Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 11:12 PM
Angelia & Imanuel got married at the Seattle Tennis Club and their wedding was a true and honest proclamation of their faith and loyalty to one another. It was an outdoor event on an AMAZING Seattle day. Any brides out there debating between having an outdoor or indoor wedding next summer... go with outdoor!! It is always a WIN! 

Chris and I had shot one of Angelia's & Imanuel's friends wedding's last year so it was soo good to run into lots of familiar faces! They were surrounded by lots of people who support and love them. It was a great wedding to be a part of and their details were so fun!! I tried to include a few of the elements into this post so you can see how hard Angelia worked on this part of her wedding, the details turned out beautifully :) 

I have many a thing to blog and am a wee bit behind with my blogging because I have been busy shooting/traveling for weddings/desiging albums/editing blah blah.... all that to say there is much much more to come so stay tuned :)

I would just like to thank sir Fitzsimmons for singing me lullabies tonight as I finished a large album design I have been working on and also got this wedding posted. He makes me all warm and happy inside, like a hot chocolate chip cookie fresh-out the oven!





Thoughts
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Beth says: Thursday, July 23, 2009, 02:17 PM

Gorgeous work!! absolutely love the dock pictures!

Tonhya says: Thursday, July 23, 2009, 10:01 AM

Uh...embarrassing, ignore that last post...it was suppose to go on your NEW blog post. Oopsies! :)

Tonhya says: Thursday, July 23, 2009, 09:59 AM

the bee shot....are you freakin' kidding me? Sheesh! Amazing lady. :D

shanni says: Thursday, July 23, 2009, 09:28 AM

you move me. no joke. maybe coffeeless evenings is your recipe for magic!!! in reality, you could be on a caffeine high and still deliver the most amazing images ever... jitter or no, you rock.

imanuel says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 06:13 PM

Great job Sarah & Chris!!! We love working with you guys! Thank you THANK YOU!!! :)

Cameron Ingalls says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 06:02 PM

whhho are you?
...i must know!

Ketti says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 02:42 PM

The bride on the dock is stunning!!!

imthiaz houseman says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 11:09 AM

what a beautiful wedding...i love the details, the couple, the images. well done.

italida says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 08:19 AM

You photo are so cute, you colours and your scenes are wonderful! I loveeeee you workssssssss!!! *_*

Kara Wieler says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 08:12 AM

I love the shot on the dock, with her veil flowing behind her... and too many others to bother mentioning, because I'd be mentioning pretty much all of them. Love the light, even in the reception photos.

Bianca Valentim says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 08:08 AM

so many cute details!
You did a wonderful job capturing all of them. I loved the angles and the colors.
G.R.E.A.T. job as always!
:)

melissa says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 08:05 AM

I just love your work Sarah. Just gorgeous! You are such an inspiartion :)

Janet McKnight says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 05:53 AM

Stunning photos! And the details of this wedding? A-Mazing! The flowers, the bridesmaids' shoes, the cake, all of it= loveliness :D

Josh Solar says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 05:47 AM

First off, gorgeous images as usual. Secondly, Fitzsimmons is great, but how can you edit pictures of pretty people in love while listening to songs about heartbreak and divorce? Just kidding really, but don't you wish that man would put out some happy tunes? His music is too pretty to be sad.

rick says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 01:11 AM

dock shots are amazing. great light and color!

Kayleen T. says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 12:27 AM

Love the ones under the tree and on the dock! Lovely lovely photos!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 12:01 PM
My intention was to post this entire preview for Ginny & Gough's fabulous wedding today, however, I got some really exciting news.... My best friend went into labor!! So we get to spend the day with our Godson, Jackson! I cannot wait for baby number dos to come into the world! I am so very excited :) UPDATE: Just got a call saying they had a beautiful baby GIRL!! WHooo hoo!

So while I have my moment dancing in celebration I'll just post a little sneak peek frame from Ginny & Gough's wedding. It is one of my favorites from the day. There will be many more to come so stay tuned.

Also, thank you everyone who had rec's for us while we were in San Fran. We had the most fantastic time shooting Jean & Luke's wedding and running off on fun adventures. I have some more photos from that trip as well that I hope to post soon. The highlight of the trip was definitely seeing the Richard Avedon exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It was truly inspiring and invigorating. Avedon was a brilliant artist who had a connection with his subjects. He was able to bridge the commercial and artistic gap and combined the two to create beautiful pieces of art. I would encourage anyone in San Fran to stop by and see the exhibit. 

