Tammy Mitchell Photography » san diego

orange county photographer: a piece of my hart

Tammy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:33:21 +0000

i got the chance to spend a fun saturday evening with this darling family. these girls are seriously the cutest…big sister wasn’t too sure about me, but little sister was sure all giggles for the camera!! how can those big brown doll eyes not capture a piece of your heart??? i’m sure glad that i have gotten the chance to get to know this great little family more over the last few months. here’s a chance for you to get to know them a little better too. enjoy!

can i say photogenic??? i was having such a hard time choosng what to share…i’ll stop here and save some suprises for mom in her gallery.

have a great day!
-t

orange county children’s photographer: sneak for mom

Tammy — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:52:37 +0000

i know you’ve probably been checking several times a day since saturday mom… i would be too with cuties like this!!! waiting is always the worst part…so here’s a little something to help!

stay tuned for more!

have a great day!
-t

southern california children’s photographer: i {shoot} kids

Tammy — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:15:57 +0000

lol! I always have to laugh when I’m talking about shooting my kids, or other people’s. It just sounds so funny!! I have been agonizing over this decision for quite some time now and I have just decided that right now, this is the best decision for our family. As many of you know, I am tackling homeschooling my 3rd grader this coming year. I am VERY excited about it, but also very worried about the time committment required to do a knock-out job. Combine that with being a mom, CEO of the house, cleaning lady, taxi driver, personal chef, running a couple of growing businesses and a husband with a schedule that is completely wild and unpredictable and life is crazy!!

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

orange county children’s photographer: frogs and snails and puppy dog tails

Tammy — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:41:38 +0000

It has been WAY too long. I have put shoots on the back burner over the last few months with a series of major events that have been affecting our family taking center stage. Now things have settled down and I am back in full swing…well, sort of. (Stay tuned for a bit of an announcement coming early next week)

I kicked off summer this week with one of my favorite families. You know it’s going to be a GREAT shoot when you bring along this little guy…

I can’t wait to share more of these cuties!!

Have a great day!
-t

everyday life: my little fish

Tammy — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:58:22 +0000

Our first summer activity this year is getting the kids in swim lessons to make sure they are good and ready to spend the summer in the pool! Big kids lessons don’t start for another week, but Ash got to start this week. Unlike Andy, Ashley is afraid of EVERYTHING…and I do mean everything! It’s been quite the challenge getting her to try new things and warm up to things like strange noises, dogs, rides at disneyland, water, just about everything. I thought for sure we were in trouble when we drove by the pool on Sunday night as kind of a test run to make sure she felt more comfortable on Monday and she started telling us she was scared of lessons. (nevermind the fact that she had been swimming just the week before and in the pool for nearly two hours swimming like a fish) When Monday morning rolled around she couldn’t stop taking about how much she didn’t want to go to lessons, how her tummy hurt, the teacher might not be nice…etc, etc. Amazingly enough, when we got there she hopped right in the pool and then begged to stay when lessons were over. Each morning since she gets out of bed, puts on her swimsuit and asks when we get to leave for lessons about every 2 minutes. That makes for a VERY long morning considering her lesson aren’t until 1pm!!! Hopefully all of these lessons will make her a great little swimmer this year! Even if she can’t swim she sure looks adorable in the gear!

a little after workout nourishment…

my little bathing beauty…

(on a side note, I bought her three swimsuits to get her through the summer because they are usually thrashed pretty quickly…(yay for $4.97 suits at the gap!) but each morning she comes down in the pink one assuring me that she will wear the other ones “tomorrow.” )

have a great day!
-t

Orange County Children’s Photographer: The Grassy Knoll

Tammy — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:50:49 +0000

I LOVE this time of year here in So Cal. Especially this year. We have gotten SO much rain this year that everything is extra green. It won’t be long before it’s dried out seeing as how temps are already in the 70′s and 80′s these days (hallelujah!!). There is this AMAZING hill right behind our house that I keep driving by and thinking “i need to gotake some shots there” then the other day i was driving by and caught a wedding photog with a bride and groom halfway up the hill. It made me feel better that I’m not the only one who drives around town thinking about backdrops!! lol!! so, i had to take advantage of it as many times as I could this week!!

