Category Archives: Personal

Tri-ing to Raise Money for Blood Cancer

Posted in Personal

For the last three years, I’ve trained with the Minneapolis chapter of Team in Training for a July triathlon.  This year I’m back at it, “tri-ing” for more.  This year, I’m trying to raise $2,407.37 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  That add number will bring my three-year total to $7000 to benefit the LLS.  So far, I’m one-third of the way to my goal, and I could really use your help!

Why do I train? I started this journey three years ago to improve my physical fitness and see if I could even cross the finish line. But  I continue training because as I’ve trained with TNT these last three years, I’ve heard the stories of the impact of leukemia and lymphoma on my teammates’ lives. Many of my teammates have lost sisters, husbands, and parents to these diseases, or struggled to help family members through treatment and recovery.  Several of my inspiring teammates are cancer survivors themselves, helped by the very drugs the LLS donations funded.  I’ve also heard from you, my donors and support network, about the ways that cancer has affected you.  I am more motivated than ever to do what I can to stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

So I will keep training, in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers.  Charities like the LLS need our help now more than ever. Despite the advances in research, the statistics are grim: Every ten minutes, a child or adult is expected to die from leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma — that is nearly 145 people each day, or six people every hour. But our donations to the LLS help make a difference! Since its inception in 1954, the LLS has invested more than $600 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. And here in Minnesota, the LLS funds $4.79 million in research at the University of Minnesota and at Mayo Clinic.  Beyond research, the LLS provides financial aid to blood cancer patients, offers family support groups, and many other patient services.

Beyond research, the LLS provides financial aid to blood cancer patients, offers family support groups, and many other patient services.  Please help by making a donation of any size.

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Racing for a Cure

Posted in Personal

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Since February, I’ve been training for the Minneapolis Lifetime Fitness Triathlon with Team in Training.  Our team bikes, swims, and runs together one time per week, and then I do my best to fit in a couple extra workouts each week.  I’ve seen marked improvement in my fitness from last year!

Last year, you helped me raise over $2100 to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I competed in the sprint-distance triathlon (that’s me approaching the finish line last year).    This year, I am trying to top that amount and raise $2500.  I’m also pushing myself physically and will be competing in the Olympic-distance tri (that’s twice as far as last year!)   Only two months remains until the triathlon (July 11), and I’m very close to reaching my goals!

I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to my friends and family who supported me last year and those who have donated this year.  But if you have not already donated, I could really use your help!  Please consider supporting me and making a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The money raised for LLS helps blood cancer patients and their families by funding research to find cures and better therapies, and provide information and support so that they have the best possible outcomes throughout their cancer experience.

Since 1949, LLS has invesed more than $550 million in research.  LLS-funded research has directly contributed to many breakthrough cancer treatments including chemotherapy, bone marrow and stem cell transplantation, and new, targeted oral therapies sucha s Gleevec ™, that might never have happened without the kinds of research funded by the LLS.

Last year, our team raised over $315,000 for this incredible organization!  No donation is too small ~ please help us continue this great work.  And if you’re in town on July 11, I’d love to see you along the course (PDF)!

Fondly,

Sarah
http://pages.teamintraining.org/mn/lifetri09/smcgee

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A Weekend for Play

Posted in Personal

It’s no secret that winter in Minnesota is the wedding photography off-season.  It’s also been too cold the last few weekends to shoot outside for long, but this past weekend was different.  For the first time in a month it got above 32 degrees!   I took the opportunity to rent a lens that produces some cool effects and used it to shoot some Twin Cities landmarks.  I hope to use this fun lens in the future for engagement or portrait sessions — I’ve seen it produce amazing images.  Here are a few of the pictures I took!

Lunch in St. Louis Park at Yum!

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Walking around Lake Harriet.  I think all of Minnesota was out by the lakes on this beautiful Saturday:

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A walk through Prospect Park and the Witch’s Hat water tower.  I love how this lens can make people look miniature (second photo from left):

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I saw this photo on flickr and just had to go find these skis.  There were lots of other cool things nearby.

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Then I stopped to catch a few pictures of one of my favorite sign, the Ideal Diner:

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And then I drove home to St. Paul through nordeast:

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And dinkytown:

dinkytown

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2008 – My Year in Pictures

Posted in Personal

I don’t write enough about my personal life on this blog (sounds like a great resolution for 2009), so I thought I could share what non-photographic things kept me busy in the last year.   Looking back, it was a great (and busy) year!

