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.::

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

Jill and Andy are getting married next year.  Unfortunately for ME — I was already booked for their wedding date.   ::sniff::  But a really great photographer is photographing their wedding — so I still got to play by doing their engagement session.  I should also mention that Jill and Andy are BEST FRIENDS with one of my brides who will be on the blog later — so we already had a chance to interact at Beth and Marc’s wedding.  And they are as terrific and nice as they look.  Our session was plagued with drama — security guards!  yelling!  wind!  holes in the road!  drama!  ::laughing::  But we all brought our A game and didn’t let anything bother us — and the images are STUNNING.  Well.  Here.  You decide…

Right?!

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.)

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!)

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

Which is why one of my favorite times of a wedding day is the time BEFORE the dress goes on. Watching a bride and groom and the men and women they love get ready for her wedding day is something entirely different and special in and of itself. The emotion, the energy of anticipation and the excitement that is shared by everybody make these moments so precious!!!

Julie and Shawn were so full of excited anticipation before their ceremony at Ashbury First United Methodist Church, that when he first saw her coming down the aisle, I was sure he was going split at the seams.  Julie and Shawn were so. much. fun! Their reception at Irondequoit Country Club was stunning.

And I think this last image pretty much sums it up…the love and the laughter these two share.  Julie and Shawn, thanks so much for sharing your day with me!

It was the wee hours of the morning at Allegria Hotel and Spa on Long Island. A tired but very happy wedding party and I rolled out of bed to catch the early morning light. And we all got in the water. Yes…I stood in the ocean with all of my gear. With the tide coming in!! And…well….

It was so worth it. ::grin::