In Canada, photographers have to figure out all sorts of ways to keep their hands warm when doing Family Portraits. For me, this means shooting INDOORS! I love the outdoors but I’m not a big fan of the cold. If you’re like me there’s NO better way to get Family Portraits done in the middle of winter than to do them inside!

This FAMILY DAY (Feb 18), I’ll be moving into Lazy Daisy’s Cafe for the afternoon and turning a corner into a cozy, mini-studio. From 2pm-5pm you can book a mini Family Portrait session. Family Day is a great opportunity to get your family’s portrait taken.

When’s the last time you had ALL your family in one photo? It’s time.

Join me for Family Day mini sessions!

Where:

Lazy Daisy’s Cafe – 1515 Gerrard St E @ Coxwell, Toronto

When:

Monday, February 18, 2012 from 2pm-5pm (Limited sessions – book ASAP!)

Why:

Book a Mini-Session if:

• *You want to mark a milestone in your family’s life
• *Your child may only last for 20mins
• *You want a small taste of custom portraiture at a smaller price
• *You’d like to have your family photographed several times per year
• *You’re looking for a laid-back experience and less formal posing
• *You heard about me through a friend and want to see what I’m all about
• *You are just looking for a few updated images and appreciate the savings and opportunity of these limited sessions

Mini-Session Details:

$150 Session Fee includes:

*Short but sweet, 20-30 minute session

*10-12 beautifully edited Black & White images in a password-protected online gallery of proofs

*ONE 11×14 professionally mounted wall print with Embassy Texture, ready to frame

*TWO 5×7 professionally mounted gift prints with Embassy Texture, ready to frame

*Pre-Session Wardrobe Guide for Black & White Portraits

(Valued at $240)

TO BOOK A SPOT:

Email Sara at sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com

OR

CLICK HERE to purchase a spot.

Fine Print:

*HST is not included
*Due to space restrictions, maximum 4 people per session.
*Please understand that the session *must* run on time, lateness will not be accommodated.
*All sessions/images are treated just as they are in my full sessions; standard contracts and model releases are still required; there are fewer images to choose from compared to a full session.
*A CD of all hi-res images will be available for purchase, as well as other prints & products
*No additional session fee or minimum order required.
*There are a limited number of sessions available. To book a spot, please email Sara (sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com) and let her know you’re interested in a spot. Booking will be first come, first served. Messages/emails will be returned in the order they are received.
*The mini-session fee of $150+hst is required at the time of booking to hold your spot. Payments may be made out to: sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com through PayPal or Email Money Transfer through your bank. Credit Card (VISA & MC) is also accepted
*Galleries will be available 2-3 weeks after the session date. Galleries will be available for 3 days.
*Orders will be delivered approximately 4-6 weeks after they are placed.

SUPER EXCITING FUN PART:

If/when ALL of the sessions are booked, there will be a draw held. Everyone who books a session will be automatically entered.

PRIZE? $150 Print Credit! Yaay!

Hi everyone!

Recently I was down at the Distillery District in Toronto taking a few shots for an assignment I’m working on. While I was down there, I discovered a Photography Contest for images that were taken during the Toronto Christmas Market in the Distillery. For the record, if you haven’t been, GO! It’s beautiful, there’s LOTS to do for the whole family, not to mention there’s some pretty yummy treats to snack on!

Anyway, I entered one of my shots in the Contest, and I’m hoping that you’ll all take the time to Vote for my image. It LITERALLY TAKES 3 SECONDS! Click the LINK, click from 1-10 (hopefully a 10 ) and that’s it! The Top 10 images will be seen by the judges, so I just need to stay in the Top 10. The higher my score, the more likely that will happen.

VOTE BY CLICKING HERE!

Thanks so much for your support! I hope you enjoy the images I took!

~Sara

Click on THIS IMAGE to VOTE – thanks!

Taken during the Distillery’s 2012 Toronto Christmas MarketTaken during the Distillery’s 2012 Toronto Christmas Market

Friends of Moncur Park were thrilled to invite the community to bring their pumpkins out to Moncur Park the day after Halloween. This allowed the rest of the community to see everyone’s pumpkins AND vote on their favourites to win a prize!

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy tormenting the East Coast, Toronto had a pretty wet Halloween Week! The 31st was pretty damp but that didn’t drown the spirits of the ghosts and goblins of the Coxwell & Gerrard neighbourhood!

This was my 2nd Annual Halloween Event with Lazy Daisy’s Cafe and, just like last year, I had a blast!! I can’t tell you how much fun it is to meet all of the little people in their super sweet costumes! Thanks again to Dawn and her crew for another successful event!

Meet our winner, Eden the Scarecrow! Eden has won a Mini-Session with me!

And our 2nd and 3rd place winners who will receive a $10 Gift Certificate from Lazy Daisy’s Cafe:

Can I tell you how much I LOVE the Beaches neighbourhood in Toronto? As a photographer, there’s an infinite number of locations to shoot and it’s different every time.

Recently I held some mini-sessions right on the beach. I don’t often wander east of Ashbridge’s Bay but I’m so glad I did for these sessions! Check them out!

While I was down there, I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of the area because it’s just ALWAYS so beautiful!

Every photographer needs a photographer sometimes and it was my pleasure to shoot MY favourite photographer’s Engagement Session this past fall.

Krista (of Fogel Photography <— Now you can put a face to the name I drop all the time ) got engaged to Dan last year (check out the story, here!) and they truly are the most awesome couple together!! They complement each other so perfectly, I couldn’t imagine one without the other.

Please enjoy a glimpse of their love….

