About Serra

The Artist

Everybody has a hidden thread of magic in their story. My work tells your story as you want to remember it.  I specialize in creating photographic art that works together to show every angle of a moment.  My clean modern designs showcase your story brilliantly, and archival products allow you to cherish and share your life’s memories for generations.

I enjoy photographing people in all stages of life.  Every time I attempt to choose a favorite I fail.  I love the interaction and emotion that comes with couples, the innocence that comes with children, the wonder that comes with newborns and babies, and the light that comes with maternity sessions.  I also love working with people to document important milestones like engagements and weddings, and working with students to create beautiful art that helps them to authentically express who they are for their senior portraits.

Overall Philosophy

I believe that a portrait photography session should be an enjoyable experience, one in which you become a partner in shaping the outcome with your own energy and enthusiasm. Unlike the big studios, who take the same five shots every time, my goal is to capture a subject’s current energy and character and present it to you as a unique and timeless series of images.  You can help by telling me a story, sharing a favorite color or image, bringing an inspiration, or suggesting a location that has meaning to you. Your session fee covers the cost of up to 90 minutes of expertise from me, your photographer, along with an in-person ordering session and free basic retouching on your images.  At your ordering session, we go through the image library together and begin to craft your story.

In the Moment

What will it be like?  I’m after a number of things during a session.  Most importantly, I want to build a relationship with you so that we have a blast.  A photo session with me will never feel like a chore.  Aesthetically, I strive for dynamic and interesting lines, color, and variety.  Play factors strongly into my sessions, and ensures dynamic results.  In order to complete my images, I continually seek out interesting backgrounds and color harmonies, and once my eye has been drawn I work on each concept from various angles.

My images are dynamic, and convey emotion. My goal is to walk away from a shoot with a few dozen shots that are all completely different from one another – shot from near and far, smiling and laughing, eyelashes, motion, still and serious…  It is this great variety that conveys your story.

Experience and Instinct

I’ve loved photography since I was a child myself.  Every year I begged for a camera and finally, for my twelfth birthday, my father gave me the fully manual SLR camera he used in college. It was much harder to use than what my twelve-year-old self had envisioned, but it taught me early on how to look for good light, set the aperture, and carefully choose the shot I wanted to capture.

Through practice I’ve developed a gut instinct for knowing the right place to shoot and when to hit the shutter. I completely trust my first intuition about what will make a great picture, and my clients have learned to do the same.

Now and Later

I’ll always be a photographer. Whenever I’ve tried other professions, something always led me back to the camera. It’s a gift I have to share with people, and I get great pleasure out of it. Regardless of what other things are going on in my life photography never fails to entwine itself in some way.

Complimentary Passions

The desire for a healthy community and planet is one of my core values. I strive to have as light an impact on our environment as possible, which is one of the reasons your session will likely involve the use of natural light, and why your photos will be 100% digitally processed, with no paper used until you’re ready to print.  My albums use 100% post-consumer recycled photo art paper.  I also participate in alternative currency programs and barters for those who can’t afford my services in traditional money.  Communities are healthiest when we all work together.  I use local businesses for my products and supplies rather than ordering from big box stores.  See my Green Values page to read more.

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