in and out of my house, in and out of the car and then set it up and take it down at the festival without his help. What a great boyfriend! Plus, Nick was selling his brand new CD, Ripple, at the festival. It was just released last week and it's amazing. (I took the pictures that are on the booklet and CD tray!) It's a great mix of blues, rock, a little country, and even some beautiful piano and sax love songs. Take a listen at his site and when you buy a copy, mention I sent you.

Anyway, congratulations to Kathy Raible who won the grand prize raffle of a FREE PORTRAIT! Thanks to everyone who entered and see you next year!

wishing & waiting....

The last two days have been really exhausting but extremely exciting. I am in the process of updating my website and I am so unbelievably anxious to see the final product!

You know the feeling of wanting something so much, but the process of completing it takes so long that you start to lose hope that it will ever be finished? Well that's me. And I hate to say how long it's actually been. Through a series of mishaps (wow those were some serious learning experiences), this new website has been really long in the making. But the end is finally in site (get it? - "site" HA!) I must be delirious with exhaustion. Sorry.

Anyway, I don't think that I'm alone in this feeling, so if you have any encouraging words of wisdom or funny stories, I'd love to hear them. Click "comments" at the end of any post to leave your message.

More next time....

One Year Old!

On Saturday, I had a great time when I photographed little Zoey Alexandra's one year portrait. This was a really special portrait for me because I photographed Zoey's mom's maternity pictures last year. This was the first time I was meeting Zoey and I was really excited.

Zoey and mom met me at the door with smiling faces and excitement in their eyes. The maternity pictures had turned out great and I was so flattered to see them all over their beautiful home. Zoey had a great time riding in her fire truck, playing hide-and-go-seek with mom in her room and snuggling up with dad. She couldn't be any cuter. .

Daddy's little girl!

She had a little meltdown towards the end of our shoot, but nothing a cozy nap couldn't take care of.Hope you had a great nap. Thanks Zoey! See you soon.

Drum roll please.....

Welcome to Sara Speert Photography's brand new BLOG! (We are so glad to be joining the new millennia - 6 1/2 years later ain't so bad... ok, it's pathetic. But we did make it and that's what's important, right?)

This will be a great spot for posting news and photographs from our recent weddings and portraits. I hope that you return again and again to fill your curiosity and post your own thoughts.

The most recent great news is that I had one of my favorite images, one I call "Security", printed in Skirt! Magazine (August). Skirt!, as you can imagine, is for women, but I don't think they'd kill you if you're a guy and wanted to read. It's distributed all over the Southeast which makes me so happy. I've really enjoyed photographing weddings in and around Atlanta, North Georgia and Alabama and I'd love to shoot weddings and portraits in Charleston, Savannah, Hilton Head, and especially at the beaches. So, I'm looking forward to feedback from readers.

So, thanks for reading. Check back often and be sure to visit the website.