Planning a Styled Shoot Part V | Sending Out An S.O.S.| Hampton Roads Stylized Portrait Photographer

Hi!

OH. MY. GOODNESS. it is just THREE DAYS until the styled shoot! The weather is currently forecasted at 70, partly cloudy, and 10% chance of rain. RAIN! Yes, rain. But only 10% That's ok, right???

  

Can you tell I'm anxious?

  

But i'm the BEST kind of anxious! I've been totally freaking out for like two weeks now. Ok, ok, if you ask my team I've been freaking out for longer (shhhh!). But now that we are three days out I've found this weird calm. This sort of... oh my gosh lets rock the frickin PANTS off this thing and just have a flipping blast doing it!

WOooooo!

Ok, but there is ONE thing left I want to put out there in my "how to do it the easy way by reading how I did it the hard way" series on planning a styled shoot. I am, without a doubt, very much looking forward to this shoot. NO QUESTION. But one thing I should have done from the very beginning was:

 ASK. FOR. HELP.

I am a control freak. Just ask ANYONE who has ever met me. But asking for help is not at ALL about relinquishing control.

I had this idea that if I asked someone to help me design the set or collaborate with a professional event planner to bring this vision to life that I would somehow be relinquishing the genuineness of my vision and it would automatically become the event planner's shoot with me just taking the pictures.

Not true.

Of course, this is where you would need to make sure you knew how to explain your vision and your limits and have them help you-- not sit back and watch them do it all for you.

But asking someone for help isn't cheating. (I thought it was)

Asking for help is simply asking for help. It's asking people to help you make the very best out of your vision and your goals. It's asking people to be on your team and work WITH you to reach beyond your dreams.

Asking for help is good for you.

I learned this the hard way and tried to answer all of my questions on my own. But then I realized "Hey! You've got a pretty awesome team on your hands that KNOWS about this stuff- ask them their professional opinion!" Unfortunately I did this later than I could have and probably missed out on some pretty awesome stuff had I asked for help earlier. But I still asked for help. And next time I plan to actually collaborate with a professional.

Is my shoot still going to rock? You fricking bet it is!

But could it also be something totally awesome with an event planner? For sure!

There is no right or wrong. Alone or with someone else- doesn't matter. Both will be awesome! But just don't let yourself believe that asking for help or collaborating with someone means it isn't still your vision.

It is. It's just your vision developed side by side with someone who does this kind of thing for a living.

I'm a photographer! Not a party planner or set designer. What makes me think I should be able to do all of this without any issues? That's silly! And you shouldn't let yourself think that way either. ;)

Best,
Sarah

P.S. DO NOT even think about missing the shoot this weekend! Stay tuned to the facebook page to see sneak peeks!!

P.P.S. Any guesses as to the theme yet? If you get it right there might be a surprise in it for ya! ;)

Last clue before the reveal!

In case you missed the others: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

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