Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 09:37 AM
Conversations of cute girls, design projects, cameras, food, Grammy's and funny stories danced around the table at The Shelter in Ballard this past Friday evening. It was a table full of testosterone; My husband and four of his good friends and then there was me :). It was so completely fascinating that I decided it would be most appropriate for me to document it. Plus, I am really trying to get better about documenting our life together, and lastly I really wanted to put our Canon 5DMKII to the test since the lighting was all candle lit.

One thing that I love about Seattle is the people we have been fortunate enough to call friends. There is no price that you can pay for surrounding yourself with exceptionally talented people. For instance, two of the guys that were out with us have done the majority of  the branding/design pieces for us and are incredible designers; Tyler Eide and Jesse Amborn. They totally GET us so it was easy to trust them with the making of many of our collateral pieces etc. Jordan Butcher is the guy with a the great laugh at the table, he works as an Art director and designer at Tooth and Nail and just got nominated for a Grammy for Best Boxed or Limited Edition Packaging that he designed for Underoath. Pretty impressive stuff. We feel lucky to call these guys friends. And ladies, for those who might be wondering, yes, they all are currently single :) (that is my plug)

Lastly, I just want to mention some meta details for all your camera geeks out there. All of these images were shot with the Canon 5DMKII with the 35 f/1.4. It was an extremely dark room all candle lit. All of these captures were shot at an ISO of 6400 at between 1/40-1/100th wide open at a 1.4. Yes they are a bit noisy with some slight banding, but for shooting with those figures at an ISO of 6400, I was thoroughly impressed. Not to mention I like a little grain.



Thoughts
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Miah Klein says: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 09:51 AM

Nice test with your equipment. Keep the inspiration coming Seatle Supersonic!

Lisa Dunham says: Thursday, January 14, 2010, 09:37 AM

I love these, Sarah! Love the grain and I even like the banding - I think it's cool. Picture #7 looks like Flight of the Conchords guys. I predict it may be your last night as the "only" female at that table.

sarahrhoads says: Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 05:07 PM

@Lynda :) not a silly question at all. Lets just put it this way... I have one of those "obnoxiously over-sized" purses that I just throw my body and lens in. No special bag for evenings out like this. Just a good ol' fashion oversized purse!

lynda says: Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 11:42 AM

silly question maybe, but how do you guys tote around your camera when you go out for drinks/dinner like this? i bought a camera bag that looks like a purse, but i think it's still too bulky and awkward, and i'm bummed that i can't fit a body into my shootsac... curious to know what you all do?

Becka @Studio222 Photography says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 08:43 PM

I'm always stuck with all boys at dinner too! And I also adore my mkII except I'm a bit more addicted to our 50 1.2 than I am to our 35 1.4. I kind want to get the 24 1.4. I feel its our last missing child or something. ;)

romin says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 02:36 PM

I've gotten so used to maxing out at 1600 usable ISO with my 5D, i will be spoiled rotten when i finally get the 5D mark ii in a few weeks! woohoo!

oh, and amazing images, as always :)

jamie delaine says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 02:07 PM

Sarah, so fun! Hanging out with my brother and his friends is like therapy for me. I laugh so hard and just love boys. Way more fun than girls, no? Especially artsy ones! We should probably get more single artsy guys up here in Langley, BC. Probably. Send a few up, k? k.

Ardith says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 01:21 PM

Single guys, huh? Well, recently single girl here says, "Hi." ;)

Great photos, though. Loving the candid shots. And it looks like the candle light worked out!

Tonhya Kae says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 12:05 PM

Hahaha sounds like a fun night! That last picture of Tyler cracks me up :P ...ps. I want that camera!!!

Alexandra says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 11:40 AM

Oooooh I love this, I need the Canon 5d!!!!!

