Some of the most important parts of our own stories were captured in photographs as well. A picture of Dave and me, when we were still engaged, hugging each other on our
new balcony of our first apartment together that we had just signed the lease for to move into once we got married. An aerial photograph of the red dirt ground speckled with the biggest ant hills I have ever seen, right before touching down in Uganda after waiting years to visit. And a photograph of my dad tickling me at age three with nothing but a diaper on and a finger in my nose, unaware that he wouldn’t be alive a year later. 

These are my favorite photographs, not because of how pretty I look, or how perfect everything is, but because when I look at them, I am flooded with emotions and memories that I treasure. That photograph of my husband and me? It reminds me of that cool Spring day and how much fun we had taking engagement pictures and how excited we were to start this new adventure of ours. The photograph of the red dirt ground? 

We believe photography is about capturing the moments of someones life, with care and excellence, in a way that beautifully tells each persons story and their relationship with one another.

Waves of the smells and the sounds of Uganda wash over me, and I'm reminded of the perseverance and the blessing of waiting on God's timing. And the photograph of my dad and me? It shows me how much my dad loved me and his relaxed, fun, and happy spirit, when I was too young then to remember it now. Now Dave and I have the honor of capturing the memories and emotions and sounds and smells and little moments for each of our couples. We love what we do and have so much fun doing it. We’re humbled and honored to be trusted by our couples to tell their stories, and we don’t take that responsibility lightly. We treat each and every wedding that we photograph with the focus and care that we would’ve put into photographing our own wedding. And we believe that in order to tell each couple’s story well, we need to get to know you, and you need to get to know us. So, as my mom would say, kick your shoes off and stay a while as you get to know us better. (I’ve always liked being barefoot anyway!).

HOW DAVE DESCRIBES

Sarah’s amazing eye for composition and a calming presence makes portrait time a breeze for our couples. Her intentionality about making sure we get to know our couples ensures that wedding days are full of laughs and not awkward moments in front of the camera. She also makes the best guac you’ll ever come across.

HOW SARAH DESCRIBES

Dave somehow manages to be our watch, checklist and planner all at once. He’s the ninja master who makes family portrait time quick and painless, but still takes the time to give your grandma a hand walking back to her seat. He’s got the best work ethic, and he’s the most generous, selfless man I know. 

learn more »

IT BEGAN WITH A 

our story 

We met online in the spring of 2010, before it was cool to let the world know you met online. A boy name Dave, contacted Sarah. The title in Sarah’s profile read “Looking for a guy who will love Jesus more than he’ll love me. Dave’s profile just happened to say “Looking for a girl who loves Jesus more than she’ll love me”. After weeks of talking and texting, we fell in love with each others hearts and minds before we even met in person. But when we did finally meet, Dave swept Sarah off her feet with a day full of some of her favorite things- bowling, movies, Panera salads, and Sonic cherry limeades. 

KEEP CLICKING

Guys, things happened fast! We’re both those “when you know, you know” types of people, so four months of every single weekend visits and the accompanying 4 hour round trip drives later, we were engaged. One morning, Dave set up a scavenger hunt filled with Bible verses and quotes and dates that were meaningful in our relationship. He even included Sarah’s sweet little nephews in the plan. The scavenger hunt ended with Dave in a tux (and Sarah still in her PJ’s, followed by brunch, and then Sarah left to go photograph a wedding. (True story!)

THEN WE GOT MARRIED

In April of 2011, we were married by Dave’s best friend and the youth pastor at his church. It just so happened to be the weekend that massive hurricanes were taking over the mid-Atlantic East coast. Our flowers never arrived, Sarah came down with a sinus infection and Dave’s face was sunburned from the day before. But at the end of the day we were finally married, absolutely loved our wedding day, and really wouldn’t have changed a thing. And we may sound biased saying this, but our wedding photos are truly the most cherished and special thing we have from our wedding day (Well, and each other, of course!).

HOW S&D BEGAN

When business began in 2010, it was originally  “Sknow Photo By Sarah Mitchell”. In 2012 Dave helped Sarah photograph a fellow photographer friend’s wedding and Sarah spent the next couple years training Dave in all things photography. We officially became a husband and wife wedding photography team in 2014. In 2017 to reflect our team & the personal relationship we try to foster with each of our couples, we became “Sarah & Dave Photography”. After moving to Richmond, we figured it was the perfect time to freshen things up. Plus we like being on a first name basis with you! But lets step back a minute...

THE MD CHAPTER

Right after getting married, we moved into our first apartment together in Annapolis. Just one year later we found an amazing steal of an apartment right in Historic Annapolis, Maryland. For a boy from a small town on the Eastern Shore, and a girl from right outside of DC, Annapolis was the perfect first hometown for us.  We moved out to the suburbs in 2014 when we bought our first house. We loved having neighbors that we could get to know and have cookouts with, but we just missed being a part of the action living downtown.

