Natalie and Beau- Engagement

I have been sitting on these images for a little while, knowing that I really wanted to blog them, but never having the super-developed eloquent and witty prose to add to the pictures. I'm sure that never happens to anyone else.

I'm blogging them now because I realized that sometimes, you can have too much! Some sessions are enhanced by the love story that accompanies, and some stand fine on their own. Natalie and Beau happens to belong to the latter party.

So here they are, this gorgeous couple, all smiles and laughter, beautiful skin, Crest-kid smiles, and a love to rival them all. That's it, and that's them.

Parlez vous francais?

Yesterday was a fantastic day. It was Sunday, which is one of the days I long most for during the week simply because it is a day of rest for me. as tempting as it may be for me to open up my computer and start-up photoshop, organize future sessions, or rearrange every piece of furniture in my house (I do get the urge)... I know that unless I take the day to actually rest, enjoy life, and stop moving the week ahead will be an unfocused blur.

Take a day of rest.

You'll need it.

p.s. I know this has absolutely nothing to do with speaking french, but I had to ask.

Sometimes, that's all you need...

Sometimes....

Oh sometimes....

Sometimes happens a lot for me, and the circumstances that happen sometimes, are not always the 'sometimes' that I want. are ya following me here? Good.

But today's sometimes was great. Because today was the end of a week, and the beginning of a weekend. Yep that's right, my weekend starts tomorrow :) Tomorrow my mom and I are going to get to hang out for a little while... we'll stroll the kiosks of the Yellow Daisy Festival in Stone Mountain Georgia, go see a movie, and hopefully be able to breathe for the first time since Sunday.

Friday will be a fabulous day off. and sometimes, that's all you need.

A walk in the Park

"Life ain't just a walk in the park"...

How many times have you heard that one? Growing up with two very realistic parents, I had that drilled into my head, and they didn't leave the other bases untouched either... life is also not "a free lunch" "a bowl of cherries" "fair" "an easy ride".. you get the picture. If you can add onto the mantras then a cookie for you... or maybe a box of chocolates, since that seems to be the only thing life actually is.

I've lived by these little nuggets of information most of my life, and truth be told it has proven helpful in many situations... I was never the girl with unrealistic expecations for my boyfriends, if it ended... well, "life ain't fair". Whenever something drastic happened, a death, job loss, driving in teh wrong direction for 234 mi, etc.... It was always easier to not panic if you knew that life "isn't a bowl of cherries" (although I would strongly not reccommend saying that to anyone who happens to encounter one of those situations or life may come to an abrupt halt for you :))

The other day some friends and I were enjoying the beautiful weather in Piedmont Park. The sun was shining, the air was cool, if there had been birds then I think they would have been singing... We pulled out a frisbee and had many failed attempts at hand-eye coordination, but we had fun. Then we took a walk. Yes, a walk in the park. We strolled along the faded asphalt of the bike paths, watched mothers and their children feed the ducks by a Grecian Gazebo, commented on the beauty each dog being thrown a frisbee by its master, and watched with excitement as a couple taking their engagement photos set out on the journey of marriage.

Though the world around us was far from perfect that day (it is Atlanta after all)... when we stopped to take in what was around us, stopped to stop worrying about what was next for us and for others, stopped to realize where we were in life... and you know what, at that moment life really was a walk in the park.

One of those Days...

So yesterday was a bad day. Nothing went right... woke up late, didn't get to shower (and realized later that I'd also forgotten the deoderant :/ sorry classmates!), found out that I couldn't log in to my GSU account due to the fact that I was one out of 30000 that was randomly selected for review, my car got booted for $50, and found out that I will have to pay an extra $500 for a class because of supposed late registration. It was a wine-at-3:30-in-the-afternoon day. A very. Bad. Day.

So after I got into my car, waiting on the boot-man to get there, I tried squeezing out some tears... I felt like Cameron Diaz in 'Holiday', they just wouldn't come. I squeezed for a good 5 minutes before I gave up... feeling defeated even by my own emotions! Then it hit me... I wasn't supposed to cry and sulk over my circumstances, I needed to DO something about them. And the only thing I knew to do was go to the Lord. It's an amazing feeling to know that your heart is being called by a higher power... to know that even after all of your failures and sucky attempts at success and reckoning someone still believes in you, and wants to know you. I didn't even want to know me yesterday.

