For 2013 I have some great goals I have set, not only for myself personally but also for Sarah Edgar Photography. I am welcoming 2013 with lots of joy and changes. I am very excited with all the new and upcoming changes and I can't wait to be able to share them all with you.Here is a list of a few of the changes you will be seeing soon:- I was selected as one of Rachel Brenke 2013 MentorMe's and I am taking a year long mentor-ship with her. With it only being the beginning of February well, I have already learned a lot and she is AMAZING. Go check her out if you don't know who she is.
- A brand new website to showcase my work and your amazing photos.
- New in-person ordering, phone ordering and online ordering available.
- Brand new Collections and pricing.
- No more Session fees... (wait did I just say no more sessions fees? Yep, we have gone away with session fees.)
- New packaging for your prints, disc and wall art.
- A whole new referral program with some great incentives for my clients to talk about Sarah Edgar Photography.
- A new Senior rep program. (Know of any 2014 Seniors who would love free sessions and to work for Sarah Edgar Photography? If so send them over to me. )
These are just a few of the many changes coming. 2013 is going to be a great year and I can't wait to see what it all have in store for us. Wait that isn't all. With all this fun stuff I have going on, I want to pass on some fun for you. So if you or anyone you know is looking to get photos taken please send them my information. See flyer below for an AMAZING deal. It won't last long so jump on over and contact me. I would love to hear from you.
Creative play is like a spring that bubbles up from deep within a child. ~Joan Almon
"E" is into everything a little boy should be. He loves bugs, insects and anything that crawls, walks or flies. During summer time he is always wanting to go outside to hunt for bugs. We always find containers with bugs or insects in them. What do you get a little boy who ask for bugs for Christmas? We are in usually covered in snow and pretty cold in December so going outside to hunt for bugs is not much of an option. We have a ton of plastic bugs as he loves those. So I had to get creative. I remembered as a child we received a "Creepy Crawler" Bug machine. So I thought hey what little bug man wouldn't enjoy making and designing his own bugs. "E" gets to pick the mold, choose what colors to make each and every bug. What a fun activity for him. We have made lots of different bugs since he got this. He even likes to share with his brother (which we have to help him) and all his friends/cousins that come over. After he fills up the mold he gets to bake it in his own little bug oven. "E' likes to be in charge with all the steps. He places the mold in the oven, locks it, and turns it on. He then sets his timer for 15 minutes. After the timer goes off he shuts the oven off and re-sets the timer for 20 more minutes to let it cool. After those 20 minutes go by he can take his newly baked bugs out of the oven. We take them out of the mold and they are ready to play. I am always finding a bug laying around in the house somewhere. Most of the time I don't get too scared as I know we have lots of pretend bugs. Here is my "E" and his love for bugs. Stayed tuned for what fun we can have on Week 7....
What kid doesn't love to go out and play in some fresh snow? My boys love to be outside and it can get tricky in the Winter here in MN. We can get some really cold temperatures which makes playing outside not to much fun. No matter how much you bundle up you get cold. We ended up getting some new fresh Snow on Sunday but two of us were sick over the weekend so we stayed inside. This broke "E" and "J" hearts but I wasn't going to take them out when they were just starting to feel better.
Above I caught "E" looking outside at all the snow coming down. He was bummed we weren't going outside since he had not been feeling good the day before. Sunday was a day for him to rest before having to go back to School Monday. Monday after school we went out and played in the snow. What a fun time we had. The boys were able to play with the snow markers for the first time since Christmas. We haven't had much snow since then and they really enjoyed marking up the snow. What a fun way to play in the snow. I even caught my husband drawing with them. :-) A snow outing can't be complete without sledding. This is the first year "J" has actually been big enough to go down by his self and he loved it. Both boys couldn't get in enough times down the hill. I just love their big smiles as they were riding down the hill. We ended up going down the hill so much the plastic ring one broke. So Dad got out the sled we normally pull behind the snowmobile for both the boys to ride. I think they enjoyed riding together with a few arguments on who got to ride on the front. Dodge liked to chase the boys down the hill and see who could get to the bottom first. He even tried to run in front of the sled a couple times. Silly puppy. These two really love each other and can be the best-est friends but yet get under each others skin too. I love seeing them play and interact with each other so well. The big smiles on both of their faces makes my heart melt. These are sure moments I will cherish for years to come. Thanks for following along on my project. Stayed tuned for week 6.....
