capturing laughter and life. all because of love.
Capture Life. I say that a lot. A LOT. But, it’s all I really wanna do. I am so grateful for this session. My very first session of this year. It was laid back, sweet & real. My hope is that all of my sessions this year and beyond are just like it.
Meet this sweet new family of 3. And, thank them for reminding me why I started this journey in the first place. To Capture Life.
Here’s to 2013, y’all!!!
X’s and O’s, sararose
Another amazing contest comes to a close! Sweet Hunter man #34 won again! Congrats momma Jenn…you sure know how to pull out all the stops! Close 2nd was #52, pretty Faith! Until next time, my sweet sweet friends! XO, SR
Hey Hey FRIENDS!! Been a minute since I have had the chance to sit down and blog! Sorry about that, buuuuuttttttt the fall has proven once again that it’s crazy town. And, I know I am not the only one who feels the bittersweetness of what Fall means to folks in the creative field. One of the most important lessons I have learned this year is that I can’t do everything GREAT. And, I had to choose what I could sorta let go of and what needed to take priority! I am sure you understand!! Anyway, I know you aren’t here to read what all I’ve got to say BUT you are here to see lots of pretty pictures!!
August & September were, like always, wonderful months for business! Lots of sweet new babies, tots with millions of giggles and I fell in love with many new families. Such a blessing to wake up and get to do this every day!
So, it’s time to vote! Remember these important things :: only one vote per person, scroll all the way down to the end of this blog post and vote (please don’t click on individual images), voting starts 11/13 at 8 AM and ends 11/14 at 6 PM, winner receives an 11×14 print from me for free!! OH….I moderate EVERY SINGLE VOTE, so if you don’t see your vote just wait a bit…I may be in a session and not able to approve for a few hours!
BIG Thank you to all of these wonderful families! BIG Thank you to every single person who votes!! Means THE W.O.R.L.D to this small town girl with big awesome dreams!
X’s and O’s, sararose
I figure if I put it out there in a big beautiful graphic folks will see it? Maybe? I hope so! So, SRP is completely booked for 2012. Can’t squeeze anyone in, just can’t! If you saw my current Fall schedule you would wonder how in the world I am gonna do it, but I will. I always do! But, you know what else this means…I am already booking 2013. As of Tuesday night, right before I started watching Parenthood <— best show on TV, for real…I had booked 68 sessions already for next year. Awesomesauce, Crazysauce…whatever you wanna call it! I feel blessed. Super Blessed.
And, as I wrote in my long blog post that I hope most of you read when I introduced the new SRP…did ya read it?? I am not working as much next year, SO if you are one of those cool folks that wants amazing, real, fun, happy photos I hope you will consider calling me soon!!
Lots of X’s and O’s to you guys, sararose
Pretty true, eh? The first time I heard this quote was when I spoke at the AH Inspired Nashville I workshop. Amber handed out these amazing notebooks with this quote on the front. Fairly certain it has been glued to my heart ever since.
So, let’s talk change. I have been wanting to change things up just a bit for a while. I absolutely loved my old branding, but I have changed, my work has changed. I met the sweetest friend who followed my work, booked a session and I finally met for the first time at Inspired. Sweet Kristina Proffitt. Owner & designer of Baby Bird & Bub Bub. I reached out to her after a few months about the idea of changing my branding a little bit. She jumped on board with a list of questions for me. I knew, at that very moment, she got me. She knew exactly where I wanted to take SRP this time and ran with it. She knew my work, she knew ME. And, voila. I now introduce you to the oh so colorful SRP with a laid back style.
If you take a browse around the blog you will find some new things like : what clients are saying. I will change the quote out when I feel so inclined, but wanted to add some personal client experiences so you weren’t just hearing from me. I think it’s important to hear from the client. If you click on any of the session details there will also be personal client quotes for each. You will also find : the srp client. This cute little graphic was inspired by Kate Spade and introduced to me by Amber. Who is my client? Is she really a lot like me? YES. What else? A lot. I really just encourage you to grab a cup ‘o joe/water/coke/oj and look around. My portfolio has been updated. Gosh, that was hard. And, I updated the Get to know Sara post. It’s a doozy, but worth the read.
What to expect going forward? Well, for the remainder of 2012 I plan to do things as I’ve done them this year so far because it is already “planned”. I will continue with clients favorite, but I also hope to blog a few individual sessions since I really haven’t done a good job of that so far this year. What about 2013? I hope to do more informative posts. Definitely feel the urge to do more inspirational posts. Not sure about clients favorite in 2013. It was a HIT the first part of 2012 but I have felt like it has lost its mojo these past few months. Time to do something different I suppose!! Oh yeah, I plan to not work as much. Still not working Sunday’s. And, some Saturday’s I will be OFF. A full weekend to give back to my family….oh, yeah…I am EXCITED. I will continue to work while my boys are in school, will work a *little during summer and come Fall 2013 I will work Monday through Friday with most weekends off. Are you ready for that? I know I am!! What about mini session days? I think I am going to pass the torch on that one. They were successful, but so much work! Do I sound like an old woman OR what? I know there is some talk with a few of my fellow photographers about doing a mini session day with all proceeds going to someone in need. More about that soon.
