we had the best first in july this year.  it was a wonderful weekend filled with great friends, too much food, beaches, games, late nights, hot dog and marshmellow roasting, lots of red white and blue, fireworks, freezing waterparks, finishing eachother’s sentences (lol, guys!) and america’s favorite pasttime.  it was the perfect way to start the month!  and we’re lucky because we get to end it the same way!!  hurry back allemans!  we are anxiously counting the days until you return!!!

i got the bright idea to make all the kids matching shirts at about 10pm friday night.  after a trip to walmart and target to get everyone shirts and supplies, cute and crafty skye arrived to help me finish…thank goodness, otherwise it would have meant going to bed at 4am instead of 2am!!   but i do have to say…they turned out so cute!!!  thanks to the  fun idea from “i am momma, hear me roar” (click for the tutorial) i changed it up a bit for the shirts we were using and think they turned out so fun!  and i can’t for the life of me find where i saw the little girls shirts, but it was simply red jersey fabric (an old t-shirt) ruffled up and stitched on to a white t-shirt with a blue square of fabric.  so fun! (something’s up with the colors in these and photoshop is being wierd.  i’m too lazy to figure it out so they are being posted as is. )

have a great day!
-t

I started in this business shooting kids and it’s really what I love to do…where my heart is….so I am returning to my roots.   I am excited about the possibilites of refocusing just on the little ones in our lives.  I love to create a scene and let them play.  My philosophy and style are very photojournalistic, provide a fun environment and let them be. 

As a result of  these changes I will be making a few changes to pricing and packages too, so if you are planning on scheduling a shoot, please make sure to check those out.   Pricing and Session Info

Throughout the month of August I will be running a special for children’s shoots…$75 for the sitting fee.  Sitting fee includes 1 8×10.   Spots will go quickly, so email me at tammy@tammymitchellphotography.com if you are interested. 

Along with regular shoots I will be offering a few “themed” mini shoots throughout the year where I will set up a great scene and the kids will be invited to come and play.  I am SUPER excited about these!!!  It will allow me to combine my love of design and party planning with my love of photography!!  Stay tuned for details of the first theme shoot coming in Sept.  It will be a back to school shoot…details and session information/sign-ups coming soon!!

Here’s a little taste of what’s to come.  A “fake birthday” I had the pleasure of creating for a client last week…watch for these shots in your local craft store and even on HSN and QVC!!

have a great day!
-t

Remember my quest to be more organized this summer??  I think I may have just managed to do it!!  And, it’s not too late for you either!  I have come up with something that I’m hoping will give the kids something fun to look forward to every day and keep the summer a little exciting and fresh…all while still being easy for me to accomplish!!  Whew!  A tall order, I know.

So, here it is…the Summer Fun Advent Calendar

The idea behind it is simple.  Give the kids something fun to look forward to everyday…it can be something little that takes 5 minutes, or an all day activity.  The key is to mix it up.  But, the biggest excitement of all is that it’s kept a secret until the day of.  They are left wondering each day what the next day’s activity will be.  So far, so good in our house!   The beauty of it for us moms is that it’s totally changeable if something comes up…because it’s a SECRET and a WHITE BOARD you can change activities to fit your schedule as unexpected things come up without the kids knowing anything about it!   I’ve also devised a system to prevent arguments between kids as far as who gets to reveal the day’s activity.  By making the squares with numbers you can assign odd/even days if you have two kids, and by making them different colors you can assign colors for more than two kids! 

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own:

Dry erase generic calendar (I got mine at walmart for $7.88)

A dry erase marker

alphabet stickers

number stickers

8 sheets of cardstock (any colors you want)

I think the instructions are pretty clear just by looking at the picture.  Just make a fun header and title for it…you can definitely customize the whole thing…it does NOT need to look just like mine that’s for sure!    Add your activites under each day, stick your paper on with a piece of tape and wa-la! 

Now…the impotant part…coming up with the activities.  Like I said, some activities may take all day, some may take 5 minutes.  The important part is just to give the kids something to look forward to and something that they know they are doing that day to hopefully prevent them from asking you all day!!

