I try really hard to look at things differently — sometimes when I’m driving I choose the weirdest locations and think…now WHAT would I do if I HAD to shoot there? ::laughing:: I know. It’s a little weird — but FUN and CREATIVE!
I was driving to Wegmans for dinner and as I came around the corner — literally around the corner from my house — I noticed a field I haven’t ever really LOOKED at before. And the sun on the field made it look…ethereal. magical.
So…my good friends, Lilac and PJ were scheduled for their maternity session — and thank goodness they were up for anything — because I took them right to this grungy light filled field.
Look. It is magical. ethereal. And Lilac and PJ? It’s so much fun for me to watch them get ready for their first child…the questions they ask…the classes they take in preparation…this child will be so loved. SO loved.
So here’s a couple from their session. Magical right?
You may remember Mary and her awesome dog and horse shoot from last summer… I remember us discussing how she was dating this great guy…how happy she was…and it was obvious – -she absolutely glowed when his name came up!
Fast forward to the fall when I get an AMAZING call from Mary — that she and Ryan were engaged! They are getting married this fall — and as it should be — they BOTH glow when they are together. Ryan loves animals and nature as much as Mary does — I can’t wait to see what crazy details they come up with for their wedding day.
As the day approached for their engagement shoot — I was watching the weather and realized that the day we were going to shoot was supposed to be AWFUL — so I shot a quick email and basically BEGGED them to shoot with me TODAY as it was sunny and pretty and I really really wanted a nice day for them…needless to say — they said yes, and although it was CRAZY cold out — we still managed to have fun with their cool dogs and great light.
I can’t believe I got all four of them in the same frame…sitting at the same time!
The light! The light!
This field was awesome. I don’t know if Mary and Ryan LOVED being all up in the brush — but it LOOKED cool. And that is what is important in photographs, eh?
I’m not afraid to tell you this: I took this one only for Mary.
Dear Mary and Ryan. I had fun. I love your dogs. And you two are so great together. Love Tam. PS: Please bring dogs to wedding. ::grin::
great jorb on that first one! i did a shoot w/ a couple and their dogs last summer, and i’m not gonna lie…i felt like i RULED THE ENTIRE WORLD when i got all 4 of them in the same frame looking at me.
shooting ppl + animals takes skillz. good thing they called the tam!
You know it’s been busy when two MONTHS creep by and you don’t update your blog. Then…when you finally DO want to update your blog you can’t remember the password to…erm…update your blog.
OBviously I’ve figured that out! I have a bunch of stuff to share — so I’m blogging this morning — so forgive me for the blog dump today (that sounds funny and somehow…wrong…doesn’t it? ::laughing::)
I had the opportunity to work with the AMAZING team over at the American Heart Association in Rochester. They contacted me to do a series of images of survivors with the concept being “The Face of Heart Disease”.
I have never been so moved and touched by a project. I LOVED meeting each and every one of these incredibly resilient and awesome people. Truly. I am a better person because of it. I took on the project because my family has a MAJOR history with heart disease — and as my mom tells me — my grandfather is very proud of me right now. ::sniff::
I had so much fun working with you on these and you don’t know how awesome it was to hear back from you within 1 day of me contacting you! You are so amazing girly! Definitely miss talking to you Hope all is well!
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.
Hey Tammy! I’ve been following your website all the way from lightcrayon to your present one- your work is so inspiring! I was just wondering if you were still shooting for events- there hasn’t been too many posts lately. As a rising senior for 2011, I’ve been trying to keep tabs on your work…with the hopes that you’ll be shooting for senior pictures over the summer! Keep up the amazing work!
You are thinking about the holidays (sort of). You think…hey! It might be a good idea to get our family photographs taken so we can….
A. Have them.
B. Give them as Holiday Gifts
C. Print them up in holiday cards to send out!
Right? Don’t try to hide it. I know the thought has crossed your mind. But. It is the middle of NOVEMBER. And if you have any HOPE of having me take your family photographs…
You should call or email me right away. You have until December 1st.
