Since one of my focus points this year is to not stress over (or stress LESS)  things that I have absolutely no control over (wish me luck ::grin::). I am offering this list of 5 reasons you may not have considered about weather and why it’s very unpredictable nature (if you’ll pardon the pun) makes your day uniquely yours…it’s something you should prepare for – but not stress over.

5.  You have no control over it. 

Do you see that one coming?  ANYTHING can happen with weather.  The more calm you are about it – the easier it will be to adjust quickly to any change that comes up.  Here’s the trick – let it go.  Laugh about it.   Don’t let it be the thing that makes you upset – let it be the thing that makes it fun.

4.  No squinty, vampire eyes if it’s bright sun.

Now.  I know Twilight  and how trendy all things vampire are right now – but in wedding photography, at least, the dark shadows that happen around your eyeballs when the sun is bowling ball bright are not the best in images.  In order to combat that – photographers will become shade hounds or have to point a flash directly AT YOU to light your face up in a way that makes you look evenly lit.  Trust me – bright sunny days are pretty for sure – but they offer their own challenges – especially if you are getting married in summer and you add hot into the mix.  One weekend this year I saw men sweat THROUGH their jackets.  Man it was hot.  

Um.  I don’t have any examples of squinty vampire eyes.  But you know what I mean right?

3.  Cloudy = AMAZING images.

Soft cloudy, grey clouds, dark clouds – all are STUNNING in images AND you totally avoid “the squint” or the need for sunglasses.  Your eyes won’t water.  And you get the loveliest romantic images.  The colors pop against a grey sky.  Grass, buildings, colors – everything is more vibrant and lively.  Mmmmmmm grey days are my favorite.

2.  Rain = Playful

What other opportunity do we have for rubber boots, or umbrellas or reflections on EVERYTHING?  Rainy days are creative.  There are SO many ways to make images in the rain – and if you’ll remember the way bad weather makes everyone more relaxed – rainy day images are INCREDIBLE.  And sexy.  And bad ass.  Take THAT rainy day.

1.  Bad weather makes a better party.

The above image is from a wedding in Binghamton NY two week AFTER the entire city was flooded.  Like twelve feet of water flooded.  Mud.  Rain.  Clouds.  And the funnest party EVER.  Now.  This is ONLY a Tammy Swales observation/opinion so take it for what it is –– But I believe that everyone is anxious about the weather being perfect on their wedding day  – so when it changes and rains or is windy and IMPERFECT –  something is released – anxiety maybe?  Everyone relaxes — it’s like — “Hey.  It happened.  But now we can stop thinking about it and have FUN!”

…

Okay.  So that’s five.  But I can hear you thinking – okay Tam.  We get it – but what if the weather is REALLY severe?  Lightening or Tornado or Hurricane?   Here’s the answer:  You adjust.  You adapt.  Everyone becomes a team and team thinking is the most amazing thing ever.

I went to Hilton Head SC this year for what I was expecting to be an INCREDIBLE beach wedding.  (You already see what’s coming, right?)   Yup.  Tropical Storm.  Winds at 40 mph.  Crazy Ocean that was muddy colored from the sand being churned up.

Yeah.  Not what we were hoping for.

So team thinking came into play.  Ceremony moved to the pavilion.  Tables were adjusted.  Wedding party photos happened in a PARKING GARAGE.  Don’t judge.  ::grin::  The light was amazing and most importantly:  NO WIND.

The day after session was equally as crazy.  But then we could play in the water and wind and waves and pool and really make the weather a part of the images.  And truly – it was the most amazing day ever.  We laughed and ran and played and no one cared about the weather.

Neither should you.  It’s your day – and the weather is only a tiny part of your story.  But if it’s a BIG part of your story – then imagine the amazing stories you’ll have to tell forever after.  About how you adapted.  About how you laughed.  And about how it was the best damn party you’d ever been too.

And if you REALLY want to get your mind blown – check out this blog entry by the amazing  Bobbi and Mike out of Indianapolis.  They had an ACTUAL TORNADO go over the wedding they were photographing and I cried my eyes out reading about it.  But the story is amazing and incredible.  And, the day and images were amazing.

So stop worrying!  Play!   Dream!  Laugh!  But don’t let weather worries trap you into thinking that it will ruin your day.  It probably will do the exact opposite and make it personally YOURS and be AMAZING.

No stress!

Stay tuned for the COOLEST 2011 Recap EVER.

Then let me TELL you:

Jillian and Kevin are getting married in October.  In Hilton Head, SC.  Think that’s going to be amazing?!  yeah.  me too.  ::grin::

Kevin recently opened this super cool performance and repair shop called The Little Speed Shop — and it was the COOLEST location to shoot in…let’s see…I had a BMW…a Maserati…a workshop…yeah.  I was TOTALLY feelin’ it!  So we played.  And played.  And then the sun set in this amazing burst of color…

I felt like I was in a movie.  Right?

