Ashley | Life: As it is | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!

This might be the most moving Life: As it is installment I have shot to date- eyes were welling up with tears on both sides of the camera. 

I met Ashley almost 2 years ago when she hired me to do her family photos- back when I VERY first started my business here in Virginia and long before I started this project. Little did we both know we'd stay in touch and soon enough I would get the honor of featuring her in Life: As it is.

Don't let her images fool you- this woman is a hilarious, somewhat inappropriate at times, dirty joke loving type of gal. But she is also an incredibly strong and giving human being. You see, Ashley SHAVED her head to give it away to be made into wigs for kids with cancer.

I have known people who have given their hair away before and I in fact have given it away TWICE in my lifetime... but NEVER have a met someone who actually shaved their head in order to do it.

Even more moving is that in the process Ashley raised money for the St. Baldrick's foundation, an organization that raises money for kids with cancer- you don't think she'd cut her hair for nothing do you? ;)

So now that I've told you the "what" of Ashley's story I'll let her tell you the "why:"

"I had a cousin who passed away from cancer in her early 20’s, my grandmother had breast cancer, aunts and uncles have had skin cancer, and another cousin’s son had leukemia. Seeing and knowing that these people were fighting for their lives made me want to do SOMETHING, I just didn’t know what. Cancer is truly a bully. I figured the least I could do was shave my head. Of course, I had naturally curly hair, which never seems to grow, so I wouldn’t be doing it for less than $100. Many of my friends thought that was way too low, so I upped it for $250.

 I was $90 away for what seemed like WEEKS. I posted a link on my facebook page daily, I told everyone I met what I was doing and why. Suddenly, on a Wednesday, I not only made my goal, but surpassed it by a few extra dollars! Someone was calling my bluff I think! Well, that Friday, I did it. I shaved my head. I didn’t go completely bald, but I kind of wanted to. Looking back, I think I was a little selfish that I didn’t. Those who are fighting cancer do not get the option of keeping their hair."

"It’s funny, and maybe a little corny too, but I feel more confident with short hair. I think it’s because deep down I know WHY I did it. I have been asked many times if I plan on growing it out and shaving it again, or if I will keep it short. For now, I will grow it out. BUT I wouldn’t hesitate on shaving it again for a second if another loved one were to face cancer!"

I absolutely LOVED being able to feature Ashley in my Life: As it is project. She is the embodiment of strength, confidence, and selflessness and is the definition of an inspiration. 

If you're interested in donating to her cause you can still do so here until September 28th.

And, in case you're curious: Ashley has raised over $650 so far and was able to donate 14 inches of hair!!

A huge thank you to Ashley for allowing me to tell a bit of her story and feature her in this installment of Life: As it is.

XO,
Sarah

Life: As it is Part III | Kondek Girls | Hampton Roads Portait Photographer

Hi!

As always, I think the featured individuals in the Life: As it is series always have a way of telling their story in just the most perfect way. Maybe that's because it's THEIR story.

Meet Melissa and her three girls:

"When I read about Sarah Elle's "Life: As It Is" project, I immediately thought to nominate all three of my amazing young daughters. My oldest, Alexa, 16 years old, and Olivia and Emma, my 12 yr old identical twins, have had to endure a lot of hardships, especially over the past two years, dealing with issues such as their parent's health disabilities, and watching the economy affect their family life to the point of losing the home where they had spent most of their childhood. These 3 girls have had to walk a difficult road full of change, sadness, insecurity and instability, but through it all, each day they woke up with a continual love and appreciation for life itself, they continued to laugh, and helped others laugh with them, and they love hard, and teach others to love right back. Alexa, Emma, and Olivia and their parents are now in a stable home again, and they have learned that they are strong, brave, resilient people, and their experiences have taught them that if they keep walking, keep loving, and keep their heads up, that no matter what, life itself is ALWAYS precious....just as it is."

When first coordinating their Life:As it is session it was a bit difficult to find a date that worked for everyone; and, in fact, we ended up changing the date 4 different times before finally nailing down the session- and even then their dad was out of town for work and we ended up pushing forward anyway. This IS their Life: As it is after all, right? ;)

When I finally had the chance to meet these ladies their faces were full of excitement, a little apprehension (they were about to step in front of the camera after all!), and pure appreciation for the opportunity. It was evident the amount of love they have for each other and the simple appreciation and kindness they bestow on everyone they meet.

 

(How stinking sweet are these two?!)

These two have been a duo the longest so I couldn't help but give them a bit of time to themselves. :)

 

Thank you VERY much to the Kondek girls for allowing me to feature your Life: As it is. Your family is filled with some extremely beautiful souls and I am honored to have gotten to capture some of that on camera.

