My passion for photography began when I was in the darkroom of my high school film photography class. I loved learning about all the details that make a camera and film work. When my husband and I got engaged, he purchased our first digital camera from a co-worker for $50 and the cost of a lunch salad.
When my oldest daughter was born, I picked that passion back up and started photographing her at home. In 2009, a friend from my college photography class was the first client to hire me to take pictures of his wife expecting their first son. That was the launch of all of this.
I live and love in Tallahassee, Florida, my home state and where my husband and I are raising our family. I am mama to four little ones who are growing at the speed of light. My family is my passion.
Sarah-your photographer-Hey there! I'm- I'm a teacher by trade and graduated from Flagler College with a degree in Elementary Education.
- I am a creative person through and through and feel trapped if I don't have a creative outlet.
- Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I push the pause button on everything and enjoy it as a day of rest.
- I think I have a the best job in the world, getting to photograph families welcoming new babies into their homes.
- Having a baby in 2020 was a wild time but also the best possible quarantine distraction. If someday, your kiddos are older and you still feel that tug to have another baby, go for it. It will bring such joy to watch your older children love a baby sibling. 100%, I recommend it.
favorites Things
My favorite motherhood quote
“She says I shall now have one mouth the more to fill and two feet the more to shoe, more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure or visiting, reading, music, and drawing.
Well! This is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other. Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God; and the body in which it dwells is worth all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother's heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her lifelong prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, how wondrously blest!”
-Elizabeth Prentiss, "Stepping Heavenward," published 1869
My photography is designed for living room walls and photo albums. It's my deepest hope that you'll print the beautiful images that we create and will enjoy them every day of your life. I love what I do and I would be honored for the opportunity to share it with you.
my family
myhusband
Sundays
I almost didn`t post this.
Our country turns 250 this year. I was in the middle of editing a gallery when that number actually stopped me.
I have four kids — 6, 11, 15, and 17. I`ve spent years telling other families that childhood is fleeting, that these seasons pass before you`re ready, that photographs are one of the most meaningful ways you hold onto them.
I`ve said it hundreds of times.
And then I sat there and realized I needed to take my own advice.
So this summer, I`m photographing all four of my kids in what I`m calling Heirloom Portraits. Not elaborate. Not trendy. Just simple, timeless portraits that show exactly who they are right now — in the year America turned 250.
Because someday I want them to show these to their own kids and say, "This is who I was that year."
That thought made the decision easy.
I`ve opened a small number of spots for other families who`ve been quietly wanting the same thing. Details are linked in my bio.
The trip is already planned.
The people you love are already going to be there.
The cousins will be running in the sand. Someone will be wrangling the toddler. Your mother-in-law will have the snacks. And somewhere in the middle of all that beautiful chaos, you`ll think — we should really get some photos while everyone is together.
That thought? Trust it.
You don`t need a perfectly orchestrated session to get images worth keeping. You just need someone there to capture what`s already happening — the real stuff, the in-between stuff, the stuff that disappears faster than you expect.
That`s exactly what a vacation session is. Nothing manufactured. Nothing forced. Just your people, in a place that already means something, photographed with real care.
If your family has a trip to the Forgotten Coast coming up and that thought has crossed your mind — I`d love to chat. Inquiries are open in my bio.
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Mom post here:
I am teary eyed as I type this. Today was the last Elementary Chapel for this 5th grade class (my son’s class). During this “Legacy Chapel” they passed the leadership plaque down to the 4th graders as they prepare to be next year’s lower school leaders.
I am so proud of our current 5th graders. This class has navigated more than anyone would have ever imagined and they have a unique bond amongst each other on this side of those collective pains. They started Kindergarten the year of the pandemic and have seen firsthand the hurt of sickness and death in this fallen world.
Still, they are joyful, playful, hard working, and compassionate in a way that constantly surprises me. No doubt that God has great things in store for them; and our school community is beyond blessed to have each and every one of them and their families as a part of it.
Class of 2033, let’s go!
When was the last time you looked at an old family photo and thought, `I wish fewer people were in this`?
Probably never.
That is exactly why I always say yes when families ask whether they should include the grandparents, the cousins, the aunt and uncle who are only in town for a few days.
When you are not sure, say yes anyway. We will find a way to make it work.
Memberships and Affiliations
Sarah Gray creates timeless and joyful images that are designed for living room walls and photo albums. A tallahassee photographer, Sarah Gray also serves Thomasville, Crawfordville, St. Marks, Gainesville and throughout the panhandle of north Florida and south Georgia.
email us | sarah@sarahgray.com
telephone (850) 321-0208
located in tallahassee, florida
