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sValentine Photos's Blog
With Each Free Half Hour Sitting Fee on Sundays between 5-7, you pay only $30 to purchase prints of any size….I know everyone including myself is in a slump due to the economy. I could not think of a better way to get out of this slump by offering a special deal so that everyone who may have wanted to come into the studio and thought they could not afford it can come…I truly love what I do and I love this community. Spread the word and let the studio Shine from the smiles that are photographed inside those walls. Wonderful new decorations were hung and carefully placed by my awesome neighbor and friend, Amanda Crowe, last Wednesday. The studio looks absolutely beautiful. Now I just need the town to fill it with their smiles I will be walking around town with Flyers leaving them everywhere and anywhere letting people know about my offer in case they do not know about it through this blog or Facebook. In the mean time I already had an adorable little girl named Leela and a great Mom come in on Thursday to give it a test drive….If you are interested in coming any Sunday between 5-7 and taking me up on my offer, contact me and make an appointment. No walk-ins, Sorry…You can email me at Sarah@sValentinephotos.com or call 828.787.1170. I look forward to hearing from you.
Before I opened Valentine’s Photo Studio last year, I started out by turning my dining room into a studio so I could practice. But for my first Newborn Session, I actually went to the parents home. My first Newborn prop was a borrowed bean bag chair and black felt material to completely cover the bean bag chair and found used the biggest window in the home. Since then I have found that each time I have a newborn session I have used various props to invoke a special feeling and originality to make each Newborn session a unique as possible, as unique as the special Newborn that I am photographing. So no two newborn session are a like…that is why I am always on the search for new ideas from this great web site called PropInsanity.com. Here are a few samples from my latest Newborn Sessions. I truly get such an inspiration whenever I have a Mother to Be who wants a Newborn Session and I find out a little about the Mother and how she is going to decorate the baby’s room….I would travel far and wide to photograph Newborns. They are my most favorite of muses to photograph. Whenever I done one, I feel like I am on cloud nine after each Newborn Session. They take my breath away!
A Week ago was Halloween…next comes Thanksgiving and then Christmas….Make the most from the Holidays with Portraits of your loved ones as gifts for the Holidays…either by a creative Christmas card sent to everyone you know and or a Framed Heirloom or a beautiful Canvas Wrap….Here is a story that I regret to tell that makes me more serious about Family Portraits that maybe you can learn from….I took for granted that a dear friend would live forever…but he did not and I have no intended portrait…About a year ago I had met Coco through a friend of mine…he was 15 years old…and we kept saying we need to get a portrait of him…and we kept putting it off because we wanted to get him after he had been groomed and then we needed to get his owner, who needed a hair cut…and things happen…life gets busy….life gets in the way of preserving time and before we knew it…Coco had died and no pictures were taken….just the regular cell phone pictures were left to hold his memory….Not to say that cell phone pictures are not great but they are not the same as taking the time to have a portrait made….I have heard it one too many times…that people need to do something before they can have their portrait taken…ie hair cut or lose weight or or have the time…There is no time like the present…cause you never know….it may never happen and you are left with nothing to show for these special people or pets again….So let’s start now by making an appointment to discuss how we can preserve our special family and friends forever! I had a busy Halloween day….it started in my front yard when Sarah and her daughter came over at 2 to see our horses and play in the yard…and then I proceeded to get ready for my costume pet parade and walk about town to capture all the trick or treaters walking about town…I went as one of the 3 Chef’s. My room-mate, Dori, and I and my wonderful dog Daisy all dressed up as Chefs! We never had so much fun on Halloween! As you can see from these photos…Starting with Sarah & Leela
These are from the Halloween Pet Parade & Trick or Treaters about town of Highlands NC when they close off Main Street and all the businesses give away Treats!
This past Saturday, Andy + Paula were beautifully married at one of the hottest Wedding destinations around the world, Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, NC. It was definitely not hot in temperature, but a cool 60 degrees and the fall colors were enveloping our surroundings to make for a wonderful back drop. Perfect conditions for a perfect Wedding. It was a GREAT day!