I am part of an amazing organization. The Gold Hope Project is a group of photographers that have come together to capture the moments that your family holds so dear to their heart. Some of us have been touched by the presence of cancer, and some have not, but we have all been given a gift that we would like to share with you, completely free of charge.
These purposes include: Capturing images of any child 21 and under with a Cancer diagnosis; Educating communities in which we live about Pediatric Cancer; Support, Encourage and raise funds for Pediatric Cancer Research; Resources for families who are facing a recent diagnosis; Support community of other families who are facing similar Cancer diagnosis; and To photograph any child 21 and under with a current of past cancer diagnosis. They can be at any stages of treatment of be a childhood survivor.
More precious than the gold that represents them, children are our future. This year alone, approximately 13,500 parents will have to listen to a doctor tell them, "Your child has cancer." Can you imagine?
Meet Luke & Molly.
Luke & Molly who are siblings, are both Fighters against Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)/Monosomy 7. Luke was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)/Monosomy 7 when he was 8 1/2 months old. He went through chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant on 4/12/06. He has battled some side affects since due to his treatment, but is doing well. Molly was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome/ Monosomy 7 (MDS) May 2010, yes, this is the same cancer her brother Luke was diagnosed with in April 2006! Although their family has been on this cancer roller-coaster before, it's not one that you want to repeat and still can't believe they are doing it with a different child. Luke is 7 and in the 2nd grade. He is all boy. Loves anything with wheels and motors--trucks, tractors, 4wheelers, monster trucks, dirt bikes, boats, planes, etc. Also enjoys sports (plays baseball, basketball, soccer and golf), Lego's, playing outside and camping. Molly is 4 and in preschool. She is very much a girly girl. She LOVES to dance and sing. She wears dresses and skirts everyday. Enjoys playing dress up, make up, barbies, watching movies. Many people are wondering how her parents decided to have Molly tested because she seems and looks so healthy. She has been healthy and is always happy. Her Mom had noticed some bruising over the last 2 months, so she waited for her 2 year check up to have her blood counts looked at. (didn't want to seem like the crazy cancer mom and bring a 2 year old in for testing because of bruising!) Their doctor is wonderful and ordered the labs right away even though she had no bruising that week. So, there really wasn't a reason to have her tested other than her Mom knew something wasn't right. Unfortunately, her suspicions were confirmed. Their parents took her right to the U of M and Molly was diagnosed with MDS/monosomy 7 on May 26, 2010. All the doctors have been pretty shocked, as well as their family, that they have another child with this horrible disease. They found out there are only about 20-30 families with siblings with this. They have consented to testing through the U of California San Francisco to see if the kids carry a genetic link. It will take some time to get these results back, and if they do, further testing will be needed. Their first priority is to get Molly better. After visits 3 times a week in June to have labs and a white shot booster, Molly went through the bone marrow transplant work up at the end of June and was admitted to U of M Children's Hospital on July 2, 2010 for 10 days of radiation/chemo before having a bone marrow transplant on July 12, 2010.Photos taken by: Sarah Edgar of Sarah Edgar Photography.
Who doesn't love to go to Grandma's house? I know my boys do. Grandmas house is always fun with something exciting to find or explore. Playing with toys I grew up with or toys my Dad had picked up for our younger cousins when they came over is always fun. I really miss the thought of my Dad being here with all his grand-kids He loved all the younger cousins we had and had a special spot in his heart for them. I can only imagine all the fun times the boys would have with their Grandpa Tim. They haven't met him but "E" sure knows a lot about his Grandpa. We talk about him and share all the good times we had growing up.
"There's no place like home except for Grandma's." ~Unknown I love getting photos of the boys and their grandparents. Here is my Mom with the boys. Grandma is a crafty person and loves to sew. Here the boys are helping her sew. As much as she sews you think it would have rubbed off on me but I have no desire to sew (or at least not yet). Grandma has made quilts for the boys, blankets, hooded towels, and helped me with many of fun projects. I love having a mom who can sew and make fun things not only for me but for the boys. Grandma is always working on a new project. Thanks Grandma for all your help with our projects. Thanks for following along with me. Stayed tuned for week 5...