And it lends itself to the conversation about sessions.  Jillian and Kevin had a strong point of view from which they wanted the session to go — and that was unbelievably fun!  The more thought you put into a session (with me, fo course, never alone!) — the more personal it becomes.  It really is about you.  About what’s important to you.  And if the MOST important thing is that you are TOGETHER — then we’ll just wander around and find cool spots to shoot in.  That’s equally as fun too.  Just bring cool clothes.  And a Maserati.

I’m kidding about the Maserati.  I just like typing Maserati.  It’s even more fun to say…  (you know you just said it in your mind.  bonus if you said it outloud!)

Yeah.  It’s alllll good!

xo T

A lot of times those ideas kind of fade away because they are impractical for whatever reason, or I notice that someone else has done something kind of along the same lines, or…I get bored with it…or it’s too hard to REALLY do.  Since I generate a LOT of ideas all the time (who knew this was unusual?) this happens quite often.

Once in a while though, I have a “BIG” one.  And this time, not only was it big — but it turned out to exceed my wildest imagination and expectations — and I could NOT have achieved it without the diligent work and dedication of my team, my friends, my clients and my colleagues.

It started with Vanity Fair.

You know how they have that issue with the actors on it?  I remember thinking…I’d love to do something like that.  How can I do something like that?

And then…in the middle of the night…I woke up with this idea perfectly formed in my head:  my clients.

I wonder if my clients would do something like that?  And so…an idea was born.  The most humbling thing for me, by FAR, is that every single one of my clients we talked to said yes.  No hesitation…no maybe’s — just…yep.  Tam.  That sounds sooo fun!  Let’s do it!  Tell me when and we’ll be there!

I think I might have cried I was so overwhelmed by that.

As an afterthought i said — hey.  let’s videotape it and see if we can’t put a little behind the scenes thingy (yes, I said thingy, it’s the technical term!  ::grin::) together.  Which turned into:  let’s interview each person and ASK (innovative concept, right?  ASK our clients to tell us about their experience) — and we maybe might have forgot to mention this to our clients — so when they came in to be photographed, they were surprised and a little nervous to sit in front of a camera.  I’m telling you this so you can see what follows was completely unscripted — even when I talk (and it’s SO HARD to hear yourself…ugh.  do I REALLY sound like that?  OMG) I had things I wanted to say, but I just talked unscripted.  I sounded a little strange and disconnected and sometimes I’d have to say it a couple of times — but I wanted it to be more gritty and real — then a perfect beautiful video.  Because we want to have fun and play and take photographs — we don’t want to be perfect.  It’s too much pressure, right?

Here’s the Vanity Fair cover that inspired me:

Cool ,right?  So…what I love about what our final image is that it’s a TOTAL Swales interpretation.  I wanted several things — I wanted to show how DIVERSE my clientele is…I wanted to show how COOL they are…and I wanted to be PLAYFUL.

Here’s mine (and clicking it will take you to an online version — that if you click it will make it REALLY BIG.  Try it — it’s totally cool!)

Can you BELIEVE this?!  I LOVE it sooo much!!!

Finally — we worked on the COOL VIDEO.

I don’t know what to say about it other than it’s the coolest thing I think we’ve done up until this point.  I love everything and everyone in it.  Thank you Thank you Thank you to everyone involved — my amazing clients, Rock Paper Scissors Salon who styled, Bruce Hahn for advising me on lighting, My amazing team, and my family for supporting me through all the madness.  I love you all.

So…watch it will ya?  And tell me if you like it.  really.  Cuz it was a LOT of work.  And I really wanted you to know how important it is to me that my clients take center stage…because, ultimately, that’s WHY I do what I do.  For you.  xoxo

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

Shannon and Kieran’s beautiful wedding was featured on Hot Pink Brides wedding blog yesterday!!!!

Shannon planned the entire day on her own…and did an incredible job!!! From their ceremony to their wonderful reception at Oak Hill Country Club Shannon and Kieran’s wedding was gorgeous, stylish and so much fun! She even climbed these steps in Manhattan Square Park in bright red high heels!!!!

Shannon and Kieran, we are so excited for you!!!! And we’d like to send a special thank you again to Hot Pink Brides!!

So…instead of that level of torture…I’ve decided to choose what I consider the “moments”…the “iconic” photographs that mean something significant to me from this year… I can’t promise that I won’t bust out with a slideshow or additional post later…but for now…this is a small illustration of the FUN I’ve had!

I’ve been humbled by just how MUCH I’ve learned this year…how MUCH my clients pushed me outside my comfort zone and into new things I wouldn’t have imagined before this year…how MANY times I doubted myself but did things anyway. My favorite line is “I’ll figure it out”.  I refuse to use the word NO. I don’t care how scary or intimidating – I’m trying it. And that attitude has led me into some CRAZY photoshoots – and I wouldn’t have it ANY other way. So..in no particular order…here are some MAJOR things I was impacted by this year:

=> Relationships are EVERYTHING.  No matter where I am…or who I’m photographing…if a mom is there with her daughter (or grandmother), if a husband is there with his wife…if siblings are forced to tag along…I feel compelled to photograph them together.  This photograph is my best friend in the whole world.  Her daughter is a senior this year and mom and grandmom tagged along for her senior portrait session.  NEITHER of them wanted this photograph taken…but it’s one of my absolute favorites from this year.  It makes me happy.  And guess what?  They loved it too.