I’ve decided that I’m a whimp of a photog. I have a serious aversion to any kind of insect or reptile. All of these visions of grandeur in my head…hiking ash up the hill…grass up to her knees…well, that kind of went out the window as soon as I realized that the hill was FULL of life. Swarms of insects, rushing in the bushes from squirrels, rabbits and lizards… YIKES!!! I was actually worried that we would run into a few rattle snakes…we’ve seen a few BIG ones in the road near there over the years, so I decided that my little girl was not hiking up that hill! I planted her at the bottom of the hill, tried to get over the goosebumps that over took my body everytime a lizard ran by and took some shots!

If you want some pictures of your little ones on this gorgeous hill, give me a call quickly before it’s too late!!

Have a great day!

-t

orange county children’s photographer: the face of four

Tammy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:25:08 +0000

st. patty’s day is an extra lucky day in our house. it’s the day our sweet baby girl joined our family. i honestly can’t believe that it was four years ago. as i sit here and write this at 11:13pm on the 16th I remember exactly where i was at this time four years ago. how i was feeling…the stress, the excitement, knowing I wasn’t going to sleep a wink. SO anxious to meet the sweet little girl that i had come to know over the nine months that she had spent growing, wiggling and kicking inside me. it seems like it was just yesterday.

she has grown to be everything i’d hoped. sweet, sassy, smart as whip, funny as all get out, and just plain fun. she is crafty and thoughtful, stubborn and witty…pretty much just like they say: sugar and spice and everything nice.

she also loves to have her picture taken. lucky me.

please excuse me while i share a few (or a lot) of our fun “last day of three” shoot yesterday

Happy Birthday Ashley! We love you!

have a great day!
-t

Photoshop Friday: Colors and Brightness

Tammy — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:07:07 +0000

I have had some interest from people over on the facebook fan page for photoshop tips and tricks, so I thought I’d share them here too for those of you that aren’t facebook users

I am NOT a huge editor. I prefer to know my camera and do my best to nail the shot without the aid of photoshop. That being said, I do adjust ALL of my photos…just minorly. There is something to be said (in my opinion) for making the image shine just a little bit more with two simple and quick tricks.

The two most used combinations on my computer are control M and control U. If you’re a Mac user they would be apple M and apple U for you. Control M will adjust your curves (or the brighness of your image) and control U controls the hue/saturation of your image. By nudging these measurements ever so slightly you can make a HUGE difference in your images.

See what I mean???

The image on the left is my sooc image (straight out of camera) and the on on the right has a teeny bit of tweaking with those two measurements. Pretty big difference, huh? Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Have a great weekend!
-t

Hostess with the Mostess: Kids Party Ideas

Tammy — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:52:36 +0000

This little shindig is LONG overdue for some blog love. I can’t believe I never shared it! No fear though…it’s perfect timing since it’s pallette is great for spring. You all know I’ve got a weakness for lime green and pink so this was definitely a favorite.

I think these last several years of attending and shooting elaborate parties have taught me that kids are really very happy with the simple pleasures. Sure, they love bounce houses and ponies and magicians, (and I love to plan paties like that!!!) but put a table full of goodies in front of them and let them decorate a homemade cupcake and they are JUST as happy. Just something to keep in mind for those of you planning birthday’s in the near future…that would be me.

Enjoy this gorgeous party!

Mom attended to every gorgeous detail…LOVE the white hydrangeas in a lime green ribbon wrapped box!

the butterflies on the straws…Stunning!

cute little bowls to hold the goodies courtesey of Anthropologie

the darling birthday princess

a finished masterpiece

i LOVE the lighting in these shots…YUM!!! after decorating cupcakes the kids gathered to make bead necklaces on PIPE CLEANERS. Genius!! For little kids they stay stiff enough for them to feed the beads onto…great tip to remember!! You can then twist multiple strands together to make a necklace that’s long enough.

Hope you’re feeling inspired to plan your next event!

Have a great day!
-t

Buy This: BMOS Modern Baby Wear

Tammy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:59:43 +0000

I love it when I stumble across a NEW esty shop. Something that I feel like I might be one of the first to discover. Jessica over at BMOS just opened her store in October, and when I saw one of her hats run across the new listings pages I knew I had to contact her. These are super fuzzy and soft fleece hats for your kiddos and with the weather quickly growing colder it’s perfect for this time of year.

This one caught my eye it’s called the “hoot hat” SO cute!

and how cute is this modern green hat with circles and a cute little brim??

As you can see, they work well for girls or boys. And can I tell you again how SOFT they are???!!

Guess what? The modern green hat with circles and adorable brim can be yours! Simply visit BMOS, leave a comment and let me know which hat is your fave and you’ll be entered to win! Wouldn’t this make a snuggly gift for someone on your list this year??

Have a happy Friday!

-t