Who doesn't love their puppy? From babies on, both of our boys have loved Dodge, or as they call him Dodger or Dodgie. Dodge is 7 years old and is a very active Dog. I would have thought that after this long he would have settled down. He likes to bark at everything that comes near our house, which is a good and a bad thing. But he is good with the boys. I don't know what the boys would do with out their puppy. They love to take his toy and run around the house and have Dodge run after them. They hide his favorite toy and they try to get Dodge to find it. They love to play catch and both boys at a young age tried to ride him. Dodge likes to sleep and his favorite spot is either in the sun coming in the house or in my husband's office. When he is sleeping he doesn't like to be bothered. He must need his beauty sleep. :-) We don't allow Dodge to give the kids kisses on the face but J likes to get nice and close. He was trying to give Dodge noseies in this picture. E on the other hand is like me and doesn't like the wet sloppy kisses and would rather cuddle with Dodge. I grew up out on a farm and we never had dogs in the house so when we got him and he had to be inside all the time it was a big adjustment. I love having him around but I find myself cleaning the floors more as I don't like the dog hair, which is also the reason we don't have any cats. So here is Dodge and our boys loving on him. I don't look forward to the day something happens to him and we have to explain that to the boys.
Thanks for following along on my Project 52.
Stayed tuned for week 4...
What's not better than growing up having your Brother be your best buddy? My two boys are close and love each other dearly. Now I am not going to say that they don't fight but they do get a long pretty well. They like to play along side each other and also play alone. It was an adjustment for J to have E at school all day everyday but we seem to keep busy and he looks forward to the bus dropping E off. I could not ask for two better boys to call my own. They really are fun to be with and I look forward to the years we have ahead. They sure do grow up fast. I caught my boys playing together so well. They love to slide down the stairs on their butts and go nice and fast. E likes to give J a ride like he is a horse (not on the stairs). Our day's are full of lots of wrestling, horse rides, tickling, playing together, learning, hugs and kisses to name a few. Our house would not be complete without either of these two wonderful two little boys. I hope they stay close and "best buddies" as they grow up. There is no better best friend than your own brother. Stayed tuned for week 3
A sleeping child to me is precious. There is something so special about them all innocent while they are fast asleep. The faces they make, talking in their sleep, the movements they make and everything else they do while sleeping. I am home with my youngest during the day so I get lots of cuddles from him. I have always used nap time as a time to spend a few extra minutes/sometimes hours with my little ones. I love to cuddle and yes I am going to admit it I will let my youngest fall asleep in my arms during nap time. I miss him being a tiny baby and any and all cuddles I get from him I am cherishing as I know that they could stop at any point. All though my oldest at 5 1/2 still loves to cuddle with me.
I am generally home at night for bed time routines as this is one of my favorite times with my boys. We have fun bath times, reading stories, saying prayers, hearing especially my oldest talk to me about little things going on in his life, and many, many more fun things we do. After I tuck them into bed I usually stay up for a while and have some me time which I do a number of things; pick up from the day, do a little work, read a book, work on my bible study, watch a movie, spend time with my hubby or many other things a mom needs to get done. Once I am ready to head to bed I go into each of my boy's bedrooms and check in on them. I watch them peacefully sleep, give them a kiss, tell them I love them, and say a little prayer over my sleeping angles. Oh yes I also like to take photos of my sleeping babies. It might not be with my camera but on my phone which doesn't take the best of photos but I love to see them at different stages in their lives sleeping. Above is my "E". One of his favorite colors is green. He loves to sleep on his frog pillow pet and with his Yoda blanket he got for Christmas. His bed is usually covered with stuffed animals and if we would let him you would hardly be able to see him as he would be covered head to toe with his stuffed animals. This iguana is one of his favorites. I love his hands as they are such a useful part of our bodies. He loves to draw and create projects and his hands allow him to do those things. My youngest "J" is such a ham. He is full of energy and loves to cuddle. Lately "J" has been trying to not take a nap during the day. I still think he needs one as if he doesn't he becomes a little bear. So we have quiet time on the days he is going full force. Sometimes during this time he will stay awake and others he ends up falling asleep. I love how he can just lay down and fall asleep no matter where he is at. It might take him a while but he will. This day he just laid down on the living room floor with his blanket and his "bubba".His security is his belly button, which from the start he called "bubba". There are days for nap time he goes to his big boy bed or we rock to sleep and other days we sit and watch his favorite show and the next thing I know I have a precious little boy sleeping in my arms. His feet are very important to him as he is one active little boy, always on the go and exploring new things. Stayed tuned for week 2....
