Friday, May 21, 2010, 07:32 AM
This has been a big week for us. Lot's going on, most of which I will catch you up on in another post. We are currently traveling in Canada which is just lovely. One of the things that happened this week is we purchased an iPad, we thought we would give you guys a little review of our thoughts on the product. We also wanted to let our faithful readers know that we are going to be starting a newsletter for some various projects and some exciting things we have coming up in the near future. If you would like to be on the newsletter list to be the first to find out about some giveaways and other exciting news please send us an e mail at news@sarahrhoads.com. This is not a place to e mail us messages it is simply a place for us to get your contact info, so please keep that in mind when you send an e mail there. We just need your correct e mail address and we'll get you on the list. To me, there is nothing worse in life than spam, so not to fear, we won't be using this to flood your inbox. Just for the occasional update when we have some big news that you might want to be informed of :)

Our review of the ipad: 
This week we got an iPad. When it was first released Chris & I were excited and intrigued. We are huge Apple fans and love that the company is built on the principle of "thinking different."  Although we were initially unsure of how "revolutionary" the iPad may be, we saw the immediate benefit for client meetings and presentations.  However, after just a few hours of ownership our mindset changed from "cool product" to "WOW!"  The iPad seems to be the type of gadget that takes a little while to really grasp all of its capabilities.  To the outsider looking in, it may seem to be nothing more than an oversized iPod touch, or iPhone, but after spending a few hours with it, it is obvious that this is a device that will truly will change the way that we consume media and interact with technology.  The biggest thing to recognize is that the iPad is not catered for the 'creation' of content, but rather the 'consumption' of content. This is an experience powerhouse. Ever since we purchased the iPad just a few days ago, we find ourselves reading multiple newspapers, checking our investments, listening to fantastic news story's on NPR and interacting with the internet in a way that seems much more personal.  To us it seems that being able to touch and interact with articles seems to create a more unique and interesting internet experience, it is more like reading a real newspaper vs going to the new york times online.  

For those who say it is not revolutionary, I say they havn't truly given it a chance. Not to mention we took the iPad to meet with one of our editorial clients to showcase some images for them. They were totally blown away by the user experience. For photographers, this is a game changer at meetings etc. So if we had to give the iPad a rating on a five star scale we would rate it a solid 4.5.  The only reason why we're docking .5 points is due to the fact that Apple and Adobe are not currently playing nice in the sandbox.  Although HTML5 and CSS3 may bypass flash in the future; for now we are left without.  Otherwise it's a killer product worth saving some cash for.


Thoughts
Add a Comment View Comments (9)
Rosaura says: Friday, May 28, 2010, 02:35 PM

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my iPad. At my first client meeting with it, the groom could not put it down, he looked at tons of pictures in the order he wanted and the way he wanted to. I knew right then it would be a game-changer for me. I keep up with my finances much more now too. LOVE IT! :)

sarahrhoads says: Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 07:37 AM

for those that asked, we have the 64gig 3G

geneoh says: Monday, May 24, 2010, 09:24 AM

which one did you get?

Lydia says: Friday, May 21, 2010, 07:56 PM

Aaahh, I'd really been trying not to read too much about the iPad because I knew I'd want one...too late, it has been added to my list!

iPad Ready Sites - Jason says: Friday, May 21, 2010, 11:17 AM

It is pretty amazing right? As a photographer and web designer - the iPad is absolutely thrilling to work with!

anda says: Friday, May 21, 2010, 09:45 AM

i'll admit i was an ipad cynic, but i saw so many photographers in CA recently using them -- that now i know i'll get one soon. i love your sarah/chris corner posts. do more of them :)

julie says: Friday, May 21, 2010, 07:56 AM

I have an ipad and totally agree that it is designed for the consumption of content in a unique and personal way. We have young children and everyone in our family is enjoying it!!

taryn kent says: Friday, May 21, 2010, 07:47 AM

what a good review! i've been wondering if it was worth looking into or not! love the idea of using for your clients.
thanks!

Lara says: Friday, May 21, 2010, 07:37 AM

Congrats on all of your upcoming travels! Swing by Chapel Hill somewhere in your world tour this summer! : )

Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 08:12 AM
We are stepping into a very busy season with lots of coming and going for a variety of different commissions. It's a good thing we love to travel because we will traveling all over  this year. We just got ourselves an ipad so that we can watch endless movies on the plane rides of all of our international trips :). So for those who might be interested in booking shoots/mentor sessions etc. while we are in your back yard hit us up via e mail. And for our clients, keep in mind while we are traveling we may be slower to respond to e mails/calls but will of course get back with you upon our return home.

