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Category Archives: giving back

SoulFotos: Images & Quotes That Feed Your Soul ™ by Sara Lil

03.02.11

I am so excited to announce my new line to you: SoulFotos: Images & Quotes That Feed Your Soul ™ !
A lot of you know that in the last two years I’ve lost five family members. My life has changed dramatically as you can imagine. I’ve re-prioritized my life and I’m so much happier now! I found spirituality again. I live life with Joy. I’ve made several loving, supportive new friends. My family is stronger than ever. I’m loving motherhood and being a wife. My business is thriving and my clients are amazing. As oddly as it sounds, life couldn’t be better! I do believe these tragic and devastating things happen in life to make us change and grow, and this is how my SoulFoto line developed…

…I’ve traveled the world taking tons of images. I love looking at these images but never knew quite how to show them or share them with the world. One day a burst of inspiration came over me and I sat down at my computer and started adding words to my fine art images, and I loved what I created! A few weeks later I woke up and remembered a dream in which something told me to call my new line “SoulFotos”, so of course I immediately wrote that down and now that’s the name of my inspiration line!

I then ordered some products using these images and loved the results — they are printed on beautiful high quality photo paper. I decided to give them out as Christmas gifts to friends, family, and people I just met. The feedback was amazing! And viola… my SoulFoto line was created!

SoulFotos is my way of spreading love, hope, beauty, and faith to the world in a time when we need this more than ever.

These images are on greeting cards, bookmarks, post cards, posters, and affirmation cards. They make great gifts for your friends or yourself. Put them in your car, on your nightstand, or tape them to a mirror. Look at them often and smile!

If you wish to purchase them, right now the South Co-Op in town is selling them and one of my favorite stores in Salem called Journey’s also carries them. You really should see the final product in hand as they printed beautifully! If you live elsewhere you can order them online through etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/saralil

I hope you enjoy this inspiration product line I bring you as much as I enjoy creating them!!

Relay For Life at OSU: May 14th & 15th

05.10.10

This year I am sponsoring an event close to my heart: Relay for Life at Oregon State University. This event is the largest fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The reason it is close to my heart is because when I was in college my Mom, Dad, and cat all had Cancer in the same year. It was absolutely devastating. Luckily, my parents survived the Cancer.

We need all the support we can get at this event! The event is this weekend May 14th & 15th in the Memorial Union Quad. I donated a gift certificate for the silent auction as well as provided a special discount to the participants . For more information go to the website:

www.OSURelay.Com

Luminaries are written in memory or in honor of somebody’s battle against cancer. Below is a beautiful photo taken of the luminaries by Michael Lee:

Congratulations to the Winners of My Wedding Photography Giveaway!

11.26.09

Today is a day of Giving Thanks and I’m especially thankful for where I am at in my career. To show my gratitude I decided to give away wedding photography coverage to a couple that otherwise couldn’t afford it.

THANK YOU to all of you that submitted your stories! I chose the finalist by putting all qualified applicants in a hat and had my daughter draw the name – I wanted it to be completely random and fair.

I’m excited to announce that Craig + Lacey won my free wedding photography! This is their story:

lacey

Craig and I met 6 years ago when we worked together at Carson Oil Company. I was an office girl, and he was the off-limits warehouse boyHis sister worked with us, he was 6 years younger, I was recently divorced, and it’s generally not a good plan to date people you work with, so I didn’t really do anything about my little crush on him. I had never seen him in anything but work clothes until the work holiday party, and when I saw how good he looked in jeans, I knew that I had to make my move!!I asked him to come over and watch a movie at my house, and we’ve been together ever since!

We got engaged on Valentine’s Day – he did the asking this time!

I closed my business this year, and have several years before all of the bills from it will be paid off, so I wasn’t thinking that financially we could have a fabulous wedding anytime soon. Craig just bought a house for us this summer, and with the government tax rebate from that, we decided that we could start planning a simple wedding. Craig has a big family-7 siblings total-so we knew that we couldn’t have a small reception, even if we wanted to! We figured we could cut back on things like flowers and photography to save money. We were just planning on having the little disposable wedding cameras on each table and leaving the pics up to our guests, which could be a little scary!

I am just so happy that I have finally found the greatest guy ever and can’t wait to make our commitment to each other official!

xoxo – Lacey Shelby

I think it’s great that they won! I know Lacey from when I had my studio in the Flinn Block Building as she was the owner of the fabulous store “Glam”. Lacey + Craig — I am very excited to photograph your wedding in August!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hugs,

Sara

A Gift of Free Wedding Photography

11.02.09

I am so very thankful for my life; my husband, my daughter, my home, my health. And I ‘m lucky to be able to do what I love for a living — this is rare and I know this. I worked hard to get here and its made me appreciate it all that much more. I am thankful everyday for what I have. And I thank all of you out there that have trusted me to capture your special moments! As my way of saying thanks I am gifting someone free wedding photography, please read below:

The last few years have been hard times for a lot of people. I know many couples have postponed their wedding due to the expense. I would like to help a couple in need of wedding photography but can’t afford it. Are you a couple in need? Tell me your love story and why I should choose you…

To apply please answer my questions above via email and send in a photo of you and your significant other. Also let me know your wedding date and where you are getting married. You must be okay with me posting your love story and photo on my blog. Applications need to be emailed to me by midnight on Saturday, November 21st and I will announce the wining couple on Thanksgiving Day!

*To qualify your wedding date has to be a date that I’m available. This gift includes five hours of wedding day photography by Sara Lil and digital images on disc.

**[ please note: travel fees may incur if it's outside of my vicinity ]

Chili Cook Off — This Sunday

09.10.09

The 2^nd Annual Benton County Sheriff’s Office Chili Cook Off is going to be held this Sunday, the 13^th at the Benton County Fairgrounds, 12- 4:00.

Admission is $5.00 per person (kids 6 and under are free) It’s going to be a fun time – the REACH helicopter will land, there will be fire engines, and the K9 dogs, the Army National Guard will have some vehicles there – and of course there will be LOT’s of chili (included in the cost of admission) – hot dogs, soda, and ice cream will also be available for purchase – all proceeds from food, admission, and raffles will go to Strengthening Rural Families.

My friend Libby McCormick (she is an excellent massage therapist if you are looking for one!) is on the committee and asked if I wanted to participate — I donated a portrait session so if you are interested in one this would be a good place to go bid for it! It’s family friendly and lots of fun! I hope to see you there!!

www.ruralfamilies.org

Published: "Spirit of Corvallis" Book

05.28.08

I was contact about a year ago by Corvallis Tourism to submit images to their “Spirit of Corvallis” book. I submitted several images but somehow the CD’s containing them never reached the correct person. But, an employee saw an image they liked on my blog and asked me last minute to submit it, thanks Melinda!

Tonight was the reception for all the artists. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera so I didn’t get photos of the party but I did get a copy of the book:

My image “Central Park in Autumn” page 106:

Project Childhood

04.08.08

I recently became part of Project Childhood which is a non-profit organization that celebrates childhood through photography. It’s a contest for photographers to photograph children that would otherwise not be able to afford a sitting fee.

How it works: The family receives a sitting fee at no charge and a print (or prints) and the photographer donates the sitting fee to a charity of their choice. The image will be posted on Project Childhoods website along side the charity they choose.

I am so excited about this project and encourage other photographers to join!

Everyone that replied to my Project Childhood email that I recently sent out, thank you so much — my spaces filled up quickly!