January found me  . . .  skiing in Colorado.

skiing colorado breckenridge

Enjoying Cupcake Saturday

Cupcake Saturday

and taking a winning photo in the Punch Pizza photography contest.

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Then in February, I started training with Team in Training for the Lifetime Triathlon.

Team in Training Sneaker

I traveled to Keiv, Ukraine

Snowy Kiev, Ukraine

and to Israel

Jerusalem Dome of the Rock

Jerusalem Old City

Winter was still in full force in March in Minnesota.   I watched a Polar Bear Plunge on Lake Calhoun:

Lake Calhoun Polar Bear Plunge

And made another trip out to Colorado to ski some more.

Vail Lost Boy - Game Creek Bowl

April wasn’t very eventful!  I found some cute client photos that were pre-blog:

Toddler Portrait

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I also got a scanner and scanned one of my all-time favorite photos, from a rafting trip down the Arkansas river a decade ago.

Run, Pookie, Run

And then on the first nice day of the year, I went on a photowalk with other flickr photographers in Loring park, and happened on a group of guys doing all sorts of cool tricks on their bikes:

Loring Park bike ramp

May started wedding season and heavy training for the triathlon, so my personal photos are few and far between.   Here’s a roast beef sandwich  from Maverick’s in Roseville.  Delicious.

Maverick's Roast Beef

And an awesome wedding workshop with David Beckstead.  Check out these bridal shots!

Bridal Portrait

Guthrie Theater Bridal Portrait

June included a family reunion out in Summit County, Colorado.  I brought my camera on a bike ride down Vail pass!

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And hiking up Mayflower gulch:

Mayflower Gulch

July meant it was finally time for the triathlon!  One of our last Team in Training Practices:

Triathletes at Lake Nokomis

And that’s me during the race, taken by my friend Kyle!

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August involved some travel for my day job up to Grand Rapids.

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And of course, the state fair!

Minnesota State Fair

Minnesota State Fair - Midway at Night

September was my busiest month for weddings by far.   I got some great aerial pictures of Minneapolis as I flew back from one of them:

Aerial Photo Lake Nokomis

Aerial View of Uptown Minneapolis

In October, I flew out to NYC to  surprise my sister for her 30th birthday.

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And I enjoyed the beautiful fall colors in my St. Paul back yard:

fall foliage

November included a trip out to Arizona for my dad’s 60th birthday.

Scottsdale Old Town

And election day, (although the photo was taken during the state fair).

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Home to the Quad Cities for our traditional thanksgiving beef tenderloin, yum!

Thanksgiving Dinner

This December has been so snowy and cold, but even still I’ve been out shooting, at night in uptown Minneapolis.

American Apparel Uptown Minneapolis

and an evening stroll through Rice Park, St. Paul:

Rice Park Angel

St. Paul Hotel at Christmas

And finally, a wonderful & relaxing trip to Mexico (for which I have a whole blog post coming).

Playa del Carmen Fruit Stands

Playa Del Carmen Beach

Happy new year and thanks for following along!

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Lighting Bootcamp

Posted in Personal

My Christmas cards and print orders are all delivered.  The big blog move to www.sarahmcgephotography.com is complete and my new website is almost-ready-for-prime-time.  So now what to do in the off-season?  Keep learning, of course.  I’m taking a 4-part class at the new MPLS Photo Center — Lighting Bootcamp, taught by the very talented Darin Back.  We’ve been playing with soft-boxes and beauty dishes, all sorts of backgrounds and light modifiers.   It’s also been a great way to meet a lot of other Twin Cities photographers.   Here are a few portraits from the first two sessions.

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And one Darin took of me with my camera and 85 mm f/1.4 lens:

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Hopefully when our class meets again it won’t be so snowy so we can play with the lights outside!

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Blizzards for a Cause

Posted in Personal

Tomorrow night, I’ll be biking to Dairy Queen to meet some of my Team in Training friends for blizzards on Miracle Treat Day.  Dairy Queen will be donating all of their proceeds from blizzard sales on August 7th to the Children’s Miracle Network.  And I get to show off this cool photo I took last summer of the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Moorhead DQ

Stay tuned.  Lots of wedding and portrait blogging to come!

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