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Michalski Militello LLP | Rochester NY Headshot Photographer

July 13, 2010

First impressions are everything. Getting the right first impression out to your clients is SO important for small businesses. More and more, first impressions are made exclusively online.

Over the past year I’ve been approached by a growing number of small business owners in the area who are looking for headshot photography for their websites. These professionals are actively seeking to create that first memorable image of WHO they are and what they stand for and to give potential clients a clear picture of what they can expect when they call.

This is exactly what Jeannie Michalski and Adam Militello had set out to do when they came to me. And can I just tell you…these guys…

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COOLEST. LAWYERS. EVER. Seriously. They are hardworking…

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They are smooth and no-nonsense…

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They are down to earth, genuine, warm and caring…

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And…and they are hilarious. I don’t remember the last time I laughed so much during a shoot! OMG. It was so wonderful to see two people who believe so completely in what they are doing, who are striving to create an incredible company and who still LOVE to laugh!!!!

mm2 Michalski Militello LLP | Rochester NY Headshot Photographer

Classic.

Jeannie and Adam…You ROCK .

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Picture Perfect Package | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

June 22, 2010

Everyone likes to open presents. I love to see the delight and wonder in people’s eyes as they wrestle with ribbons and pull off paper and ooooo and awwwww over what’s inside. And……I know my brides are going to be opening their fair share of gifts. The martini glasses and quesadilla makers, blenders and Le Creusets.  There is so much wonder and excitement when couples first see their wedding images, when they can first relive their incredible day without all the hustle and bustle and nerves of the wedding day.  So we thought, why not couple the wonder of opening an amazing gift with the wonder of receiving and seeing your wedding images??!!! Totally makes sense, right?! Right. So…a fabulous new husband and wife just received another wedding gift…

weddingbox1 Picture Perfect Package | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

Wait. What? You mean you don’t know what this is?! ‘Cause you got to open it, Silly!

weddingbox4 Picture Perfect Package | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You still don’t know what it is? Let’s open it a little more!

weddingbox3 Picture Perfect Package | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

Aaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!! And along with images and other sundry necessities, there are also a few little surprises. No. I’m not telling you what they are. You’ll just have to wait to find out. ::wink wink::

weddingbox22 Picture Perfect Package | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer



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Things We Love Today | Rochester NY Photographer

June 9, 2010

As the gang here at Tammy Swales Photography go about our day, our conversations and our (very VERY rare) silences are often punctuated by a cry from any one of us of OMG I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!! Which then of course requires everyone to stop and see what kind of awesomeness we have found today. So…rather than keep all these fantastic discoveries to ourselves we thought we’d share some of them with you!!! See how much we love you? That’s right.

So, for starters, I love this. Actually, I love everything in her entire store! So purdy.

il 430xN.146865514 Things We Love Today | Rochester NY Photographer

I am currently OBSESSED with the Creators Project. If you have not checked this out yet, then DO IT! Do it now!!! But be forewarned…once you’re hooked there is no going back.



Any greeting card company that organizes its cards by the subjects of Food, Drink, Educational Sort Of, Work, Cheer and Pessimism gets my vote. Fomato has some amazing cards. Some super cute illustrations. And some seriously exciting salutations.

B43 front Things We Love Today | Rochester NY Photographer

I am constantly calling Jess “Martha Stewart,” especially those mornings like today when she shows up with still-hot, crusty homemade bread. Seriously!!! And Martha/Jess is head over heals for these aprons right now.  She just bought this one, and apparently is threatening to either not take it off, or go back for more.  (And no. She hasn’t worn it to work yet. Thank God.)

il 430xN.148052514 Things We Love Today | Rochester NY Photographer

Jess also tells me you can’t go wrong with anything that combines words and coffee, literally!!!




Literal-Latte copy
She’s a big fan of both Rochester and earrings….

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These Days Are Very Engaging | Rochester NY Engagement Photographer

June 4, 2010

So here’s the thing about engagement sessions. They are SO. MUCH. FUN. I love how laid back they are. There is so much raw emotion at weddings. So much love, so much tears. But at engagement sessions you’ve got two people, completely in love, and it’s just them in their normal clothes and everyday habitats. There’s no crowd, no gowns, no wedding party, no pressure. Just a boy and a girl (and a crazy redhead yelling directions). And it’s all about THEM. About the love they share and what makes them such a unique and incredible couple. I can’t even tell you how much fun this is for me to watch!!!!!! And how much we LAUGH!!! I’ve literally come home from engagement shoots with my face sore from laughing so much. It really is fantastic to see couples open up and be their crazy, playful selves.

All that said, I’ve had a MAD number of engagement shoots lately. What an amazing way to start off the summer!!! I am PSYCHED beyond belief to shoot every one of these weddings.  I am overwhelmed by how each of my couples “get” me and how I work..which is the MOST important thing in getting great photographs.



