My Story

Heather Scharf Photography Promotional Video from Filmtwist Productions on Vimeo.

Hi My name is Heather and I am so happy you stopped by! This blog is a place for me to share my passion with you as well as share personal stories about my life...mostly for comic relief!

I fell in LOVE with photography shortly after I got married to my first LOVE, Matt. The story of how we met and fell in love is in my opinion a miracle and there is no story that I hold more dear to my heart. I suppose that is why I tear up when I hear other couple's stories because I know that meeting Your soul mate was no mistake...it was destined.
Both Matt and photography were gifts from God and entered my life when I least expected them and in His Perfect timing.
I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing with my life especially after graduating with a BS in Psychology. So to postpone life, I went traveling around Australia with a friend seeking adventure and more importantly to avoid that dreadful question, "What are you going to do now that you have graduated?" Turns out Australia was all part of God's plan for my life, cuz that is where I met Matt, a guy that I would reconnect with 3 years later and marry! To this day I am still in shock that I am married to that cute guy I met in Cairns, Australia!
When I returned home from traveling I was more confused than ever! I took an aptitude test and the psycholgist suggested I try fashion school! I love to shop, but I didn't have a clue about design! I didn't even know how to thread a needle! But I enrolled, I succeeded and somehow graduated with the highest credentials one could achieve. Although I was designing children's clothes for a large corporation here in San Francisco, I began to feel creatively dry. Something was definitely missing from my life. It wasn't until right after Matt and I got married that family urged me to give photography a try...after all I had designed our wedding album and edited all the photos to my best ability with iphoto (Professional I know :) This urge turned into a reality very quickly, and before I knew it, I had a brand new Canon Dslr in my hands and was immediately HOOKED! It was seriously like a light switch had been turned on in my heart. I knew this was a gift that God had blessed me with and it was time to use it! I studied photography day and night, and even in my sleep...I breathed it and consumed it like a sponge. It was such an amazing feeling to actually be passionate about something (other than a good plate of nachos).
Within a month I had booked my first shoot and had 2 weddings lined up that I offered to do for free. Yes, I had nightmares every night leading up to those weddings and I wondered what on earth I had gotten myself into! Who did I think I was? I threw myself into a sink or swim situation and it was up to me to swim.
It has been 2 years of struggles, victories, and mostly pure joy and addiction for everything photography related. I feel so blessed to be a part of people's lives that I normally never would have crossed paths with...and the BEST part is these people are the happiest people in the world: People in LOVE!

I work 9am-6pm Monday through Friday in the wonderful world of fashion and the rest of the time I am doing what I LOVE...capturing LOVE. Someday the dreams that keep me up at night will come true! Full time photographer, basement studio, and a puppy to keep me company when I am no longer working in corporate America. It feels good to see my dreams in writing and I hope to reach those some day, some day soon!

Please feel free to send me a note or reach out if you are interested in chatting about photography or would like to set a session or wedding consultation.

Thanks for reading and come back anytime!

I heart Followers!
Heather Scharf Photography

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Alissa’s Bat Mitzvah

Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that you never even saw coming…and sometimes the best gifts are the ones you receive after dropping hints for about a month In this case, I never saw it coming! I received a call from a mother who was planning her daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. I was totally thrown off guard as I quickly looked up Bat Mitzvah to see exactly what photographing one of these cool events even meant! Before I could even wrap my brain around it, I was totally hitting it off with Marcella and probably would have agreed to just about anything she asked me to do! When I met her daughter and the rest of the family I was sold! Just beautiful hearts all around! It was a huge gift to be a part of this huge milestone in Alissa’s life and I will forever cherish this experience.

I never thought I would ever shoot a Mitzvah, and now that I have, I realized that “Before it came into my life, I missed it so bad. I missed it so so bad!” Ok, yes that was me that requested “Call me Maybe” at the Party. I think maybe there is a 13 year old still trapped in me…another reason why I loved hanging out with all these kids!

Here is my first attempt at a Bat/Bar Mitzvah! Hopefully there will be several more attempts in the future!

Marcella did an AMAZING job designing the event’s concept! She has such a great eye for details! Big thanks to gloweventdesign.com for such a smooth day and fun event!

The Party…It was the first weekend after school had let out! Such a great color palette to celebrate Summer!

Hello! Candy necklaces and rhinestone pinwheel! I just love it when the table decor is edible!

I just love the candy jars used as pillars to hold up beverage glasses!

Ice Cream Sundae bar with all the fixin’s in large martini shaped bowls!

I had to do everything in my power not to do exactly what this cutie was doing!

Last but not least…A Candy Station that puts Willy Wonka to shame! Just a little send off for the kids to remember the sweet time they had at Alissa’s Bat Mitzvah!