=> I have learned NEVER to panic.  Pouring rain?  … Snow?    Nighttime?  Someone telling me no?    All of these things used to scare me.  I would think…oh my god.  I can’t do this.  Too risky.  Too scary.    But you know what? I’ve learned that sometimes when things don’t go as planned — amazing things happen.  Just keep looking.  Eventually the solution finds YOU.

In December…it gets dark at 4:30!  It was FREEZING so an on the spot decision to ask a boy scout troop selling trees if we could photograph inside the fence led to some GORGEOUS shots.  The construction light they were using made these images CRAZY cool.  Among my favorites of the year.  (And also I talked the bride into putting on my cowboy boots instead of her high heels!  Whatever it takes!)

Remember the cardinal rule: Don’t Panic.  This photograph CRACKS ME UP.   I’ve learned a LOT this year about sparklers.  The first one is this:  buy the LONG ones.  The shorter ones (look closely at the photograph) burn QUICKLY and throw off sparks so everyone is yelling “ouch!”  “ouch!” “ouch!”  ::grin::.  When we got to the beach…it was cold…dark…and windy…and the sparklers wouldn’t light…until someone dug a hole in the sand to light them (brilliant!)…but there was NOT time to set up a formal “shot”…so I just told everyone to run madly around the couple before the sparklers blew out…and before the police came and threw us off the beach.  This shot took place in about 2 minutes flat….then the police came and threw us off the beach.

I used to worry I was missing things.  That I needed to be in the middle (although sometimes the middle is fun.  See next paragraph) to make sure I got every second.  But what happened to me this year — was a personal goal to SLOW DOWN.  STEP BACK.  And allow myself to fall into the flow of the day…either during a photoshoot or a wedding.  The non moments…the unexpected moments…have become my favorites. Maybe that seems obvious — what you would expect from a photographer who’s documenting your day — but believe me — you HAVE to be in the flow of the day — to SEE the emotion.  Because it is super fleeting.  A millisecond before or after — and it’s gone.  I’m obsessed with finding those moments.

In this image?  The next blink of her eye the mom noticed me and looked into the camera and not at her daughter.

In this photo?  I sensed movement off to the right…and waited…and that amazing little boy wandered into the frame.  Immediate favorite!

Just unbridled (if you’ll pardon the pun!) excitement and anticipation.  Can’t you feel it almost tangibly?

And that moment when I imagine she’s thinking:  “it’s today.  it’s finally happening.  I’m a bride”…

I WANTED the sewing picture.  I waited for her arm to extend…I love this image.  Everything about it makes me happy.

=> I no longer fight my sense of humor.  It’s as much part of who I am and the photographs I take…

…

So…what do you do when the groom busts out a duck hunting gun to show the guys?  Yeah.  I knew you saw that coming.

I dare you not to smile when you look at this photograph.

Speaking of smiling…TELL me that this dog didn’t wander through my photograph and GRIN at me.  GRINS AT ME!

Also…further proof that dogs generally have their own unique sense of humor.  Another photograph from the same wedding in which she wandered into the frame…

=>I have learned to embrace the light.  No matter where.  Or when.  Or under what stressful circumstances I find myself in like:

Sunset imminent and raining.  RAINING during this shot.  I had a million little dots all over my lens.

I waited for her…and was so scared I was going to miss this shot.  The blast of light behind her and the utter darkness…mmmm…LOVE this shot.

Looks like I planned it, right?  Nope.  The bride and groom wanted to stop for a shot at a local bar — and as we were leaving and RUNNING to the limo I spotted this light.  I grabbed a groomsman and sweet talked him in .5 seconds to pose for me before the limo left us.

=>I’ve learned to let EVERYONE play.  I invite everyone into the process. If someone wants to be involved, suggest ideas, or take a risk with me — guess what?  GAME ON!  In the next two pictures from a workshop I took with the amazing Carla Ten Eyck it was POURING rain.  I had only a few minutes with these models…and we wandered by a shop that was under renovation…and all I could think of was “look at that window!”  It can’t hurt to ask, right?  And although everyone thought I was a little crazy — everyone got involved — including a guy who walked up and offered to clean the window for us!!  The second picture is one of the final shots…not executed perfectly by any stretch — but SO MUCH fun to look at and remember.  I’m such a sucker for having fun and taking risks.  What’s the worst that can happen, right?

And…I never would have considered taking a couch to a wedding with me (pickup truck following the limo — believe it) — but the bride and groom were SO excited to try something different and work to make this happen — that we made some really FUN images as a result…

=>I guess the biggest thing I’ve learned is persistence.  That sometimes an idea won’t necessarily work the first time — but if you want it -  don’t give up.

My bride has this GORGEOUS tattoo that says “the power of love” in a quotation and I WANTED that photograph.  I just couldn’t make it happen in a way that made me happy.  So during the ceremony — I decided to give it one more shot…climbed through some bushes…and…that was it.  Mysterious, colorful…and gorgeous.

I had a lot of fun this year!

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

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

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::

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

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.

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.)

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.

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…

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

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

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