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Sometimes crazy fun engagement shoots take a little extra maneuvering, and my couples really step up to the plate. Literally! Valerie had to do some serious pre-planning to get us into Frontier Field so she and Keith could incorporate their love of baseball into their engagement images. But what a great experience that was!!! And Jessica and Clark impressively managed to get their ENORMOUS (and gorgeous!) dog all the way up to my forth floor studio without event! Talk about hard core…

egagebb These Days Are Very Engaging | Rochester NY Engagement Photographer

And Stephanie and Micah were right there when I started yelling  “AH! There! Light! Underpass! Run! Now! Go!”

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And we NAILED it!!!!  We make a great team. ::grin::

I love my couples and I am SO excited for this summer.

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Anat and Josh’s Photobooth Madness!!! | Honeoye Falls NY Wedding Photographer

CRAZY fun at Anat and Josh’s reception at the Rabbit Room in Honeoye Falls, NY!

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Two Couples…One Gorgeous Day in Manhattan | New York City Wedding Photographer

May 26, 2010

I love – just LOVE – shooting engagement sessions in Manhattan. The color. The texture. The action. It’s always an adventure.

The great thing is, it just so happens that this year I have A LOT of couples from New York. Some are getting married in the NYC/Long Island area. Some who live down there now are getting married in Rochester. And one couple is holding their wedding in an AWESOME old bank in downtown Albany!

Lots of NY couples means…lots of NY engagement shoots! WOOT WOOT!!!  It also means some very strategic planning and a good deal of heated negotiation with the weather man.  All of that has paid off, though, ’cause this last trip down was SUCH a success!  Allison and Gregg and Leslie and Brad were totally fantastic and, let me tell you, between the lot of us we have some ROCKIN’ scheduling skills. What better way to spend a gorgeous spring day than marathon-shooting two adorable, fabulous couples in Manhattan?!?!

NYCEngagements

There really isn’t any. I mean seriously. SO much fun!!!! Allison and Gregg, Leslie and Brad, you made my day.

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There’s Something Interesting About a World View | Rochester NY Wedding and Portrait Photographer

January 26, 2010

I realized…when I thought about doing a “year in review” post (that would be 2009 peeps.  I might be a wee bit behind.  lol) that when brides meet with me I show them wedding images…and when families meet with me I show them family images…and when seniors meet with me…I show them senior images…

very rarely do I mix and cross over these groups with each other.  So…since I thought it might be interesting to push everyone into one slideshow (read:  laaazzzyy ::laughing::) — so that there’s a record of 2009 visually all together in one place.  It’s pretty cool.

Some images you’ve seen…some you haven’t.  And no, this isn’t EVERYONE who I worked with this year — that slideshow would be about 4000 hours long (not really — but I wanted to fit it into one song – -so this is my best shot)…so I pulled images that appealed to me TODAY.  If I worked on a slideshow tomorrow — it would be completely different.  So…gather what you want about my mood today — here is 2009 in 4 minutes.  Put your seatbelt on please.


Click on the image.  Ra ra ah ah ah….

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3 Comments

Kerry Cannan
1.26.2010

Amazing.. I am truly in awe of your work! Wow! What life would be like if I could see the world the way you do thru your lens! You rock! –Kerry–

debbie
2.04.2010

Since this was the year I “found” you. It was a great collection of images, most that just made me smile. Fun music too!

hey congrats saw you mentioned in an article a few times in amerian photo

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Rock and Roll Tam. | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

July 31, 2009

Recap.

Busy.

Twins.

Nutritionist.

Dogs.

Weddings.

Seniors.

Maternity.

Engagement. Wait. no. no engagement shoot this week. ::laughing:: I must be delirious!

These are seriously fun to put together. You should see me in front of the computer peering at all of my images from the week. It occurred to me that it might be good for you to understand my workflow (right? cuz you’ve been laying awake at night thinking…I wonder…what Tammy’s workflow is…yeah. I know.)

When I photograph a person…or a wedding…or a dog…I have to immediately go home and look at the images. Sometimes I get so excited about images that I want to leave the shoot and go home and immediately start working on them! Just kidding (sort of). ::laughing:: I always give my clients a sneak peek. Digital has made us all immediate gratification junkies. I see everyone (me too) peering at the images on the back of your cameras — I so get that. So I edit up one or two images and post them. Usually on my facebook first…or email (if it’s boudoir, obviously) if the client prefers that instead…or doesn’t…have…a…facebook…account. Did I just say that outloud?That doesn’t really happen, right?

So. Sneak peek done — my lovely and efficient assistant Jess contacts the client and puts them on the calendar for their proofing appointment. Yep. I do it all in person. Because I like to SEE you react to your images. It means a lot to me — so I make this a priority. So my point being — that I work on images twice — first time is the sneak peek — second time is in preparation for the client seeing the images — so sometimes you’ll recognize a person (or dog or wedding) you saw two weeks ago. Sometimes I pull out old images and work on them just for the fun of it. Those might show up too. I just can’t promise that all my stuff is chronological. It’s more “tammylogical” which makes way less sense but is much more fun. (at least…in MY opinion. ::grin::)


But first…lest you think ALL my work is perfect (because it’s so easy to show only the GOOD stuff) here’s a moment that I LOVE actually, from my session with one year old twins — (happy birthday AJ and Sophie!)…this makes me laugh every time I see it: twinsneak Rock and Roll Tam.  | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer


haha  — funny right?  I love everyone’s mouths in this image.  I should add speech bubbles!

