Monday, January 16, 2012, 02:52 PM
This weekend we had a snow day. In the best way possible it sprinkled down wonder from the sky. Chris & I are total suckers for a good snow day. It started sort-of-snowing on Saturday & we hurried home from brunch, put on our jammies, made some hot cocoa & started a movie. Because, well, that's what you do when you have a snow day in Seattle; you lock yourself in the house because you can't drive in the snow here in your prius ;). We ended up jumping the gun a bit* because our sort-of-snow day on Saturday really just turned into just a gross rain day. However, when we woke up Sunday morning there was beautiful white snow on the ground. I'm not sure if you're anything like us, but when the snow comes we go into full kid mode; busting out the big boots, the sleds and you will most likely find us on the ground pounding together snowballs.

The older I get the more I find myself seeking out that sense of wonder & curiosity that children feel for everything they encounter. This weekend I felt that as Chris and I romped around in the snow together, laughing & playing... much like children do. It's always curious the way the world finds a way to bring you back towards what is important. Sunday I was reminded of how important it is to stare wonder in the face on a regular basis & how fun it is to forget about our ever growing list of responsibilites for a day and just enjoy life & being together.



Thoughts
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Nina Grace says: Saturday, January 28, 2012, 12:14 PM

How fun :) - we don't get too many snow days where I'm from ;-) (Florida).

Debbie Mayes says: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 08:37 AM

We haven't had any snow here in Arkansas yet! I'm kinda jealous...your images just go to show that a good photographer is great no matter what the weather ;)

rich says: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 07:11 AM

these are so much fun! awesome post!

Asharae Kroll says: Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 11:43 AM

Love this, Sarah! I hope you and Chris are constantly discovering new things to be excited and thankful for. Miss you two like crazy!

Maryanne Gobble Photography says: Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 11:40 AM

Was feeling a wee bit jealous when I saw this post yesterday but we finally got some flurries when we drove up in the hills this morning! Love the city shot!

Michael says: Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 05:20 PM

The way you describe the feeling of wonder as a childs curiosity makes me feel like I've somehow misplaced my ability to do so! I haven't seen much snow since October over here in Massachusetts but it'll come, and I'll be out there making the biggest snowman I can! Enjoy the winter weather!

Annie says: Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 03:31 AM

One day I WILL live somewhere where it snows and I WILL play in it like a child. I just love snow so much!

Andrew Cahill says: Monday, January 16, 2012, 04:22 PM

Jealous! The snow looks like so much fun.

Emilie says: Monday, January 16, 2012, 03:51 PM

I almost bought the same boots!
Great photos!

Jade Sheldon says: Monday, January 16, 2012, 03:21 PM

We had snow yesterday and today here in Portland. While I was able to go out and get a few shots, I'm hoping for much more snow though.

Saturday, December 31, 2011, 04:08 PM
It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. When I think of 2011 the word that stands out in my mind is growth. I feel like my world became so much more expansive this year.  I saw the sky open up as I stood in that great open space of possibility. In many ways I still feel like that little kid with a million hopes and dreams throwing pennies into the pond, wishing only that I could fly. There are times in life when work is the driving force and we only get to see glimmers of our dreams take shape; and then there are other very special seasons of life when God allows us to see the fruit of our labor... much like a farmer in harvest season. This year was one of those rare and special harvest times when we saw many of our dreams move past inception and begin to take shape. There is only more hard work ahead, but sometimes it helps to have that beautiful pulled back perspective, the reminder that the work we do matters, the sweat & man hours amount to something, and dreams do come true.

I have always been a firm believer that each of us creatives must trust the "hot spots." What I mean by that is trusting those things that move us, inspire us & get us excited.  A lot of times hot spots don't always make the most logical sense, making them scary impulses to trust. But I think if we deny our hot spots for long enough parts of us die... beautiful parts that the world needs to see. So this year has been a year of trusting my heart and moving towards the heat. Our heart for photography has always been people-centric, in the past five years Chris and I have specifically fallen in love with the lifestyle aspects of storytelling which is what our We Are the Rhoads brand is all about. The evolution of this brand came from a hot spot that began five years ago and never left. This year we were hired by Sony, Coca-Cola, Hilton, Pepsi, Pfizer & others to shoot their worldwide lifestyle campaigns for them (many of which will go live in 2012). I've never had so much fun during the creation process as I've had this year. This year was a true testament to the importance of trusting the "hot spots" on our creative journeys. I think it's always important for every creative to do a hot/cold check on a regular basis. Asking ourselves "why" we are doing things and making sure our reasoning resonates with someplace deeper within us. 