May 20th-24th             Banff, Canada
May 28th-29th             Idaho
May 30th-June 1st       Malibu, California
June 11-14th               Durango, CO
June 25-27th               Maryland/ D.C.
July 18-22nd               Upstate New York
July 26-29th               San Diego, CA
August 6th-7th            Los Angeles, CA
August 8th-13th          Moab, Utah
Sept 3-6th                  Maui, Hawaii
Sept15th-27th            Greece
Sept 30th-Oct. 3rd      Rhode Island
November 8-13th        Australia
November 21-24th      Maui, Hawaii
December 23rd-28th   Oklahoma



Thoughts
Add a Comment View Comments (15)
lyndsay says: Thursday, May 20, 2010, 12:22 PM

Sad you're not coming to Texas....Austin is a cool city! Have fun in all your travels =)

Leena A. says: Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 04:04 AM

Yaaay!!! So excited that you are coming to Maryland/DC!!! :-)

todd scott ballje says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 08:59 PM

wow (period) ;)

Kevin Wrenn Photography says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 07:12 PM

Moab will be amazing. And if you are driving to Banff you HAVE to go up through Glacier NM. It will blow you away! Have fun and maybe we'll have that tea we talked about in 2011 :-)

Nathan Walker says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 06:07 PM

you're going to LOVE Banff - it's only about 4 hours from my place! As a Canadian, let me be the first one to say Welcome! Too bad we couldn't book a quicky with ya :(

Kate says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 05:11 PM

Lucky ducks! I'm envious that you have the opportunity to hop around the world. I'm ready to bust out of Oklahoma! Traveling with good company is the way to go. Bon voyage!

latteaddict says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 05:00 PM

Great you're coming to Australia. Are you stopping in Sydney? I'd love to do a session with you if you are, and it happens to be my birthday that week, so a little treat to myself maybe! Can you email if Sydney is on the itinerary...so excited.

Lisa says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 04:22 PM

Ooh!! Where abouts in Australia are you going to be?? I know it won't be little old Hobart but you still might be close!

Marissa says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 02:40 PM

SR + CR = 'Most Popular' on my Seattle Superlatives :) Have such a great time and see you both on Halloween, YAY

HannahTaylor says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 01:53 PM

I love it!! You guys are going to have a fun summer!

Darby says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 09:59 AM

Yay August 7th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO EXCITED!

Darby says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 09:58 AM

Yay August 7th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO EXICTED!

sarahrhoads says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 08:36 AM

@Millie Darn Staight!! ;) Moab will be lots of epic.
@Karen I have heard such great things about Banff yet we have never been so we're super excited!

Karen Workun says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 08:24 AM

We honeymooned in Banff! It's our destination of choice...you'll love it...Canada at it's finest :)

millie holloman says: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 08:22 AM

Many of those places look awesome but nothing is going to beat Moab, Utah. NOTHING! ;)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 08:42 AM
Album design is such an important part of our workflow. Over the years, we have spent hours upon hours designing unique and award winning books our couples. We were ecstatic to walk away with two international album awards this year at the WPPI album competition this year for our designs! We have received several e mails from photographers expressing interest in template options for our designs and although we have never offered them in the past we're putting them out into the world today. We are very excited to let you know we will be offering Sarah Rhoads Custom Templates through our friends over at H20 Creative!!

Teaming with H20 seemed like a match made in heaven because they too believe in the use of Adobe InDesign to make photographers lives easier when it comes to Album design. If there is one piece of advice I can give ANY photographer who is designing albums it would be  to take a couple hours and learn InDesign. This is a program specifically designed for making layout whereas Photoshop is a program designed for photo enhancement and manipulation which is why it takes double the time to design an album in photoshop. Using InDesign has cut our album design time in half. Not to mention, the designs are of much higher quality because of it. InDesign makes alignment easy and designing fun. H20 has tons of free tutorials on using InDesign. So Check them out and pick up some of our CLEAN Album Templates! Enjoy!


Thoughts
Add a Comment View Comments (7)
leah says: Friday, June 4, 2010, 05:13 PM

Love the template. Would love to use for a birth photography album. Wondering if there is a Cover included in the template? Or are these just pages? Thanks

Michelle Guzman says: Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 05:15 PM

I love how clean the designs are.

Kevin Wrenn Photography says: Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 01:20 AM

Very cool guys! This is great!

Rebecca Cash says: Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 08:03 PM

I am SOOOO excited!!! I absolutely LOVE your albums! I can't wait to order the templates!

kirsten says: Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 04:35 PM

stunning!

Lezlie Andrew says: Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 09:55 AM

Gorgeous!

Taren says: Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 09:09 AM

great stuff, as always(:

Thursday, May 6, 2010, 08:23 AM
I'm a huge fan of having unusually large goals that seem completely unrealistic. Most people give themselves too much time to complete a project or too much leeway when setting goals... most people underestimate themselves and their ultimate potential. 

