But who cares?

Neil and Jess braved 12 degree temps and a snow storm for their session.  I wore jeans (WHAT was I thinking) and got completely soaked.

Dana and Mike were fearless on their wedding day and we did ALL their photographs outside!  I was so into it I forgot to put on my coat!  Yeah.  The whole day outside in a shirt.  Go Tam.  ::laughing shaking head.::

So I was faced with a dilemma about 2011.

How to talk about it.  How to show you my work.  How to make you happy to see it.  (I’m still working on that one!  ::grin:: )

Do I talk about the new studio?

Or how we’ve grown in leaps and bounds?

Or my team?

Or the cool projects I’ve gotten to do this year?

Or the traveling?

Or what I’ve learned?

Or what’s new?

…. I could.  But then the blog entry would be 156 pages long and you’d be here until Sunday morning reading this.  And I’m frankly, not that interesting. 

Then I thought,  well, maybe I can post a lot of photographs and talk about each one…but I want you to watch all the way to the end, right? (Yes Tam, all the way to the end.  Gheesh!)   I don’t want you to get overwhelmed, or bored, and stop mid-story.  Fail.

So my dilemma was (and always is, btw) — how can I present images in a way that pushes a little bit?  …in a way that draws you in, makes you think and engages you from start to end?

This is the result.  It was a huge CHALLENGE to put together because (and you’ll see this if and when you watch) it had to flow — so we had to edit down brutally.  That infuriated me — but sometimes…less is more, eh?  Tell me less is more.  So I have forced myself to stop fretting over how much I COULDN’T show you.  Or this would be 4 hours and 37 minutes instead of just a couple.  I am exercising restraint.  Someone had to!

So I am disproportionately proud of the final result.  It’s EXACTLY what I had in mind when I was scribble-scrabbling for the right way to present 2011.

Be prepared.  It made ME cry — and I TOOK the images.

Also — I just had this headshot done by the RIDICULOUS Carla Ten Eyck — and I LOVE. So I’m debuting it just because I think it’s perfectly ME.

So in order to see the review you have to click on my head.  ::laughing::

Or…if you absolutely don’t WANT to click on my head (we can discuss the implications of this later… )  – then click here.

(And please do not judge the fact that I cannot figure out how to embed a video on this blog to SAVE MY LIFE. )   Now on to 2012.  BRING. IT.

My favorite thing is hearing their story.  What makes them amazing.  What they are passionate about.  All the fun stuff! 

So, part of a conversation yesterday resonated with me — enough so that I felt compelled to blog about it — because, as always — to ME — SEEING what I’m trying to talk about is as important as the words…

Todays Composition Title:

First Looks.

First Looks are misunderstood.

First Looks break tradition.

First Looks are scary (and exciting, and intimate…and…wait.  I’ll get there.  ::grin::).

A lot of brides come to me and when the subject comes up — they say — “oh no.  I want my fiance’s first view of me to be when I am coming down the aisle”.

Yup.  I TOTALLY get that.  And respect that.  and LOVE it if that’s what you want and choose to do…

But…if you are at all open to this — I want you to think about the advantages of a first look:

It’s yours.

You are not sharing it.  It is your day with your man (or woman).  It’s a moment that you DON’T share, except with each other.  You don’t have to think about your dad, or your mom, or all those people who love you who try to catch your eye as you walk down the aisle.

Nope.  It’s just you two.  Alone.

And it is breath-taking.  And quiet.  And soft.  And romantic.

THEN!

You have TIME.  For photographs…for time to breathe and laugh and play a little bit.

And here’s the biggest secret that no one really understands until you go through it –

When you come down the aisle and the music plays and everyone is crying…

You Forget the First Look Ever Happened.

You are IN THE MOMENT.

It’s Magical.

Then the OTHER magical part?  ALL YOUR PICTURES ARE ALREADY DONE.  You don’t have to make family and friends wait for you to go off somewhere — you’ve ALREADY DONE IT.