I divided my activities up into categories:  in the kitchen, crafts, outings, and fun around the neighborhood.  I also tried to keep things very inexpensive or free to help keep costs down.  Here are some suggesstions to get you started:

make popsicles

get a slurpee

have a waterballoon toss

run through the sprinklers

tissue paper art

corn syrup painting

make ice cream

go to the pool

go to the library

make tin can phones

have a lemonade stand

beach

free movies at the park

dollar tuesdays at Baskin Robbins

silly string fight

bonfire and smores

bowling

sprinkler park

make a fort

have a picnic

movie night

play a game

water guns

make iron on shirts

that’s enough to get you through a whole month!! (I only did M-F since we often have other things going on on the weekends)  The best part is you can repeat many of these things!  Who doesn’t want to have a waterballoon toss  or go to the pool more than once during the summer???   Hopefully this will help make your summer fun and easy and minimize the curse of summertime boredom!!

I would love to hear fun ideas for things that you find in your community.  Leave a comment with any suggestions you have here on this post so we can help each other come up with stuff!!

Have a great day!

-t

If you are the proud owner of a Digital SLR camera (you know, one of those fancy cameras that you bought at costco or somewhere that allows you to change lenses) that you use as a really expensive point and shoot than this class is for you!!

If your camera has never left the safety of auto mode, than this class is for you!

I know there are thousands of you out there!! You bought those cameras because you wanted better pictures…well, the magic isn’t really in the camera…YOU make the magic happen!!!

Join me starting June 28th for this jam packed, super fun, flexible (for all you busy moms!) and informative six week online course full of VIDEO tutorials (that’s right, you get to watch me just like you were in a classroom!!), fabulous handouts, a message board and gallery for getting to know your classmates and post your assignments, teacher Q&A, creative and technical assignments…all to help you grasp the exciting world of manual photography!!

Are you excited yet??

This course will include topics such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, composition, metering, lighting and much more.

For those of you headed out on vacations and such and worried about timing, I want you to know that these are VERY flexible classes.  You can watch them at any time during the six week period (I usually leave access to the videos up for a few extra weeks for you too, so you can catch up) you can watch them as many times as you like, AND there is a pdf each week of the lecture with all the info and picture examples so you can print it out to keep and reference forever.  Just for those of you concerned about missing a week!

Class size will be limited.

cost:$ 200

 register now securely through paypal

Yesterday I received a package I had been waiting for…some super cute new hats for Pink Peppermint.  I ran Ash outside to snap a few pics for the store on the driveway.  Within a few minutes I had a crowd all asking me to take their pictures too…it was too cute!  Here are a few of these cuties…more to come.  

this little one is such  HAM!  she was totally working it for the camera…LOVE her!

this little one has the most piercing eyes…i could shoot him all day.

I am LOVING these new newsboy caps with the cute little brim!

those freckles…those blue eyes…the teeth!!  i am dying over here!!!

i love how kids are just so comfortable in front of the camera and actually ASK you to take their pictures.  I wish we could get more comfortable as adults in front of the lens!!

more to come…

(oh, and there’s a mother’s day sale running now through Sunday…more details here: Mother’s Day Sale )

have a great day!
-t

I can’t even believe how much fun I am having with these classes.  It is SO fun to see how everyone is learning through their pictures and the questions and emails that I get.  I feel like I am making great new friends from all over the world!! It is so fun to share a common interest like photography and have a place to chat about it!

I have had several people ask and several register already, so I thought I’d let you know that if you are interested in signing up for session #3 enrollment is now open. Class will begin May 1, 2010 and run for 6 weeks. The cost is $200. I do keep class size limited so that I can answer questions in a timely manner and give the individual attention to each student.

If you’d like to join us for session #3 you can register securely through Paypal here:

This class is structured so that it is VERY flexible. The only time we have anything scheduled is Tuesday nights at 7PM PST for our weekly chat(I know, that’s right during American Idol for some of you!!! ) but if you’re not available at that time I am on the board daily to answer your questions that come up! We will cover getting to know your camera, focusing techniques, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, metering, lighting and composition. We WILL have you shooting manual and loving it by the end of this course!

I will be posting the lectures on Saturdays this session so that you have extra time on the weekends to watch and practice before the chats on Tuesdays.  

A few things people are saying about the class:

“Tammy rocks!  I definitely learned a lot and things I haven’t learned in other photography classes.”

“Thanks so much for doing this class. I have taken a few at the local community college and came away feeling like I should just sell this camera and pay for a good photographer every few months. Now I am actually excited to take my camera places and I’m not afraid of it anymore!! THANK YOU!!”