What we should be doing is setting unrealistic goals, these are goals that force us to be uncomfortable, these are the goals that kill comfort. By setting unrealistic goals we are forced to overestimate our potential and strive to make the impossible, possible. These kind of goals provide an adrenaline infusion that give us the tenacity to overcome the bumps that we encounter along the way. I have yet to meet a successful person who simply set "realistic" goals. Realistic is a synonym for mediocre. I guess if I wanted to be like everyone else I would set "realistic" goals. But who wants to be like everyone else? Mediocrity is the villain in our plight as artists. We must do everything in our power to be intentional about warding him off. Having unrealistic goals forces us to be intentional about achieving them. The important actions we need to take are never the comfortable or easy ones. Rarely do people set out to achieve BIG, AUDACIOUS, seemingly impossible goals because most of us are scared of failure. The sad truth is that most people don't have the guts to pick up a pen and write down the audacious dream much less set out to achieve it. Simply put, there is just less competition for bigger goals.

So do yourself a favor, close your eyes for a minute and think about what you want your life to look like in five and ten years from now. Dream Big. Think Big. Do Big. Set the bar beyond what is seemingly possible, you might just surprise yourself.

Thoughts
Add a Comment View Comments (24)
Aurora says: Saturday, May 29, 2010, 10:40 AM

THIS IS FANTASTIC!!! I have this disease that causes me to do this all the time but I'm constantly amazed by what can be don't accept the idea that anything is impossible!

Christine Elizabeth says: Monday, May 10, 2010, 08:59 AM

Definitely a welcome kick in the ass! I saw your tweet about this on the day you posted it - my BIRTHDAY ;) And I knew that I would need to read a post about unrealistic goals, but somehow didn't come back here till now. I sat next to you at MTH2010 in Vegas, and I've been starting to make things happen, but I LOVE this post and I'll accept it as the kick it is to make BIGGER things happen!

Christine Elizabeth says: Monday, May 10, 2010, 08:58 AM

Definitely a welcome kick in the ass! I saw your tweet about this on the day you posted it - my BIRTHDAY ;) And I knew that I would need to read a post about unrealistic goals, but somehow didn't come back here till now. I sat next to you at MTH2010 in Vegas, and I've been starting to make things happen, but I LOVE this post and I'll accept it as the kick it is to make BIGGER things happen!

Kaysha says: Sunday, May 9, 2010, 10:10 PM

Brilliant! I love these kinds of posts, its always a welcome kick in the ass! ;)

sandy says: Sunday, May 9, 2010, 08:26 AM

Great inspiring post! Thanks for sharing. I completely agree. Love the image too.

Shan Reee says: Saturday, May 8, 2010, 01:30 PM

That was exactly what I needed to hear today! Thanks for sharing! And, what a fun image!

Alexandra says: Saturday, May 8, 2010, 12:02 PM

i always love your inspirational words. thank you.

heather says: Friday, May 7, 2010, 10:46 PM

you should read this, if you haven't already... http://veryawesomeworld.com/

it's our favorite book.

thanks for the inspiration photographically and verbally, and especially for the dance moves (via airhorns and lasers, we shook rumps in the same room).

Kisha of Sahara BLue says: Friday, May 7, 2010, 01:08 PM

so so so true and i could not agree more! looking forward to seeing more images from this shoot - the couple is totally adorable and it looks like it was a fun shoot!

Harmony Loves says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 07:47 PM

Very inspirational! I love that you walk the talk. :)

kate says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 06:20 PM

you're smart cookies!!

rags says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 02:36 PM

Very inspiring.

Patrick says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 01:09 PM

[sigh...] So true... [takes a deep breath...]

anjuli paschall says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:41 AM

i LOVE that everyday I can look forward to reading your blog and seeing something beautiful. i've challenged myself to blog everyday and so far so good. I never thought i could do that. and it is kind of scary to push myself beyond what i think is possible. but when i reach my 'impossible' goals, it is so rewarding! thanks!

John Harder says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:40 AM

Love this post. Love that photo!

carmen aka FRESH says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:34 AM

thanks for offending me - for real - think i needed that kick in the rear. nobody better to take it from than sr!

Ahmed Eid says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:30 AM

Thanks for the inspiration

I really admire your work

Jen Goulet says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:27 AM

Thank you for inspiring me everyday Sarah!!

david says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:12 AM

Boom... You nailed! Great post as usual.

Carrie says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:04 AM

WORD.

Carrie says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:02 AM

WORD.

Anonymous says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 09:01 AM

absolutely! Agree with every part of it.

Laura says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 08:58 AM

Thanks for this post. I am constantly daydreaming and thinking of new goals. Love reading your blog, I always find your words inspirational.

Isabelle Paille says: Thursday, May 6, 2010, 08:44 AM

Looove this. Could not agree more!