sarah dobbins | writer and photographer

the blog is on hold

sarah — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:58:57 +0000

You probably noticed the tremendous… silence. I’ve being doing some re-prioritizing in my business (and therefore in our home life) and blogging is one of those things that has been pushed to the back burner so that I can spend more time teaching photography, traveling for editorial work, and of course raising my three crazy boys. I do have plans to resurrect it, but in the meantime it will be still and quiet around these parts.

But come follow me on twitter, or attend one of my workshops, or follow my workshop group on facebook. I’m still working hard behind the scenes!

the tight edit

sarah — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:57:21 +0000

Sometimes I have trouble doing what’s called a “tight edit” with my work. It’s hard to be slavishly harsh, and just make cut after cut after cut. Wouldn’t it be nice to have to do the reverse–add in a bunch more images? Anyway, sometimes when I shoot my kids I get all it all out of my system… I edit every single picture I want to, and include every single picture I want to in our family album. It’s kind of therapeutic.

keep holding…

sarah — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:53:10 +0000

I’m still working on my blog. I have this format in my head that I want……… and I’m trying to make it perfect. This may or may not include me trying pathetically to learn how to write scripts and make them functional. Yeah, because I have so much extra time!

Anyway, I’m going to add the blog link back to the homepage, just so you don’t totally give up on me altogether. But I’m still working diligently behind the scenes!

In the meantime, here’s one year old Jude. Can you believe he is one?! And speaking of one, he has only one top tooth and has looked like one cute little jack o’ lantern for several weeks now.

hey, where’d the blog go?

sarah — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:17:11 +0000

You may have noticed the blog link is missing from the main page. I’ve put it on hold for a little while… I’m coming up with a new format and doing some redesign. You can still follow me on twitter, subscribe to my newsletter, and of course, you can always send me an email.

the cutest little family on the block | brentwood, tennessee lifestyle sessions

sarah — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:06:22 +0000

One of my very favorite things about private sessions is getting the chance to go into families’ homes and play with their kids! Okay, so I take pictures, too… but it’s always a really refreshing change from the fast-paced, high-fashion shoots. It’s always relaxed, easy, and well, just a lot of fun! And it’s also a real privilege to be able to document children how they are at their ages… the mannerisms and expressions they have that disappear so quickly! Some of my favorite images of my own children are ones that really capture their little 9-month or 2-year old personalities, and it’s so fun to create the same feelings for other people and their families!

This family was just too, too cute. Big brother was so expressive and helpful, and he was so funny… and little sis is going to be a tough one–she kept up with her brother pretty well for a crawler! I always think it is so neat when little girls have big brothers–she will definitely be able to hold her own!

she’s on the move!

sarah — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:23:07 +0000

This is my little niece… and at 5 weeks younger than Jude, she has quite a few things to teach him! She lives far away so they don’t get to spend too much time together, but they got to play this week a little bit and I’d like to think he’s already been encouraged to catch up to her speedy crawling!

where have I been? laying in the grass.

sarah — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:21:14 +0000

Okay, so not really. Well, I mean, I have, but that’s not all I’ve been doing. The thing is, a lot of the work I have been doing, I can’t show because it won’t be published for awhile, and then by the time it does get published, I have already kinda forgotten about it.

So.

I have been playing in the yard a lot, dodging mosquitoes and chasing barefooted boys, and you know what? I don’t take very many pictures. That may sound absolutely crazy, but when I’m not working, I tend to leave my camera in my office. It’s kind of like a “not mixing work with play” thing. But that’s not very cool, and it really isn’t very fun, once I start thinking about how I have, like, literally NO pictures from this summer of my own family. So I’m going to try to be better about doing that.

I was doing a little commercial project the other day, and stepped outside and my yard was absolutely glistening. Just on fire with tiny little diamonds everywhere. So I got a few shots of the grass, much to the delight of my 3 year-old, who thought it was absolutely hilarious. I’m sure my neighbors thought it was hilarious, too… but not nearly as funny as the time I sat on the boys’ swing to show them how to pump their legs and the chain broke and deposited me straight on the ground in a not-so-very-graceful manner. The chain was rusty, y’all. It was about to break anyway, I swear. So my neighbors probably already think I’m a little bit strange.

Anyway. More grass. That’s all I can give you for now.

the cutest kids’ clothes are about to hit nashville! | brentwood commercial photography

sarah — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:12:50 +0000

I had the pleasure of working with two of the sweetest gals in the world this week–they are super creative and talented, and make the coolest shirts for kids. And! We all 3 have 3 kids… most of which are on the younger side of 6! Can you imagine the volume level at this shoot? It was divine!

I’ll share more about their company soon, but I wanted to show you just a small sample of what they do before I get to work on the rest!

more from YMCA showcase home | nashville, memphis editorial photography

sarah — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 22:38:57 +0000

magazine feature | brentwood ymca showcase home

sarah — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:50:28 +0000

See this month’s issue of At Home Tennessee and read all about the YMCA Showcase Home in Brentwood! We shot on a super hot, sunny day, and I worked with a great team of designers to pull this shoot together.

I’ll add some more shots from the issue as soon as I can get back to my office–but for now the cover will suffice! (Or, simply get thee to a bookstore near you and grab a copy!)