Portait of My Home | Personal | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!

The other afternoon when I was home in the quiet, calm, anticipatory hours before my husband gets home from work I was struck by  how "lived in" our home looks. Granted, the majority of our walls are bare since I haven't quite figured out the whole decorating "thing" yet {sidebar: one time, after we had been in our house for about 15 months, a repair man asked if we "had just moved in"-- total fail} so I don't mean it has the lived in "homey" look but our house definitely looks like people are there. And almost always, if I'm being honest, it looks like we left in a hurry :p

We're not the most organized of folks, that's for sure, but we're not dirty. And the other day I was struck by the "lived-in-ness" of our space and felt this urge to capture it in its raw and real state.

This is definitely not my usual portrait format but I consider this a portrait of my home.

Even Charlie Dog leaves his things as if he left in a hurry....

I will leave you with this image. 

These cars are extremely important to me as every year my husband gets me one for our dating anniversary. 

When we first started dating back in college we were, simply put: poor; and for our first anniversary he wrote me a note explaining how one day we'll have enough money to take trips to Europe and go to day spas and buy expensive cars- but for now this will have to do: and sitting with the letter were my favorite flowers and my very first Hot Wheels car (an Aston Martin).

These cars will go with us wherever we go and are by far my most looked forward to and cherished gift every single year out of any holiday.

Best,
Sarah

Business Birthday | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

IT'S MY BUSINESS BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Yep, it's Sarah Elle Photography's ONE YEAR birthday! (Ok, really it's tomorrow but I couldn't wait to celebrate!) Can you believe it?! Holy moly I canNOT believe it! 

 I'll be honest with you, when I first started out I was so overwhelmed- I just wanted to take pictures! Why did running a business have to be so complicated? Couldn't I just take pictures, be happy, and eat bon bons?

 But I couldn't be happier that I pushed through to the other side. I am excited about not only my skills as a photographer but where SEP is headed as a business. I am PROUD to call myself a photographer and am constantly in a state of feeling excited because of all the great things I get to do being that photographer.

I get to do something I LOVE. I get to work towards being better at something. I get to challenge myself. I get to meet and work with incredible individuals who teach  me about things I never imagined. I get to help capture moments for people they will look back on and smile. I get to help create a vision and make it come to life. I get to be friends with people who get me. I get to create and express and love.

I get to be a photographer!

Of course, no birthday post would be complete without a look back at the events of the past year. 

This past year Sarah Elle Photography:

-Created a brand new look, logo, blog, and website! (Yay www.sarahelle.com !)

-Got an awesome new lens (50mm 1.4 represent!)

-Reached OVER 700 followers on facebook

-Created a twitter and pinterest and together accumulated 93 followers (p.s. feel free to make that number bigger and follow me! @SarahElle_Photo for twitter and pinterest.com/sarahellephoto for pinterest)

-Developed and initiated a personal project- Life: As it is and have shot the first installment and have already scheduled the next two!

-Pushed myself to learn by attending a Q&A session with Amanda Hedgepeth Photography and am signed up for an 8 hour one-on-one mentor session with Sharon Elizabeth Photography.

-Helped design, plan, and bring to life a styled bridal shoot for fellow photographers and friends.

-Teamed up with an "accountability buddy" (shout out to Jessica!) to keep me motivated and accountable as I push forward on my goals.

-Shot maternity, newborn, birthday milestones, family, couples, anniversary, individual portraits, deployed family portraits, senior portraits, military themed, Rockabilly themed, Christmas themed, Fall themed, Winter themed, and Valentines Day themed sessions- all while discovering and finding my way to what truly seems to fuel my passion for photography: Couples and Senior Portraits.

But the truth is I couldn't have done any of this without each and every one of you! You, my Sarah Elle Photography family, have believed in me and supported me throughout this year long journey. Whether you've been following me since day 1 or found me yesterday, the fact that you are reading this shows your support- your encouragement! Thank YOU Sarah Elle Photography family for believing in me and loving me enough to support me on my path.

And, of course, I can't not share a little peek at my first shoot versus my more recent session. Because looking back at where we've come from is always a little fun ;)


Very first session a year ago on the left and latest session on the right!

 

See! Looking back at where you've come from isn't all bad! At least for me personally it helps to remind me of how far I have come and highlights what I'm capable of achieving if I just try hard enough!

Happy happy birthday Sarah Elle Photography family; and cheers to 50 more!

Best,
Sarah

That Time I Was a Bit Irrational... | Hampton Roads Client

Hi!