You'll notice I haven't spent as much time blogging on this blog this year, that's because I was spending time living, shooting, creating, growing in new ways. Keeping with my "hot spot" philosophy, some things are going to change around here. From here forward this blog will simply become a place for me to explore my own creative journey, I will blog things that I'm learning, things that are challenging &/or inspiring me & what we're shooting from time to time. I wont be blogging things out of obligation or expectation. This is going to be a bit of a different space, a little more personal and exploratory. I understand if that doesn't interest some of you. This was a personal decision made from a hot spot, from a deep need to focus more on creating & less on things that pull me away from that.  For those who it does interest, I am looking forward to exploring new roads together. If you want to keep up with more of our commissioned lifestyle work you can stay up with it on our WATR blog.
Thank you for being so sweet 2011, as we bid you adieu I look forward to the things this big giant world has to teach & show me in 2012.


Thoughts
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Lea says: Friday, January 13, 2012, 04:54 PM

Awesome! I can't wait to see how this blog transforms and I look forward to following along!

Jackie Lovato says: Thursday, January 12, 2012, 10:19 AM

your personal and exploratory moments are my favorite, and the ones I value most that you share. i'm excited to stick with ya. excited to continue watching (and learning from) your growth.

Kat Harris says: Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 10:19 PM

Bravo Sarah. Here's to a year of creating and being and living out of honesty and not obligation. Love your vision girl:)

Jen Kessler says: Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 01:32 PM

you always bring a smile to my face.

Jasmine* says: Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 10:19 AM

Rock it out, Sarah...I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for you! :)

Ricky says: Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 07:04 AM

Awesome! Keep up the good work!

ANDA says: Sunday, January 1, 2012, 08:00 PM

I LOVE YOU, Sarah! I'm so happy for you and so excited to follow your growth and journeys chronicled here in a new way. I actually made the same decision recently for my own blog. In the coming year and beyond I'm only blogging as I want to ... and only what I want to. A personal blog more than a work blog. Thank you for continuously inspiring me to follow my hot spots, to revisit my WHY, and to live live live. xo, AM

caroline lee says: Sunday, January 1, 2012, 06:32 PM

i love this, sarah, and i'm super proud of you, lady. you have been // continue to be a huge inspiration and encouragement to me, and i'm so grateful to you and for you! i've been describing 2011 as my 'harvest year', so this post really resonated with me. it's time to sow again, me thinks! cheers to you, and another wonderful year -- i hope our paths cross again soon. xx

Tenley Clark says: Sunday, January 1, 2012, 05:11 PM

You are so inspiring in both your words and all the beauty you create with your lens and heart. I look forward to following your personal journey on this blog more. Happy 2012!

Jenn Stark says: Sunday, January 1, 2012, 10:20 AM

Way to go you guys. Wishing you another year of growth and sticking to what matters most, cheers to you & 2012!

Joyce Alexander says: Sunday, January 1, 2012, 10:02 AM

Thank you for sharing this. I have so loved watching as you have traveled your beautiful road and can't wait to see what you do next. Congratulations Sarah and Chris.

annawithlove says: Sunday, January 1, 2012, 09:27 AM

This post struck a cord with me...especially the "focus more on creating & less on things that pull me away from that" how so very true that is! Wishing you all the best in 2012 thank YOU for the constant inspiration ! Big Hugs! xx

Nuh Sarche says: Sunday, January 1, 2012, 04:40 AM

Please keep blooging your thoughts!... It's so inspiring!!!

Thank you!

And best wishes for 2012...

applem00n says: Saturday, December 31, 2011, 05:13 PM

Here's to you! And you & you!

Monday, November 28, 2011, 11:26 AM
A few weeks ago we took a fun little day trip out to the Gorge with a group of our talented friends for a good time in the desert mess with some of our newest film cameras & play. Feels like we have shot in the desert a lot this year, once for the cover shoot of Rue back in February, and then we had another project in the desert at some point... but honestly, does shooting fabulous people in a desert ever get old? I think not ;) 

I wanted to share some of these frames here since this is my little spot to post things that are going on in my creative journey. However, to see more about this shoot you can head over to our We Are the Rhoads blog. Also, our friend, Joel, put together a pretty fantastic behind the scenes video for this. He is insanely talented & so are the rest of the folks that joined us for the road trip down to the Gorge this day and helped make this come to life...