It’s efficient.  Which, really, is not a romantic word…but I can tell you that it makes your day smoother, less stressful, and fun.  And it gives your photographer time to do what you are PAYING THEM TO DO — which is take beautiful photographs of important people who love you and who you love.

I am a big supporter of First Looks.

But it’s, ultimately up to you.  I just wanted to give you something else to think about (and look at.)

…

So … Elyse and Josh had their First Look at…wait for it…the EXACT place they had their first kiss.

Perfection!

And then?  We had time to play and take cool pics.

Maybe just…think about it?

xoxo T

Jason and Stephen are my friends.  You may have seen them in photographs I’ve done before for the Rock Paper Scissors website…you may know and love them yourself…or you may be here completely for the first time and stumbling onto this post — but I promise that watching it will bring you into the moment…into the beauty of the relationship that they share…and give you a peek into what LOVE looks like.  LOOKS like.  I know we all have seen many many images where the couple is in love, they get married, they are happy — right?  (And don’t you love them?  They fire me up!).  But Jason and Stephen are in a moment we rarely get to glimpse…pure reaction and spontaneous feeling..and love.

Second:  Behind the Scenes.

Stephen texted me and said…do you think you could photograph the proposal…without being seen?  (paraphrasing here for the sake of brevity.  Really, what is below is where you want to be)  So we brainstormed and ultimately decided that at home…outside on the porch (their favorite spot) with Jason’s beloved sister and brother in law there was the right fit.  I coached Stephen on where Jason should sit…what light had to be on (and it was still really dark — hence the darkness in the images — it wasn’t like I could use any flash!) and how I would let him know once I was in position…

Third:  The Challenge.

All the lights were supposed to be off so I could sneak in the house through the back door (yes, I dressed in black and snuck through neighbors yards.  Whatever it takes, right?  ::grin::),  but when Stephen texted me he was ready…I discovered that the KITCHEN LIGHT WAS STILL ON.  There was no way I could walk in without being seen!!  What to do?  What to do?  I did what any panicking must get the shot photographer would do…I took off my shoes, laid my camera in front of me on the floor and crawled in on my belly…like a snake.  I was SO SCARED I would be discovered!!  ::laughing::  When I got to the couch Stephen came in and turned off the light and I was in pitch darkness.  The only light was coming from the porch.

Fourth:  This is What Happened Next.  (watch all the way to the end)

Click the photo!

Jason and Stephen…I love you both so much.  I was so honored to be part of your moment (vicariously!) and I cried all the way through taking these photographs!  Congratulations!!

Leave them some comment love, people!

xo Tam

I want to run around in circles and yell:  “The sun is here.  The SUN is FINALLY HERE!!”

(disclaimer:  no couples were harmed in the taking of these images.)

Ready?

Labor Day Weekend, I traveled to Long Beach NY (go there.  now.  it’s incredible!) to photograph the wedding of Jocelyn and Joe at the newly opened Allegria Hotel.  What made it difficult, like so many of my weddings, was that it got picked up by the gorgeous Merci New York Style Blog — and because they wanted to wait until warmer weather to showcase a beach wedding — we had to wait to talk about it…although a FEW images sneaked out here and there because, frankly, I couldn’t wait perfectly. 

I want you to look at the photographs and think about the fact that Jocelyn conceived the concept of sea glass and wove it through the entire wedding.  Blues, greens, that soft color that only comes from years of being washed in the ocean — were featured throughout all the details of their wedding.  They also got up the next morning at sunrise with the entire wedding party to do a day after session — and both “events” received rave reviews from the blog writers over at Merci New York.  Special Thanks to Jessica Weiser for coming all the way from Maine to shoot this wedding with me!!

Things that were cool:

Aforementioned decor and design — Joce even designed, printed and HAND DYED the ribbon on her invites.  Sooo beautiful.

Perfect weather.  Loving family and friends.