So I took a breath after my squeezes (which left me breathless), and pulled out the word expecting nothing but believing everything... that no matter what I was reading it would in some way be relevant to my situation, it would be a word of love and a song of encouragement from the one who knew me best.

It did.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

This GOD knows what he is doing. He made my bad day better. No it wasn't "everythings-fixed-as-if-this-day-didnt-happen-and-I-got-a-new-car-too kind of better, but it was better because though the day was still sucky, I had a certain peace that it wouldn't last, and I would...and COULD... survive.

The day ended up being a good day. It was just one of those days....

Total Boredom Tuesday's

I love school. really. I do. I love that our country allows its citizens the opportunity, no, REQUIRES them the opportunity to have an experience with education. I think that it is great that we value the mind. However.... there is always a however... sometimes I am just bored. Today I had a social statistics class, much like the research methods class that I took last year... actually, almost exactly like the research methods class that I took last year. Due to their extereme similarity I found myself nodding off, creating weird facial expressions in order to keep my eyes open, and I think I checked twitter 587 times :) Everything we were going over seemed to be a replay, a massive deja-vu if you will, of last semester...and this ticks me off. I am paying for (or rather the HOPE is paying for) a class that I have realistically already taken. There are more things I could be doing with that hour, and since this is my LAST ungergrad class, there are many things I could be doing if I werent' a college student. Also... the money that HOPE is paying for me to take an 'already takne' class could go to another student. Ugh. I love our system... but sometimes I think it's problem, it's issue of apathetic students and early drop-outs may have to do with the neccessity of total boredom.

Um, Yes please!

So I had a wonderful weekend shooting a jewelry line for a friend.. she contacted me a month or so ago and needed some pictures for her up and coming jewelry company, I took a look at her stuff and quickly said I'd do it. She said she couldn't pay me much, but could offer me some free pieces and since this is what I really wanted... I said YES! She really does make some fantastic stuff, and everytime she gives me something I immediately put it on...which is lets me know that her stuff has that thing, you know.. the ability to instantly go with any outfit you happen to be wearing. Love it. Here are a few pictures of her stuff. Let me know if you are interested :)

Time flies...

Wow so it has been a WHILE since I last posted. Apologies if you were sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what I had to say... but for some reason I highly doubt that, nevertheless I am sorry. This time not spent blogging has been spent traveling ... not the super-amazing kind of traveling, but the slightly-amazing kind -the kind where you visit new cities and go to the beach :) All good! In the middle of this month a friend and I took a trip to St. Louis, MO in order to visit a school that I am interested in. As we were driving through the miles and miles of mid-American flatness we thought we would never arrive at our destination. Kentucky and Illinois are truly the flatlands, with fields and fields of corn and the occasional barn or farm house. It was quite a peaceful trip, and a beautiful one. St. Louis is a gorgeous, brick-adorned, french-inspired city. The architecture is amazing, the parks are landscaped to match Parisian gardens... it really is fantastic.. and the best part (or one of them) is that everything is FrEE!! Yep! Free-99!

As we were returing, we happened to be driving through Tennesee around dusk... the mountains had just turned that perfect shade of indigo against the horizon and the sky was retreating from a bright pink to a muted purple as the sun was setting. It was this time that we decided we really do live in teh most beautiful part of the country (sorry America... no offense to the other 49 states).

If you have never visted St. Louis, or have not visited a new city in a while... get out there, do it, take a drive.. just get there. Surrounding ourselves with new people and places can really help to snatch ourselves out of mundane routines, or make you appreciate where you came from.

Workin' for the weekend

Rise and Shine! I say that as if you people are just now waking up... and if you live on the west coast, that is probably true, so I'll apply my morning greeting to you. It's only 11:56 here on the east coast... still morning, so I say that the greeting still applies. Nana nana boo boo.