What is Project 52? That is a good question. A Project 52 is a project where you take a set of themes and you photograph those each week. There are lots of great themes and photographer with Photo Challenges for a month long, 52 weeks, or even 365 days. All of these are great ways to keep shooting and thinking outside of a box to get the challenged photo taken.
After some great thought I decided that I wanted to start a 52 week project. I did lots of research on this as there are lots of groups out there doing Project 52 but I wasn't 100% on board with their themes. I am not saying that there was anything wrong with what they are doing, it just wasn't making me have that excited effect nor starting my creative thinking up. After talking to another fellow photographer I have decided that instead of giving myself 52 weeks of themes to follow I was going to document my families lives in the next year. So every week I will be taking a few photos that help document not only my kids, but my husband and possibly me in activities we do or things that make our family special. This has always been a goal of mine to make sure I am documenting our lives and getting them into a scrapbook. Hopefully this will help me in getting one step closer to the scrapbook. I will be blogging about it weekly also as this is yet another goal I have for myself to do in 2013. Yes this first one is late. But I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do before I posted just some random images. I hope you enjoy my project and feel free to join in if you want.
 My Goal for 2012 was to put myself in the shoes of my clients. As far as I can remember back, I have always been a shy quiet girl. I was a skinny dorky looking girl or at least in my own eyes I was. I grew up in a normal American family with both parents and two sisters. I was the middle child and you can say I have the middle child syndrome. I watched my older sister get things that I would never ask for and my younger sister was the baby and could never do anything wrong. I got picked on by both sisters and I always seemed to get blamed for everything. (Oh man I can't believe I am posting that picture of myself)
At a young age I had a learning disability which required me to need more time to process my thinking. I was picked on, by not only other kids but also, by my sisters. I was called retard numerous times and I started to think that maybe I really was. As I grew older I realized that these were just hurtful comments being made but they still hurt deep inside. I cried myself to sleep a lot because of all the hurt. I tried to tell myself that I wasn't a retard but yet that I was a unique individual and I could do anything I wanted to. This pushed me to work harder. I was not going to let people label me as a retard and I knew I could work especially hard to overcome this. As I started high school I no longer need the extra help as much. I still struggled with taking test but I kept on working hard. For me this was a huge accomplishment to see that people might label me as a retard but really I had overcome and climbed the highest mountain.
As a senior in high school I thought everything was good. I was taking college courses and would be graduating with a Graphics degree in a year. My plan was to continue with my college in my home town and enjoy my time at home with my parents. Fall of my senior year I received some news that basically tore me apart from the inside out. My Dad was very sick and the doctors didn't know why. It took doctors upon doctors, tests upon tests, and two different hospitals to narrow it down to what was the cause of him being so sick. My Dad was diagnosed with squamous cell melonoma cancer. Being so young first thought he would be cured with the medicine they were having him on and all the treatments. After research and talking to my parents I realized how serious this really was. My Dad possibly might never get back to what he was before. This scared me.
I looked up to my Dad and could not imagine him not being around. I prayed daily that he they would be able to stop the cancer from growing and that it would all go away. I also prayed that he would stay healthy long enough to be here for my wedding and walk me down the aisle. This might seem crazy to some, but I wasn't even engaged at the time. I was a senior in high school wishing this, with only a serious boyfriend which I had no clue what the future held for us. He meant so much to me I wanted him to be there with me.