A large crowd on the board walk that participated in the ceremony — seriously, like hundreds of people were watching.  It was fun!

Jocelyn and Joe practiced not one but TWO choreographed dances at their reception.  I’m talking “Dancing with the Stars” level dances.  Super impressive!

A Chinese Tea Ceremony integrated both families

Sparklers at the end of the night.

A Day After Session that ROCKED!

So you can see…it was hard to wait to share these.  If you want to peek at the write up on Merci New York click the pic:

Some fun pics from the wedding (wait.  day after session also coming!)

And then we all got up at Sunrise.  But TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Two of my couples = Chicago

Solution?  Go to Chicago of course!

I day tripped (sort of) up to Chicago for the day to spend with two of the coolest couples I know!  Of course we were ALL hoping for that iconic shot of the Chicago skyline — and instead got such thick fog that you couldn’t actually tell Chicago existed from a distance…so…my favorite thing to do — we made it up as we went along…

First up Evelyn and Mclean – check out that cool skyline covered in fog!  I LOVE gray days — it makes colors sooooo soft and vibrant at the same time!  Take THAT bad weather!  ::laughing::

This is the EXACT bench that he proposed to her.  Tammy FAV!!  (We won’t mention that she dropped the ring…and then they almost couldn’t find it.  Nope.  It was a PERFECT proposal!)

Here’s the beach they love — and the obvious LACK of skyline…but LOOK at how beautiful they look.  I love happy.  I LIVE for happy.  And these two emote happiness.  It was like walking next to two balls of sunshine…seriously!

I think engagement sessions are incredibly important.  Plus you get cool pics of yourselves NOT in wedding clothes.  It’s a win, right?!   I love making them PERSONAL to the couple I’m photographing — places they love to go…things they like to do — and to these couples —- ironically BOTH of them are transitioning to new places in the Country — so documenting the places they love and the things they do together in Chicago was an AMAZING experience!

Next up Elyse and Josh…the sun peeked out for about 5.6 seconds — and JUST as we got ready to go to the beach?  You guessed it…in the fog rolled.  So WHATEVER.  We ROCKED IT ANYWAY.

How can you NOT photograph in Millenium Park?!  The Bean is the MOST AMAZING thing EVER.  I could have stayed all day just photographing people photographing themselves!

And…oh hi fog!  We missed you!

In the most classic way…Elyse and Josh and Evelyn and Mclean worked REALLY HARD to bring me to iconic Chicagoian (I know.  I just made that up) places to photograph…but in “typical” Tammy Swales style…I had to choose some…erm…LESS classic Chicago-like places…

I can’t NOT play.  I just can’t.   Because if it isn’t fun…then WHY are we doing it?

Yeah.  I thought so.

Rock on!  (I don’t know why I said that.  I needed a good closing…and the typical “thank you” just lacked something!)

It makes me want to blog — I’ve been working and working and working and realized that I’m posting a lot of recent work on facebook — but the blog is getting a little sparse of recent cool work.  Some stuff I have to wait to share, some stuff I can’t share (yet) and some stuff I haven’t — so…I have a rich opportunity here!

One of my favorite things is to be plopped down into a location that I’ve never been before and forced to “figure it out”.  Kim and Matt gave me this opportunity by taking me out into the middle of god knows where — Apulia anyone?  — where we saw a YAK (I swear).  I was totally like…WHERE.  AM.  I?!  ::laughing::

One of the things that I love about engagement sessions is that they are about things that are important to my couples.  I don’t have a set of locations I always go to — that’s boring!  I want my couples to look at their pictures when they are 80 and remember that location and story and the love that is in it.

Kim and Matt took me to their favorite hiking place where they can climb under the falls, rock climb and really get away from the hustle and bustle of urban living.  It was GORGEOUS.  We got there late — the light was fading, it was kinda sorta raining…in other words — PERFECT!

I so love the images we took together.  We climbed, we slid, we challenged ourselves…Kim even climbed into a very ridiculous place in HIGH HEELS.  YOU GO GIRL!!