I have been photographing homes, businesses and developments professionally since 2000. Its been my bread and butter. It literally fell in my lap. I was working for a top producing Real Estate Agent as a administrator assistant. One day my boss tells me about this new marketing product called Visual Tours. She said I would need to get with the Marketing Director to learn how to do them. She told me I would need to take out the office camera which was the Sony Mavica that held floppy disks. This was a huge break for me since I had my Canon AE-1 stolen some time ago while I was in college. I was now photographing homes for the first time. I really enjoyed opening up the house as if it were mine. In most cases, I had the house to myself and I made it mine for that one or two hours while I was there. I usually go in and turn on all the lights, open the drapes, plumb the pillows, open the french doors and put stuff down under the counters, just to name a few….and then I start photographing from the outside. I want the outside to project that there is life inside with all the lights on. I start at every angle possible of the house. Then I work my way in through the front door into the living, dining, deck, view, kitchen, master suite etc…all in the same order that I want them to be presented in the tour. For businesses and developments, I usually try to capture what my client is trying to sell in its best light. The software for the tours has been around for as long as I have been photographing again in 2000. It has never let me down as far as quality and customer service. My agents love how versatile they can use the tours; there are so many sites such as Realtor.com, Craigs List, Homeseekers.com, the list goes on that you can have your tour viewed on with the link that is created after I have uploaded it to the internet. I pay a Professional Photographers fee which is different fee then if I was an agent who would want to do their own tours and is much more since I make a living from selling these. I really love making the house look better than it actually looks. Since the first day on the job as an administrator assistant with the top producing Real Estate agent back in 2000 I have been trying to sell homes, businesses, and developments virtually site unseen! Which actually happened on my first day on the job. Just because I could scan photos and email them to a client…They ended up buying it! I have since worked for high end Real Estate Companies as Sotheby’s, Christies and duPont Registry so my work has been seen around the world in magazines as well as the internet. Here is one of my most recent favorite tours that I photographed some time ago but had to sit on it until the owners were ready to sell. So between all the Wedding, Portraits, and Commercial work, I do love doing Virtual Tours.
Shawn & Shanone are the most wonderful couple you could ever meet. Not only are they striking but a really fun couple. I first met them we had done an engagement session back in March. We chose the Farm because of its lush gardens and backdrops. I feel the wedding came out 10 times better because we had met and worked together all ready. They were able to see how I work and my style of photography. I am especially pleased with how these photos turned out. The location of the wedding was on a beautiful croquet lawn with a wonderful mountain backdrop. I apologize how far behind in updating my blog. One of these days, I will be all caught up! Today, happened to be a day where I needed to upload photos and my internet was having technical difficulties…so I opted for a different approach on this day and opted to finally update my blog….
Newborn Session are my most favorite subjects to photograph more than anything in the world. I normally like to photograph newborns within the first two weeks of birth. They are just a lot easier to manage to get the results you want but there are times that the Mother can not bring the baby to me soon enough…so I still love doing them anytime! This beautiful baby girl, Savannah, is 4 weeks in these photos. I try to make the experience as unique and enjoyable as possible. I can come to you or you can come to my studio. When I come to you, I pull things from your house that will make the picture extra special. The mornings are the best. They are not as tired and cranky. I have the Mother breast feed just before the session, so I can get their belly’s full. Then they often drift off to sleep and I am off to work…I get such a pleasure from doing these. I think its the joy of seeing a new life unfold before my eyes. In this case, I pulled an antique bench or stool that belonged to Savannah’s great great grandmother…and found a nice wall space that I could use as a backdrop. I am very pleased with the results and I believe you will too!
I have been working on this special project for the local Laurel Garden Club of Highlands NC for their annual garden tour for the past several months. The Tour of Kitchens will take place this fall from 9 to 5, Saturday, September 24th. Tickets are available onlineat HighlandsLaurelGardenClub.com. I have to say its some of my best work and very proud to show it off. Look for these in the upcoming Summer issue of Atlanta Social Seasons magazine, Charleston magazine, and WNC. Also be submitting to the Georgia Mountain Laurel, and our local Laurel. Best of Highlands, and local Highlander Newspaper ♥
I have now had two weddings that I have photographed that I did not meet the bride before the wedding and it never pays off. I just do not feel the connection during the wedding. Even if I ask a series of personal questions, the face to face connection, the intimate conversations about the day, the glow the bride has when they talk about their fiance and why they have chosen the location are just a few of the reasons why its paramount to meet the bride before the wedding even if its for 10 minutes. Those 10 minutes can make the world of difference in the quality of the photos I take. The Best weddings have come from the ones where I have photographed their engagement photos. The half hour or an hour before the big day gives all three of you a way to find out how you are together with the camera. The connection I feel with the couple before the wedding sets the pace, sets the stage and above all sets the feeling I get from the bride. When I do photograph the whole wedding along with my series of personal questions about their relationship and the engagement session make the best recipe for a successful and meaningful Wedding photo results. The wedding I am posting is at a beautiful location called High Hampton Inn & Country Club located in Cashiers, NC. The location is famous for its gorgeous backdrops of sheer rock. I had the honor of meeting the Bride and her Mother at the studio before their big day April 30, 2011.
that are photographed inside those walls. Wonderful new decorations were hung and carefully placed by my awesome neighbor and friend, Amanda Crowe, last Wednesday. The studio looks absolutely beautiful. Now I just need the town to fill it with their smiles 
