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.

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?!?!

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

Busy week.

I was lucky enough to be able to travel to NYC to photograph three of my couples who are getting married either next month…or next year.  I had soooo soooo soooo much fun.

I also got to spend some time with my OWN son who is a senior this year {sniff} and take his senior photographs.  How amazing is that?  Amazing I tell you.  Amazing.   I love him soooo much and it was bittersweet taking those pictures.  I’m so proud of him.

I love watching the transformation women especially go through during a photo session.  Every.single.girl who walks in my door is uncomfortable and uneasy.  When they leave — they are relaxed and happy.  Always.  Trust me on this.  One of my girls today said as she was walking out the door — “I feel like I just had a spa treatment”.  ::grin::  I thought that was the coolest testimonial ever.  Maybe that should be my new tagline.  Tammy Swales:  Just like a trip to the spa.  ::laughing::

I am constantly amazed and awed by my clients.  It’s not easy, is it, to stand in front of a camera.  All of our insecurities come bubbling up to the surface — every mean thing that anyone said to you in high school and beyond is right on the tip of your tongue.  I watch…and watch…those insecurities get tucked away one by one during my photo sessions.  I watch people become THEMSELVES.  And that, my faithful and incredible blog readers (hi mom) is why I do this.  Keeping it real.  Keeping YOU real.  I love that.

So.  Watch with me.  All these beautiful talented silly friendly solemn thoughtful people I get to photograph.

Wow.

And yes.  I know a pic appears twice.  It’s late.  I haven’t had caffeine.  Plus I like the pic!  ::laughing::

And also.  I love this one….

So yeah.  A good week.  A good one.

When I neglect the blog — there is a log-jam of sessions that I want to show you…talk about…tell you how amazing and fun they were….and I realize that I would have to post like…a bajillion entries to catch up.  And then I get overwhelmed.  And then I don’t post.  It’s such a VICIOUS cycle!  ::laughing::

So — here’s today’s brainstorm:  the “here’s what Tammy is currently working on” Sneak Peek.

Some of these sessions haven’t been blogged or facebooked (oh.  facebook.  there’s A LOT more work on my facebook profile!).  Some of them have.  Some of them are weddings where I got to shoot cool places with other cool photographers like Gwyneth Colleen in the Cayman Islands and James Bass in the Thousand Islands ::waving::.  I love them both and had sooooo much fun – I mean, seriously?  Is it possible to have a cooler job?  (Although I do not mean to suggest that Gwyneth is in the Cayman Islands — she’s a wedding photographer in New Hampshire and James is a wedding photographer in Syracuse!)

But mostly — it’s just me working.  If you can call what I do work.  I love my clients so….freaking….much!  ::waving::

How about this:  I love Jen and Antony.

I do.

I loved them from the moment of meeting and was super excited to be asked to be their wedding photographer!  So, as with all my couples — we planned a fun engagement shoot.  I had good ideas…good location…and this fun couple — and to be perfectly honest — we got some great images that I love!  But…also…Antony was sick…he troupered it out — but still…and it was cold…and rainy…and just…bleah.

So.  I suggested we meet up again when the weather was nicer.  Turns out…Antony is this uber talented welder — and as we talked about it…a series of images developed in my head — and then all I had to do was convince them of how cool it could be.  (note:  I never really know if ideas are going to work — when they are things I haven’t done before there is some element of surprise — but that is what I LIKE about it!)

Last night was the session and I just really really enjoyed myself.  You cannot imagine how HOT I looked in a welding helmet.  Hot I tell you.  Yes.  I’m sure I did look hot.  That’s why everyone was laughing hilariously when I had it on.  But darn it…I FORGOT to take a picture of myself!  ::shaking head sadly::

But.  The pics are amazing.  I love them.  I love everything about them.  And I absolutely LOVE when an idea comes together and WORKS.  Jen and Antony — thank you so much for playing along.  Cannot wait to share the rest of them with you guys – -dont forget to email Jess and get on the calendar!!

Can you imagine how fun and cool their September wedding pics will be?!!  Can’t wait!

I’m sure these two are amazing every day — but today was even more so — and here’s why…

It started out pretty good today.  Cloudy, soft light, not that cold.  Then…almost IMMEDIATELY upon arriving at our location — it started raining…then sleeting…and it got colder…it became basically the worst shooting situation you can imagine.

But…we still played a little bit. And just when I thought we would quit…somehow we kept going.   And it was so much fun (at least for ME ::grin::)!  And I love an inordinate amount of images from this session.  We are shooting again next week (stay tuned) — but for now — here is Stacy and Ozgur’s sneak peek.  Can you believe these two were taken on the same day?!

WIN.