Have a delightful day!

Thoughts
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Cameron Ingalls says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 06:00 PM

Wowsers! So much beauty on here!

Elaine Gates says: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 11:51 AM

OH my... LOVE LOVE LOVE these images... amazing!

jen berry says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:51 PM

love the composition here gorgeous processing

Lesley says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:49 PM

Beautiful! Breathtaking!

cristy cross says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:45 PM

Whoops, forgot to leave my name above-
Avedon fan :)

Anonymous says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:44 PM

Yay!! lauren gets to have a baby niece. Super exciting :) I just went to Avedon's exhibit in NY. BEAUTIFUL work. I got his big ol fat book with the pink helmet girl on it. My favorite is definitely Dovima posing with the elephants. I also love seeing the thought process of him picking which image goes in the magazines with his red pencil marks. He is very inspiring :)

Jenny J says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:43 PM

Congrats!!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 12:01 PM
Ginny & Gough got married at the Canal in Ballard! It was such a fun event for Chris and me. Ginny and I are just two peas in a pod. I hit it off with these two instantly, as I am sure Ginny & Gough do with most everyone. They have the most radiant and charming personalities. Ginny was such a relaxed and chill bride. When I walked in the door to the hotel room at Olive 8 and I asked Ginny how she was doing she just turned around with a HUGE smile on her face and said, "I am SOOO excited I can hardly contain it!" That explains Ginny to a tee! She sees the glass half full and is radiating love and affection wherever she goes.  It is so obvious to see why Gough fell in love with her. Gough is the one that brings Ginny back down to earth ;) He is easy-going and super thoughtful. They just make sense. Like Yin and Yang. 

This is a couple that has an ability to project their charisma/charm/ and personalities so tangibly. It made them VERRY fun and inspiring to photograph. Not to mention the fact that Ginny and I are like two peas in a pod. I just adore this girl. She brings life to whoever she is around and she is a killer interior designer and artist. 
We also were able to work with a super-amazing Seattle Coordinator, Michelle Engvall at this event which made it extra fun! 

So now, enjoy a little bit of Ginny & Gough!


Thoughts
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Monnica Peinado says: Monday, July 20, 2009, 05:00 PM

What a beautiful set of photos! I was able to share in this big day for Ginny and Gough and you captured their joy perfectly. Thanks for sharing.

PS My husband is a painter and has gained much of his inspiration from Richard Avedon. It was great to hear that you enjoyed such a special exhibit. He really set the bar when it comes to beautiful pictures, but you are well on your way. Best wishes for a bright future.

KariAnne says: Monday, July 20, 2009, 02:37 PM

Absolutley fabulous photos!

Her dress...OMG to die for, where did she find it? It looks vintage and homemade, so delicate and perfect.

Bianca Valentim says: Friday, July 17, 2009, 04:13 PM

Oh my!!!
She is the happiest bride ever!!!
BEAUTIFUL job!!!
You guys rock!

Heather says: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 10:11 PM

Her smiles is so awesome~! These images are so joyful! I love the beach shots! The last is pretty sweet-CHEERS!

Ginny says: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 01:50 PM


You two are absolutely amazing photographers! You have captured our wedding day happiness and being in the moment so wonderfully! We are so pleased and feel so lucky to have found such inspiring artists to tell our story!!!

PROMISE TANGEMAN says: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 12:13 PM

Sarah and Chris. This is truly a beautiful story. This is my new favorite wedding of yours. great work.

cristy cross says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 11:59 PM

Love them.

imthiaz houseman says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 05:41 PM

what a beautiful couple. i love how you were able to bring out her personality, no wonder everyone loves her. beautiful job you too!

Chatti says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 03:52 PM

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! My first comment after following for months! I just love everything about this wedding! Just everything!!!

marissa moss says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:54 PM

love the super tight grouping of the groom and groomsmen! and that shot of ginny signing through the glass is frankly just mind boggling. love it!

carrie says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:31 PM

oooh eeeeep! Where's that delete comment button when you need it?!? I pushed submit the first time before noticing my spellcheck decided on "infections" instead of "infectious"... I tried to change it before it posted, really i did! *le sigh* (blushing).

carrie says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:28 PM

Ok, the happiness just spilled out of those pictures! Ginny has an infectious smile, you can tell her laugh is awesome. And you can totally tell she gets it from her mom! too cute :) xo

carrie says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:28 PM

Ok, the happiness just spilled out of those pictures! That girl has an infections smile, you can tell her laugh is awesome. And you can totally tell she gets it from her mom! too cute :) xo

Chris says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:26 PM

wow!

