The act of giving

It started selfishly. I had been wanting to get out with my camera when I got an email that my church was hosting a "Spa Day" for IHN, complete with massages, hair cuts, manicures, and make-up. What better to add to that than some family photos? So I contacted the organizer and planned to take individual and family photos of the families involved. The Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) is a nonprofit organization created to provide shelter and comprehensive support for homeless families with children. The families are housed at local churches whose members provide meals, transportation, etc.  I expected to show up on a Friday night and take a few photos, working on my ability to interact with models.  What I got instead, was a gift of my own. 

Jared went with me and the first thing we did when we arrived at the church was to set up an area for the photos.  This was definitely a case of making the best of the situation at hand. Unfortunately, it was dark so we couldn't use the beautifully landscaped areas around the church. Instead, we used a seaside mural painted on the wall of a Sunday School class room as the background.  We pulled items from various rooms to create a small cafe feel. Finally, we were ready for our first victims.... 

The openness and warmth of the families was inspiring. Their love for each other was evident.  D and G have three lovely girls, although only two were with them this evening, and have a relationship full of smiles and laughter. K works with young girls to help them become proper young ladies. SK named her youngest son Reese because that's what she craved during her pregnancy. From H with her four sons (two of whom are twins!) to B and her lovely daughter, these families were loving and inspiring. It was a blessing to me to be a part of this wonderful ministry.  Below are a few of the photos.

J decided that I didn't really need to take his picture. :)

Snow

I love snow. I love watching it fall. I love how it quiets the sounds of the world outside. I love how everything gets blanketed with a layer of white and it changes the drab look of winter into a brilliant, sparkling wonderland. Living in Florida, I don't get to see snow very often anymore. But while attending a conference in South Carolina this past week, guess what? It snowed! I had my little camera with me and couldn't resist snapping a few shots.

This was the view out of our room through the hotel's atrium while it was snowing.

Later, when we went out for dinner, I snapped this shot of the snow in the glow of the street light.

Dudley Farm

Jared and I took my Grandma (who is visiting this week from Pennsylvania) to Dudley Farm this afternoon. We had never been to the farm, which is a state park as well as a historic working farm. As it turns out, it was Plow Day at the farm and they had several teams of horses plowing the fields where they plant corn and sugar cane.  The farm has been in use since the 1800's and has authentic buildings and furniture.  It really was like stepping back in time!  We had a great time and enjoyed the sunshine that has been scarce this week.  Here are a few of my favorites:

One of the teams plowing the field.

TriCounty Hunter Jumper Association Horse Show

The past two weeks have been crazy. Literally.  Between a grant deadline at work, a sick horse at the farm, and keeping my head above water at home, I'm exhausted! But I'm happy to be busy and I did finally get the photos posted on my website from the Tri County Hunter Jumper Association Horse show at Canterbury on January 30th. It was a cold, rainy day for the horse show, but all of the horses seemed to do okay. Barbara showed Ouija for the first time and both did very well!

Barbara and Ouija

Ella telling Rosie not to watch what was happening in the ring.

No, that's not a lot of noise in that photo -- that's how hard it was raining! Sunny and Rosie were champs and schooled outside in the pouring rain before showing in the indoor arena.

Hottie did very well with Ella aboard -- great for the first rainy horse show!

While the weather wasn't the best for horse showing (or photography -- it's dark in that arena to begin with, even more so when it's dark and rainy outside!), we all had a great time.  There's nothing as fun as spending a day with a group of good friends, regardless of what you're doing.

Horse Show!

Horse show season has started again. This past weekend was our first show of the season, Horse Shows in the Park at Canterbury Showplace in Newberry, FL. It was a weekend full of working out the kinks, getting back into the routine and still having fun despite the weather (which rained on Saturday and was gray and really windy on Sunday). We have a new addition to our show team, Sunny and her pony Rosie, who show in the short stirrup division. I always have fun taking photos at the horse show, but I had a BLAST taking photos of Sunny. This is a little girl who LOVES her pony!! She is the true story of the fairy tale little girl with a little white pony. I love her smile and how she hugs her pony after every class. It was so great to hang out with Sunny and her family this weekend, along with my other friends and horse show family. Aja and I made our first foray into the hunter world, competing in a Medal class. I was proud of how we both did for our first time, but I also know now what we need to work on for the future. Don't worry -- we're not abandoning the jumpers, just trying some new things and expanding our horizons. Besides, I wouldn't abandon Bailey out there alone! She and Danny did great this weekend as well. Ella brought two of her greenies in training to the show as well. Both were super stars and did well in their classes. Here are a few of my favorites from the show, the rest can be found on my gallery site.

Despite the noise in this one, I love this shot of Jack -- looks like a painting to me.

Sunny and her pony, Rosie.

Bailey and Danny in the 2'6 jumpers.

Jack in his first horse show!

Super Hottie!

Resolutions

I didn't set a New Year's Resolution this year. I have in years past but they always seemed to be dropped by the wayside by the end of February, if they make it that long. I did, however, think about the things that I want to do this year -- things to change, things to achieve, things to try. For example, I'd like to do more black and white work with my portraits. I love color and the emotions it can create, but there is nothing as elegant as a well done black and white portrait.  I also want to promote my self better this year. Self promotion is something that I find difficult because it feels so... well, self promoting. I have some ideas for getting my name out there a little more -- I'll fill you all in when I get more of the details!

I have also been thinking about the opportunties I have this year -- which are many and varied, both within and outside of my photography. My best friends have invited me to photograph their wedding, which would have been exciting enough before they added the part where the wedding is to be held in Spain! Not only am I blessed to be involved in the marriage of two of my best friends, but that they would trust me to document this incredible occasion for them is just downright humbling. I'm so excited for May and the fun it's going to bring!  The horse show season always brings opportunities as well. Here in Florida, we're lucky to have a year long season. I'm looking forward to getting out there and shooting all of my friends and fellow competitors at the Horse Shows in the Park series at Canterbury, as well as some of the other nearby shows. Hopefully, I'll get down to HITS at least one weekend to watch the Grand Prix, too.

Finally, I would just like to thank everyone who has shown me such amazing support over the past year as I have developed Sarah Reed Photography. You have all been a blessing and I truly appreciate you!

And because no entry is complete with out a photo: 

This is Sarah, an adorable lab pup owned by my wonderful friend Kathy. She was quite tired after playing with Annie and Bella for a few hours while the rest of us visited!

The many faces of Emma...

I'm an aunt.... and that's a glorious thing! I feel so loved when Emma runs up and says "Aunt Sarah, come do this, or that"  or "Guess what, Aunt Sarah??"  Emma gives the best hugs and we have had such fun playing with her Christmas toys.  Jon and Sarah asked me to take some photos of Emma for them, which I was thrilled to do. So I set up Dad's equipment and Emma and I played. We made funny faces and serious faces and smiley faces. We danced and posed and looked sad.... We had a great time!  She makes a lovely ballerina:

A pretty smile with teeth!

One of our sillier moments :)

Constant motion! But one of my favorite shots.

A little quietness.

And her beautiful eyes and smile.

The rest of the photos are on my website, feel free to take a look!