So if you’re reading this and thinking…OMG I have to do this…remember…
I am utterly and completely addicted to color. Vibrant, muted, pastel, jewel…it doesn’t really matter. Colors just SING to me. Every day.
A lot of my clients worry when the weather is bad…and you know what my response it? It’s perfect. Cloudy = soft beautiful light and VIBRANT colors. Fall weather? Bring it on baby. LOVE the light and color at this time of year.
I think if you spend enough time looking at what I do (like me… because…yeah. duh.) you’ll start to see some common things emerging:
First: I LOVE people. I love interacting, talking, playing, laughing, goofing around. I think that shows up in the images. Typically my clients are very comfortable with me and if they are NOT — they’ll tell you it doesn’t take long for that to go away. I’m a button pusher. If you’re shy I push you to be in front…if you’re loud — I might make you do some quiet beautiful shots…it’s just…fun to play. That’s the only way I can express it.
Second: The color thing. I can’t help but put people in colorful settings and SURROUND them with it. And the funny thing is? I can’t tell you how I do it. I am not consciously looking for it — it’s just so much a part of how I see things that it just happens. I love that part. It’s why taking photographs is so magical to me.
Third: Not soooo traditional. ::laughing:: I can do traditional. I have done traditional…but always just a leeetttllle bit of tammyitis sneaks in and they have some strange little twist. Again. Can’t explain it better than that. I want my images to say something. I want you to look at them and laugh or cry or FEEL something. Traditional photography — wedding photography — is a little flat for me. I want emotion darn it! EMO-SSSHHIIOON. ::laughing::
So. There is my soap box for the day. It’s fun, blogging. I love thinking about what I want to say and how I am going to say it. I love choosing images to help me show you how amazing my clients are. And I LOVE when you COMMENT! ::wide cheesy grin::
Here’s What’s Happened in Tammy’s World This Week:
A wedding in which the entire wedding party CONVINCED ME ( it’s ALWAYS the other way around) that they could climb into a dry creek bed for photographs. I was worried. High heels + Little Stones = Tammy Worry But it turned out incredibly. LOVE the light and the viewpoint. This wedding rocked the house. Wait until you see the slideshow — details were off the HOOK by Stacy K. (duh).
A portrait session with the coolest girl who wanted to document her love for her horse and her dog. They’ve hung together for years and she decided (I think she told me it took her two years? OMG) that it was time to get photographs — she loves taking pics too — but as with all of us — there are no pics of HER in the ones she takes. So this was her opportunity to be on the other side of the camera. And the farm. And the fields. And the barn. I was in HEAVEN.
An impromtu — hey can you photograph a civil ceremony on a Tuesday? wedding. This couple cracked me up. We’d never met. It was POURING and somehow we rocked out the images. Nevada was GORGEOUS. And they were totally into letting me be creative. So even something so simple — turned out amazing. I’m so glad they hired me. I took one of my all time favorite images at their wedding. Can you tell which one it is? Seriously — did you KNOW City Hall looked like that on the inside?! I thought we were in an Italian Villa!
An Engagement session in which I did absolutely nothing but laugh and watch two people have fun with their dog and their boat. And yep. I ended up in the water (just mid calf, nbd). But it was a moment when I was thinking…WHY DID I WEAR A SKIRT?! WHY TAMMY WHY? (Answer: no clean laundry. oh wells. ) Also…one of the shots (I’ll let you guess which one) made me laugh so hard…omg.
A wedding with a couple who just lit up the day with their happiness. I LOVED photographing them. And her father’s backyard? Seriously? Crazy. They were super good sports about all my crazy ideas — and I LOVE what we did that day. The images rock.
Also – I’m finishing up senior season and maybe, just maybe I’ll do a load of laundry this week. It could happen! (stop laughing. it COULD! ::grin::)
Here’s this week’s crazy in the VIZ:
Oh PS: If you’ve gotten this far then you’ll notice that I also went to a football game. it was cold. and my big fancy lense was USELESS from far away. So I amused myself by photographing the entire game from the tops of the player’s heads. Cuz you know. It was fun. The image above is one of my favs. Touchdown!!
