Holiday Card Designs

With all the beautiful weather we've been having, we've been getting a lot of calls and emails about our holiday cards. So I thought I'd post the catalog of designs. I've posted the full catalog in the sidebar on the right, so feel free to take a look and contact us for information about ordering.

We have a great selection of new designs that we are really excited about. Please keep in mind that all of these can accommodate custom text and many designs offer different color options. The sky's the limit. Changes start at $25 per change per design (excluding inputting your family's names - there is no extra charge for this.)

For current clients, you're welcome to choose pictures from your most recent portrait session or event. For new clients, if you'd like to book a session in order to purchase cards, the deadline for all portraits sessions is November 15th. November 22nd is the deadline for all holiday cards and gift orders.

October Newsletter

Click here to read our latest e-newsletter - released TODAY. Topics include holiday gifts, our Best of Atlanta award, deadlines for the holidays and a proper introduction of my new assistant, Jessica.

If you'd like to stay "in the know," sign up for our newsletters here. They go out about once a month and we NEVER share your information with a third party.

Sisters: Nicole & Sofia

Oh, how I love photographing sisters. Since I never had one, I just love capturing this amazing and wonderful relationship. Nicole and Sofia are great friends and have so much fun together. I was a bit curious to see what would happen when I asked them to hug, knowing that if someone had asked my brother, Jeff, and me to do that at their age, we both would have said, "EW! No way!" But these girls were so happy to be close to each other, even if Nicole decided it would be fun to lift her sister up by her head, it was still a really fun moment.

Love this fun picture of them playing in the grass. Enjoy the slideshow! Click the image below to view.

Who can I talk to??!

We are getting SOOO close to the wedding! Only 10 days left. My last day working will be this Saturday so if you need to reach us about scheduling a portrait session, placing an order, inquiring about our wedding photography, or general questions, please contact my fantastic assistant, Jessica. Jessica (at) saraphotography.com. She will be happy to answer any questions you may have until I return on November 3rd.

A couple more posts to come before then....

Merrick's Smile

Saturday was another great day at Piedmont Park. I knew from the time we met at our planning meeting that Merrick was going to be a lot of fun. She was smiling and laughing and having a great time just hanging out in the studio. The portrait session didn't disappoint. :) I met Merrick and her parents at the park and had a wonderful time capturing her adorable smile. I love this first image of her snuggling up with her dad. So precious.

Click the image below to view the slideshow.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all the MOT's! Tonight begins Rosh Hashanah in the Jewish calendar so we'll be closed tomorrow to celebrate this important holiday. We'll be back in the studio Wednesday morning at 10am.

Best of Atlanta

Creative Loafing's Best of Atlanta results were announced last week and we won Best Local Visual Arts Blog again! Woohoo! Thanks to everyone who voted!

Liz & Jeff - Engagment Portrait

Nick and I have been taking dancing lessons for our wedding in.... 16 days! Wow, I have so much to do! Anyway, we love our instructors. They are so fun and great teachers. So when they told us at our second lesson that Jeff had proposed just days before, we were so excited. It's been fun comparing wedding planning notes with Liz and sharing in all the excitement. So when they asked me to photograph an engagement session for them, I instantly said yes. They are planning to use one of the pictures from this session in their wedding invitation. Good luck with that you guys! There are a bunch of really great ones and I don't know how you'll decide!

Since they were dance partners before they started dating and haven't stopped dancing since, we had to include some fun pictures of them dancing together.

Enjoy the slideshow! Click the picture below to view it.

See you at the next lesson!

Elias's Laughter

Sunday continued with beautiful weather and another fun portrait with 6-month-old Elias. Elias and his mom are visiting Elias's Aunt and Grandma from California and it was a joy to meet them at a park in College Park. Toward the end of the portrait session, something made Elias laugh and laugh and laugh. In an unusual turn of events, Elias's laughter actually made his family (and me!) laugh too. Usually its the other way around so this was a fun change. Love that sincere and happy moment.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful time at the beach! Here's your slideshow!

Four-legged Friends and Boundless Mia

Friday evening's portrait session was with my neighbor Carole. We did some quick professional headshots and then headed outside for some pictures with her favorite buddies. Don't the pups look like they're smiling?

Then Saturday morning I met the unstoppable Mia. She is so much fun, full of energy and loves to dance. The funniest thing is that her mom thought she may be shy and hiding behind her mom's leg the whole shoot. Boy, was she wrong! Mia is definitely coming into her own as a beautiful and talented 6 year old. Just love the carefree fun expressed through the pictures. Click the image below to view the slideshow.

More to come soon. Had a really fun portrait this afternoon with a fantastic couple - our wedding dance instructors, Liz and Jeff. And yes, there was dancing involved.

2 year old Clark and his trucks

This was a record-breaking weekend for me. 4 portraits in 3 days! Woohoo! I LOVE the fall! And how perfect was the weather?! Just amazing. I've gotta get out into it this evening - now if I could only find some gas. :)

The first portrait of the weekend was Friday morning with Clark. He is an adorable 2 year old who loves trucks. The large dump trucks that were at Piedmont Park (expanding the park and building the infamous parking garage) would have been an ugly interruption for most clients, but Clark was so excited to see them rolling through and happily boasted his knowledge of colors of each truck as it passed.

