I'm a portrait photographer currently based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, passionate about capturing the beauty and nuance of life, love, and human relationships. From weddings to family sessions to simply walking the streets with my camera, I've spent the past seven years embracing the art of capturing the very essence of a moment in a still photograph.
I love gathering people around a dinner table, spending hours with Chopin at the piano, the sound of a film camera shutter, and listening to stories.
I'm Sarah.
HEY THERE!
The very first photo I took on my very first "fancy camera" — a good old mirror selfie!
A little backstory . . .
I grew up with a deep love for the arts (I grew up with my eye on going to conservatory for piano), and by my teenage years, portrait photography had drawn me in. I was fascinated by the magical way a photograph could make even the most mundane scenes profound and poignant, and how a wide-open lens showed the world in a way my naked eye could not see.
At age thirteen, with no camera of my own to practice with, I started studying up on photography. I spent hours poring over lenses, tone curves, and diagrams of the exposure triangle, and asking questions about f-stops in the blog comment sections to learn as much as I could. At fifteen, I successfully convinced by parents to let me spend a few years' worth of piano competition money on a "big girl camera" from Costco. I was hooked.
It's a tremendous honor to me to get to photograph people. I've had the joy of photographing people who have never had their portrait formally taken and might never have it taken again. Being entrusted to capture a moment, a person, a heart, is no small thing, and I feel the weight of it.
Life goes by so quickly. We can't slow it down, but we can stop to see, really see it. When I look through a viewfinder, I'm seeing — really seeing. And when I press the shutter and capture a moment, a person, an otherwise fleeting story, I get to pull an unspoken story out of time and make it one that will be remembered.
Photographs open our eyes, but more than that, they open our hearts. I think that's what it's all about.
1. I love photographing scenes from everyday life, whatever that looks like! Kitchens, living rooms, messy cars, and grocery stores are all treasure troves of stories.
Me, through photographs
2. Documentary and photojournalism is by far my favorite "genre" of photography, and informs my wedding and client portrait work.
3. Classical piano is my first love of the arts! Music and photography go hand in hand for me, and on days when I'm not behind the camera, I most likely have an instrument in hand.