This is the blog post that (almost) never was. (Did you KNOW I have a degree in English? It shows right? hee hee)
Busy Week Recap #4,524,216 section 671:
Wedding with Leslie and Victor — was soooo beautiful. every single thing was beautiful. Victor’s mom was traveling from Latvia for the wedding — so they planned this whole thing in like…a blink. And did I mention the food? OMG. It was amazing. I also got to work with two of my favorite vendors: Stacy K Floral and Events by Jen. Amazing job as usual girls!
Seniors. This week — let’s see — I climbed a MILLION stairs at a house on a lake, convinced a senior that a piece of cloth wrapped around her head was going to be amazing (her=dubious)…and got to hang out with some of the coolest kids ever. My seniors are so INTERESTING AND THOUGHTFUL AND DYNAMIC. I love that they friend me on facebook — because then — I see them getting through their senior year and then going off to college…it’s really really incredible to see. The weird thing for me is that this year — MY SON is a senior — so it’s much more personal. Gheesh. How did that happen??
Headshots. I LOVE when I get asked to do headshots. This week my good photographer friend Lou (who tells me he hasn’t actually been photographed since he was 13. huh?) asked me to “take a couple of pics of him”. Um…no. I made him do a whooooolllleeee session with clothing changes and all. It’s good for photographers to be photographed — it helps us remember that it ain’t so easy being in front of the lens instead of behind it. It was SO MUCH FUN — and I was honored to be asked. Thanks Lou!!
Kerry Cannan. I tell you — when this CD hits the market — this girl is going places. I MADE her (I’m bossy. Sorry.) sing in my studio and her voice. or I should type it like this: HER VOICE. ZOMG. GORGEOUS. As was she! We had a huge session creating images for her CD and promo materials for the release. LOVE!
Other things to note: A family that is getting married in October — we did a combined engagement and family session with James and Robyn’s daughters that was simply too much fun for me to even TALK about. Charlie’s Angels? Super Force 5? Star Wars? Yeah. We went there. And had a BLAST.
Also — the award for “Most I’ve EVER Laughed During an Engagement Session” goes to Beth and Brian. I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how funny they are. Who agrees to cartwheel in the dark? And one of us ALMOST ended up in the water because we were being so dorky and laughing too hard. Yeah. I LOVE my clients. LOVE.
This weekend I will be in Manhattan and Brooklyn all weekend shooting engagement sessions — so — I’m expecting AMAZING IMAGES to share next week. ROCK ON!!
I have more to share but frankly, if I don’t start editing the 1.5 million images I have to get done — clients are coming to lynch me. And then who would write these addicting blog posts? You would miss me, right?
::silence::
:crickets::
::tammy laughs::
Oh. And if you were patient enough to actually READ all the blah blah blah above — let me say this — I’m shocked. ::grin::
PS — I also went to Pirate Weekend with my mother. Shiver me timbers!
I’m proud of myself for putting this together before Monday. 30 minutes is still 30 minutes. FTW! ::grin::
I’m bored with talking about me and how busy I am. I mean…really…who isn’t busy and who DOESN’T have a million things going on?!
Instead…this is about all the cool things I did this week — things and people that made me happy…that made me laugh…and that made me realize just how amazing a week I had…
First of all…I HAVE to share this image I took at Dana and Matt’s wedding on Saturday in the Thousand Islands. I don’t know if you’ve ever had this experience — but sometimes when my shutter clicks…I just…know. I know that that particular image is going to be AMAZING. Dana calls it “You know Tam Tam (yes, she calls me Tam Tam – just like my mom) THE shot.”
So first…here is THE shot:
Other cool things?
I met some REALLY funny and amazing seniors this week — I swear — I laugh so hard with these kids — their insights, facial expressions and jumping expertise just gets to me every time. They are amazing!!
I photographed a family that I saw this winter — and the boys looked about 3 years older! How does that happen???!! So adorable this family. Srsly.