THE BIG MOVE

Sarah went to Art School at VCU in Richmond and fell in love with the city of Richmond. We’ve been making weekend trips to Richmond ever since we got married. When those weekend trips to Richmond started becoming more and more frequent in 2016, we started thinking about taking a leap and finally making the move. That far off thought turned into interviews and searching for homes in Richmond. Each weekend, we would wake up early the morning and drive down to Richmond for a few hours to look at houses and just explore in the city we love.

FINALLY HOME

Each home we liked ended up being sold before we would even have time to drive home and think about it. But one day we stumbled upon our perfect home right in the middle of the city. We put an offer in without even seeing our house in person yet, and moved back home to Richmond in 2016 and haven’t looked back! Remember when we told you how we met online, and fell head over heels before meeting in person, and got married a year later? Yeah, it was kind of like that. I guess its a common thread in our story. But when you know, you just know... You know?”

KEEP CLICKING

Giving back and using what we’ve been given to bless others is hugely important in our lives, and our faith, and our business. In our personal lives, we’ve gone through foster parenting training and cherish the opportunity we have to be able to open our home to sweet foster kids. We’ve donated our time and photography to organizations like Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, and Red Thread Sessions. But the heartbeat of our business isn’t in the big obvious ways we volunteer our time and our talents, but in the experience that we give our couples and the interactions we have with them. There is no better feeling than seeing our work bring our couples and their families to happy tears and leaving a wedding with big bear hugs and a heartfelt thank you note!

TO THE BEGINNING

A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

TRAVELING

We love exploring new places, and planning road trips, and going on new adventures.

SUSHI & FOODIES

Sushi, asian food, and really any ethnic food or new food that we haven’t tried yet. We’re foodies at heart, and the Richmond food scene is on point.

HARD CIDER

With all the cider breweries near us, we just love it.

GAME NIGHTS & LAUGHTER

We love hosting friends and family over for dinner and a game night. Especially when it results in being doubled over with laughter.

COOKING & COPPER

We love cooking together. And Sarah loves anything copper. Dave is convinced she has some kind of copper radar system.

FAMILY

Between both Sarah & Dave, we have seven nieces and nephews. We’d do just about anything for them. Aunt and uncle life is where its at.

PLANTS & GARDENING

Sarah grew up helping her mom garden, and loves having plants around the house and growing our own urban garden. But Sarah definitely didn’t inherit her mom’s green thumb.

OUR FAITH

Our faith is hugely important in our lives. There’s a quote that has helped guide our business: “When I stand before God at the end of this life I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me.” 

WATER BOTTLES

These guys are practically a part of our family. We take our water bottles literally everywhere. You’ll probably see them with us on your wedding day.

FOOT SOAKS & PEDICURES

Theres really nothing we love more after a long wedding day than a nice epsom salt foot soak (and a pedicure for Sarah).

FRISBEE

A frisbee, a field, and some friends, and Dave is in his happy place. Dave was even on an ultimate frisbee team in College.

Birkenstocks

Wedding Photography teaches you real quick that comfy supportive shoes is where its at. You could say Sarah is obsessed with Birks.

NATURAL HOME & OILS

Sarah & Dave made a huge change in 2013 and created a chemical free home. Food, medicine, cleaning products, makeup,
everything. Sarah is secretly a hippie.

FAIR TRADE & NOONDAY COLLECTION

Sarah has been involved in advocacy since
college, and making responsible purchases that help make a difference in the world is a small easy way to keep that up.

FRESH FLOWERS

Basically the way to Sarah’s heart. Pick-your-own flower farms have become a favorite weekend activity for us.

"They’re so wonderful to work with! They were always very professional, and made us feel comfortable. I was so impressed by their energy throughout our long wedding day! Sarah and Dave were always right there to get good photos, but also seemed to blend right into the background during intimate moments!"

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"They made us feel so comfortable and really took the time to get to know us as a couple. Sarah also did a great job of calming me down on our wedding day"

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"Upon meeting with Sarah and her husband Dave their professionalism and passion were evident. We enjoyed getting to know Sarah and Dave and are so grateful for them."

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"We just clicked. Every time we met with them it was like we were meeting up with old friends. We would always have so much fun with them laughing and talking. Sarah was such a big help with great advice for me through the planning process and coordinating all of the timing of the photos. "

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"Sarah was always so responsive and helpful. She really went above and beyond and was always a call, text, or email away. You can tell that they really do care about their couples."

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"They are both so sweet and so easy to work with. It's always so hard to find someone you click with that is taking your picture and I feel as though they would make it easy for anyone!"

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"Sarah and Dave were absolutely delightful from the minute we met. She kept us moving, capturing different angles, scenery and poses. Sarah made us feel so comfortable and my husband and I seriously had so much fun we didn't want it to end! She is professional, super sweet, and a gifted photographer. She's the kind of gal you want portraying your very special day!"

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"Sarah and Dave, her husband, make you feel so at ease during the photo taking process to the point where it just feels natural."

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?

"Not only is she available for chit chats, but she's a REAL person! She actually gets to know you. I didn't want someone just showing up to take pictures! I wanted someone who KNOWS how we interact as a couple and would be able to capture those moments and know they're coming. We definitely received that kind of service with Sarah & Dave.”

WHO BETTER TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT US THAN OUR AMAZING COUPLES?