Kim and Matt — you did AMAZINGLY AWESOME!!  xoxoxo T

These little clips are not new — there are some AMAZING artists who are creating some absolutely INSANE stop motion clips.

Check this out.

And this.

Cool, eh?

How could I NOT want to make one?

All I needed was some victims…erm…willing and wonderful clients who wanted to try something completely different.

Enter:  Melanie and Mark.

Lesson:  Stop Motion takes A LOT LONGER than you will ever expect it too.  Plus, since we hadn’t tried this before — we faced a lot of “unexpected” challenges…nothing a good roll of duct tape couldn’t fix — but still — we were problem solving ON THE SPOT all day long.  ::laughing and shaking head::

Here’s our final product.  To put it into context — Melanie and Mark watched fireworks on their first date…and our challenge was to incorporate that experience with the theme of their wedding “Van Gogh’s Starry Night”.  Yeah, right?  FUN!!

Hope you LOVE this.  It was AMAZING to put together and thank goodness I have an amazing team working with me!!

I did my best to embed the link here — but being less proficient that I thought and VERY IMPATIENT — you have to click the picture.  But then it will be awesome.  I promise.

Stop Motion Save the Date

Ashley and Gil got married at the end of July at the Genesee Valley Club — an amazing and beautiful venue.  It was a perfect day and I was ready to go with my cracker jack team of support in the form of uber talented Jessica Weiser who came in from Maine a couple of times this summer to help me — and Erich Camping who tagged along to do some video and playful shots.

When all that mixes together – how can you have anything BUT the most amazing wedding?  Ashley worked super hard to pull ALL of the details together, Stacy K Floral put together GORGEOUS yellow center pieces and bouquets.

Because the venue was the location for both the ceremony and the reception, Ashley and Gil opted to have a first look — to see each other ahead of time and do most of the portraits before the wedding.  It was an amazing choice.  When a couple builds in enough time to REALLY get photographs — that’s when we can all play.  And oh my goodness, play we did.  Ashley was a champ — despite a deep fear of bees (farm on a hot day in July = bees) she and Gil ROCKED out the photographs — and that was before the real action of the day began.

A note about the wellies.  Ashley early on mentioned that she grew up on a horse farm — can you imagine me NOT getting excited?  So I SUGGESTED that having pics in a barn with wellies would be an absolute DREAM — and Ashley LISTENED!  She got these for a bridal shower gift — and I about cried when I saw them.  Truly — trusting your photographer and being willing to try things because of that trust = amazing.

Grey Likes Weddings Blog agreed when they published this wedding as an amazing use of grey and yellow — see more about it here.  We couldn’t agree more!!

We were off to the most gorgeous wedding at the aforementioned Genesee Valley Club.  Now I am a complete nerd when it comes to emotion.  If you see me photographing a wedding – -don’t LOOK.  Most likely I will be crying my eyes out.  This one – I really needed some kleenex.  ::grin::  Happiness + Loving Family and Friends + Wedding = Complete Bliss.  An excellent ceremony delivered by Pastor Jack (as usual!)!

The reception was beautiful and I had so much fun with everyone.  Truly an amazing blending of two totally cool families.

And the waiting part?  We knew that this wedding was going to be published — so we couldn’t share on the internets until it showed up — which it did on Friday!  We couldn’t be happier.  Ashley did an amazing job pulling everything together and we all had a TOTAL blast working with everyone!  A special shout out to Jessica and Erich for helping me document this PERFECT day!

Finally — I HAVE to share this.  (Sorry Ash).  Best Cake Moment. EVER.  Watch it and tell me you can’t just hear Ashley tell Gil — “please don’t put cake on my face”…and then the consequences which are hilarious. I was laughing so hard I could barely hold the camera still!

Take an extra 10 seconds.  It’s totally worth it.    Link:  The Cake Boss.

Thanks to everyone who made this an amazing experience:  and remember I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!