Photographers: Chris & Sarah Rhoads
Motion: Joel Clare
Hair/Makeup: Tiffany Colors
Styling: Sherri Garcia
Talent: Megan, Gregg & Tommy of SMG & Levi & Maggie of Heffner
PA: Samantha Kelly Knorr









Thoughts
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Family Photographers Denver says: Monday, January 30, 2012, 10:47 PM

All pictures are awesome that depicts amazing team work and a lot of creative ideas .I m waiting for more photos.Really stunning work done !

Katie Neal says: Sunday, January 8, 2012, 10:25 PM

Golly Moses. If I believed in reincarnation, I'd want to reincarnate into an amazing photographer like you two :)

briana @Divine Light Photography says: Monday, January 2, 2012, 10:39 AM

i love the energy and light in this shoot. truly an impressive collection of images, very inviting. thank you for sharing your process and your results, very inspiring. with love, briana

Chandler Adaway says: Monday, December 12, 2011, 11:36 PM

Megan B is such a freaking rock star. I would kill to work with her. Sarah and Chris, this shoot is freaking fantastic. Everything about it is great. I tweeted Chris this, but holy crap, you are brave holding that PhaseOne without a neck strap!! Is that y'alls or did you rent it for the shoot? Anyways, fantastic job as always. I feel bad always lurking and never commenting! I tell people this all the time, but you two are my biggest inspirations (aside from Steve Jobs), and that's saying a lot! Keep up the amazing work. I think I'm going to work on a personal project for myself. Time for a pick-me-up! Cheers!

Lisa says: Monday, December 5, 2011, 06:24 PM

These are beyond amazing! LOVE them!!

Laura says: Sunday, December 4, 2011, 11:55 AM

LOVE everything about these!

mandie says: Thursday, December 1, 2011, 10:39 PM

wow. so much goodness in all of this. looks like you kids had a blast.

Anni says: Thursday, December 1, 2011, 02:19 PM

These are all just so amazing! What lovely work. I want to bottle that light and take it with me.

i'm kristen says: Thursday, December 1, 2011, 06:18 AM

what the what. snap. these are deliciously perfect. i want to stare at them all day. and i want to be them. i'm inspired!

ariel renae says: Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 08:30 PM

perfect.

LaurenEmily says: Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 02:44 AM

stunning, stunning, stunning work!!!!! so beautiful.. can you tell me, what lens did you use for this shot?

jalenetaylor says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 08:12 PM

wow. this is absolutely brilliant. wow!

Dennis Bullock says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 07:35 PM

So awesome guys!

Jenna says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 06:49 PM

I worked at Cave B for a few summers, and spent time after/before my shifts hiking these paths. I'm going to let everyone in on a secret: Though Cave B is beautiful, the Rhoads managed to make it look even more amazing than it is (an impressive feat).

Kyra says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 03:26 PM

Your work is so inspiring to me. Love!!!!!

Alyda says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 01:51 PM

You guys are so unbelievably talented! I love love love these images!!

naomi epstein says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 01:09 PM

YES!!! Here is to more personal projects. Follow your passion and your passion will leave an amazing trail. Amazin' job Sarah and Chris ;)

Laura says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 12:47 PM

Love these! Makes me want to go hang out with friends in the desert :)

Julia Manchik says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 12:20 PM

Love the hippie vibe and the sun we never see anymore.

kayleen t. says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 11:57 AM

seriously so good, love your personal work!

Rog says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 11:55 AM

good gosh you guys. What the frigg. super glory. Loved this set.

Magan says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 11:53 AM

SARAH! These are so, so beautiful. I love every single one of them. You're amazing.

Jenn Stark says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 11:50 AM

I saw this over on your commercial blog - i love the energy and life you have the ability to bring out in people, whether it's couples, families, models, whoever... you guys have such a gift. That second frame is an absolute stunner, and I love the shot on the ground with the guitar, but as a set, this shoot wins! Great job guys. Love following along with your creative evolution :) xo

Karen says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 11:40 AM

i love every little bit of this shoot- personal posts are my favorite- it's the best feeling to just go out with some friends and have fun/shoot/be creative! Great work as always, Sarah and Chris!

Caitlin Sullivan says: Monday, November 28, 2011, 11:37 AM

Amazing.

