Whoa.  We have officially been in Maine for nearly 5 months!  (If you need a refresher as to what has been happening over the past year, you can read this post, this post, and this post.)  I had lofty goals of blogging this whole journey of moving as well as our pregnancy but as it turns out,  both of those things along with the photography work I brought with me have kept me busier than I initially thought AND perhaps even more so, I’ve realized that I’m a little more private that I realized in the past, especially when it comes to dealing with difficult things.  Don’t get me wrong, this move in so many ways felt like the right thing to do and really, it has been great and I’m so thankful for the experience as well as all the new opportunities that it holds.  But it certainly hasn’t been easy to leave family and friends that I love, a business that I worked hard for, and a community that gradually became home over that past six years.  Nonetheless, here we are: happy, enjoying the ride, and getting a lot of use out of our cell phone plans!  And sometime within the next 1-2ish weeks we are going to have our world rocked-even more so than packing up and moving across the country.  Our baby is going to be born!  Yep, that is STILL weird to say.  But we are beyond excited and will post a photo or two of little Baby G when we can.  That leads me to my tentative maternity plan for the next couple months.  I will be taking March through June off and will start shooting again (in both Maine and the Minnesota/Midwest) after that.  I am still taking Minnesota weddings although I am only going to take up to three more weddings in Minnesota/Midwest this summer/fall as my schedule is already filling up fast.  I also plan on doing both mini sessions as well as regular portrait sessions around the times that I am back for weddings.  If you are interested in setting up a portrait or mini session, here are the dates I’m tentatively looking at now: June 9-10, July 14-15, September 1-2, October 25 or 27.  I will update when dates/details are finalized but that’s a rough idea for now!  Thanks for your patience and understanding as I take some time off in the next couple months to figure out what life is like with a baby!  And proof that there really is a baby on the way…

photos by Sarah Field.

You’ve seen Heather and her beautiful family on my blog many times before.  She’s creating her third beautiful baby and dang, she and her hubby make cute kids.  (Reference here, here, and here.)  We missed the rest of the family with this shoot but there’s no way we could pass up an insanely gorgeous belly, lovely Maine coastline and a willing-to-brave-the-cold-soul.  You are a beautiful mother, wife, daughter and friend.  Thank you for spreading the love!  XOXOX!

We are in the dead of winter so how about reminiscing about late summer/early fall for a bit?  Ellen and Darrick wanted to keep their engagement photos a surprise until they were able to give them to their families as gifts over Christmas.  It was a special surprise as they recently inherited the boat which has been passed down from Ellen’s grandparents to her parents and now to her and Darrick.  So cool!  They also wanted to include their dog, Fargo, in their photos which of course I loved and quickly fell in love with!  Such a fun couple and fun session and fun to warm up to the memory of summer on this chilly winter day!  Can’t wait for their summer wedding!

Since I was on a roll with yesterday’s post about Christmas cards, I figured I might as well make mention of birth announcements as well!  The details for birth announcements are the same as Christmas cards:  Cards come in 3 different sizes: 5×7, 5×5 and 4×5.5 and are available folded, tri-folded or flat.  They are sold in packages of 24 and include envelopes.  The photos below show in order: the front of the card, the inside (if applicable) and the back.  I do use some templates but try to make each card different so I like to get your input for wording, favorite photos, etc.

These are 5×5 tri-fold cards.  These are probably my most favorite size because they are so different and impressive.  The front is a 5×5 square and when you open it up, there is another 5×5 flap followed by a 5×15 inside spread.  This is a great way to use a lot of photos in a collage as well as have one standout photo in the middle.  As a side note, all square cards require extra postage.

These next 2 designs are 5×5 tri-fold cards as well and then we included an additional 5×5 flat blank card with similar design elements as an insert for a handwritten thank you note.

Here are the individuals shots of the card so you can see them in better detail…The front:

Inside flap:

Inside Spread:

Back:

The thank you insert:

And a 4×5.5 folded card:

And a 5×7 flat card:

And another 5×7 flat card:

A post about Christmas cards in January?  Yep!  I get a lot of questions about Christmas cards in November and December, right when I am busy MAKING the cards and don’t have time to EXPLAIN them!  Hence the Christmas card post in January.  Feel free to file this away for 11 months from now.  🙂

The details:  Cards come in 3 different sizes: 5×7, 5×5 and 4×5.5 and are available folded, tri-folded or flat.  They are sold in packages of 24 and include envelopes.  The photos below show in order: the front of the card, the inside (if applicable) and the back.  I do use some templates but try to make each card different so I like to get your input for wording, favorite photos, etc.  Please feel free to check out my facebook page to view more samples and to see them larger.