Truth is I woke up mayyyybbbbeee an hour ago. Late start definitely. This doesn't mean that the hours of my work day are now shorter, no no no... just that I will be up until 11 working instead of having a funtastic friday night in Atlanta. Ugh. Love sleeping, hate the consequences.

I have about 800 photos to fully edit right now. ::cue crazy eyes:: So my days are going to be lonnnggggg until I finish. No worries, I love seeing what I can do with editing, it is a really fun part of my job! I've included one of the fun pictures that I absolutely love in today's post. doesn't it just make you hear a solo piano concerto? everytime I look at this picture I swear I hear music playing, seriously.

Do you guys have any photos like that? The ones that cue music or smells? Share them!

Yummmmm

Ugggghhhhh I loveee me some chocolate cake! Like love so much I would make it one of the three things I'd take with me on a deserted island. It's THAT good. Of course the cake I take along with my exile to said deserted island needs to be a regenerative cake, or else I don't think it would work out.

So... due to my love of the cake that is chocolate, you can imagine my bliss and the drooling that ensued when I came upon this picture as I was working today. Just look at that gooey decadence. Yum. This picture is from a recent wedding I shot in June, the cake is a dark chocolate mousse cake with strawberry filling topped with chocolate bark and chocolate covered strawberries. It was amazing. This was the only food that I snuck inbetween shots... and I was even able to take a 'to-go' plate :)

I heard an old-wives tale recently that advises single wedding attendees to take a bit of wedding cake home and sleep with it under your pillow (i feel this can get messy), and whoever you dream about that night is the person you will marry.

Sounds fun.

We ate the cake before we went to sleep :)

Decisions Decisions....

Oh we are looking at wedding dresses for a close friend's wedding... This is day-one of our supposed year long search until her wedding July 24, 2010. However, we began our session with a gorgeous lace and crystal A-line dress with a slight sweetheart neckline... And our search came to an abrubt halt. The moment she saw herself her eyes welled up as she began to envision herself as a bride.. She looked at her mom and she immediately joined in the tears. This is beautiful. I can't help but think to myself that this is how these decisions are made... When we put on the dress, or the situation, that makes what we are trying to achieve a reality...our eyes well up and we look to those around us for their approval, realizing that they feel the same way without even having to ask. Decisions likethese are made with certainty... And no matter how many different paths, or dresses, you try on... We always know deep down the one we should choose.

She is going to be gorgeous! I cannot wait to be a part of her day...and watch her walk down the aisle in the very first dress she ever tried on. Congrats Kelsey! You will be stunning!

Included is a picture from their engagement session a couple of weeks ago!

Panama City!!!

Hello all! I will be in Panama City beach next week the 16th-19th! and I would LOVE to photograph you! Let me know if you want to schedule a session!

Visting friends will never be so much fun!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, I know it's wednesday and you're probably like... Um sarah, the weekend was 3 days ago. Yeah yeah yeahhhh I know. But I've had a hectic 2 days and so now I have time to think about what the weekend was like. The 4th of July is my favorite holiday, so it would be great if you guys could make it yours, too. Ha. It's cool tho.

Tomorrow I will be posting some wedding pictures from a wedding a couple of weeks ago. So check back!

Otherwise, let me know if you or someone you know will be in PCB! I'll be there with camera in hand!

check out www.sarahestherphotography.com for information!

Sarah

Happy 4th Web-World! I hope today has been full of relaxing and lounging with family and friends. Thank you to all who make a celebration like today possible.

Forget SanFrancisco... I left my heart in PARIS!

Oh Paris... C'est tres magnifique. J'aime Paris et les rues des romance. Oui c'est vrai... les rues sont pleines de romantisme.

I had the wonderful privilege of taking a trip to Paris when I was in 8th grade (thanks moms and pops :))... and while I enjoyed it SO MUCH... I think that I was a little young to really appreciate what I was surrounded by, I mean... how many 8th graders do you know that can truly appreciate the beauty of a royal garden in Versailles? Yea... I thought so. SO naturally... I have decided that I need to go back, just to appreciate it of course, you know, it's my duty. So paris... will you accept me? Delta... will you come up with a round-trip flight for less than $300? Pretttyyy please???

