Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Ceremony and then some...

As I said before, I learned a lot at John and Sara's wedding.  Due to some storms rolling through, the ceremony started almost two hours late. Luckily, we had about thirty minutes of light before it started to get dark, and although the wind stayed with us, the ceremony was amazing. It was such a privilege to be able to document this special time for two people who are so special to me!

John looking up the vows he had written earlier - on his iPhone!


A ceremony overlooking the Mediterranean? Yes, please!

It was quite dark by the end of the ceremony.


Married!

The first dance. Note the shoe selection for the party!


Sweetness. :)


And a wild party picture (courtesy of Jared)!

I'm trying to get back in the habit of blogging more regularly -- since we've been home from Spain, I haven't been able to get my schedule straight!! But I promise, it's on my list of things to get re-organized. :)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Restless tonight...

There's a lot running through my head tonight. What could have beens, what could bes. Random thoughts of friends I miss, friends I see daily, and friends I haven't thought of in years. Some resolutions (yes, I know it's June!), or at least some "I'm going to trys." A big part of the restlessness is that I'm going to be an aunt to twins soon, and although they aren't due for another few weeks, they've been threatening to make their appearance sooner rather than later. I keep jumping back and forth between feeling really very excited for them to be born and really wanting them to cook a little longer!


With all of that going on, it is one of those nights where I just can't sit still. I started back to the gym today (ugh, painful after almost a month of being away!), and even after that, I'm still antsy. So after dinner (homemade french bread pizza), I made tomorrow night's dinner:


Chicken salad shells. Sounds a bit weird, I know. But it's oddly good, not to mention simple, easy to make ahead, and cheap. :)  And yes, I put raisins in my chicken salad.

Then, I decided to make some cookies for a special delivery to a friend tomorrow:


Snickerdoodles.... need I say more?  (and I was really digging the shadows...)

And in between all that, dishes got washed (by hand, no dishwasher here other than me!), spent a few minutes outside throwing the tennis ball for the girls, and snapped a few shots for this post... Now I'm wondering whether I should try to sit down and chill out and maybe be able to sleep tonight, or keep going and hope I fall in to bed so exhausted that there's no option other than sleep...

Sunday, June 20, 2010

More wedding loverliness...

Some more wedding lovliness for your veiwing pleasure... After John and Sara's sneak peek, we went downstairs for some more photos.  As we were shooting, the clouds started rolling in over the mountains and the wind picked up...



The villa had so many gorgeous places to take photos!



By the palm tree overlooking the sea...

How happy are they?

Sara, you are simply amazing.


And yes, I will climb into bushes, over rocks and generally go just about anywhere to get the shot I want... (thanks to Jared for taking the shot on the left... he's hiding behind a pillar in the photo on the right!)


Another of Jared's shots... this one of the storm rolling in over the mountain that delayed the wedding for several hours. Sara was determined to have the ceremony outside, so we let the storm blow through, and a few hours later, had a short period of nice (if a bit windy) weather for the ceremony.... those pictures will be up soon!

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Sneak Peek

One of the great things about doing some of the photos before the ceremony is that everyone still looks fresh and beautiful -- no tears have been shed, hair is still in place, and outfits are still clean. We did John and Sara's sneak peek on the solarium of the villa, which had beautiful light and a great view! It was so touching to see the raw emotion of these two seeing each other on their wedding day -- the reality of the day was setting in and these two were all love and emotion! A few of my favorites from Sara getting ready and the sneak peak.

Sara working on Bunny's (aka Megan, aka the wonderful sister and Maid of Honor) make-up

Sara looking out over the mountain behind the villa. The view from either side was gorgous!


"Look at me!"

Love, love, love. (I'm smiling right now, just looking at this photo.)


RAWR! John, you can rock a bouquet.

Don't worry -- more to come...

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Where to begin....

I've been sitting here for five minutes trying to start this blog post. How do I start a post that conveys how grateful I am to have had the opportunity, how much I enjoyed being the one to capture the special moments, how blessed I am to have such amazing friends and clients that trust me with their once in a lifetime events? John and Sara's wedding was not only a once in a lifetime chance to travel to a beautiful part of Spain, it was an amazing opportunity for me to challenge myself as a photographer.  Wedding photography teaches you to be creative, think on your feet and above all, be adaptable (more on that later!).  So, to get you started, here are a few of the details from the wedding. 




Sara made this dress...


...and the invitations...


...and did her hair herself. Yeah, she's that amazing.

Pretty flowers around the villa.

More to come!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Helllooooooo out there!


These past few weeks have absolutely flown by, and I'm sitting here tonight trying to figure out where May and half of June has gone. I have had so many "Oh, I need to blog about this!" moments in the past, um, FOUR weeks and simply haven't had thirty seconds to sit down and put anything on paper (well, screen). So tonight, while I'm getting photos ready to upload for John and Sara, I thought I'd quickly let all of you know that I'm still here. Still digging out from the photos from Spain and from John and Sara's wedding and Day-After shoot. The light at the end of the tunnel is slowly getting brighter, and I promise once I dig out that I'll be more regular about posting. And to whet your appetite for the photos yet to come, a quick shot from John and Sara's amazing wedding in Spain:


Friday, June 4, 2010

on becoming me

I've been struggling lately with defining myself. Not necessarily defining my style, or my personality as a photographer (although those are ALWAYS a work in progress -- you know, that whole "never stop learning" thing), but defining what I want Sarah Reed Photography to be now, and to become in the future. It's both exciting and scary to think about what this could become, and usually leads to me questioning whether I really can be that photographer.

Today, as I was thinking about my pricing and my photo packages some more, really thinking about them, I realized something. I do this for fun. I do this because I love creating photos that my clients love. I am not a boutique photographer. I do things my own way, in my own time, with my own creativity and my own pricing structure. Maybe I'm lucky in that I don't depend on the income from this job to maintain my lifestyle, which lets me be so much more flexible in my pricing structure. That being said, I also feel that pricing myself too low does a disservice to me and my talent, and creates a feeling that I'm not a professional (however burgeoning I might be). And that leads to people wanting something for nothing.

Don't get me wrong -- I love giving things away. I love giving gifts. But that's just it, they are gifts, freely given, unexpected. So while I have the ability to be flexible in my pricing, I also have a responsibility to be true to myself and my photography. So no, I'm not cheap. And I'm not free. But if you appreciate me as a photographer and a professional, I will appreciate you as so much more than a client -- as a friend.

And for your lovely viewing pleasure, a quick shot from the kitchen of the villa I so unwillingly left this week....

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

and....

I'm back in the States! Still recovering, digging out from under the piles of laundry, list of chores, and oodles of photos. But I'm here. And we had an absolutely amazing time in Spain.... photos to come!