Alex C: senior portrait session | Kansas City River MarketSeptember 30th, 2010Alex and her mom wanted sun for her senior shoot (understandably!) but a stroke (or several) of bad luck led to several weather reschedules before we FINALLY got a sunny day! Gorgeous temps to boot. The blog highlights don’t even show but a fraction of the session – we had a lot of fun! Isn’t [...] |
Alex and her mom wanted sun for her senior shoot (understandably!) but a stroke (or several) of bad luck led to several weather reschedules before we FINALLY got a sunny day! Gorgeous temps to boot. The blog highlights don’t even show but a fraction of the session – we had a lot of fun! Isn’t Alex ADORable?
Laura + Travis (and Max!): couples session | Ironwoods ParkSeptember 30th, 2010Laura and Travis’ couples session at Ironwoods Park in Leawood, Kansas was the first session I’ve done that just felt like fall. Cool, crisp, woodsy and a bit of a gray day (although we got some sunshine for the shoot in the latter half). The type of morning that says “coffee”. The type of morning [...] |
Laura and Travis’ couples session at Ironwoods Park in Leawood, Kansas was the first session I’ve done that just felt like fall. Cool, crisp, woodsy and a bit of a gray day (although we got some sunshine for the shoot in the latter half). The type of morning that says “coffee”. The type of morning where you expect to smell a faraway smell of burning wood. I love summer, but after the summer we’ve had this type of weather is really refreshing! Laura contacted me to do a session for her and her husband Travis after Travis was a groomsman in Becky and Adam’s wedding last July, which I shot. They wanted to shoot around Ironwoods Park for nostalgic reasons – it is home to the Lodge at Ironwoods – where they had their own wedding reception. Then we shot around their backyard a bit with their adorable (and high energy!) Boston Terrier, Max.
Katie + Jeremy: married | Marysville, KansasSeptember 29th, 2010For the second week in a row, myself and my second shooter Dale Foshe were blessed (tongue-in-cheek) with rain on wedding day – last week’s was a hot, steamy, summer-like storming rain, and this past Saturday’s wedding with Katie and Jeremy was the opposite – a downpour followed by a cold, windy, drizzly day that [...] |
For the second week in a row, myself and my second shooter Dale Foshe were blessed (tongue-in-cheek) with rain on wedding day – last week’s was a hot, steamy, summer-like storming rain, and this past Saturday’s wedding with Katie and Jeremy was the opposite – a downpour followed by a cold, windy, drizzly day that was more representative of a mid-November day. Meaning, I’m glad I brought LAYERS.
Undaunted, everyone forged ahead with the day and luckily the timing was such that it was dry when we needed to be outdoors. Married at St. Malachy’s Catholic Church in tiny Beattie, Kansas, Jeremy and Katie went back to their roots for their wedding day (Jeremy’s great-great-grandfather (or maybe there is another great in there – one of the FitzGerald family can correct me!) founded the town – and we shot in front of the old stone house he lived in). The house was a surprise to me - and so, so cool!
Here are the highlights of their day.
a big baseball fan, Jeremy had members of the wedding party sign a ball for the ring shot. Great idea!
all this getting ready stuff gets boring pretty quick for a kiddo..
we had a VERY brief view of the sun right at sundown..
Ceremony: St Malachy’s Catholic Church
Reception: American Legion, Marysville, Kansas
Bride’s Dress: Mia’s Bridal
Cake: Sandy Swart Cakes
October is officially full!September 29th, 2010It seems like I’ve been posting a lot of news updates lately; but I feel the blog is the best way to keep clients and potential clients up to speed on the studio. 2010 has been not only an incredibly successful year for my business, but it’s been a turning point as well. I am [...] |
It seems like I’ve been posting a lot of news updates lately; but I feel the blog is the best way to keep clients and potential clients up to speed on the studio. 2010 has been not only an incredibly successful year for my business, but it’s been a turning point as well. I am to the point where I am receiving numerous requests for portrait sessions every day – and I’m also at the point where I’m officially out of places to schedule in portrait sessions in October. It always pains me to turn clients away, but unfortunately it’s also my busiest wedding month of the season, so there’s not a lot I can do outside of cloning myself! 
