So Long.... Farewell.... A-Vee-derz and WHAT?! | Hampton Roads Personal

Hi!

So, this is it. This is my very last Sunday blog post {ever?}.

 

Ok, maybe not EVER ever.

 

But I have decided to readjust my blogging schedule.

 

I realized that I absolutely struggle to wait to show you all sneak peeks from the weekend sessions and because of that the Sunday post usually gets lost in the shuffle- or WORSE it gets delayed to Monday- and well, that's just not cool.

 

I want each of you to know exactly when I will be posting my blogs and I want you to look forward to it-- not just randomly notice it when you're scrolling for the next picture from this past weekend's session.

 

So here you go: my last Sunday post.

 

You know what this means though, right?

 

That means there is a NEW scheduled day instead!

 

You guessed right: MONDAY!

 

Now every Monday morning (around 8:45 am EST) and evening (around 8:45 pm EST)  I will post the weekly blog post. It might be a post featuring a session, a personal post, or even one from a new series I'm calling "Beyond the Print."

 

So be sure to check back tomorrow for the very first scheduled MONDAY blog :)

 

And hey- at the very least it will give you something to look forward to and make Monday feel less like... well...a  MONDAY!

 

See you tomorrow!

 

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

"Hey Stella!" | Hampton Roads Business Consultation

Hi!

Last night I had one of those experiences where it has all the potential in the world to be totally AWKWARD, painful, embarrassing- the works! It even had the potential where you could slip up and admit you know way more about the person than you should- that's right, I met someone I've only ever spoken to ONLINE.

You know those people on facebook you follow and comment on their things like you're best friends? No? Well that's totally what I do. I have a thousand best friends- they just don't know it! The problem was I then won a FREE sounding board mentor session with this person- now I was stuck. I had to meet them! The meeting was only through Skype since Stella, the business mentor, consultant, and marketing guru of the awesome Ask Stella, lives elsewhere- but still! All I kept thinking the whole week leading up to it was: "Ok, Sarah, don't make a fool of yourself. You're not best friends."

But it was SO awesome! Off the bat Stella was welcoming, friendly, humorous, and completely approachable. Awkward silences? Nope! No joke, one of the first things I said to her was "Hi! I don't really know how to do this..." How embarrassing, right?! I was totally UN-COOL! But she seamlessly took us in to the good parts of conversation (you know the kind that flows and feels natural?) and I forgot completely that I didn't "know how to do this."

  

But what is a sounding board session you might ask? I didn't know either at first. I like to think of it more as a mentor session-that helped me to wrap my head around the concept a bit more. In this case the mentoring focused on branding and how to tie the Sarah Elle Photography brand in to everything- specifically packaging. As you probably know by now my brand focuses on mustard yellow (inspired by my obsession with my mustard yellow camera bag), a deep blue, and gray/silver. But how do I bring that in to everything? We're talking website, blog, thank you cards, business cards, rep cards, facebook, appointment reminders, session guide, session prep guide and on and on and on!

 Stella helped me to see how to accentuate my brand and bring out a sense of who I was AND who Sarah Elle Photography is. We discussed "feelings" and goals for the business and how I felt I wanted to be represented and how to tie that in to attracting my goal market. She SIMULTANEOUSLY skyped with me AND linked me to tons of websites, companies, and other resources to show me the different options out there that SPECIFICALLY FIT Sarah Elle Photography! How awesome is that?! It wasn't simply, "Oh, here's a company I like to use" it was "Here is a great company with high quality products that have boxes that match your brand and here I've linked you directly to that box!"

Stella not only knows her stuff she knows exactly where to find it, too! I'm the type of person who, if given a blank slate of options, will get totally overwhelmed and lost in the pretty colors. Stella linking me directly to examples that fit Sarah Elle Photography made it easy to envision those products in my life- and I didn't get distracted or overwhelmed by the rest of the BILLION OPTIONS on the sites.

After my session with Stella I am now BEYOND excited to pump up my packaging and highlight who Sarah Elle Photography is.

(For example I LOVE this digital paper pack from Sassy Designs she introduced me to- doesn't it scream Sarah Elle Photography?!)

 It's time to dig deep and bring everything together to help truly enhance each person's experience- from the first glimpse of the facebook page or website to the ribbon that ties together your box of images from your session- I want you to feel Sarah Elle Photography. I want you to enjoy each part of your time with me- not just your session day. I want each moment to be a new and exciting experience. And I want people to see a mustard yellow sweater in a Target commercial and immediately think of ME. Thanks to Stella and our first (yes, first, because I KNOW I'll be chatting with her again in the future) sounding board session I know just where to start to make it all happen!

And for those who were curious about my "best friends" comment from earlier you'll be happy to know Stella and I truly are best friends now! And she'll know as soon as she reads this blog post ;)

Best,
Sarah

*for more information on your own sounding board session or all of the awesome products/services Stella offers be sure to check out her website: www.stellareynoso.com