Best,
Sarah

Life: As it is Part I and II

Danielle- Life: As it is Part II | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!
I can't tell you how excited I am to tell you about Danielle; my second nominee for the Life: As it is project!

When she nominated herself for the project I immediately felt her situation was perfect for Life: As it is! I'll let Danielle explain why:

"I was thrilled and humbled when Sarah chose me to be featured in her project! You see, my "life as it is" - is absolutely amazing, yet bittersweet. I am married to a wonderful man who serves in the Army, and am a stay-at-home mother to a gorgeous little girl, and a soon to be baby boy! I wrote in to Sarah asking for the opportunity to have maternity photos taken for my husband who is deployed overseas. Unfortunately, he is not able to make it home for the upcoming birth of our son. We were not able to take any maternity photos together before my husband left, so this was the perfect opportunity for him to feel a little closer to home. This will be my husbands second deployment in a few short years, and I can't even imagine how difficult it is for him to be away during this time..... I am so proud my husband for the sacrifices he has made for our family. Although my life at times may be difficult playing the role of mommy and daddy, I couldn't be more blessed"

Danielle fits the Life: As it is project perfectly: despite not having every piece of her puzzle in one place during her pregnancy she took it upon herself to document this time in her life regardless.

Without further ado, here is beautiful mom-to-be, Danielle!

I had asked Danielle a bit about her pregnancy and she told me that her biggest craving the entire time has been for Starbucks frappuccinos! So I told her to bring one along!

(Unfortunately the Starbucks happened to be closed at the time we shot so she grabbed a McDonald's milkshake- also an awesome choice if I do say so myself!)

Tattooed on her left wrist is "Love is...  1Corinthians 13:4

Pretty fitting, wouldn't you say?

Another incredible thing about Danielle is that when she learned her husband was going to be deployed she made the difficult decision to leave their post in Colorado and move the entire family to Virginia to be near their parents. That's right, she technically lives in Colorado! Can you imagine leaving what you know and bringing your entire family across the country during a pregnancy? Danielle is one tough and incredible woman!

And since she and her husband are from Virginia that means they are, OF COURSE, Virginia Tech fans! So little does baby Bryce know but he's already destined to be a Hokie ;)

A HUGE early congratulations to Danielle and her family as they soon welcome Bryce into their bunch! It was honestly an incredible joy to get to work with you and I thank you so very much for being willing to be featured! And I hope I get the chance to meet Bryce one day before you move back to Colorado!

Best,
Sarah

Part III can be found here. :)

Sometimes We Just Need a Little Reminding | Hampton Roads Refresher

Hi.

 

Yesterday I woke up to a message from a Sarah Elle Photography family member. In it was a link to a blog and a short note about how it reminded her of my "Life: As it is" project. So, of course, I'm intrigued! It wasn't until I got to the picture at the end of the blog did I realize I've read it before!

I was SHOCKED! I had read this blog before but none of the words triggered any kind of memory for me. Now I was sad. Clearly this means that despite my own words and efforts and projects I, too, needed a refresher on the point of living Life: As it is.

 

The blog post talks a lot about weight being a big factor in avoiding photos; and I agree, that's a lot of the reason I hear that people don't want to be involved in the shoot. Okay. I get it. I've heard it. I've lived it, myself. I, without fail, get those ridiculous unflinching butterflies EVERY.SINGLE. TIME. my picture is taken because I'm worried that I'm not going to see it before it gets posted in order to run interference because I *gasp* MIGHT LOOK FAT.  But I think the author hits it on the head when she responds with "if the magical day does come when you're acceptably thin you'll still REGRET not having any pictures of you with your kids from ages 5-10." This. This right there. This speaks to me.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it forever and ever and ever: Don't wait. This is your life. This is who you are and this is the person your family loves. Don't let yourself get in the way of yourself and of capturing and cementing this time in your life. Maybe you're not a fan of YOU right now but I promise you the people you're having pictures taken with most certainly ARE. Do it for them- you'll thank yourself later.

Oh, and maybe, just maaaaaybe try to give yourself a little credit when looking at your images. Don't be so hard on yourself. Life is hard enough. (And, as I've said before, it's all just preferences).

 

So here's the blog that was shared with me and the author, Teresa, was so gracious enough to give me permission to share it with you all ( I asked her!). So go on, read it. It might just be good for you ;)

http://myfriendteresablog.com/so-youre-feeling-too-fat-to-be-photographed/

With love,
Sarah

p.s. I'd love to know your reactions; so if you don't mind please share them with me, below!

"Life: As it is" Part I - Lauren | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!

Tonight's post is a little different but I am really really excited about it! Tonight's post includes the very first installment of my personal project, Life: As it is. If you're not sure what that is feel free to check it out here before reading further- it will help give you a sense of the whole reason for this shoot and blog post.