Dennis Bullock says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 11:38 AM

I think the MKII passed the test! :)

Janet McKnight says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:54 AM

What? SINGLE GUYS?! (booking my ticket to Seattle NOW.) :D

Mark Eric says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:32 AM

We all need to do more life documenting- funny how we document the most important parts of other people's lives, but don't document enough of our own. Definitely something I need to work more on. Thanks for the inspiration :)

Shannon Cunningham says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:30 AM

my two favorite pieces of equipment. great post. I have been reading Love is the Killer App. and I can't put it down. Thanks for sharing it in a recent post!

Briony says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:17 AM

these are fantastic. the 5D Mark II is rad, i can't wait to get one....you documented the evening beautifully.

Paige says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:17 AM

Aw, yay, it's good to see my big bro :)

Olivia says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:01 AM

These turned out really good! I like a little grain too...Looks like you guys had fun...Maybe a little too much fun, judging by the next to last shot..hehe :)

Steve Gerrard says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 09:47 AM

Good times :)

Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:30 AM
About a month ago I did a post on the importance of a self portrait in the life of every artist. While I was writing that post, I got to thinking about how interesting it would be to see the self portraits of some of our blog readers, thus the making of this post! Taking a self portrait and putting it on display for the world to see can take a great deal of courage. Many of these images made me stop dead in my tracks. The honesty runs thick through many of these frames. I had so much fun putting this special post together and meeting many of you "eye to eye" for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading so many of your vulnerable stories and heartfelt e mails. And I loved visiting many of your blogs last night as I set up the links below. 

One thing to consider, whenever you feel like you have "nothing" to shoot or create; you always have yourself as a subject. That is the beauty of a self portrait. And when we take a self portrait, we are forced to look at ourselves with new eyes... with honest eyes.  I believe it is in these beautiful moments of looking within that we discover truths about who we are, our desires, our fears, our hurts, our passions & our deepest longings. 

This project has inspired me... My goal is to take one self portrait per month throughout the course of the next year... we'll see what I un-cover ;) I would challenge each of you to do the same and perhaps we can share our results along the way.  **We decided it would be cool to do a quarterly blog post of future self portraits.  Feel free to send  High Res/Untagged images  to selfportrait@sarahrhoads.com**

Self Portrait Photo Credits are as follows:
10 Amy Swift
11 Laura Pyles
25 Jennifer Villamil
28 Anna James
32 Amaris Kress
37 Ashley M. Whitlatch
60 Mark Alvis























Thoughts
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Emily says: Monday, December 27, 2010, 02:59 PM

I LOVE the one of the guy taking out the trash! Talk about reality! :-)

Emily says: Monday, December 27, 2010, 02:58 PM

I LOVE the one of the guy taking out the trash! Talk about reality! :-)

Erin says: Friday, December 3, 2010, 09:18 AM

I've always been scared of the "self-portrait"... but now, you - and your friends who've bravely taken their own self portraits - have inspired me. Thank you a hundred times for this post. They're beautiful.

Leah says: Friday, April 9, 2010, 07:33 AM

I enjoy this post/collection so much, I bookmarked it for inspiration. Thanks. (And, yes, I've been visiting every week or so since you posted it.)

Emilie says: Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 02:28 PM

This is such a fab idea! I'm in!! Awesome self-portraits!!!

Rog says: Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 02:19 AM

The last ones my favorite! the last ones my favorite!

Mercedes says: Sunday, January 17, 2010, 05:18 PM

This is a really great project,it was interesting to see all the different ways people see themselves. Such creativity!

jodie says: Saturday, January 16, 2010, 05:20 AM

All I kept thinking while looking at these images was how beautiful each person was. How everyone is beautiful. My favorite image though was the man taking the trash out. I need to get that shot of my husband!

Leah says: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 07:00 PM

Love this project. Thanks for putting this together here.

ohana photographers says: Friday, January 8, 2010, 09:47 AM

love every.single.image.

Anna says: Friday, January 8, 2010, 01:32 AM

This is such a great post. To see such a great collaboration of photographic effort put in for a single theme...ahh, so interesting and unique, and happy to be a part of. Thank you for sharing.

Stephanie Dana says: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 02:55 PM

awww, these look so great. i love this post and can not wait to do more through out the year!