This past Saturday was one of the days I look forward to every single year: it was the day of my and John's anniversary photo shoot! We are about to celebrate our anniversary (this week!) and, simply because it makes me happy, John dresses up EVERY YEAR and puts on a smile for pictures (remember how much I've harped about documenting life as it is- this is one of those times!).

For whatever ridiculous reason I decided I simply HAD to wear a yellow cardigan for our pictures.

It gets worse.

I then randomly saw an emerald green shirt somewhere in the weeks leading up to our session and decided I HAD to wear an emerald green BLOUSE (not just a shirt, but a blouse).... and a yellow cardigan.

It gets even worse.

It couldn't just be a plain emerald green blouse. It had to have frills, or stripes, or bows, or a sash. It couldn't simply be a plain emerald green blouse (anyone think I'm crazy, yet?).

Oh hey, guess what? I DON'T OWN either of these things.

 John is a seriously patient man (oh my goodness did I luck out when I met that man) so he offered to go with me to help me find my crazy specific outfit. All men everywhere are going "noooo, man, get out now! danger! danger!" but John survived. I think. I mean, he's still here, so....

But of course, because my "needs" were so specific I did not find anything when we went shopping. So a few days later I went back by myself- and spent TWO hours in the same store scouring EVERYTHING. I came home with 7 options (none of which were emerald green in color) and by the morning had decided none of them were what I wanted. (Ok now I'M feeling like a crazy person putting this all out in words)

We are now 2 days from the session.

Clients, I am FEELING for you right now. I totally know what it's like to throw everything out of your closet on to your bed trying to decide exactly what you want to wear- even worse if you're bringing more than one outfit for an outfit change!

John at this point is still very patient (see how we have reached yet ANOTHER wedding anniversary? It's totally because I'm 90% crazy and he's only about 2%) and offers to take me to a different mall before we meet friends for dinner. At this point I've let go of my green and yellow combo requirements and simply was desperate to find something I would be excited to wear to the shoot.

When I woke up the next morning to get ready for our session I realized that letting go of my requirements enabled me to find exactly what I had been dreaming about- the perfect outfit.

 Yes, it is yellow and green. But it's not emerald green. And it isn't a blouse; in fact, it's 100% cotton t-shirt! And it doesn't have stripes, it has polka dots. But every single other thing I had purchased (and have to remember to return to the store) was not yellow or green or any other silly thing I thought I needed. What I found was that all I "needed" was to let go of "needs" and find something that I felt incredible wearing. And you know what? I did :)

Thank you to my friend, Ashley, of Luke&Ashley for our fantastic and oh so "us" anniversary photos.

Best,
Sarah

Vacation Unplugged | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!

I'm back! It feels SO good to be home in my own bed and to see Charlie Dog again; but I won't lie- being on vacation was FANTASTIC! We officially dubbed this trip our "HONEYCATION" because we never had the chance to take a honeymoon but 2 years after the fact seemed to be a bit of a stretch- so we decided to name it our "honeycation!"

I'll admit it: it was a little difficult for me to completely shut my mind down and relax for this trip- I realized that I am always thinking (aka WORRYING) about something that hasn't been completed or isn't perfect yet. My husband had to ask me (more than once) to not talk about work since somewhere along the line I had "AGREED" to no work talk- or something crazy like that. But once I got the hang of it I realized what a beauty shutting off your mind and enjoying the very moment you are in can be.

 The view from our room (did i mention we went to JAMAICA?!).

Some beach shots.

 Me and husband day 1. Notice the old Yorktown Beach tan lines? This picture was my official start in my quest to get rid of them! :)

Officially my most favorite place to be. :) It was like lying on a bed and made reading the two and a half books I completed pretty easy!

 Yes, that coconut came from THAT tree. HOW COOL, right?!

Ok, but lets be completely honest here: I HAD to do SOME activities or else I would have driven myself insane just lying out in the sun for 7 days watching the water lap back on forth on the shore. 

We started with SNORKELING!

If you know me you know heights are NOT my thing but due to it being our honeycation I figured I'd try my best to get over it: with zip lining!

  Notice my "fake excited" face.

The scream you hear at the beginning? That's me.

Truth? It was AWESOME! (Can't say I'll do it again but super glad I can say I did it!)

And then, of course, there were super wonderful foods, some crazy animals, and the most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen. 

For the record: my husband ate the entire plate of sweets (above) all by himself ;)

In short, our honeycation and the decision to go "unplugged" was the best thing my husband and I could have done for ourselves. Having realized things went on just fine without us while we were gone I now have a new appreciation for my lack of control over life and the realization that sometimes it's ok not to have the answers just yet and to go on with life regardless.

If you ever have the chance to go completely unplugged- DO IT!

I'll leave you with this song they sang to us before we left :)

Best,

Sarah