buffalo ny wedding photographer
I love first looks. There is something so intimate, so tender, so magical about a bride and groom seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day, quietly and (almost) alone. There is none of the pressure of standing in front of hundreds of friends and family, no particular time-line to get on with (so if the bride has to take a few minutes to bawl her eyes out and then get her makeup fixed, it’s okay!). But mostly there is the opportunity for them to hold their husband/wife-to-be and really soak in the beautiful enormity of what they are embarking on that day. In those moments nothing else exists. No details to finish up, no flowers, no color palettes, no menus, no guests lists, and…dare I say it?…no photographer…which is one of the things that I loved to watch most of all. There is no awareness of being in front of the camera at all. Everything – EVERYTHING – else melts away and it is just them and their love. It is very hard for me not to cry. Which, of course, is why I do. Every time.
When I first met Deb and Gary I was struck by the warmth and intense affection that they had for each other. It was truly wonderful to witness that again in their first look.
Deb and Gary worked closely together to design a wedding day that was so personal and full of details that really expressed them as a couple, from their artistic, quirky personalities to their cultural backgrounds and world views. They wanted their wedding, on a visual level, to reflect a kind of vintage/industrial feel (which they also incorporated into their engagement shoot, in downtown Buffalo), and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time for portraits that captured that look.
Thing is, there are added practical benefits to first looks as well. Since the bride and groom have already seen each other, it opens up the opportunity to do couple (and even family!) portraits before the ceremony even starts. This is especially a plus for weddings with later ceremonies (which get increasingly tricky as the summer winds down). Since Deb and Gary’s ceremony and reception were in the same room at Pearl Street Brewery in Buffalo, and they wanted to glide seemlessly between the two, we took advantage of the time and light before the ceremony and rocked out portraits!
The tenderness that these two shared overflowed to their friends and family, whom they brought into every aspect of their day. I never get enough of watching two people be so incredibly happy!!! It is absolutely one of the best parts of my job. From their first look to the end of the night both Deb and Gary literally glowed. I love watching days like that unfold.
So…yes. Things are CRAZY around here at Tammy Swales Photography. We are right in the thick of the craziest part of summer and (with the help of an unmentionable amount of caffeine) we are LOVING it!!! Myself and the team have been hard at work, but we realized in a rare moment of breathing recently, that we have been surrounded by some fantastic people. Seriously, I have the most fantastic clients!!! I feel so blessed. And a special shout out to Kristi Hedberg who was a FABULOUS second shooter at both Julianne and Jessica’s weddings!
So…back to work, but first, here’s a snippet of some of that fantastic-ness for you, and a taste of what we’ve been up to lately. August, here we come!!!! And frankly, how can it be August already?!
Aww, heck…why not two snippets?!?!
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….
Flu.
Travel.
Catch up.
Someone said something nice about me – -holla!
A tiny sneak peek. SO MANY MORE NEED TO BE POSTED. And will. Soon.
I admit it.
You are hearing it here first.
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!!
9.01.2010
Spider-man… wahhhh?!?!? AMAZing shots Tamm.
9.01.2010
I LOVE SEEING YOUR WORK ! Priceless image of the reveal, great way to describe it also. Well done !
9.03.2010
We love these images! You took our quirky, crazy, windy day and made the funniest, loveliest story, all complete with the Tammification that we so love! You rock
10.26.2010
Holy Crap! What’s the deal with the Spier-Man! I want!
Seriously though, Tammy, you are freaking amazing!