November is STILL a good month to shoot, and although my first week of that month is too already full, I have plenty of openings starting mid-month.
Which brings me to the point of my blog post today. As the studio has grown in popularity, I’ve found myself getting stretched quite thin. See, SDP is a one-woman shop. I’m it. You’re looking at it. I’m the bookkeeper, the consult-conductor, the shooter, the email-returner, the editor, the shipper and order fulfiller. I’ve reached a point where I cannot possibly handle more work than I am getting.
At this pivotal point in the growth of my business, I can thank my super, incredible, understanding husband for his support and his patience. See, I have a secret to divulge to my clients. I have not had a single day off since July. Not one. I have worked seven days a week, usually from sun-up to bedtime, relentlessly to deliver weddings, shoot, edit, and stay up on email. My website has gone un-updated. My album samples for 2010 have gone un-ordered. Business is GOOD and that is GREAT – but it’s time to reclaim some of my life back and give time to the things that have gone ignored during this incredible growth period (seriously guys, I can’t make my husband take care of house chores permanently).
I posted earlier about my new hours. I am sticking to my guns on this one – during wedding season, from April 1 through November 30 – I am no longer conducting consults nor doing portrait session work on weekends. As I am primarily a wedding shooter, there are very few weekends during this time period that I am not covering a wedding. This time needs to be devoted FULLY to the bride and groom I am working for that weekend, which includes the day after. Reorganizing my gear. Backing up files, culling images and preparing them to hit the blog so the newlyweds can have a sneak peek until I edit the entire wedding. And most importantly, r&r for myself. Weddings are unforgivingly exhausting work, as much as I love them. My second shooter and I worked a sixteen hour day last Saturday. This is on our feet, oftentimes schlepping heavy gear and lights around. Believe me, you do NOT want me shooting your portrait session the day after that. Or even meeting with me to discuss your wedding – I’m doing good to properly form words. I’ve reached the point where I’ve realized that while building the business has been successful, I have to think about myself, my health and my longevity in this field and I can’t go that hard and turn and work the next day. It just does not work long term.
Again, as said during my previous blog post, I am available on weekends by appointment from December 1 through March 30 for meetings and portrait sessions, except those times when I’ve got a rare winter wedding booked.
I am, during “busy season” always available on weekdays and of course weekday evenings to shoot portrait sessions and meet at the studio.
If you’ve read this whole post, thanks for sticking with me! My body, mind, wedding clients and even my husband thank you for understanding this policy. I sometimes wonder if it’s even worth mentioning on a blog post – but I get SO many requests for weekend shoots, I felt it best to explain myself here and that during the height of wedding season, it is just not possible. And to potential wedding clients, you will thank me when your wedding rolls around and I have devoted my entire weekend to serving YOU as best as possible – not trying to cram in other shoots and meetings with clients.
Sarah
ps, since no blog post is good without a photo, here’s an unbelievably adorable and funny candid from Katie and Jeremy’s wedding, to hit the blog in the next 24 hours!
Dexter C: senior session | Crossroads Art DistrictSeptember 23rd, 2010Winding down this whirlwind week of blogging shoots and weddings (yep, I’ve been a BIT busy…) is Dexter’s senior session, shot Tuesday night in the Crossroads Art District. Dexter is a senior at Olathe Northwest where he plays basketball and baseball – and is awaiting scholarship offers to continue his athletic career in college. All [...] |
Winding down this whirlwind week of blogging shoots and weddings (yep, I’ve been a BIT busy…) is Dexter’s senior session, shot Tuesday night in the Crossroads Art District. Dexter is a senior at Olathe Northwest where he plays basketball and baseball – and is awaiting scholarship offers to continue his athletic career in college. All I’m gonna say about this shoot is….what a photogenic kid! (and yes I feel very old referring to a high school senior as a kid – but I’ve come to the realization that I was in college when this year’s class was BORN….) Probably one of the funniest moments in a shoot in recent history occurred when I had Dexter give me a serious face then asked him to smile – the transition from serious to smile involved a little chin-up nod. A-freaking-dorable. 
