Sarah Deragon, Sarah Deragon Photography

Sarah Deragon is a creative pioneer in Sonoma Valley. As a photographer she is imaginative, fun to be around, and effortlessly able to capture people as they truly are, naturally revealed in their own element. As a person she is passionate about helping small businesses and entrepreneurs tell their story through visual imagery, committed to sharing joy, and lending her voice and photos to the causes that she stands for.

I share Sarah's vision of removing awkward corporate headshots from the internet, one person at a time, so it's been a pleasure to have her shoot many of my clients for their websites and professional portraits. It's safe to say that she sees the very best in people and that belief translates directly into her work. She's on a quest to improve the community of Sonoma, to band together female creatives in our area, and change the way that business think about the photos they use to tell stories. She's a powerful female voice, a friend, and someone who I want to ride on more roller coasters with.

Name: Sarah Deragon

Company: Sarah Deragon Photography

Sarah Deragon Photgoraphy
Sarah Deragon Photography

Give your one minute elevator pitch in less than 20 words. Go: I specialize in working with people that hate having their photo taken.

Why photography? Because I’m visual!

What gets you up in the morning? I set my coffee maker to go off about 30 min before I wake up, so that or a loudly meowing cat wakes me up! But I’m a morning person too, I love mornings and the best days are when I catch a gorgeous Sonoma sunrise.

What are two truths about your career that you want neophytes and followers to know? 10% of my actual life is spent shooting, most of the time I’m either editing or answering emails or doing marketing, all of these things are not glamorous!

What’s one thing about you’re doing now that you hope changes the status quo, or something you’ve made or done that you hope will outlast you? I am a big fan of the personal project, so this year I’m embarking on my 7th with is all about me turning 40. Each Monday I will post a self-portrait of myself and #thisismebeing40.

Today or Tomorrow? Tomorrow

What’s your greatest extravagance? My camera equipment.

I would love a day in the life of...  Justin Beiber’s personal photographer.

Name a living or imagined hero. Diane Arbus

What virtue do you value most?

In yourself: hopelessly optimistic

In a friend: loyalty

Imagine it’s 1907. What are you doing with your life? I’d totally be a suffragette!

In the future I’ll be… more productive because we’ll have more hours in the day!

Let’s imagine I’m going to take your portrait and I ask that we use a book as a prop—an armrest, a stool, a weapon. What’s the book? Probably a cheesy Anne Rice novel that I loved when I was in high school.

Do you identify with hipsters, yes or no? If yes yes, answer A and C, if no, answer B and D.

b. What’s the last great concert you went to that wasn’t a music festival? Indigo Girls because I’m a huge lesbian.

d. Do you believe in ghosts? YESSSS!

Try to imagine ten days away from a computer—where are you headed and what are doing? I’d be in Brooklyn getting inspired by the energy and art in the city.

What are you afraid of? Spiders.

What part of the future do you see coming and look right in the eyes with comfort and assurance? Nothing right now other than the power of artists in my life speaking truth to power. I can’t even believe the world we are living in right now. WTF!

You’re in the woods and you come across the alien from Stranger Things. He wants to chat (that’s an unexpected twist). What’s the one thing you want to tell him about your time on earth? That I should’ve ridden more rollercoasters. 

Sarah Deragon

Sarah Deragon