I went to the Thousand Islands and photographed an amazing wedding with a peacock feather theme at a fairy tale chapel. MMMM…YUMMYLICIOUS (see about for THE shot ::laughing::)
Oh…and…one of my good friends scored a REALLY cool chair and couch for me at a garage sale. I put the chair in my van and in true Tammy style — forgot it was there. So…when the sun was setting on the river and I was thinking…man…I WISH I had some cool piece of furniture to put the bride and groom on …
Um yeah. ::laughing:: You see how I ROLL!
Other good things: another good friend brought me over a COUCH that I LOVE that she didn’t WANT for my LIVING ROOM (phew. that was a lot of capital letters!) — and I am soooo happy. It’s the coolest couch EVAH. Thanks guys!
I am setting up an appointment with a cool nutritionist — more about that later — but first she wants me to take a metabolism test. She sent me the guidelines today and I have to be without caffeine for FOUR HOURS. I don’t know Carol. That is a LONG TIME! ::laughing::
Also — did I mention PEACOCK FEATHERS???!! LOVE!
So…sounds fun right? Just to enhance my prodigious story-telling capabilities ::snort:: here’s my week — in the PICTORIAL SENSE:
Hey TAM TAM you’re so fine… you’re so fine YOU BLOW MY MIND! But really as I was reading above tears were rolling down my face, you couldn’t have captured OUR day more beautifully. PLUS I feel so so SUPER lucky and priviledged to be part of “THE SHOT”! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! LUV LUV LUV U!
Mrs. Decker
Here we are. The absolute HEART of busy season. I don’t know if you know this about me — but I follow over 500 blogs daily. (I know, right? Srsly.) I don’t read them every day — but I do know this — that right now is when you find your favorite bloggers — photographers especially — sort of trail off into silence…or a post begging you to understand how busy they are. ::grin::
So I am blogging to tell you: I am busy. I am blogging. And I am here. Crazed. But here.
This week (okay. last week. I am a wee bit behind in most things in my life. ::grin::).
Here’s all the fun stuff I got to do:
Jess and I re-wrote the FAQ section on the blog. That sounds boring, doesn’t it? But truly, it was fun to work with Jess on it and fun to see it all come together so awesomely (is that a word?)!
I put together some FUN AND CRAZY WEDDING SLIDESHOWS for Kelly and Dan, Brooke and Dave, and Bethany and Patrick. But only check them out if you’re serious. My slideshows are long and elaborate and I am in love with every single one of them. Also – let me know what you think — cuz I’m still working on a format…
A 70th birthday party with a PUPPY and BOYS and LAKE and SAND. Could the day have been more perfect? I think not. It was so much fun!
Seniors. If you are looking at my photographs and thinking – wow. I love those – I need Tammy to take MINE ( or my son/daughter or my neighbor who’s a senior or the girl in Ontario) — my answer: get.on.the.calendar. My sessions are booking so fast my head is spinning. But there’s still some. Grab one. that’s all I’m saying.
And for the record: when did seniors get so sophisticated and beautiful? I know. a definite fact. That I NEVER looked so good. And my senior pictures? Big ol’ zit right in the middle of my nose. The Rudolph Series. Nice. ::laughing::
An AMAZING WEDDING with two families that were beyond wonderful. And a couple of silly fun incidents (hello — the priest almost fell on me!) that made taking photographs EXTRA fun!
A guitarist with dreams of making it big and writing his own music. Rock on!
A family of girls so beautiful that I could NOT take ONE bad picture. Not one.
Did I mention the PUPPY yet? OMG.
I love this time of year. One of my photo buddies said — you know Tam, you use sun flare A LOT — but somehow…I never get tired of it! Right?! I NEVER get tired of it! So stay OUT SUNSHINE!
Tammy, I spent the morning organizing business receipts, and you spent the morning doing this??? you’re always amusing and wonderful. your life inspires mine.
i was sooooo excited to watch p&b’s slideshow… and it made me smile and giggle just as much as i knew it would. you are such a wonderful friend, photographer, and inspiration. seriously… love you to bits. and bits.
Hope all is well!
7.21.2010
Just enchanting. I also love your website and I am hoping to see what else you have in store for us as your readers!!!!!