Thursday, November 17, 2011, 01:23 AM
A few weeks ago I flew down to the great state of Michigan to speak to a great group of female photographers at the HER photography conference. I'll be honest, speaking on a large scale as a keynote speaker isn't something I would put at the top of my resume. So needless to say, I was pretty scared out of my mind to talk to over 200 photographers on a platform for 90 minutes. Everything in me wanted to run, flee, say that I was busy and couldn't do it! BUT I'm so glad that I didn't. I faced a fear and I left personally changed from the experience.

A large focus of my talk was on this idea of dreaming audaciously, staying hungry and acting courageously. This has been an ongoing theme in my journey thus far and I feel pretty passionate about each creative person putting these ideas into daily practice. My good friend, Brent Holloman, teamed with us to create some amazing 11x14 posters of a lot of these ideas & phrases that we strive to live by. If you care to check out other posters you will find them at our online store here.

There are no truer words than these, "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours." - Henry David Thoreau. I've seen this play out in my life time and time again. Dreams don't just materialize on their own. Everything must originate from somewhere... a tiny seed of a dream if fed and acted on intentionally can become so much more than you ever imagined possible. Oftentimes I think we're scared to dream audaciously. We're scared to let ourselves go there because if we dream it into existence and then don't accomplish that goal or dream we feel like failures in some way. But in order to succeed at anything, our desire for success should be greater than our fear of failure. I have to remind myself of this everyday. I have a great many things I aspire to do in this life, which means I don't have a lot of time for fear these days. Instead of allowing fear to take up that mental mind space I'd rather fill that mental real-estate with my audacious dreams and plans to turn those dreams into something real.

and a big thank you to Tangie Sheets for taking this photo of me speaking!

 

Thoughts
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Martin L. says: Saturday, December 24, 2011, 04:55 PM

Sarah, is this awesome graphic your work?
If so, could you please send me a bigger version of this? I don't ask at all for high resolution, I just would like to share it with a friend cause this is exactly what I tried to tell her about the link between ambition and courage.

Be blessed by our lord in these christmas days,
Martin

Nicole says: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 04:02 PM

Wow, just what I needed to hear today! And things I should be reminding myself of every day, as well. So glad I ran into your blog today via Emmadime :)

Louis Blythe says: Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 08:24 PM

Dream Stay, Act! Love It!

Jon says: Wednesday, November 23, 2011, 03:09 PM

I am no female but it sounds like your words ring true for all of us. Thanks for the reminder to slap fear in the face.

Kate Elliott says: Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 10:05 AM

Sarah - you are amazing! Loved hearing you speak and it made such a difference for me in my life and business. Thanks for being there!

kat foley says: Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 08:45 AM

I look at my life and business differently because of you and your speech.
Thank you for taking time out of your life to share with us.

ben + laura says: Monday, November 21, 2011, 07:02 PM

loved having you a part of the conference. thank you for sharing with the attendees and we know that you inspired them all to chase their dreams.

Zaida says: Friday, November 18, 2011, 03:53 PM

It was great meeting and chatting with you at the HER conference! Thank you for sharing your vision and perspective on attaining your dreams--truly uplifting! Wishing you much continued success as I know you will impart, inspire, and share with others along the way. Signed girl who never gives her name out at Starbucks when there's a long ass line. :)

tangie says: Friday, November 18, 2011, 02:52 PM

your genuine spirit and down-to-earth nature are magnetic :), Sarah! too funny that it was a bit scary for you to come speak to us... i think most of us were in awe of you :). excited to watch where your audacious dreams continue to take you, and overjoyed about creating and living out some of my own! (and thank you for posting the pic & linking -- you are TOO sweet!!)

jen k. says: Friday, November 18, 2011, 11:12 AM

thanks for always being such an inspiration!

sarah schrader says: Friday, November 18, 2011, 10:57 AM

you are the real deal woman. :)

Amanda VanVels says: Thursday, November 17, 2011, 10:34 PM

Thanks so much for coming to speak! It was great to see you again. I keep thinking about following urges and dreams and I feel as if I can act on them confidently now, after hearing you speak. Thank you again so, so much!

Alli McWhinney says: Thursday, November 17, 2011, 07:08 PM

Sarah, it was an honor to hear you speak, and you did an awesome job by the way! You are a true inspiration!

Kara says: Thursday, November 17, 2011, 06:55 PM

I love you! The closer I get, the more nervous! If you guys are in OK this winter would love to hang. Otherwise, we'll come to you for another dose;) Hugs to you and Chris from us!

Shari says: Thursday, November 17, 2011, 02:32 PM

well said Sarah. you are such an inspiration. thank you for always sharing your heart + being real.