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This month I am running a special on Closed Door Sessions! In honor of the new year and of Valentines Day I am offering 15% off of an in-studio Closed Door Session if you reserve your session by January 15th. Your shoot must take place before January 31 in order to receive the discount as well. That way we have plenty of time to rock your session, edit your images to perfection and get you your album before Valentine’s Day for your someone special.

Closed Door Sessions are one of my favorite things to do these days. I love helping you feel your absolute best and taking images of you that rock! You can take a look HERE at my current Closed Door pricing. Each package includes your private session shot exclusively by me at my studio in Gold River, anywhere from 15-40 fully retouched images presented to you via a private gallery, and a rocking good time. My most popular package is The Sexiest Gift which includes a beautiful 10 page album you can gift to your someone special. The album is a great way to show off a variety of images from your session and makes a great keepsake and gift.

To book your Closed Door Session CONTACT ME and we can set up your session date. A non-refundable retainer of $100 is due when you make your appointment and the remainder is due at the beginning of your session. Once we have your date and time set up I will send you a questionnaire where we talk more about the look you want to achieve in your shoot, and I give you some advice on clothing, hair and makeup. The most important thing is to make this shoot about YOU! Please shoot me an email or give me a call to book your session today.

Want to know what some of my previous clients are saying about their Closed Door Session? Well, check it out below!

My friend and I went to Sarah Maren for our very first “Closed Door” session. My girlfriend is getting married soon and I am coming up on my 3 year wedding anniversary, so we thought that this would be a really great gift not only for our husbands (or husband to be) but also for ourselves. We spent many weeks preparing for our session. When we arrived we were both VERY nervous, but the second we met Sarah all of that went away. She was super personable and we both felt comfortable with her immediately (which is very important in a situation such as this). She had so many fantastic ideas but gave us a lot of freedom as well. Sarah gave perfect direction and was very funny and so much fun. Both my friend and I felt her prices were reasonable and were VERY impressed with her work that we saw in her studio as well as her books. As a result of such a fantastic person and talented photographer, we received absolutely amazing pictures. We couldn’t be happier! We had so much fun and will definitely be back! Thanks Sarah for such a memorable experience!!!! -Melissa

Hi Sarah! I’m back from my trip and let me tell you that he definitely appreciates the album! He had only great comments to give! He’s even commented about it randomly since I’ve been back during a phone conversation and he’s also sent me a stray text or two about it! Must have been a hit! You’re magic I tell you! (Actually, I think I told you that “you are the gift of the magi” )

I wanted to say thank you again for all your extra time and effort! It has been much appreciated! You’re awesome! -B

Tags: announcement, Around the Office, Closed Door Session, Closed Door Sessions by Sarah Maren Photography, sacramento boudoir photographer, sacramento boudoir photography, sacramento studio photographer, Sacramento Studio Photography, Sarah Maren Photography

Above is the first ever Sarah Maren Photography promo video. To be honest, it really wasn’t something that I ever saw myself doing, but a dear friend convinced me and we began a process that took several months, but totally paid off. Geoff Bardot (dear friend mentioned above) approched me about making the video for us, and after some hesatation I finally agreed. Geoff did an AMAZING job of making me comfortable enough to be filmed and really capturing the essence of SMP. He followed us around on two shoots (Tralee and Mike’s Day After Session and Lyndsay and Mike’s Anniversary Session) and then came by the studio to interview me. It was a really awesome experience, and I hope it helps people know a little bit more about how we do things. We’ve included it in our About section of this site and are really excited to have such a beautiful piece of work representing Sarah Maren Photography. A gigantic thank you to Geoff for making me do it.

2009 was a really great year for SMP. I met the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the year, even though I wasn’t always sure I was going to. We opened the studio, I started offering boudoir photography, we were published in print both locally and nationally and made some waves on the wedding blogs as well. I can’t tell you how blessed I feel. I feel like the last few months have been overwhelming… I have worked A LOT and began to get worn down. As 2010 opens my goals for Sarah Maren Photography are less based on things I want to achieve and more on things I want to experience. I don’t want to loose sight of the reason I chose this path for my career and my life. I want to remember the feeling weddings and witnessing people in love bring to me. I want to approach each wedding with fresh eyes, but more importantly a fresh heart. Connecting with my clients has always been a hallmark of my shooting style, and sometimes the chaos of a wedding day can get in the way of reconnecting that bond. This year I resolve to work my hardest to help my clients feel not only connected to us as we photograph them, but to really feel connected to each other as they work with us. I am so impressed with the clients that have already booked us for 2010. They are brave souls who are deeply in love and who have put a lot of trust in Dustin and me to make images that are truly representative of the couple they are. I can’t even express how much that trust and belief moves me. I am so deeply grateful to my clients, who so often become my friends, for their love and support. Knowing that they believe in our ability to create something beautiful for them makes us exceedingly proud. Thank you so much to each of you. And thank you to our wonderful 2009 clients as well. We so enjoyed standing as witnesses at your wedding. We are so grateful to know you, and to have been a part of such a huge moment in your lives. We love you all.