“I just wanted to extend another thank you for helping me to understand my camera.  It felt so good to leave class knowing so much more about my camera then before I took the class.”

“You just really teach this very well…you are addicting..you are easy to learn from .”

“I just wanted to thank you for all the effort you put into making this such a great class.  It was really easy to follow..leaving not too many question to be asked each week on the MB.”

have a great day!
-t

Andy has Friday off for his birthday (at least that’s what he thinks…actually it’s for Good Friday, but when you’re 7 it’s more fun to think it’s for your birthday! ) so I’ve been trying to come up with some fun Easter ideas todo that day.  Here are a few of my favorites so far:

from Ladies Home Journal the bunny pop…if you don’t want to go through the hassle/mess of making rice krispie treats omit the first four ingredients.  Pre-made rice krispie treats make these a breeze!!

Ingredients

•    Vegetable cooking spray
• 10  cups Rice Krispies® or any crisped-rice cereal
• 2  packages (10 oz each) marshmallows
• 6  tablespoons butter
• 1  lb semisweet chocolate, melted
• 1- 1/4  lbs white chocolate, melted
•    Red food coloring
•   30 popsicle sticks

And finally, Andy came home with one of these today and I was in love.  John has a REAL weakness for these things.  I don’t particularly care for them, but when I saw this idea I HAD to share it because it’s pretty stinkin cute best of all there’s a free download so you can make your own!  Download them here

I’ve got a few more things up my sleeve…stay tuned!

Have a great day!

-t

Tammy Mitchell Photography/{Picture Perfect} on Facebook

Don’t be shy!  Ask away.  Post your photos…let’s have some fun!!

And, if you’re thinking about taking the course remember there are only 6 spots left…and if you join the FB group, mention facebook when you register in your paypal notes and I’ll take $25 off the cost of tuition!

Have a great day!

-t

This year my valentines have taken on a beach theme.  I didn’t really plan it, I was just working around things that I had around the house.  I’m fortunate in that both of my kids are at small schools with teeny classes…so I can make slightly more elaborate things without breaking the bank.  I definitely wouldn’t be doing these things for  a class of 35, but they are fun for the special valentines your kids may have.   The other thing I love about these is that they are both great for boys.  Girls are easy, because they can give things that are in primary colors and nobody thnks anything of it, but boys are hard.  So much of the valentine’s stuff out there is pink and purple and mushy.  I’m happy to say these are BOTH great for the little guys (and gals) in your life.

i dig u

i hit the dollar bins at michaels and found some cute shovels to make these with.  Here’s what you’ll need:

-inexpensive shovels

-small clear bags of some sort (clearbags.com is a GREAT source for celophane bags of all sorts.  you have to buy them in bulk, but they are relatively inexpensive and i use them for EVERYTHING!!)

-candy(i bought cady that had wrappers that were in primary colors so they would match my shovels…something to think about.  it’s a sickness…I know. )

-ribbon

-cut out heart shapes (an extra large heart punch or die cut machine of some sort works great for these!)

-alphabet stamps (or you can print on the paper with your computer before you punch out the hearts)

-a hole punch

-scissors

-tape

1. put you candy in the bags and seal.  punch two holes at the top of the bag about an inch or so apart.

2. string ribbon through hole on the right

3. place candy bag in your shovel and wrap the ribbon around the back of the shovel handle.

4. pull ribbon from behind shovel handle through the hole on the left hand side ofthe candy bag to bring the ribbon together in the front so you can tie a bow.

5. cut out your hearts and stamp with “i dig u”

6. tape hearts to front of candy bag

7. hand out and enjoy!

have a ball, valentine

supplies:

-beach balls

-tags

-ribbon

-string (i used embroidery thread)

-tape

-hole punch

these are super easy!  i found my beach balls at walmart for 77 cents each.  my ribbon is from a giant spool at costco and the tags I made in about 5 minutes in photoshop…good news…here’s a free download of the tags for your own use!

Have a Ball

1. take beach balls out of their package and roll up.  tape into place.

2. tie ribbon around balls

3. cut out your tags and punch a hole in the top

3. use the string to tie your tags around the knot in the bow to secure them to the balls.

done!

Hope you have a happy valentine’s day!!

-t

Grab some scraps of paper and ribbon, some tape and a heart punch and you’ve got yourself some homemade valentines in minutes…

Thanks to inchmark for the cute idea!

Have a great Thursday!!

-t