I love his innocence and playfulness that came through in these images. Click the image below to view the slideshow.

Thank you Clark and Jackie!

Fun with Words

These are all the most common words on my blog...Funny that I like the word "much" so much. Ooops, now I've used it 2 more times!

Found this awesome site at another photographer's blog, (Melissa Jill), who in turn found it on another photographer's blog (Matt Nicolosi). I guess this goes to show that we all sometimes need a mindless break from work. You know you do too, so give it a try!

Go to the site, www.wordle.net, enter a blog address or RSS feed and the program will automatically generate word art from the most used words on the site. Then you can change colors, font and even the direction of the words. Matt actually put in Obama and McCain's sites and got some interesting results.

Happy Friday!

Start a new tradition

We've been working on carrying some new and exclusive items just for the holidays since August. It's always strange to think about snow, Christmas, Hannukah and New Year's during the summer heat, but we are really excited about these new items. Check it out...

The snowflake ornament is made of solid pewter and features your favorite picture front and center. Perfect for little hands and feet, a close-up portrait, or a picture of someone sitting pretty like this one.

Then there's the keepsake year frame that features a larger picture and your choice of a 2007 or 2008 charm.

Either can be added to any portrait package or ordered from your portrait session from earlier this year.

Start a new tradition and purchase one every year. Imagine your Christmas tree as your very own photo album. Or when you go party-hopping in December and are taking a bottle of wine to your friends' and family's homes, add these to personalize your gift. They'll love that you thought to give them something special.

Deadline for all holiday orders is Saturday, November 22nd.

Check back soon for more information on holiday ideas and gifts, and click here to join our mailing list to get the information delivered right to your inbox!

Pins & Needles

Hope you had a fun holiday. My long weekend was great. Got a ton done on the house (yay for our brand new shed and being able to get all our tools out of the house!) and a bit on the wedding (less than 6 weeks to go!), but I was struck with a nasty cold on Sunday. When many people may feel themselves getting sick, they decide to load up on vitamins, fluids and rest. I decided to skip that third item and try to do as much as possible for the yuckiness set in. I managed to mow the lawn, organize some more things in the shed, continue designing on our wedding sign-in book, change the light bulbs in the kitchen and go grocery shopping. I'm crazy, I know. So now I sit in my studio working away, unable to speak because my throat hurts so much. At least there's email and "quiet" productivity. Here's a hot tea and Ricola lozenge toast to feeling better ASAP.

Baby Book

Just finished designing another adorable Carry-About Album for Daniel. These albums are so cute and so well-made. I've gotta get some more samples made just because I love looking at them so much. :)

This one is a 5x5 album that Daniel is giving to his grandparents for their birthdays. Love it! (Click the page-spread to see the entire album.)

Just for the fun of it

So last week I was cruising the web looking through many of the website directories where I have SSP listed - checking to be sure the the information is correct - and I happened upon a profile for an artist at a social website, similar to MySpace but for artists. I was surprised and so flattered that he listed me as his favorite photographer! Since most of his work is graphic and computer generated, completely different than what I do, I am especially flattered. Here's what he wrote to me:

You definitely deserve (being called my) favourite! Your photos pack so much emotions in them, every photo tells such a great story! they are so inspiring!...

I came across your portfolio while I was looking for photographs for inspiration to do something different. At one point I felt my photography was turning very monotonous as in I was taking photos of only seascapes, beaches, objects,etc..and I felt the need to try something different and I really wanted to start with human emotions and expressions and of all the portfolios I looked on the net, yours caught my eye (because) the moment I see any of your photographs, I instantly get the whole story behind it. It makes me feel that I know (the people) in the photograph, which is pretty amazing!

I just wanna say ... keep rocking! you're awesome! and I hope someday I can be half as talented as you are.. :)

How nice is that?! Compliments from complete strangers are so amazing because they are totally unbiased. So, thanks, Nitin!

In other news, I posted a couple weeks ago that I had a great time having lunch with some friends. As much as my friends and family like to think that I have oodles of time to grab lunch here and there and do whatever I'd like during the workday, it's usually not the case. So much to do, and so little time! :) But I managed to make it to lunch to see my friends, Megan Resch (who was visiting from Phoenix), Chris and Katie, and Jen Odom. Here's what 5 photographers look like when they photograph themselves. :)

I love that Chris is the only guy AND the only one truly in focus. He knew exactly where to stand. :)

Vertical storage opens UP my world

The blogging Catch-22: the busier I get, the more I have to share BUT the less time I have to do it. I feel like it's been months since I last posted although it's only been a couple days. Guess that I've just had so much going on and thoughts of "oh! I should blog about this!" but never getting around to it continue to inundate me. So, I'm sorry! I still love you and I don't mean to neglect you. :)

This weekend has been a rare one off so I've had the chance do some wedding stuff - shoes and hair jewelry (my new favorite girly thing) & more improvements to my studio office.