2010 will be a big year for us professionally and I’m sure personally too. Thanks again to our wonderful family and friends for your love and support of not only our business but of US. Thank you for being so easy to love. We hope to find a good balance this year and spend a little more time in your presence as well.

Thanks for being a part of Sarah Maren Photography! We wish you a year full of open hearts and joyful moments.

Tags: Around the Office, personal, Promotional Video, Sacramento Photographer, Sacramento Photography, sacramento wedding photographer, sacramento wedding photography, Sarah Maren Photography

It’s that time of year again… that time when I go through the files I’ve collected over the year in a folder called “Sarah and Dustin Shooting” and see all the silly pictures we’ve taken of each other as we shoot. It’s pretty rare to not take at least an image or two of the person (or persons) you’re shooting with during the course of an event. Often we make it into a game, even more often Dustin gets irrated by my taking pictures of him. But no matter who I’m shooting with I always end up with a picture or two.

2009 was another great year for having great photographers come hang out with us! We have LOVED our dear friends who have been so much fun to shoot with. Many huge thanks to Marina Miller of Red Heart Photo, Gwyneth Colleen of Gwyneth Colleen, Andrea Price of Andrea’s Images, Rachelle Stogner of Rachelle Photography, my dear intern Windy Dougal and of course my studio mate and soul mate Beth Baugher of True Love Photo for shooting with me, and for being such wonderful friends! I adore you all! (And Beth, I’m building my life around this next picture of you. :))


This is Dustin’s new favorite picture that I have ever snapped of him. While this 400mm was a rental, Dustin is CONVINCED that now he needs one… me… not so much on the convinced part.

Once again, THANK YOU THANK YOU to my wonderful husband Dustin for being my support, my bestie, and the coolest weirdo I know. Thank you also to our delightful clients who have made 2009 such a joy! We have loved working with you all! Thank you for inviting us into your lives, and for making our job SOOOOO much fun. We can’t WAIT for 2010! Check out the SLIDESHOW HERE of our crazy year shooting each other.

Tags: Around the Office, sacramento wedding photographer, sacramento wedding photography, Sarah Maren Photographer, Sarah Maren Photography

So, as many of you know I’m heading off for a week long vacation with my adorable family. I am SO FREAKING EXCITED I CAN’T STAND IT! We are taking LJ to Disneyland for the first time and I seriously feel like a kid at Christmas. I am so excited for her to see all the things she loves so much! This is more exciting to me than my OWN first Disneyland experience. It’s going to be awesome and I just can’t wait. Of course, getting ready to go on vacation is a job itself. I’ve been pulling a lot of late nights trying to get everything done before we leave. Sadly, I shot more than I could edit in such a shot amount of time and won’t be able to get everyone their entire collections before we leave. I do however have some sneak peeks for you!

Bonnevie and Erik’s eSession in Walnut Creek

Annie and Troy’s eSession in San Francisco

Tibby and Tom’s Ikea eSession

Lukas’s One Year Old Portaits

Keegan’s 9 month portraits

And Gavin and Stacy’s beautiful Apple Hill eSession
I can’t properly express how much I love this picture… like I think it should be a canvas in the studio. Don’t you think so too?

Thanks to my awesome clients for being so patient. Being creative EVERY SINGLE DAY is so much harder than I ever thought it could be. Doing what I love is such a blessing, but it is definitely hard work and I am so happy to be having a little time off to recharge my batteries and spend some time with my family. I feel so blessed to have such a supportive husband and such a delightful daughter. I am just going to bask in the light they give me for the next week. Thank you all for everything! Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with your families! Please remember emails and phone calls will not be returned until November 30th. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tags: Around the Office, eSessions, Out of office, Portraits, Sarah Maren Photography, Sneak Peeks