Lauren and Adam: engaged | Loose Park, Kansas City MissouriSeptember 23rd, 2010Guys, I can’t TELL you how much right NOW is the perfect time to shoot. The weather is finally cooling, and the days are short enough that we don’t need to shoot until all hours of the evening to get fantastic light. The leaves are juuuuuuust starting to turn. It’s my favorite time of the [...] |
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Guys, I can’t TELL you how much right NOW is the perfect time to shoot. The weather is finally cooling, and the days are short enough that we don’t need to shoot until all hours of the evening to get fantastic light. The leaves are juuuuuuust starting to turn. It’s my favorite time of the year! Lauren and Adam took advantage of the fantastic weather to get their engagement session done. Well, they TRIED to a few weeks ago, but we got rescheduled due to thunderstorms. The second time was the charm as the weather last Monday evening might have been a bit warm, and yeah, there might have been a cross country meet at the park to work around, but the conditions were otherwise fantastic for these two – and I think you’ll agree they are ADORABLE together! You will get to see more adorableness next July when I shoot their wedding
Amy Jo and Jacob: married | Abe and Jake’s, Lawrence, KansasSeptember 22nd, 2010I first worked with Amy Jo and Jacob when we shot their adorable engagement session on Amy’s family farm near Leavenworth, Kansas in June. I knew I was going to love shooting their wedding as well. They were married in Tonganoxie, Kansas on an abnormally hot and humid day for mid to late September; sure [...] |
I first worked with Amy Jo and Jacob when we shot their adorable engagement session on Amy’s family farm near Leavenworth, Kansas in June. I knew I was going to love shooting their wedding as well. They were married in Tonganoxie, Kansas on an abnormally hot and humid day for mid to late September; sure enough, the heavens opened and it stormed for HOURS when ceremony time hit. I felt very lucky that we had scheduled the bride and groom and wedding party shots for before the ceremony. While I detest shooting midday, in this case we were very lucky we did (not to mention the storm clouds were rolling in while we were shooting, which provided a natural filter for that super harsh midday sunshine). It did not quit until everyone arrived at the reception – then it continued to lighting and thunder off and on the entire evening.
Amy Jo and Jacob had a HUGE family presence in their wedding; and lots of neat touches throughout their day that incorporated this presence (such as her grandfather’s tree-stump cake base). You could just FEEL how incredibly happy everyone was for them. Congratulations you two!!
Amy Jo had equally cool footwear for both the ceremony and reception
after the first look, we braved the humidity and a few grasshoppers to shoot in the gorgeous countryside behind the church.
Amy Jo is a drop dead gorgeous bride, no?
Yeah, it got a bit stormy.
Ceremony: West Haven Baptist Church, Tonganoxie, Kansas
Reception: Abe and Jake’s, Lawrence, Kansas
Limousine: Kool Nites Limousine
Erin and Anthony: married | Loose Mansion, Kansas CitySeptember 21st, 2010Loose Mansion falls on one of those lists – y’know, the places I’ve always wanted to shoot and never have had the opportunity. Well, I did for Erin and Anthony’s intimate, family-oriented affair (Erin’s father married the two) last Friday. What a gorgeous, elegant facility that befit the feel of their wedding perfectly. And for [...] |
Loose Mansion falls on one of those lists – y’know, the places I’ve always wanted to shoot and never have had the opportunity. Well, I did for Erin and Anthony’s intimate, family-oriented affair (Erin’s father married the two) last Friday. What a gorgeous, elegant facility that befit the feel of their wedding perfectly. And for those brides who sweat the small stuff – let Erin be a lesson to you. She planned a wedding, moved into a new house with Anthony, AND studied for and passed the bar ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Oh, then GOT married. Talk about a cool cucumber!
Erin and Anthony did a “first look” in the gorgeous 3rd floor ballroom.
Ceremony and Reception: Loose Mansion
Bride’s gown: David’s Bridal