With an amazing new addition to my studio (more details soon), it was definitely time to update my desk and get some better organization. I love that I now have some great vertical storage and that I am no longer facing the wall. I know there's gotta be some Fung Shui thing against a desk facing a wall because I feel so much better - more relaxed and at ease - now that I am facing open space instead. Plus the little splash of orange on the display table definitely brightens the mood.

Off to do some yardwork and have another productive day! Hope you're having a great weekend too.

Portrait Day 2008

Click here to RSVP for this event.

Register early, by August 20th, and receive 50% off any single package of holiday cards (25 card/25 envelopes).

Final registration deadline is August 29th.

Daniel

What a busy week. It's been so busy, it's amazing that I still can see straight. From interviewing prospective part-time employees (woohoo, more about that another time), wedding planning (videographer, cake...), putting together more details for Portrait Day 2008 (more to come on this too!), making sushi with friends for dinner last night, meeting some photog friends for lunch today, and oh, yeah...actually shooting and working on some photography, it's been a bit schizophrenic. So I am so excited to share some images with you.

I met Daniel's mom, Andrea, at my friend Heather's bridal shower a few months ago. We had a great time chatting over a delicious lunch at The Swan Coach House and celebrating our adorable friends. Some of the highlights from the session include Daniel playing with the hose in the backyard and walking around in mom's leopard-print high-heel shoes. Seriously, he walked better in them than I do in heels! But my favorite is the image below of Daniel laughing so hard that mom and dad can't keep from laughing too. JA beautiful family portrait of an emotion-filled moment. Love it!

Enjoy the slideshow! Click the image below to view.

10 things ...

Last summer, I was "tagged" to write "10 Things" on my blog. The 10 things that most people don't know about me. I was kind of saving this post for a slow time of year when I didn't have much to say, but THANKFULLY, I've been so busy that I'm really never at a loss for something to post here. Love to hear what you think about all these random things about me, so feel free to leave a comment.

10. I love recycling. Since I've been recycling since high school, I've become so accustomed to recycling everything from junk mail and printer paper to soup cans and cardboard packaging. In fact if I see a small piece of paper in the garbage I will often reach in to "rescue" it (only if it's not covered in rotten food! Not like the "Eclaire" episode of Seinfeld.)

9. I used to dance in college. It's true. I danced with a student group called D'Motions at the University of Rochester. I absolutely loved it. We danced to everything from country to rap to R&B. Despite my nervousness about performing, I really enjoyed moving to music especially Michael Jackson and Seal.

8. I love chocolate. Ok, so not so much a surprise, but the interesting part is I love Hershey's over Ghiradeli, M&M's over chocolate mousse. I'm not the fancy chocolate kinda girl. Just give me a Hershey's kiss and I'll grin from ear to ear. My brother calls it "my chocolate face."

7. I am really sentimental. If you couldn't tell from the images I photograph, relationships are the most important thing in the world to me. And to remember friends, family and experiences, I save all kinds of things. I recently found a box filled with old notes. The notes I used to pass with friends in elementary school were all about whether or not I thought a particular boy was cute. "Check Yes or No." Notes in middle school were about our plans to go to the movies that weekend. Notes in summer camp were goodbye notes, recounting how wonderful the summer was and how much we were going to miss each other. High school notes were always folded so intricately that it was difficult to get it back once I had read the note. But it did serve well for slipping them through the vents in my locker. I have a feeling that the time of written notes is long gone. Everyone's texting now instead, right? It is definitely better for the environment, but just not the same.

6. I think if I wasn't a photographer, I'd probably have gone to school for interior design. I just love figuring out what kind of feeling I want to have in a room and then finding items to go along with it. My only problem is that I have a hard time making final decisions so things like the walls in our living room have gone almost completely bare since we moved in over a year ago.

5. I've been practicing yoga for over 5 years. It brings me great peace and I love how it clears my head and resets me after a long day. It's also great for toned arms. :)

4. Everyone with my last name is somehow related. Pretty rare these days.

3. I'm going to be an Aunt! My brother and sister-in-law are pregnant and due in August and I can't wait to photograph the little one! She will be the first grandchild in our family and it is so exciting! My mom already started knitting a sweater and hat. :) (Creativity runs in the family.)

2. My favorite band is The Police (next to my fiance's band, the Nick Edelstein Band, of course.) They were the first band I fell in love with when I was 10. My brother bought the "The Singles" cassette for my birthday and I listened to it so much, I actually wore out the cassette. By some stroke of amazing luck, I won tickets last year from DaveFM to see The Police in Phoenix. They flew us out there, got us a hotel room and tickets to the show. It was amazing to see them after listening to themso many years.

1. I attended an all-girls' high school. My parents were generous enough to give me the choice of a coed school and the one I ended up going to. Why choose all-girls? My brother went to the coed school and after 5 years in elementary school known as "Jeff's little sister," I wanted to carve my own path. Plus I had made some wonderful girl friends in summer camp and figured that school would just be one big camp party. Instead what I found was a place where young women were empowed to become whoever they wanted. It was the biggest confidence boost of my life and one of the primary reasons why I had the confidence to start my own business.


If you made it all the way to this point, you deserve your own handful of Hershey's kisses!