Here’s the pretty stuff:

uptoweek3 Rock and Roll Tam.  | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

uptoweek3.1 Rock and Roll Tam.  | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

2 Comments

Beth
7.31.2009

YES add speech bubbles! haha! You are so amusing Tammy! :)

monique
8.07.2009

oh my heck! so funny! Love this post Tammy!

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OMG. SRSLY? | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

June 30, 2009

HOW long has it been since I’ve blogged?  Yeah.  That long.

So…I reached an interesting point where I got so busy that I um…ahem…got a little behind.  And I looked long and hard at where I wanted to be compared to where I was and decided I needed to make some radical changes in the tammyswales.com world.

I needed help.  Serious help.  (Now…those of you who are my FRIENDS can stop laughing and saying “we’ve been telling you that for YEARS Tam” — not THAT kind of help.  ::laughing::)

So.  I created a “help wanted” ad.  And I heard from some AMAZING people who would have been awesome additions to the Tammy Swales brand.  (I love being a brand…it sounds so…cool.)  But once I received Jessica’s letter and resume — really — there was no other choice.  She was made for me.  She….completes me.  ::grin::

So — Jess is my new addition to Tammy Swales Photography and if you are contacting me about photographing you or your wedding or your child or your dog or your fiance or your mother  — you will likely be contacted by a very cheery, sunshiney person who has all the answers, is very organized and basically keeps me on task when I show signs of being distracted.

An upside and maybe..possibly a downside of working for a photographer is that it is almost an OBLIGATION to be photographed.  Repeatedly.  In different scenarios and settings.  I mean…I think I have to add it into the job description.  “Must be guinea pig for any and all photographic ideas for Tammy Swales”.

Today — Jess got her first taste of that.  I wanted some Kick Butt pics of her to announce how cool I think it is that she’s working with me.  And somehow…her boyfriend wandered into some of the images…which possibly means I have to expand the job description to include all relatives of said employee as well.  ::grin::  Of course I am just kidding.

We have a lot to do and a lot to share, Jess and I — so stay tuned — I have been SUPER BUSY and the images — OMG the images are AMAZING.

Without further ado — meet Jess.  She can be reached directly at Jess@tammyswales.com — and I’m sure you will adore working with her as much as I do.

jess1 OMG.  SRSLY? | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

jess3 OMG.  SRSLY? | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

And here’s the part where John jumps in…how can I resist these two?  Cuteness personified?  Seriously?

jess5 OMG.  SRSLY? | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

jess4 OMG.  SRSLY? | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer

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(Hey.  How’d that jumping shot get in here?!)

Then I asked Jess to demonstrate how working for me “looked”.  I think she’s going to fit right in around here.

jess2 OMG.  SRSLY? | Rochester NY Wedding Photographer



7 Comments

Lisa Frey
6.30.2009

She looks like a great addition…and an added bonus for HER is that she get’s phenomenal photographs of her and her boyfriend. Seriously [srsly], those are amazing!! We should get together soon!!!

Lisa Frey
6.30.2009

get’s? Umm, yeah. That would be “gets.” Dork.

Karl Slentz
6.30.2009

Wait a dog gone minute here … I recognize this girl from somewhere … Oh I remember now it was the eyes … Tammy we have not met, but these are way so excellent pictures! I am glad for you and Jessica … KMS

Jason Dufair
7.01.2009

I am THRILLED that you found Jess, Tammy. I’m glad that when you asked, the universe answered in kind. Probably because you have the universe’s direct email address.

Katie Slater
7.01.2009

Tammy Swales!!! Congrats to you girl! I hope it makes your life a whole lot more wonderful!

stacyK
7.01.2009

Love the pics tammy!!! You two are a match made in heaven :-) I like the new blog too!!! I need one of these :-)

tara leigh
7.09.2009

it’s gross and adorable… and AWESOME. :)

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It Amazes Me…How Fast Kids Grow UP. | Rochester NY Photographer

March 8, 2009

So my best friend and I have been friends since…what?  7th grade?  We’ve known each other for a LOOONNNGGG time — and still talk 4 times a day.  What in heavens name do we find to talk about?  I don’t know.  All I know is my day doesn’t feel complete until I check in.  That’s what friends are for, right?

So last night night I got to see Emily.  Emily who I remember being BORN is now an amazing actor and aspiring Broadway star.  (well.  not YET.  but soon.  don’t tell her mom I said that.)

Her school is performing Seussical the Musical and I went to see it last night.  I can honestly say the kids and the organizers completely blew me away with their professionalism, energy and talent.  I was soooo proud!

img 4334 copy1 It Amazes Me...How Fast Kids Grow UP. | Rochester NY Photographer

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img 4756 copy It Amazes Me...How Fast Kids Grow UP. | Rochester NY Photographer

2 Comments

kristi Hedberg
3.08.2009

“Tammy Swales….Broadway photographer”

These are just killer shots!

Mandi Nikole
4.19.2009

Great captures!

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