Ugh. Until that happens I am going to be stuck drooling (yes drooling... it happens, ok?) over Elisabeth Millay's Parisian masterpieces. Please check her blog out for you own sake... happy drooling :)

Here are a few of her Parisian photographs:

Helllo Deals!

I just L-O-V-E a great deal. And ya know what... I love places that offer great deals... so here is a big shout out to TJ Maxx and the $180 jeans that I got for a cool $59. HELLLOOOO savings! :) Now I know that $59 may seem like a few meals to spend on some jeans (and for me it is...) but I'm thinking that a few less meals spent on jeans is equal to a few more years that I can wear them :) All hail giving up a Coffee-Toffee Twisted Frosty for a pair of Sevens!

Never worn a pair? try them on... you won't be dissappointed.

Happy Shopping!

Neely and Austin... wedded at last!

Well here we go! As promised I am now blogging Neely and Austin's wedding! Neely and Austin were married May 16, 2009 in their hometown of Waleska, GA. Yes that's right... their hometown! they met in High School and began dating shortly after that. They dated all through college and finally at the end of their student paths, Austin popped the question. When asking Neely when they met, she will say high school and promptly follow that answer with a 'but we went to middle school together too, I just didn't know him then... the Lord must have saved me from him in middle school because he was wild!' ... Now the only he is wild about is her, and she him... as you can clearly see in their photos.

I had the wonderful priviledge of shooting their wedding as a second shooter for Joy Wilson of Joy Wilson Photography check out her blog here for more of Neely and Austin!

Ceremony Location: First Baptist Curch Waleska, GA

Reception: Reinhardt College

*above photos taken for Joy Wilson of Joy Wilson Photography

I've got the sweetest love....

That is currently the song I am listening to... it's going to be a great tuesday! lately life has been full of blessings... unpredicted blessings (which I think is the way blessings are!). I am so thankful for my life and for the things that are happening right now. I've got the sweetest love, there ain't nothing sweeter (more lyrics, I can't get away!)... my sweetest love is Christ and he is so sweet :)

Sunday I attended the Georgia Bridal Show and picked up about 4000 brochures, I like to attend these for information on trends and discounts/promotions that I can pass on to my clients.

Here are all of the brochures... testing my reading and attention span.

Check back tomorrow for a wedding post! Here's a sneak peak!

*Image taken for Joy Wilson of Joy Wilson Photography

Have a terrific tuesday everyone... (and dwell on my fantastic alliteration)

Britney and Bryce: Engagement

Here are a few of the photos from Britney and Bryce's engagement, you may remember them from the 'teaser' post that I put up a little while ago. I could go on about how in love with each other these two are, but you can clearly see it in the expressions on their faces! (so i'll spare you!) I cannot wait for their wedding in November, it is going to be so much fun... with a couple this easy to photograph it's going to be a dream! Thank you Britney and Bryce for letting me capture your engagement!

Location: Kennesaw Mountain National Battelfield Park, Kennesaw, GA.

Britney and Bryce are Engaged!

So I had the super-fun privilege of taking Britney and Bryce's engagement photos last week (you may remember that I blogged about them right after!)... I am in love with this couple. They are just too freakin' cute! Here are a few sneak-peak teasers from their session... I'll be ready with the rest sometime next week. There are a lot of photos, and hey.. a girl's gotta eat..and sleep... so check back soon for the rest! For now, enjoy!

be sure to check out www.sarahestherphotography.com for recent sessions too!

I want to create an inspiration board... so i think i am setting out to do that!

Here is one I love :) courtesy of Danske

Have an inspiring day

Ahhh my bed!

ahhhh....sinking into my amazing cloud of a bed. this feels spectacular. it's been a long weekend, and I have been out of my house for about 3 nights in a row, it feels good to be back. hello bed, I'm sorry I left you... promise to love you immensley this week. Love- Sarah.