Family Mini-Sessions are here! Book now and take advantage of getting your Holiday Cards out of the way at the same time! The $75 session fee gives you a 20min session in the Beaches (exact location TBD) with your family and access to specially priced Mini Collections including Holiday Cards!

Read below for details. Book by emailing sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com

Where:

The Beaches (Exact location will be emailed to you)

When:

Friday October 12, 2012 (3:30-5:30pm)

Why:

Book a Mini-Session if:

• *You want to mark a milestone in your family’s life
• *Your child may only last for 20mins
• *You want a small taste of custom portraiture at a smaller price
• *You’d like to have your family photographed several times per year
• *You’re looking for a laid-back experience and less formal posing
• *You heard about me through a friend and want to see what I’m all about
• *You are just looking for a few updated images and appreciate the savings and opportunity of these limited sessions
• You need HOLIDAY CARDS!

Mini-Session Details:

$75 Session Fee includes:

*Short but sweet, 20 minute session

*10 beautifully edited images in a password-protected online gallery of proofs

*ONE 5×7 professionally printed image with Embassy Texture

*Pre-Session Wardrobe Guide

(Valued at $185)

TO BOOK A SPOT:

Please read the Fine Print below and then mail Sara at sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com

I look forward to working with you!

Fine Print:

*HST is not included
*Orders must meet the Minimum Order Requirement of $199 (through Mini Collections or the Standard Pricing). $75 Session Fee not included.
*Due to space and time restrictions, maximum 4 people per session.
*Please understand that the session *must* run on time, lateness will not be accommodated.
*All sessions/images are treated just as they are in my full sessions; standard contracts and model releases are still required; there are fewer images to choose from.
*Along with regular products and pricing, specially priced Mini-Collection Options incl Holiday Cards will be available.
*No additional session fee or minimum order required. Holiday Cards are only available through Mini-Collections.
*There are a limited number of sessions available. To book a spot, please email Sara (sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com) and let her know you’re interested in a spot. Booking will be first come, first served. Messages/emails will be returned in the order they are received.
*The mini-session fee of $75+HST is required at the time of booking to hold your spot. Payments may be made out to: sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com through PayPal or Email Money Transfer through your bank.
*Galleries will be available 2-3 weeks after the session date. Galleries will be available for 4 days.
*Orders will be available for pickup by Dec 1.

Click HERE to view the 2012 Catalogue!

Use the Coupon Code “boobies” when you BUY 3 Prints and Get ONE FREE!

If you’re interested in helping Sara, please email sara@saradesjardinsphotography.com

I think it can.

It’s why I started the Prints for the CURE fundraiser two years ago.

When I was about 19, as all young adults do, I struggled with what I wanted to do with my life. Away at university for the first time, I was so confused, lost, sad. I felt like everyone was counting on me and no one counted on me all at the same time. And, as one does when they feel ‘lost’, I went home. Just going somewhere different than where I was was enough to shake up my thoughts a little but I didn’t find the answer at home. I found the answer on the way back to school…on the bus.

It was a 3hr bus ride back to campus so it gave me a long time to think. About a half hour into that bus ride, the sun started to set. It was pretty magnificent. It was fall, so the leaves were still on the trees. Their colours only amplified by the sun’s warm rays. I soaked it in. With each passing moment it became even lovelier. The sun was still above the clouds. It hadn’t even reached the horizon yet. And there were these fluffy, soft clouds which danced across the sky.

Then…

…the ‘moment’ happened.

It wasn’t long but it was long enough for me to memorize it. The sky glowed with pinks, oranges, peaches, violets and blues. The sun was just starting to fall behind the clouds but it’s rays were like fingers reaching through the gaps in the clouds and down to caress the trees, the land, the earth. I don’t have the words to describe it. I only know that it became a defining moment in my life. I have seen some glorious sunsets in my lifetime but that one still tops them all. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Its beauty was certainly overwhelming but it also changed me and has become the core of who I am. At that moment, I realized that nothing mattered any more. Life just IS. I realized that I could either enjoy the journey or let it consume me. I just suddenly ‘understood’ that everything would be just fine. It would be just the way it needed to be and it wouldn’t be anything else. However things turned out is how they were meant to be.

As a photographer, it’s hard for me to admit this, but I’m glad I didn’t have a camera with me that day. I would’ve spent more time trying to capture it rather than stopping to just look at it. In fact, I stared at it so intently for that moment in time that it was ALL I could think of for the rest of the bus ride back to campus. It was etched in my brain and I all I had to do (and still do) is close my eyes to see it again.

When I got back to my dorm room a few hours later, I opened my door, dropped by bags, took out some pencil crayons and I drew. I drew for more than an hour…until it was perfect. I had to ‘see’ it again and I had no plans to stop until I did.When I finished, I stared at it again and then I hung it up on my wall.

As time went on, I looked to it to help me make some tough choices in my life and each time I did, I realized that whatever choice I made, it would be the right one. It would all be ok.

A few months later, I gave the picture to someone I cared about. Someone who deserved to feel the same thing I did. Hope. Love. Trust. Faith. Just hearing the story, he knew how much the moment meant to me and I think he really appreciated the gift. He had taught me so much, it was the least I could do for him.

So do I think a picture can make a difference? I do. One picture changed my life.

Whenever I share an image I’ve taken, I can only hope that it inspires someone the same way it inspired me when I took it. If it gives them even a little a sense of love, appreciation, peace, hope or faith then I have made the world a better place and everything else will turn out just fine

Help someone else find HOPE. Purchase a Print for the CURE from October 1-10, 2012.

STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS…..