Julie h says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:13 PM

gooooooooorgeous! The officiant looks a little like Larry David? :)

Jonathan says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:07 PM

einfach wunderbar. I love the mirror. Probably my favorite from their set.

Kayleen T. says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 01:02 PM

Beautiful! I love the ones in front of the aqua wall!! And the groom and groomsmen shot where they're laughing makes me smile! Beautiful pix!

Ben says: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:59 PM

way to go team rhoads! rockin it as you guys always do!

Thursday, July 9, 2009, 09:13 AM
For us, the album makes it all worth it. It is the fruit of our labor, if you will. Holding this beautiful-big-baby in your hands feels amazing. It is all our hard work and artistic intuitions coupled together with each of our couples' amazing story's...all put in one place. It just doesn't get much better than that!  Passing it off to our couples and seeing their reactions is one of the best feelings in the world. We take a lot of pride in creating something that they will have for a lifetime. Something they will show their kids and their grandkids. A story-book of their love story/their special day. I'm a huge advocate for having a wedding album done up right for you. 

When Chris and I shoot a wedding we are thinking about the album while we shoot. Asking ourselves, "how will this series of images fit together on a page?" "How can I tell this story of events in the most powerful way?" All of our album design is IN-House, we don't outsource any of it... this is because it is a crucial part to the experience that each of our couples has with us. For us, it is about creating personalized art for our couples from start to FINISH. It is important to see it through to completion. 

If you care to see how this particular album design turned out you can see the Album Slideshow here

Also, for those photographers who are interested in who we use; Renaissance Albums are our Go-to for these amazing albums. And if any of you have any other questions about our Albums/the process etc. I'll open the floor up in the comments section and would be happy to help as I can. We leave for San Fran tomorrow so I may be slow to respond, but happy to help. I get a lot of questions about this via e mail and I feel horrible bc. I can't always respond due to time. So this way I can tackle some of those questions here.



Thoughts
Add a Comment View Comments (29)
Ricky Tang says: Friday, April 2, 2010, 02:37 PM

Roughly how long does it take for you to design an album?

Also, what type of hardware do you run at your home office? I'm struggling to run CS3 properly on my aged Mac.

johnna brynn says: Monday, March 29, 2010, 10:38 AM

i just wanted to say, nine months later, that this is still a helpful post! LOVED checking out your album sources. THANKS, SRP!

Craig S says: Friday, August 28, 2009, 11:03 AM

Hi Sarah. Sorry I'm a little late in commenting, but I'm intrigued that you use InDesign for your albums. Do you send one PDF to your lab (prodpi) and they then print each individual page from that PDF? I would love to design all of my albums in InDesign if only I could find a printer who will print from the PDF file.

melia says: Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 10:53 AM

Sarah,

Thanks for being so forthcoming on albums! I recently saw a 'sample' album of yours, a Galleria album, and was wondering if you can design that without the Soho styler (if you even designed that one--maybe they just used your images). My second question is whether you use the Soho and Mercer books (no gutter) which means you'd have to get incredibly long seamless prints done yourself? Or do you think the Fine Art is the way to go? Albums can be overwhelming! Sorry--this may be too much for a blog.

PROMISE TANGEMAN says: Monday, July 13, 2009, 11:30 AM

Sarah!! Do you design your own albums? Or do you outsource it? You dont use indesign do you? hahhaahhahaha HAHAHAHHAA JK. IM FUNNY

Jason says: Saturday, July 11, 2009, 08:25 AM

Great looking album guys...hope you have a sample to show me when you get back into town :) Isn't it ALWAYS refreshing to work with other vendors (book-binders, pro labs etc.) who actually CARE about the quality and craftsmanship of their products? ;)

Lesley says: Friday, July 10, 2009, 06:29 PM

Sarah these albums are beautiful, I see why you use them! :)

Beth Armsheimer says: Friday, July 10, 2009, 03:47 PM

Such a gorgeous album!!