BUT the whole point of this post is to feature Lauren; so instead of talking more about the project lets get to it, shall we?!

This is Lauren.

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL?!

Lauren was nominated for Life: As it is by her mother, Marie. Marie has three daughters, including Lauren, and wanted to give Lauren a chance to shine in the spotlight {as anyone with multiple daughters or sisters can tell you that is often something you have to fight for ;) }. 

Marie also wanted to give Lauren a chance to have some POSITIVE ATTENTION as Lauren was born with CH1q25.3-32.1 del. Does it sound familiar? Probably not; as it is so rare that Lauren and her family have yet to hear of or meet ANYONE ELSE who has it! As Marie explains it, CH1q25.3-32.1 del "causes cranial facial abnormalities, bilateral radioulnar stynosis (the bones in her forearm are fused), an autism spectrum diagnosis, and mild ectodermal dyspasia." This affects, among other things, her speech and her abilities to interact with others and pick up on some social cues.

When you are with Lauren all you will see is a gorgeous girl who appears to be a bit shy. She is incredibly smart and could name every single type of dog that was at the park- even the different types of terriers who frankly (other than Charlie Dog) all look alike to me! She is friendly and strong-willed: able to speak up for herself when she was not comfortable with a pose-like standing in high grass with the possibility of lots of bugs. But perhaps most impressively she took direction for posing better than most adults I've worked with (it's a fact)- it was truly a pleasure to get to work with her!  

 

They brought along their dog, Penny!

Easily the second most important person at the shoot tonight was Bow-Wow (who also, for the record, takes posing directions like a champ!).

A very big THANK YOU to Lauren for her willingness to work with me and another big THANK YOU to Marie for the nomination. It was an honor to get to meet Lauren and to learn a little bit about her Life: As it is right now.

Best,
Sarah

*Hair and Makeup by Rylee Spencer

Life: As it is Part II can be found here. 

Life: As it is.

Hi!

I have a new project; maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s called “Life: As it is.” This project is very close to my heart as it attempts to illustrate my philosophy behind portrait photography.

Photography, to me, is about capturing life’s moments- carving out that moment in time and documenting the way you smile, your chosen hairstyle that year, the way Uncle Bill crinkles up his nose when he laughs after telling a joke, or the way your daughter stands on her toes to be bigger than her brother. It’s about truly capturing your life as it is in that very moment- a moment we never get to relive- except through those photographs we took to capture them.

Almost 100% of the time I get inquiries for portrait sessions from individuals and families who want to document a particular milestone (an anniversary, a birth, a homecoming, etc.). Don’t get me wrong, I think these are fantastic reasons to hire a photographer and I hire photographers when I have a milestone, too (we take pictures on our anniversary every single year and I’ve already planned out who I want as my homecoming photographer and my husband doesn’t even have orders yet to deploy!)! But with these inquiry’s I also often hear that people “haven’t had pictures since [their] wedding” or “I’m always the one taking the pictures; it will be nice to be in front of the camera for once” or even “oh no, I’m only interested in pictures of the kids;  I don’t like to have my picture taken.”

 The goal behind Life: As it is is to encourage people not to wait for milestones or wait to “lose a few pounds” before they get in front of the camera. Life is now. This is a moment you will never get back…it is who you are and is a part of who you will become. Don’t wait until your hair grows back out or you fit into those jeans from high school or you wake up and realize it’s been 7 years since you last had photos. Today is your life. Today is your chance to capture it exactly as it is and keep it forever.

With that mentality I have set out to document the life of individuals and families in the area who deserve to be reminded that this part of their life is worth capturing on camera. My hope is to do a segment of Life: As it is every season and in doing so document different portions of life as it is in this world. To do that I needed help….

So, to get the project rolling I opened it up for nominations and I was extremely humbled by the response. It was great to see others nominating people they felt deserved to be featured and it was even cooler to see people nominating themselves and admitting that perhaps it was time to get back in front of the camera. I am so very pleased to announce that the chosen nomination for the first installment of Life: As it is is...........


 actually it's two people!

In one case it is a mother nominated by her daughter and in the other case it is a daughter nominated by her mother. So join me in my excitment as I am honored to announce that Mary Tigner (nominated by daughter Rebecca) and Lauren (nominated by her mother Marie Banner Lewis) are the first two individuals who will be featured in Life: As it is. I am sincerely looking forward to getting to know them both and am eager to document their life as it as and share it with you all this Fall.
  
Stay tuned to the blog because I want to make this project into something BIG and I hope to be able to showcase each individual/family that was nominated.

Best,
Sarah

p.s. new to the blog? be sure to check out my first "welcome" post here or my crash course to Sarah post here!

*for the first installment featuring Lauren, click here !