I graduated high school, continued college in my hometown for a year and graduated with my Graphics Arts Degree. I wasn't satisfied with a Graphics degree so I decided to pursue an Accounting Degree. I applied to a handful of 4 year colleges and decided to attend Mankato State University. The week before school started my world came crashing down or so I thought at the time. This dorky girl had been dumped by her boyfriend of 2.5 years because his parents didn't want him to be going to the same college with his girlfriend. I wasn't really sure why they would do that but I wasn't going to let them change my mind for going to college there. During my first year away I really missed being home and around my Dad. It was hard for me to be away, knowing he was so sick. I went back home as much as I could and moved back home after the year was over. During this time I watched my Dad grow weaker and weaker. His cancer was not growing nor shrinking. It was just staying put. He had a morphine pump surgically put in to help with all his pain.
That July is when my world turned upside down. My Dad was a Mr. Fix it all and even though he was sick and weak he still found the energy to go out to the shop to fix things up for us girls. He was heading to the junk yard which was only a couple miles away from our house to find some parts for something he was working on with my older Sister’s ex-husband. They were rear ended and the car flipped multiple times with my Dad being ejected from the car. I received the news from my younger sister that he was at the hospital and by the time we got there they were transferring him over to Mayo. At this point I was scared I would never see or talk to my Dad again. After a couple surgeries to stop the internal bleeding, I was able to see my Dad. He was on life support and they could not close him up after one of the surgeries due to swelling. I never thought sitting with him in the hot tub talking the night before about my new truck I was getting the next day would be my last full conversation with him. We exchanged a few short words that morning as I was heading out to work early in the morning but that was all. I saw him and almost couldn’t recognize him. He was not the same Dad I saw that morning. I talked to him and knew he could hear me as he squeezed my hand a few times but never heard his voice again. We said our “see you later” and took him off life support. This was the hardest thing I ever had to go through. I never imagined losing my Dad at such a young age. He still had a lot of years to live in my mind.
I met the love of my life 3 years after this. He has been such a huge support in my life not only personally but also on my journey in photography. He is my “geek” as I like to call him as he is a techie guy and loves computers. If I ever have computer problems he is the one to ask. We have been married for 7 wonderful years and I can’t wait to see what many more years bring us. We have been blessed with 2 beautiful, energetic young boys who mean the world to me. I could not imagine not having these two little men in my life.
Being able to capture photos for others means so much to me as I hold onto the last family photo we had taken as a family. No it was a recent photo of all of us but it was done 6 years before my Dad passed so I have a great reminder of what him which hangs on my office wall. My boys never had the chance to meet their Grandpa but they know him like they did. I have a book full of photos of him and we talk about him all the fun ties I had with him growing up. I need to be better about being in photos so my boys have photos to remember me by. I am not comfortable on the other side of the camera because I view myself as the dorky “retard” girl I was labeled as a young girl. I found a local photographer who was willing to help capture some photos of me which has helped me see the real beauty in me. No it won’t take away all those hurt feeling I have from growing up but it helped me realize there is more than just that. I have also made a plan in my head that we are going to take family photos at least twice a year, even if they are with a remote and tri-pod. Are they always perfect this way? NO but it is my family at that point in time and I will be able to remember it.
Thanks to Pam from Pamela Rawn Photography for taking these photos of me and helping me feel BEAUTIFUL. I don't get to do a lot for myself but this was a fun day. I had my hair done, makeup and even let my hubby help me pick out a couple cute outfits. It's amazing how beautiful you can feel after you get a day at the salon and put on a new outfit. Pam was also fun to spend a couple hours with. She really made me feel beautiful and I love the photos she captured of me. Thanks once again Pam.
It’s easy to hid the dorky girl, retard and all the negative on the inside but there are times I am haunted by all these comments. I make mistakes, have cried myself to sleep many nights but I have also accomplished a lot in my 32 years of life. I am thankful for where I have come from and blessed that tomorrow will be a new day to grow. I am who I am and will keep driving forward to become a better wife, mother, daughter, friend and most importantly photographer. I would love to take a year of mentoring with Rachel so she can help me improve and guide me to becoming a better photographer. I hope to be able to make others feel as beautiful as I feel after having my photos taken. Everyone has a story and I want to learn what makes them unique.
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