I had a fabulous time helping Joy Wilson from Joy Wilson Photography shoot Kelly and Brad Logan's wedding this weekend. it was gorgeous, and Kelly took care of every detail to a T! The wedding took place at Towne View Baptist Church in kennesaw, GA and the reception followed at Cedar Plantation in Acworth. It was one of the most beautiful receptions I have ever been too. The food was great -AND there was a chocolate fountain... you may think it's tacky but if you get a room full of women around there then you would have figured someone discovered they could breathe diamonds. it was amazing. The ceremony was sweet and scriptural... the music shared the Gospel with each note sung and Kelly and Chad were so enamored with each other that it made you just want to crawl inside their love. :) sweetness, pure sweetness.

Have a great night/morning everyone! Tomorrow's a new week!

Busy is good

So today was busy day... heck who am I kidding, this day is blurred with the rest of the week... I feel like this week was one long gazillion hour day.. a busy one. But I am so thankful for the busyness because it means I am still breathing! (whew!)... also it means that I am helping people smile, and then be able to see those smiles for years and years and years... gotta love photos! :)

Yesterday I met with Britney and Bryce for an engagement shoot in Kennesaw Mt. It was grand, I was looking through my pictures today and I was just so amazed at how sweet their love is, I cannot WAIT until their wedding! Sneak pictures coming soon from yesterday!

Today was a meeting with Kimberly to go over her final details for her June 27th wedding. Bravo! Note to all of you photographers/wedding coordinators/detail obsessed people out there... when discussing a wedding with the Bride... always ask her the schedule of the day! You would be so surprised at how often they haven't thought it through (I mean come on, they are planning most everything else!!!) and setting a schedule (or at least asking for hers) will putyou both at ease, and show that you are really interested in how she would like the day to go.

G.nite g.nite!

A Fantastic day!

So I had a fantastic day photographing Britney and Bryce's engagement.. it rained earlier in the day but then i took one look at the sky and told it who was boss, then wouldn't ya know, it cleared up! I've got the 'look' what can I say :)

Can't wait to show you how absolutely freakin' adorable Britney and Bryce were... but until tomorrow, here is a fabulous wedding photo that I found while I was looking for some 'beach photography' to appease this rainy Georgia weather we have been having lately...

The photo is by ardent photography... check them out HERE

g'nite dudes.

Business is nice...

Well today I am off to lunch with the wonderful Joy Wilson to catch up and hand over some of the photos that I took of her last week. Every time I hand over some product I automatically want to say "nice doin' business wit ya" in my best Chicago-gangster style... does that come to anyone else's mind? Ok maybe just me...

after the lunch with Joy I am off to shoot some love! Yay!!! I was asked to photograph Britney and Bryce for their engagement photos, and they have already booked me for their wedding in November! The shoot is at Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia... lots of wide open fields (imagine some 'Sound of music' theme playing here) and just trees... perfect backdrops. But Of course... I can't ever leave nature to be it's own backdrop (sorry Mother Nature, nothing personal) so I have packed up a few tag-a-long items to incorporate into the pictures.

Hope everyone is having a fanrastic day... I'm dressed up today, felt like showering... hahah

I will leave you with one of the pictures of Joy:

Found a Beautiful Blog Here: mary Frances Photography

Hope Everyone is having a fantastic day!

Fun Days ahead!

I had such a great time yesterday morning photographing Joy Wilson for Joy Wilson Photography! We met for breakfast and a few portraits/headshots at a cute little place in Atlanta called West Egg. Great little coffee shop with such an eclectic and comfy atmosphere! Please check it out if you are ever in Atlanta looking for breakfast/brunch/lunch (they are only open until 4!).

So Joy needed some updated photos of herself for her blog and website and I was happy to oblige...

Here are some of my favorites from the morning:

So cute!

So this weekend it is off to a wedding in LaGrange... I'm a date, I'm not photographing it, though I'll have a hard time turn my 'photographer's' brain off. The wedding is supposed to be a grand festival... full of southern pomp and circumstance... If I get any photos of it I will be sure to post them.

Have a great day all!