Rebecca says: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 08:35 PM

I love all of the creative self portraits - what a fun assignment. Nice work everyone!

Adam Cavanagh says: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 01:04 PM

wow such wonderful work by everyone

Amaris Kress says: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 07:48 PM

This is such a beautiful collection! The significance of what you are referring to is seen so clearly by it. Thank you for allowing us to participate. So much respect for you guys!

Allie says: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 06:26 PM

Brilliant!

Heather Gilson says: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 05:17 PM

This was always my favorite assignment (self portrait) to give my photography students back when I was an art teacher. This is a lovely collection of moving images. Can't wait to see more throughout the year.

sharalee says: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 03:41 PM

love love! these photos are amazing...exhilarating to see mine in the mix! thanks for the opportunity to bear our souls!

Alex Evjen says: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 08:10 AM

Very inspiring! Thanks for sharing.

Jennifer V. says: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 06:46 AM

What an honor, thanks for including me! So inspiring to see the creation of others!

Allison says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:40 PM

I love this idea~ Its so good to challenge yourself and get in front of the camera for a self portrait! I am excited to rise to the challenge! Thanks for sharing!!

evelyn says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 08:10 PM

wow. you guys ROCK.

thanks for taking the time and sending us also an e-mail.

very inspiring work. Evelyn

Sharon says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 07:47 PM

What an amazing collection! I loved the idea! I could use all those self portraits to decor my walls =)

Lara Beck says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 06:32 PM

What an honour to be included in your blog post....Thank you!! :-) There are some absolutely fantastic shots here!! :-)

Cameron Ingalls says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 05:52 PM

yea-yeah! fun to be in the mix. some great self portraits here!

Kaysha says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 03:41 PM

These are all so awesome! Thank you for posting my portrait, and especially for your kind email! It means a lot that you took the time to reply! :)

Stevie says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 02:27 PM

This is a beautiful post. It's such an inspiration to see so many creative faces. Thanks for including me.

Emma Case says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 12:27 PM

Ahhh Sarah and Chris... you have made my year... already! 4th January...that's pretty good going even if I do say so myself! Pretty amazing to be sat amongst such a talented group. Thanks for being a daily inspiration. x x

Patrina says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 12:10 PM

So fun to see all of these. I love it!

Kayla Barker says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 11:49 AM

Yay! Thank you so much for including me! Loved all the photos!

Jason Williams says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 11:45 AM

Extremely honored and humbled to be part of this project (and to be on the infamous Rhoads blog :)...keep up the fantastic art Sarah & Chris, you're an inspiration.

Amanda VanVels says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 11:27 AM

Thank you so much for putting some of my photos up, guys! I have never felt so honored and I mean that!

Chris Rhoads says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 11:07 AM

Hey Rob looks like you overlooked it, if you look at the text there is a list of all the 65 photographers as well as links to those who have websites.

Rob Greer says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 10:56 AM

I wish you had posted the names and URLs for all of these photographers ...

Mary says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 10:38 AM

I'm honored to be among such gorgeous photos. Everyone's portraits are seriously amazing!

Krista Leigh Hurst says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 10:29 AM

Such a beautiful idea! I would love to share my self portraits with you through out the year!
Just Wonderful!

kirsten says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 10:14 AM

this post is such a great idea, i am totally down with 52 portraits a year. i have heard of 365, but i think 52 is much more manageable with the same impact!

Alexandra says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 10:08 AM

Wow. These are amazing! Thanks for the inspiration :)

Millie says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 10:06 AM

Wow! If anyone came into this post feeling uninspired, I am positive they didnt leave that way.

Gary Christenson says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:58 AM

Awesomely fun post guys :)

Janet McK says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:56 AM

yikes. these are all so inspiring and challenging! I need to quit being such a pansy and do some self-portraits too. (oh, and the one where the 2nd picture was a closer-up? totally freaked my brain out. i'm the kind of person who thinks a restaurant with a wall of mirrors has an extra room. totally cool! Eliesa Johnson, I think.)

