located at Briarcliff Village
inside Shana Vaughn Designs
4153 N. Mulberry Drive
Kansas City, MO 64116
816.560.6412
Wedding season hours are by appointment, Monday through Friday. Sarah is available for evening consult times at the studio on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Evening portrait session times are available.
From December through March, Sarah is able to schedule weekend consults and portrait sessions as her wedding schedule allows.
Email Sarah for rates, availability or to find out more about my work!
Visit my portfolio here.
See my most recent work below!
I met this adorable family of three at the Prairie Center west of Olathe on Monday. I’d never been to the park – it was rugged but gorgeous. We went on a long walk, explored, and of course took some photos along the way to mark Maddie’s 2nd birthday, which is next week. Happy Birthday, Maddie!
I photographed Scott and Miranda with their sons Preston and Brody last week just before leaving for vacation, right across the street from my studio in a gorgeous park at Briarcliff Village. The boys are at that age where they could easily get bored VERY quickly with a photo shoot; but they were both so good that we were able to shoot for a decent amount of time (at least until the temperatures transitioned to sweltering). I don’t get a chance to do a lot of family sessions but I really enjoy them!
Hi everyone! Taking a break from feverish editing and blog preparation (coming later today: Cara and Ryan’s wedding and aviation-themed reception!) to give some updates from the portrait session side of my business. SDP has grown this year beyond my wildest expectations - and with that has come VERY tight scheduling. Right now, I’m getting several portrait session inquiries per day, and obviously I have to find places to schedule everyone in. However, it is also wedding season – not only wedding season but the BUSIEST PART of wedding season – and with 34 weddings this year, I am one insanely busy photographer right now!
As of now, I am scheduling about 3 weeks out on portrait sessions. My June schedule is completely full now – with one exception which I’ll explain shortly. I’m now already scheduling sessions in mid-July. So, if you are interested in booking an engagement session, a senior shoot, or a family session, it might be a good idea to go ahead and get on my schedule. I anticipate as we head towards late summer that scheduling will get even tougher – as senior shoots will start picking up at that time.
A “policy” change on scheduling, effective immediately – I am available for portrait session shooting Monday through Friday during wedding season (April through November), and seven days a week during off-season (provided I don’t have a rare winter wedding scheduled on a particular Saturday). I have quite a few Sunday weddings coming up on my schedule, as well as Saturday weddings that involve overnight travel. Sunday portrait sessions are going to be too difficult to schedule in until the season slows down.
And with the above comes a tip for those of you who REALLY want to get scheduled in – it goes without saying that evening shoots go first. I shoot nearly every evening right now. If you need an evening session, that is where the delay in scheduling is going to exist. If you want to get in QUICKLY, psssst, got a secret for you. Morning light is JUST as gorgeous as evening light and my mornings are largely free. I do realize with work schedules, it can be difficult to schedule at this time, but arranging for it can pay off big time as often I can get clients in nearly immediately if they are willing to schedule outside of an evening shoot.
So….to sum up – scheduling is running about 3 weeks (sometimes 4) for evening shoots, but if you can swing a morning shoot, you will find yourself on my schedule MUCH sooner! And note the availability for portrait sessions during wedding season in Monday-Friday (Fridays except where Friday weddings are scheduled).
I appreciate everyone’s patience! I promise you the wait to get your session is worth it. 
Of course, no blog post is complete without a photo, so here’s a quick preview of Stephanie and Cole’s engagement session that I did last night in Hays, KS (yes, I got home after midnight, but I LOVED shooting out there!)
Thanks to EVERYONE for your business. – Sarah
I met Kendra, her mom Jessica, and her little sis Dakota at Watkin’s Mill State Park yesterday afternoon to do a portrait session in preparation for a couple of pageants she has coming up this spring. What a glorious place to shoot in the springtime! I wanted to stay past our session and just soak in the fresh air. Thanks Kendra for wandering off the beaten path in your sandals – at least your photographer was equally unprepared to go schlepping through the brush!
Up next is Michael’s senior session, which will probably hit the blog tomorrow AM!
Yesterday Shanna brought her family up for a shoot. We wandered the countryside in “God’s Country” – at least for as long as we all could stay warm. That wind would cut right through ya! The light was absolutely gorgeous and it’s one of the things I like about winter shooting – the sun is much less harsh than it is in the summer when it’s directly overhead. I ALWAYS have clients tell me “we’ll do x shoot or y shoot in the spring” but honestly, winter is a GREAT time to shoot! I think when you see these photos you’ll agree. We can work around the barren trees quite well – and the neutral tones of the land are really nice.
Guys, thanks for coming out and I hope you love these! And Brayson, I hope your soybean field-induced allergy attack was over with quickly!!
Good Lord, the light!
How photogenic is this bunch??
This girl can work it out for the camera!
I think this is what induced Brayson’s allergy attack. 
Sorry, dude.
A little playtime to WARM UP. Brrr.
And it’s a good-’un! 25% of ALL print products from now through December 10th. Which means, for all of you who have been saying “you know, there are still photos I want to order….” well, your procrastination has paid off! How do you take advantage of the discount? Well, go to my main site and click “client proofing” – and browse through the event or shoot you’re interested in, select your items, and when you go to your cart, enter “SDPHolidaySale” into the coupon box and apply the discount. Voila, savings!
A lot of you probably received this in an email. I DO NOT LIKE SPAMMING but I do send these holiday sale emails once per year. In the future, (like as soon as possible!) I’ll be creating a newsletter that you can sign up for at the top of this very blog, which will feature specials and news for those of you who wish to receive them. In the meantime, there are various news items in the sale ad below (same as was emailed out) – not only do we have the 25% off print sale, but I’m offering FREE ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS to those of you who book weddings by February 15th! Email for details! Also, I’m now offering gift cards starting at $25, which is great for those family members and friends who have been wanting a print, or even a shoot done.
Sylvie and Sadie were FULL of energy when we met up Tuesday night for their photo shoot. So, we let them run, play, skip, play patty-cake – and all was well (ok, well all was well if you also add in a pizza-for-dinner bribe). I haven’t done a ton of family shoots – but really enjoyed the time I spent with these two girls. And after we finished…we all went for pizza.
Sylvia started out with a HUGE case of the bashfuls. Sadie did her best to get her to open up.
Is that a smile I see peeking out? Busted.
A little playing on the grass and all was well – well, except for a few grass stains on the white dresses!
We’re fine now!
here’s baby Sophie and proud parents Kelly and Andy. Sophie is only 2 months old but she is already a super duper cutie – just look at those eyes and that smile!!! (that smile!!)
