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Sarah is absolutely RADIANT! She is a big ball of energy, life, passion, drive, joy and motivation. Sarah smiles for no reason and laughs easily, which always makes me feel good. People like Sarah make un-funny people like me feel like comedians for the day ;) Usually I'm laughing at myself or my sweet husband and humoring me by laughing at my lame jokes.
Sarah made her voyage to us from the land of Idaho for her mentor session with us. Sarah is applying to art school in the fall so we gave her portfolio a look and came up with interesting ways that she could stand out with her work. We had an awesome day brainstorming ideas for ways that Sarah can push herself in ways that stretch herself as a photographer. We challenged Sarah to get her camera out and shoot something, anything, every day for two solid weeks. So many people are so concerned with "what" they are shooting that they forget that part of becoming a better photographer IS a discipline and it is more about just getting out and doing it. practice. practice, practice.
Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000 hour rule in his book, Outliers, saying that the key to greatness is dedicating enormous amounts of time to perfecting our craft. Gladwell claims it takes about 10,0000 hours of dedicated time doing the task or craft to truly be an expert at it. We have quite the challenge put before us!
Sarah is a total light. This first photo of her describes her zest to a tee.
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Matthew Lee is an excellent photographer coming from the lands of New York City to give us a visit for a half day mentor session here in Seattle a few weeks ago. Matthew has had years of schooling at some of the best photography schools out there, I could learn a lot from Matthew.
Matthew is a humble and gentle spirit. Chris and I had great talks over tea with him on inspiration, style and voice. Sometimes you just need a different perspective other than your own ;)
I'm a huge believer that you can take and learn things from anyone and everyone. I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to write and share some of the beautiful things I have been learning recently but I really hope to sit down soon and share a blog post or two. Life is an exciting place to be. Everyday I am so grateful.
Off to another busy and delightful day!
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Sean McLean says:
Friday, August 20, 2010, 08:07 AM
...I want Matthew's watch
cody says:
Thursday, August 19, 2010, 10:29 AM
love. theres nothing like getting to share time and thoughts with other artists! yall inspire me with your images and posts all of the time.
Mary says:
Thursday, August 19, 2010, 10:28 AM
Beautiful images and words as always! =) Have an amazing day!
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Carmen Farrell is a great photographer from Toronto who met us in Upstate New York while we were there a couple of weeks ago for a six hour mentor session with us. We were in a super small town in Speculator NY and found a little place to get some ice cream, talk, and dig into Carmen's business.
Chris and I were so excited about Carmen's family portrait focused business. We were immediately inspired by one of her recent lifestyle family shoots and this generated lots of creative ideas that I'm already seeing her run after. We brainstormed some different approaches to her business that will help her stand out in her market and chatted about the importance of paginating our work so that the edit reflects the type of things we want to shoot among a variety of other things ;) These are just a few snaps from our 15 minute mini session with Carmen.
We are heading to L.A. today for Darby & Reece's wedding and then I'm heading to Moab Utah for a girls trip with some of my photographer lady friends for a week! If you want to keep up with some of our adventures you can check out the blog: http://marfatrip.com/
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galaxie says:
Saturday, August 7, 2010, 12:22 AM
sarah! :))
moab is one of my favorite places to visit. make sure to check out castle valley. you can get bikes @ the 'poison spider rental' and ride around there. it's truly magical. have a blast! toodles.
Carmen Farrell says:
Friday, August 6, 2010, 02:01 PM
:) Sarah and Chris, you guys rocked my world! You showed me what was possible and how to go after it - it was a major turning point for me. Since our time together I've been busy busy reading, shooting, and dreaming very big. Hugs to you guys!
p.s. LOVE this last photo with ice cream.
kay* says:
Friday, August 6, 2010, 11:39 AM
So awesome (and yay for a fellow Torontonian!). Your work never fails to inspire me. Particularly love the last images. The colours are great.
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Genevieve & Joel made the trek from Canada to come spend the day with us as we dug into their business, their art and everything in between for a mentor session. Genevieve & Joel are such a talented couple who love life and people. When I asked Genevieve why she is a photographer her answer was as simple as, I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. With an answer like that, I just knew that these two had roots that go deeper than "being my own boss" or "having a more flexible schedule." With passion and purpose behind you I think you can do anything you put your mind to. These are people who are going places. They have passion, talent and a great foundation. Already I have seen these two take the things that we talked about and apply them to their business and I am SO SO proud of them. We talked a lot about creating a brand that is un-apologetically them. When they first came to us they had a totally different web site that felt, dark, heavy and serious. When you meet these two they are anything but that. They are fresh, open, charming, hip, fun and so endearing. Their new site and brand does a much better job reflecting that wonderful bright and charming spirit!
We cannot wait to see where these two go with their art and business. As I watched Genevieve & Joel interact with the couple that we had on their shoot I kept smiling to myself because they reminded me a bit of us. Joel is a natural born entrepreneur, much like Chris, and Genevieve is a dreamer who loves life and takes it all in. I am so proud of these two and we feel so blessed to have played even a small roll in their journey. Here are just a few frames from our 15 minute mini shoot together. enjoy!
Also, we are so excited to be giving away one spot to our sold out workshop in Australia through Totally Rad Actions. We have narrowed down the videos (Rollie Dundee/ Laura Elle/ Tessa's video) to our top three picks and we need your votes to decide who should get the seat! Voting closes this Friday at noon! And you can vote via the below poll.
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Chris Cooke says:
Saturday, July 24, 2010, 09:09 AM
Lookin' great guys! Keep the creativity flowing Genevieve & Joel... your website is looking sweeeet :)
Jolene says:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 08:49 AM
I agree! So great to see these gorgeous shots of someone who is usually on the other side of the camera. Stunning!
Lilly Van Loo says:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 06:23 AM
It's so nice to see Genevieve as the subject of photography. Oh the joy of raising this daughter, she is amazing and Joel a wonderful support and compliment to her. They will realize their dreams. Beautiful pictures, thank you Sarah and Chris.
ShariLee says:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 01:43 AM
LOVE these images of Genevieve + Joel! They truly are an amazing couple + gifted photographers!
ShariLee says:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 01:40 AM
LOVE these images of Genevieve + Joel! They truly are an amazing couple + talented photographers!
Sometimes the simplest advice is all we need. Time to get out more and shoot, shoot, shoot!
shoot sarah! you did a great job! thanks for sayin' all those nice things about me :) you are pretty darn brilliant yourself. also, don't sell yourself short, you're a hecka funny!
She looks like so much fun! I have a feeling that she will do well :)
Yep! She's a rad chic!
Love the first one. She looks like fun!
shes radiant!
i think i would like her :) that last photo is awesome!