Your personal paparazzi ~ Gainesville Portrait Photographer

It's after Christmas. The holiday hustle and bustle has subsided. Spring hasn't quite arrived yet. It's that lull of a time between seasons and it's the perfect time to spare a little bit of attention for yourself.

Something came to me the other day, as I was writing the blog post about my mom and her photos. She asked me to take some photos, not because she particularly wanted any of herself, but because she wanted some to give to my dad. Because our husbands, our family, our friends, they love us how we are. So even though so often we think "I'd like to lose 5 pounds" or "I need my hair cut" or any of those thousand other excuses we give; the people that love us don't see that. They see us.

I thought about this again after our For the Love get together (You can see my shots here, here, and here. Photos from Wendy are here!). Jared (my husband) saw the photos Wendy took of me and loved them. Now, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the way I looked that day, but we did all have fun and Wendy is a wonderful photographer who took some great photos of me. As I was on the other side of the lens, I felt a little awkward at first, but then started to have a little bit of fun. It was fun to dress up a little bit, put on a little make up and pretend for awhile that I was the prettiest thing out there. That these were my paparazzi. Because I deserved them.

And I think that's a feeling that everyone deserves. So this spring, take some time for yourself. Or buy a gift certificate for that woman in your life that needs to take time for herself. To feel beautiful. Do it for your husband. Your boyfriend. More importantly, do it for yourself.

Let's set something up that makes you feel beautiful. Forget about that five pounds, that imperfect hair. And let me make you the center of someone's attention for awhile. Let me be your paparazzi. Because you deserve it.

All about me...

It's hard for photographers to get in front of the camera. We spend so much time taking photos of everyone else, and so little time appreciating that the service we say that you all need (and you do!) is also one that we need. Because everyone needs to document their life -- where you are now, who you are now. It all changes so fast, that soon the moment that you thought you'd be living forever is gone. 

So when Leah, over at Go{4}Pro Photos posted this contest on her blog, it spurred me to not only think about my About Me page, but also about my favorite photos of myself. Luckily, we'd also recently done some headshots at our For the Love get together and I think we would all say that we put together some lovely images of each other.  So without further ado, this is the official unveiling of my new About Me page. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

(Click on the photo to go to the page!)

Calling all brides....

Married or not, wanna be or current brides -- Want a chance for some fabulous, unique bridal portraits? I'm looking for a few lovely ladies to take part in a photo shoot tentatively planned for Dec 5th (that's a Sunday).  If you're interested and in the Gainesville area, let me know!

This does NOT require you to have a wedding dress (so single ladies, if you're interested too, hit me up!) but that would be handy. There is a chance that the dress may get a little dirty (we're not trashing anything here, though, I promise!), so if this is before your wedding, we might chat about what you'll be wearing.

And because no post is complete without a photo:

PS -- In the upcoming months, I may also be looking for some of you beautiful soon-to-be mama's, so if you're in that category and would be interested in some maternity photos, leave a comment here or shoot me an email!

For the Love!

I was going to start this post with something like "Hey, we're having a get together!" 


And then, for some reason, I looked up "get together" on Urban Dictionary. 
Get Together: What a person with not enough friends to throw a party calls it when they throw a party. (www.urbandictionary.com)

So we're not having a get together! We're having a chat it up, drink some coffee, take some photos, rock it out, have some fun, shindig. You might remember me introducing the idea of For the Love awhile ago. Or you might have read about it on Wendy's blog.  Just to refresh you if you have heard us talk about it, or to introduce you to is if you haven't, For the Love is a group of photographers that love photography, love art, love good friends and fun times. It's a group to bounce ideas off of, to talk with, to find inspiration and motivation, and to chat with about all things photography and not (because seriously, I know Jared and my family get tired of me talking about this light and that aperture and this other lens, etc!).  So come join us! Where, you ask? Here are the details:


Where: Starbucks in downtown Gainesville (Corner of SE 1st St and SE 2nd Place, near The Hipp)
When: 9:30am Saturday, November 20th


Our plan is to grab some coffee, do some chatting, and wander around downtown G'ville with our cameras, playing with locations and head shots of each other (I know, none of us like to be on that side of the camera, but face it -- we all need head shots, right?).


We hope you'll join us!! Please drop us a line and let us know if you're coming in the comments section -- we don't want to wander off without you!

Holiday Sessions!

I am that person that sends out Christmas cards the day after Christmas. So in hopes of my getting in gear and getting MY cards done early this year, I'm offering holiday sessions to all of you! 

These short sessions are a great way to get family photos for those holiday cards! Possible locations are Micanopy, near Newberry, and Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. Each session will last thirty minutes and you will receive 10 high resolution images on CD. As always, prints are also available!

For the Love

"Wouldn't it be cool if we had a group of fellow photographers that we could get together with, just to talk about things?" I remember Wendy saying this to me, clear as day, about six months ago.


Fast forward to Aug 7th. We rode home from the Courtney Fries workshop, ideas bubbling over. We had talked about it before, but now... now everything felt different. It felt like we could actually do these things, like we could style a shoot, plan a get-together of local photographers. Meet up with others in the area and talk photography, talk business, talk about life.

And so the idea of "For the Love" was born.

And started to weasel in to my thoughts. And into Wendy's thoughts.

Over a burrito and taco salad Wednesday night, Wendy and I chatted about what we envisioned -- a group of local photographers, meeting every six or eight weeks. Informal. Not "led" by anyone in particular. Not a workshop, but a group to bounce ideas off of. So For the Love of photography, of art, of friends, of good wine and great food, and all that comes with a good life, we are hereby starting this group. And we want you to join us! Right now, we don't have a large agenda, but we do have a lot of inspiration and a ton of motivation.

So, as the first act of For the Love, Wendy and I would cordially like to invite you to "That 70's Shoot." What is it exactly? A vintage styled shoot complete with a vintage VW bug, fun picnic items, and a lovely styled couple. The shoot will be held on Sunday, Sept 19th at 5pm. The exact location will be announced, but we're planning on an open field near a barn. Right now, we're capping the attendance at 8 participants (at least this time) to maximize everyone's ability to shoot. Afterwards, we're planning to stop some place for dinner and chatting -- where will depend on the location of the shoot.

So why are we doing this? One, because we (Wendy and Sarah) think it's fabulous fun to style a shoot. Two, because who doesn't want to take more pictures and practice a few techniques with no pressure to perform? Photos can be for your portfolio, or just for fun. And three, because we would LOVE to get together with other like minded individuals and chat! So hurry! RSVP so we know you're coming! And feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Photos courtesy of Marc Bordons, Lenaah, John French, & Elizabeth Anne Designs