Name of Artist: Sarah Beth Ernheart Dates of Artist’s Life: 1975-
Personal Background: Sarah Beth grew up on a farm in northern Minnesota and spent lots of her time in the barn, spending time with their animals. She also enjoyed drawing pictures, playing the piano, and climbing trees. She has been taking photographs for ten years now. Her photographs capture the animals’ personalities and the way in which their owners would like to remember them. She especially enjoys capturing funny expressions and regal poses. Her goal she wishes to accomplish through photography is providing beautiful, tangible memories that make her clients smile.
Style: This artist’s work always makes the animal the focus of the photograph. She provides variety for her photos not only through different animals, but also using different backgrounds. She has the ability to discover backgrounds that provide interest and compliment the animal. All of her photos have full color coordination. She uses both natural light and studio light depending on the type of photograph she is creating.
Philosophy: Sarah Beth is dedicated to connecting with the animal she is photographing. She believes this allows for more honest images that can capture who the animal really is. She has the natural ability to allow the animal to feel comfortable and allow them to be themselves even in the short period of getting to know them.
Influences: She was clear in saying that she believes that the most important part of a photo is finding a way to connect with the animals and making sure they feel comfortable to be themselves. Another thing is to embrace the unique characteristics they obtain allowing for more true memories. She also likes to have “joy sessions” which is where she photographs them with their owners showing how happy they make each other. Using colorful backgrounds is another way of enhancing moments. I am going to try to apply all of these things to my photography as I think all will be beneficial.
6. Compare and Contrast: Brown Dog with Bike vs. Yellow Lab with Bike: There are many similarities and differences between these two photos. While both images have a dog, bike, and owner, they had very different results. For example, the bike and dogs are in different positions. Happy Retriever vs. Laughing Lab: These images both show happy dogs in a grassy yard. I chose to make my image look as though the dog was laughing in an attempt to enhance the image by furthering the emotion conveyed. Dogs and Ties vs. Dressy Dogs: These images both consist of two dogs with cement and bushes behind them. While the breed of dog differs and the background does as well, I think that the composition is still fairly similar as well as the brightness.
7. Personal Artist Statements: In Yellow Lab with Bike, I took pictures of my dog Jake next to a bike while my mom was petting him. I ran into some problems when trying to make the image similar to the other. This was because he doesn’t know a command to stand so kept sitting down. Another was that we do not have a yellow bike. I made do with what I had and I think that while the images are not exact, they do bear some resemblance and my picture was successful.
In Laughing Lab, I took pictures of Jake again. I was able to take them in my yard because I simply needed a grassy background. When taking pictures from the same angle as the original picture, it was hard to capture a happy expression. Because of this, I tried to take pictures from a higher angle and was much more successful. I also decided to use a picture in which he appears to be laughing because I think it enhances the picture and the emotion that it conveys.
In Dressy Dogs, I took pictures of my dog Jake and another yellow lab. I decided to use a christmas tie and a green bow on the other dog. This is because I think it enhances it by giving it a holiday theme. I also could not find a background that looked very similar to that of the original picture so settled with a background of similar composition. Overall, I think this picture was a success.