Julie Watts says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:51 AM

Breathtaking and inspiring.....it fills my heart up knowing there's all this creation and expression in the world!

Cait says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:47 AM

Wow. Thanks so much for sharing these! I'm putting the self portrait project on my list of resolutions/goals. I can't wait to look back at my life in pictures at the end of this year and see where I've come from. Thanks for inspiring me.

anda says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:46 AM

wow -- these are all fantastic! so many beautiful people out there in the world. great idea -- and a great response!

Marissa Rodriguez says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:44 AM

These are amazing! It's so wonderful of you to put this post together! Seriously, you always inspire and are by far one of my favorite photographers. I wanted to try a self portrait from the last time you wrote about it but I slacked so now I'm thinkin' I'll definitely get to it!

Harmony Loves says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:42 AM

ingenious idea. I loved all the images.

Miriam says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:40 AM

Gosh! Sooo many beautiful faces!

Kat Braman says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:37 AM

what a cool series of shots! love love love that yellow phone.

eliesa says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 09:37 AM

Very, Very cool. Rock it out everyone. LOVEe

A huge thank you to each of our amazing clients who made this year spectacular for us! You are the people that allow us to live out our passion. You are the ones who caught the vision behind why we do this and believed in it. You are the ones who had complete faith and trust in us. You are the people who have inspired us and encouraged us and pushed us to be greater. You are the people who trusted us and empowered us. We feel so thankful to each of you, but mostly, we feel humbled. 

We found it INSANELY difficult to do a "Best of 2009" post so instead these are some highlights from the past year. Most of the photos are ones that I personally connected with for one reason or another. But that is the hard part, I felt connected to so many of our images from this year. This post started as 220 images (a ton I know!!) and Chris finally made us narrow it down to more like 30, which I found too difficult to do, so I just let him do the picking and these are just a handful of the highlights of 2009. Looking forward to a fantastic year in 2010. It's going to be a great one, I can just feel it in my bones :)

Happy New Year!












Thoughts
Add a Comment View Comments (14)
Heather Gilson says: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 05:14 PM

Wow-what a great collection for 2009! Amazing really. You two are always so busy having fun and making cool art. Thanks for your earlier posts on your favorite business books, I REALLY enjoyed that and went straight to Amazon to order a few. Keep the reviews coming as you plow through more books in 2010!
Thanks again!

angie says: Sunday, January 3, 2010, 10:37 PM

What an amazing year!!!

kristen says: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 11:58 PM

Loved every one of these...

Michelle sidles says: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 08:23 PM

Happy New Year!!! :) Beautiful images!

arenda says: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 03:10 PM

amazing images sarah! my favourite is the one of the guy twirling the girl in the boots around, it's stunning! happy 2010!

Rebecca says: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 12:51 PM

what a great year for you :)

Maureen Nikonov says: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 12:21 PM

Only 220, Sarah? :) I could've brought another 220 to your attention that were absolutely out of this world. Good work sneaking those three of you in there, Chris, I loved those shots of you. Can't wait to see what you bring to fruition this year... congrats on all your success and all that is still to come!

imthiaz houseman says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 04:06 PM

stunning work. Happy New Year. we can't wait to see what 2010 brings to the two of you. :)

Emily says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 03:33 PM

Happy New Year Chris and Sarah!
Thank you for being part of our first year of married life! We look forward to more fun dinners and geeking out with you guys :)

chatti says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 02:50 PM

all awesome and really reflected your clients personality and your connection with your clients.

Steve Gerrard says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 02:10 PM

What an amazing year you've had. And we've loved keeping up with you along the way.
Here's to an even more incredible 2010.
Cheers
Steve & Evelyne xx

Alexandra says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 01:13 PM

I'm so in love with your work. Wow.

Jennifer says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 12:46 PM

Love them! He did a good job of picking the best!

Jennifer says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 12:46 PM

Love them! He did a good job of picking the best!

Thursday, December 31, 2009, 02:40 PM
The best definition of a "goal" that I have heard came while reading Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi says, "A goal is a dream with a deadline." It makes sense, before we can establish what our goals are we must have a very clear sense of exactly what our dreams are. 