SarahRhoads says: Friday, July 10, 2009, 09:42 AM

@daniel as I mentioned to @Liam we do not use Any templates for our album design. Each individual spread is custom created by US for each wedding. No two albums exactly alike. Each of our couples has a truly cutom book that is unique to their story and is created by us, no templates are used.

Daniel says: Friday, July 10, 2009, 09:25 AM

Beautiful work as usual. Do you use templates for your album design or do you create each page seperately? If you do, are they your personal templates or did you purchase them from somewhere?

SarahRhoads says: Friday, July 10, 2009, 09:23 AM

@Liam we don't use the soho styler. All of our designs are custom created and designed by us in Indesign. :)

liam says: Friday, July 10, 2009, 07:41 AM

hey Sarah,
you mentioned you use InDesign for album design. Have you used and what are your opinions on the SoHo styler for the design?
Thanks!!!
liam

bee says: Friday, July 10, 2009, 01:45 AM

Wow! Just... wow!

Promise to never put this offline. Because the day I plan my own wedding I'll show this one to the photographer and tell him: That's how I want it to be!

The best would of course be to ask you to take the photos - but I live in Germany and well... the costs... you know ;)

sarahrhoads says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 04:38 PM

@dennis not a stupid question at all!! It is actually an artist that Chris records with named Ben Rector. Chris laid down a lot of the bass tracks on the record. the song is called "Disarm"
@Ron you know I would love loved to shoot your wedding photos ;) you are too sweet

ron storer says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 02:24 PM

boy wish we could go back in time and have you take our pictures.

wonderful job as always.

Dennis Bullock says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 02:20 PM

This is probably a stupid question but what is the song in the slideshow?

sarahrhoads says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 01:41 PM

@merideth we use InDesign for all of our album designs
@jonathan yes we select the images that will go into the album for the initial design preview. We have had nothing but a fantastic response from our couples. Our couples respect and trust the artistic process and the professional and artistic service we are providing them and they know up front that this is part of the overall experience of working with us.

Jonathan says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 01:22 PM

Hey Sarah,
Great stuff. You said, 'Asking ourselves, "how will this series of images fit together on a page?"' Does that imply y'all choose which pictures are put into the book rather than the couple? If so, what has been the reaction of (potential) clients upon hearing that.
Tanksabunch. -J

meredith says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 01:21 PM

hi sarah! i was just curious....what program do you use to design the album? i just started photography & want to find the cheapest way to do the albums....and i totally respect doing it yourself!

sarahrhoads says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:50 AM

@sara we send our pages to our AMAZING professional lab in California, ProDPI for the printing. Once they are printed, our lab sends them back to us so we can make sure everything looks flawless and then we send it to our Album Company in NYC (Renaissance) to put it all together beautifully for us. It is a nice checks and balances system. The total design/crafting/delivery process usually takes about 4-6 months from start to finish. hope that helps!

Maureen says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:49 AM

I guess seeing pictures of it is almost as good as having it, right? :P

Briony says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:44 AM

How many pages on average are your albums?

Sara Munneke says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:43 AM

Hello, I love this album, it's beautiful!! I am wondering where you have your pages printed at? and about how long does it take for the whole process of designing the album to presenting it to the client? thanks so much for sharing, take care:)

marissa moss says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:33 AM

that album is amazing!! i am in love with the layouts! and am particularly drawn to those three photos in the tunnel with the shadow play. LOVE those!!

so many outsource their albums and I never see it as an issue, but what a difference your care and attention makes! thanks for sharing : )

Amy Cameron says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:25 AM

Beautiful! Where did you get this? I love the cover material!

sarahrhoads says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:22 AM

Hi Mellissa! What we mean when I say the design is done IN house, is that some photographers outsource their album design to an external vendor. For us, the design is part of our artistic process, so it is done by us personally and then sent to our album company to Bind and put it all together for us and we use Renaissance Albums, a top of the line album crafter for this part. Hope that helps!

melissa says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:18 AM

What do you mean you don't outsource your images. Lol. I'm slow. You make this from scratch!? Who prints, binds, etc?

melissa says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:18 AM

What do you mean you don't outsource your images. Lol. I'm slow. You make this from scratch!? Who prints, binds, etc?

Adele Cabanillas says: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 10:02 AM

Beyond gorgeous!! Perfectly Elegant to match your Amazing Photography!