……And, because I hold true to my promises that I make on my Facebook page here is the only special I will run with this AMAZING deal. I know I will be asked so here ya go :: you will owe the $50 non-refundable deposit by Wednesday, September 19th. I will email out those that participate an email early January asking for the date you would like and get you booked! You will be required to have your session with me in 2013 and it will become VOID come 2014. Sound like a deal? Cool Beans. 2012 pricing :: $275 MINI, $425 FULL. Contact me HERE
Well, It’s all out there now. Time to get back to work!
I appreciate SO much the wonderful clients who sent in their sweet words. I appreciate SO much the encouragement from my husband, Amber, Sarah, Kristina and friends who knew how excited I was about all this. I am just grateful for the hard but necessary road that got me here.
Thank you will never ever be enough!
xoxo, SR
What a fun one! I believe there was only one other month this year that the votes were this close. And, a tie even…a tie that caused me to add some time to the contest! So, without chatter boxin’ away, the winner is…..
And, if you are one of those that kept tally on the votes and are curious where some of hers were you can see them here, here & here!
Thanks friends! Have a wonderful weekend! And, hope to see you over here again soon!
UPDATE from SARA at 1 pm :: WE HAVE A TIE, so voting continues until 2:30 today!! Good Luck :)
SWEET is a good word I could use to describe this past summer and the 41 sessions I had over June + July. I thought I actually didn’t work as much, but clearly I was mistaken, eh? It was a wonderful time with each of these families. And, what a diverse group this is?! A few Seniors, Teens, momma’s to be, lots of 3 month olds, 6 month olds, 9 month olds, 1 year olds, precious brand new babies and one emotional homecoming. Since I got a little behind on the clients favorite I decided to just combine June + July and do a summer time favorites. But, since I combined the two I am doing something different with this one :: READ BELOW
It has been over a month since the last time I wrote a blog! Can you believe that? I remember the first year in business I blogged constantly. It seemed as if I was blogging every.single.day. I remember another photographer saying to me “I don’t know how you have time”. Honestly, now that I think back to that first year or second, even, I am not sure how I survived. I worked too much, but when you are trying to get your name out there that is what you do. Right? Well, that was my theory. You work hard, really hard…Great things will happen. In my personal case that has been so very true. I have worked my tush off and will continue to work hard to be better, do better than what I did the day before. However, I plan to do it a little differently going into 2013. I made a life changing and honestly soul enriching decision earlier this year not to work on Sunday’s. When I took back that day and gave it right back to who it belonged to…my family…life got better. I look forward to waking up next to my husband with no urgency to run out the door to a session. I look forward to staying in my pj’s and cooking breakfast for my loves. I look forward to doing whatever it is WE want to do that day without someone else expecting something from me. We all deserve that. Every single one of us. I promised myself the moment I was feeling like I was getting on the verge of being burnt out I was going to take a step back. Taking back Sunday’s gave me the break I needed. And, honestly…not one of my absolutely wonderful clients complained. I received so many heart warming emails and texts from others that it honestly brought me to my knees. They knew I wanted that day back. They knew I needed that day back. And, for that…for their understanding and encouragement, I will forever be grateful!
So, as I prepare for 2013 what changes will you see? Well, I don’t plan to work “as much” as I did even this year. In May, I had 40 sessions! That is just crazy folks. Did I love every single one of the 40??…ABSOLUTELY, but holy moly sista’s. I don’t plan to work every single Saturday. I know I have several families that work full time and Saturday is their only option. And, because I love them so much I am keeping Saturday’s an option. But, will block off one or two from each month to have a full weekend with my family. A weekend to go the Farm perhaps?? Oh yes. I can just feel the joy in my heart as I type that out. I know the question is going to come up about pricing? Did you know I haven’t raised my prices since 2010? Well, I think it’s time. Don’t worry I am not gonna go crazy, but it’s overdue. BUT, because I am announcing the changes will take effect soon I am going to announce next week a few days of “book this week for 2013 and receive 2012 pricing”. More on that soon. But, be sure to stay in the know through my facebook page. I will continue with the way I have always run my business, because it works for me. I have built a successful business based on having some incredible relationships with my clients and their children. I do not want that to change. I am able to capture some wonderful emotion because they let me “see them”. How incredible is that? All of them different, but amazing in every way.
I am so humbled by this journey. A journey that I hope keeps on keepin’ on.
I am so humbled by my clients. You all know what you mean to me. Thank you will never be enough.
All of my Love, SR
This blog has no intentions of being a book. I am preparing myself for one later this week. No, this one is just to say I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer and to get a few things off my heart. July was always one of my favorite months. Until last year. Last July was a tough one. But, this July will be different. And, if He has different plans, then I will get through it just as I did last July.
So, this is my reminder to YOU to enjoy life, be happy, spend your time with who matters, follow your dreams, DO good, make a difference, put down the phone, visit your grandparents, hug your children, kiss your husband, call your parents, say I’m sorry, forgive, BE thankful, trust HIM, worry less, and hope more.
Make July and every day amazing friends!
X’s and O’s, sararose
(photos below were taken one late evening close by our home… I want more photos WITH my boys, so I made it happen)
