JDP senior Sarah

I’ve had a vision of standing a JDP senior in Lake Hashawa for about 2 years now.  Course, there are always about 100 ideas swirling in my head, so not quite sure how this one made it to the surface.  I’ve been contemplating this exact scene for so long, I just knew it would take the right senior to bring it to fruition.  She would need to be brave and not mind getting really dirty in smelly water to create a bold editorial feel portrait.  Turns out JDP senior Sarah was the perfect candidate for this!

When I tossed out the idea, Sarah said, “let’s do it!” barely missing a beat!  Sarah’s enthusiasm and bold spirit made her an absolute delight to create portraits with all night!  She joked her prince charming was hiding away in the lily pads and she was on a hunt to find him!  There certainly were some strange noises coming out of Hashawa that night, and it was dark, so we were all a bit wide eyed!

If Sarah is featured on Last Comic Standing, you heard it here first…and I’m pretty sure she will actually be the last comic standing!  This girl is full of one liners and fully appreciates the value of laughter to lighten the daily load of life.  She may just try and get a gig working comedy part time to help put her through college for likely a career in law.

Sarah realized she may want to pursue law after participating in mock trial at Winters Mill last year.  It was her school’s first year competing and they went to the semi-finals.  She realized the thrill of preparing for a trial and then taking her case before a jury and is hooked.  She’s torn between attending Drexel (where her mom and dad went) and Temple.  Her heart is at home in PA where her family is from and she plans to return.

I just love how the timing works out to make strong portraits like this rose petal inspired beauty.  These roses were a gift from a client so naturally we pulled them in with Sarah’s amazing hair!  Yes that is all her hair!  Sarah started to embrace her curls, rather than fighting them, a few years ago and what a treasure they are!

Seeing her all dressed up, you’d never know Sarah’s passion for sports!  She’s a die hard Pittsburgh Penguins fan and I can totally envision her screaming at the tv!  She’s also a field hockey goalie and absolutely adores the sport.  She is invigorated by the pressure of knowing the goal is hers to defend and does not shy away from carrying that responsibility for her team.  In the opening game of this season, Sarah made 10 saves in goal, helping to bring in the 2-1 victory for Winters Mill.  She has played since 5th grade from rec, to club to now for Winters Mill.  The bond she shares with her team mates and coach feels like family to her and has been a big part of making her who she is today.  She’s got a serious game face that says, ‘not in my house!’

Sarah’s mom was there to watch and cheer on her girl during her session.  After we set the scene below I asked Sarah to look to the right…just happened her mom was sitting there.  She said, “awe, mom when I look at you all I can do is smile.”  Pretty sure that accounts for a few of the tears Rosemarie shed that night.  These two share a special bond that is what most moms dream about with their girls, but often remains elusive until their girls are much older.  What an incredible blessing to have that kind of support network in your life.  It’s going to make it all the harder though when Sarah leaves for school…seems our greatest joys in life are the very ones that cause us the deepest sorrows.

It’s pretty clear that at least part of Sarah’s sense of humor comes from her mom.  We were especially careful with Sarah when she was barefoot during her session as we learned there’s a curse on her mom’s side of the family where everyone ends up with some damage to their feet/toes.  So far Sarah has escaped the Gerace curse so we may just have to have her wear steel toe boots till we know it’s been broken!