This year we have been thinking a lot about our dreams at the Rhoads abode. I have always been a BIG picture person. A BIG dreamer. And a huge part of every decision we make at the Rhoads goes through the filter of, Where will this put us in five years? We never want to make decisions that are short sighted; but rather, we aspire to make decisions that go back to the heart behind WHY we do this. If we can put everything through the WHY filter, the decisions we make will have much greater payoffs in the long term.

Failing to plan is planning to fail. I believe that perception drives reality. A lot of achieving our goals is not allowing our own minds stand in the way of what is possible. To be where we want to be we must be able to see ourselves there before we ever actually arrive. The goals we put on paper are the stepping stones that make the vision a reality. 

I'm really stoked about this new year ahead of us! Today I looked back over the goals we set for 2009 with a smile on my face. It's pretty encouraging to look back at these goals that I scribbled down on pieces of paper back at the end of 2008 and see so many come to fruition in 2009. Our plan is to make that happen again in 2010. Just a few of the exciting goals we checked off the list in 2009:

- Launching our Custom Site what we feel like really speaks to our personal/artistic vision.
- Traveling to Thailand for creative and personal growth.
- A huge passion of mine is to inspire others to take hold of their passion and let it drive them to where they want to be. Chris is equally passionate and exceptionally talented at teaching people "how" to do that so we were really excited to take on a handful of Mentoree's this year through our Mentor sessions for photographers.
- One of our other big goals for 2009 was to meet & surround ourselves with people who inspired us and pushed us to be greater, bigger and better. It is amazing to see the fantastic people God brought into our lives this year! The beautiful women I was able to connect with through {Marfa Trip} are now the incredible women that I feel fortunate to call true friends. My wonderful encourager Jeff Holt who also introduced us to our now dear friend Nick Onken, both boys are constantly setting the bar higher for us. The wonderful opportunity to team up with our inspirational friend, Jesh de Rox to help host Life as an Artform (to come in april of 2010) was yet another unexpected blessing.  The list of the doors that were opened through people could go on and on... You see, a very important part of achieving our goals are the people who come alongside us in the process. People are what make the world go round.

When the Rhoads set goals we have three categories. Realistic, Ambitious and Audacious. Within each of those categories we have another set of goals: Immediate Goals, Creative goals, Financial goals, Long term development goals & Personal goals. I like to have the three different categories (Realistic, Ambitious & Audacious) because it allows us the freedom to dream on an even bigger scale.

2010 will be a year of some of the most audacious goals we have ever set for ourselves and I'm pumped! It will also be a year of facing fears and a year of extreme growth. I can already see it. I believe it. I know it. Cheers to a great year to each of you! Follow your bliss!!


Thoughts
Add a Comment View Comments (5)
Kat Speyer says: Monday, January 4, 2010, 03:38 PM

Yes! Thank you for being so inspirational. :)

Tami says: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 07:05 PM

I love the three goal catergories! I agree it is important to dream big and I need to do more of that myself. Thanks for the inspiration again!

kimberly says: Friday, January 1, 2010, 09:33 AM

a wonderful way to start this first day of 2010.....a visit to your blog......it is just so right Sarah!!!

wishing you the grandest of new years!!!

holly everett says: Thursday, December 31, 2009, 03:12 PM

Hi Sarah!
Thank you for sharing this (and the list of books a few days back... currently reading "Purple Cow" now while my husband is reading "Love is the Killer App"). I am really new to the industry and am encouraged by people like you who love what they do, and combine that passion with the business-side to make it succeed. So, I just wanted to say thank you: for your thoughts, your passion, your way of seeing the world that we are fortunate to view day-to-day. Happy New Year!

sara montour says: Thursday, December 31, 2009, 03:02 PM

Love this so much. I spent the day today reflecting on 2009 and looking forward to 2010+. It's exciting to push ourselves beyond what we think is feasible, and I hope your audacious goals fall into the realistic category soon!

Can't wait to meet you in 2010!