Dec 2008 - Sarah Rhoads Photographers

What sparked your interest in photography?

Sarah: I took a trip to West Africa several years ago, I came back with a gazzilion roles of film and still didn’t feel like I had enough photos to capture it all. That trip defined a lot for me and I came back with a certain confidence & clarity and I just knew that telling stories was what I was made of.

Chris: I was working for a record label as a studio/live bass player and was traveling all over the country, I wanted to document my time on the road, and photography was this wonderful creative outlet. It didn’t take long for me to fall completely in love with it.

Have you had any funny, odd or just plain interesting experiences while shooting?

Our philosophy has always been to ask for forgiveness, not permission while shooting on-location. However let’s just say it backfired one day when we were forced to change locations due to a crazy old man threatening to let loose his rottweillers on us during the shoot.

What is a day in your shoes like?

We like to mix things up. We loathe monotony and schedules so we don’t have a “typical day” of sorts but usually it goes something like this. Wake up at 6:00AM, get some organge juice, & sit down and start to return all of our e mails. Then the “edit fest” begins. Twitter, edit some more, lunch with each other, design an album/blogpost. Maybe then meet up with some friends for dinner (because we hate to cook), come home & return e-mails again. When 10pm comes watch something Tivoed. Currently showing at the Rhoads manor: Battlestar Galactica (totally geeky and totally awesome) then stay up way too late, & hit the hay.

Any advice for aspiring photographers?

Jump all in. Hold nothing back. Shoot A LOT and never stop exploring and challenging yourself. Get out of your comfort zone. Get used to being totally un-comfortable. Comfort is the thorn in the side of great artists. Shoot for yourself, and be yourself fully & unapologetically.

What piece of equipment are you never caught without?

Canon 35mm 1.4 lens, never leave home without it.

Where do you spend your time on the web these days?

Good night what don’t we do that involves the web? Ah. Twitter is pretty all consuming and addictive. I always love checkin’ in on my buddies on their blogs. & Chris has an un-healthy addiction to digg & gizmodo.

Why? (yeah, we know…it’s a deep question.)

Sarah: It was like I was made to do this. I love people, digging into their lives, hearing their stories and allowing them to share their hearts. My total fascination with the human psyche; why people do the things they do, how our journey’s shape who we are is what I’m interested in. The camera allowed me to embrace all of my quirky gifts, taking on the role of the explorer, the hopeless romantic, the risk taker, the adventurer, the journalist, the curious kid & the artist…. The camera is the perfect means to an end for me.

WHY DOES INTO THE DARKROOM KICK-ASS?

ITDR melts my face off with their awesomeness. This is why:

They were willing….

To go big or go home.

To think outside the box

To take risks

To explore

To try something HUGELY new & different

To implement their superior genius to make it happen

Plus they are totally awesome guys. Guys you would want to kick it with ya know? Those are the type of people we want to work with.

ITDR Products:

Rockstar Blog: Check It!

SlideShare Max: Check It!