First up, the horizontal 5×7 folded card.  When closed, this card measures 5×7.  The inside spread measures 5×14 which makes for a pretty impressive panoramic photo.

Next is the vertical 5×7 folded card.  The dimensions of this one are the same as the horizontal one, it’s just folded differently and again the inside panoramic spread is what really makes this card!

This is also a vertical 5×7 folded card.  They included their Christmas letter as an 5×7 flat card insert inside.  This was a great way to keep the design consistent throughout the card and the letter.

These next three are 5×7 flat cards.  This family chose to do a word collage to summarize the year on the back in lieu of a Christmas letter.

Another flat 5×7 with photos on both the front and back.

And again, another flat 5×7 with photos on both the front and back.

These next four designs are 5×5 tri-fold cards.  These are probably my most favorite size because they are so different and impressive.  The front is a 5×5 square and when you open it up, there is another 5×5 flap followed by a 5×15 inside spread.  This is a great way to use a lot of photos in a collage as well as have one standout photo in the middle.  As a side note, all square cards require extra postage.   

And yep!  It’s our own card from 2010!

These are horizontal 5×5 folded cards.  I love the square size and though it’s not quite as intricate as the 5×5 tri-fold, it’s still a great size.  The front is 5×5 and the inside spread is 5×10.

And our card from 2010!

My FAVORITE card of all time.  On the front, it says “Our photographer moved to Maine” and on the inside it says “But we hope you have a Merry Christmas anyway” followed up with the crying child on the back.  I’ve never been so honored…  🙂

And this is our card from this year!

This is the vertical 5×5 folded card.  Again, the dimensions of this one are the same as the horizontal one, it’s just folded differently.

And the 4×5.5 folded card.

And the 4×5.5 flat card.

Patricia and Michael’s Boston engagement session was my inaugural shoot on the East Coast this summer and their wedding near Baltimore was THE BEST way to start my first few official days out East.  They were married outdoors at Tricia’s parents beautiful home overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.  I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: I love weddings.  But what I love more is working with awesome people on one of the happiest days of their lives.  There were so many times throughout their day where I was filled with happiness.  Happiness for Michael and Patricia as they start this new adventure together.  Happiness for the love surrounding them from family and friends.  Happiness for the beauty in all the little details.  Happiness for the possibilities that having a camera opens up for me.  It was a fantastic day…CONGRATULATIONS, Tricia and Mike!  We are beyond happy for you and wish you many days as happy as your wedding day.

Remember Nicole and Cole?  We did their engagement photos about a year ago and just photographed their beautiful September wedding!  It was an amazing day with a lovely bride, handsome groom, beautiful location, an awesome wedding party, and a love worth celebrating.  Congratulations, you two! We loved spending the day with you and hope you have many, many married days as happy as your wedding day!

Hey!  Remember summer?  Here’s a quick flashback to a beautiful senior session I shot in August!  Just a little late…but doesn’t it bring back nice, warm memories?  🙂  Emily is such a sweetheart, I loved getting to know her and her mom and dog, Baloo too!  Hope your senior year is off to a great start!    

Hey!  Long time, no blog!  You may remember waaaay back to the first part of this year when I did so well with my “iPhone Photo of the Day” using the Photo365 app.  Remember!?!? (PROOF: January, February, March, April) and then….well…  Four out of twelve months ain’t bad, right?  Well, I have an excuse.  Sort of.  My iPhone freaked out and erased my life phone guts, including A.L.L. my daily photos and captions.  BUMMER.  And of course I hadn’t gotten around to setting up iCloud or any sort of backup for at least 6 months.  Totally my fault and totally not the end of the world but still made me annoyed enough to stop my diligent “Photo of the Day” taking.

Anyway, in case you haven’t heard…We moved to Maine!  And the pain of losing my photo data has subsided so I may jump back on the bandwagon.  At least here’s a start along with a quick video update about life at the Griffith’s in Maine!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO:  Greetings from Portland

I know I just barely got to Maine but I’m already planning a trip home and I’m so excited!  I will be scheduling mini sessions in both Rochester and Minneapolis.  Please contact me if you are interested!