Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Blessed

In this business, I'm truly blessed. Blessed with many unique opportunities, blessed to meet some awesome folks and adorable kids. I so love what I do. So, I get a phone call a few weeks back "Hi Tammy, I love your work and wondered if you could photograph my wedding ..... in a week? (insert giggle here)". I couldn't resist her charm and sweet spirit and it just so happened that morning was actually available. It just seemed like fate.

This couple has such a great story. They met many years ago through their little girls, and now many years later have found one another again and are now married. I, and the gentleman who married them, were honored to be the only guests at the wedding. They are such an adorable couple, so in love and so very much fun. Thank you guys so much for choosing me to attend and photograph your special day. I feel truly blessed to have been a part of it AND fortunate that the cow didn't actually GET us ;).

So, here are a few teasers for you (I haven't done that in a while). I can't wait for you to see the rest =).
Congratulations guys!



This isn't typically how I would crop an image like this, but couldn't resist the kissing dogs in the foreground ;)



Marilyn has a great eye for photography and spotted this shot herself.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Looking for my website?

For some reason there's a glitch with the email address that I gave you in the newsletter. Please go here to get to my website - www.tammymcmillan.com

MINI'S AT THE MEADOW


A great opportunity to spend some family time at a beautiful park and have some portraits taken of your children or family. We only have two dates available at this time, but hopefully more will be added throughout the summer.

First available date
Location - Sky Meadows State Park in Deleplane Virginia
Date - Sunday, June 8th
Time - 4:00pm / 4:45pm / 5:30pm / 6:15pm

Time slots will be filled as I get emails or calls so if you have a specific time that you need, please contact me asap because these go quickly.

Second available date
Location - Sky Meadows State Park in Deleplane Virginia
Date - June 4th
Times - 9:15am / 10:00am / 10:45

Time slots will be filled as I get emails or calls so please contact me asap if there's a specific time that you need.

*Mini Session will last 30 minutes
*Sitting fee is $50.00 and due at the time that you make the appointment
*If you order within 4 days of the time your images go online, you will receive a free sheet of 8 wallet images
*If there is inclimate weather we can find another time slot that will be suitable for you as the sitting fee is nonrefundable but a reschedule is guaranteed.
*All images will be put in an online gallery within two weeks of session time. Feel free to forward this onto family and friends to view
*A slideshow of images to music is available at an additional fee.
*15-20 images guaranteed, but there are typially more.

*Would be a great belated fathers day gift
*Would also be a good opportunity to have some portraits taken of the kids with their grandparents.
*This wouldn't be enough time for a senior or large family sessions. Those would need to be a full sessions, but could still be at Sky Meadows.

Please email me at jeffandtammymac @aol.com or call me at 540.364.4303 to guarantee your spot.

Oh my!


I just realized that I never shared some really fun sessions with you guys from last fall. Our lives turned into chaos right after a busy fall season so I never got to share. I'll gradually start to share before starting into Spring Stuff.

This is an event that I photographed at The Marriott Ranch for a local wedding reception after a destination wedding. Such a stunning place. You really should visit it, if you haven't.




No, I still don't do weddings



Just wanted to share a few that I took of a wedding that I did for our niece. I'll consider doing weddings for second marriages or possibly for someone who wouldn't be able to have a photographer otherwise, but it's just not my thing =)

Isn't this classic? I love this one.




My men! One giving the bride (his niece) away and the other as the ring bearer.

These are a few of my faaaaaaaaaaavorite things....

Come on, admit it! You're singing the song, aren't you? You'll be singing it all day. You can thank me later ;).

This is just a little "get to know me" session. Just thought I'd share a "few" of the things or products that I love.

1) Magic Erasers! If you HAVEN'T tried these - run, don't walk, to the store immediately. One of my BF's wen't on and on about how great these were and I thought for sure she had lost her mind or owned stock in the company. Well now I TOTALLY get it. Love these things!


2) Clean! I love the scent of clean. Not the "it smells like someone stuffed a dryer sheet up my nose clean" but nice subtle clean. My FAVORITE thing in the realm of clean is "clean sheets". Truly if I were rich I'd pay someone to wash my sheets every day so I could have that new sheet feeling every night. Ahhhhhhh!

3) Photography. I know, duh! But other than just portraits I also love taking landscapes and flowers and little details of life that we sometimes overlook. It just helps me to really look at the world instead of blowing by with blinders on. Today, I challenge you to pick up your camera and head out to see what interesting little thing that you can find to photograph.

4) The Outer Banks. Judging by the millions of OBX stickers on vehicles I'll assume that most of you know what I'm talking about. There are still parts of the OBX that are just the way they were when I was a little girl. The weathered grey houses on stilts and the cool little shops on beach road. I just love that place!
I'm there "almost" every summer so if you're ever interested in a beach session, please give me a call and we'll see if we can work something out.


5) Camping!! Most of you know that we spend a lot of time camping in the summer. Not "roughing it", but in a 5th wheel camper =). Camping to me means driving all the luxuries of home and parking it in nature - ha. No, but I love the people that you meet camping, hanging out by the campfire with friends and enjoying the time as a family. If any of you camp, let me know and maybe we can hook up for a trip! =). Here's a shot from a train trip that we took on the rainy camping trip to Gettysburg a few weeks ago. We DID have about a minute of sunshine long enough for me to take this picture.


6) TV reality - Okay, I admit it, I'm addicted. I think I need an intervention. I don't watch much TV, but never miss an opportunity to watch American Idol. Soooo..... who do you think is going to win? Little David or Sultry David? I'm going with Cook because he's been my fav from the beginning!

When I knew that he had to do a Moriah Carey song, I was all "Oh for the love of Tivo" how on EARTH is he going to pull this one off?? Well he did and with flying colors!!!

Okay, that's all for now.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I've gotten older since you've last seen me......

That's right. I celebrated a birthday this past weekend. I am now 28.....errr, I mean 38. A girl can dream, right? It was a wonderful weekend with one of my best friends planning the perfect girls day on Saturday and spending the day Sunday with family. On Saturday we vistited a few local wineries and Vintage Ridge, a new Vineyard in Rectortown Virginia, was probably the biggest hit of the day. They were so sweet to us and the wine there is very yummy. My favorite part was the overall atmosphere. In the tasting room there are tables and the wall opens up to a stunning view of the Virginia countryside. If you enjoy wine and vineyards, this one is a must. http://www.vintageridgewine.com/default.htm


My very best girlfriends. I see so many wonderful phases of my life sitting here - from a new friend from church to one of my BF since the 5th grade (who planned this awesome day), another BF since birth, my two sister in laws and a very dear friend of about 12 years. It was a wonderfully relaxing day with my girls.


Any excuse to wear a pink boa tiarra, right? I know it may come as shock to many of you that I didn't have that laying around the house. It was a gift along with the super cool birthday wine glass (seen to the right of me).

Thanks Paula and the rest of my girls for an awesome day!

Taaaaammmmmmmmyyyyyyyy........

You've got some "splainin'" to do. Okay, as always, I'll admit that I'm the worst blogger ever. Yes, ever. From Thanksgiving to mid January were very hectic with the tree falling on our house, out of town visitors and my husband's shoulder surgery. That then wen't into getting geared up for a busy Spring with outdoor sessions, as well as being in charge of my church's VBS for this year. So, I'm sorry that I've neglected my blog and I realize that I've got a lot of catching up to do =).

Baby Rhys





Are these not the brightest blue eyes ever? We intended on doing a newborn shoot with Rhys but these ended up being more of a 3ish month shoot. He was such a trooper and really seemed to be taking it all in. What a sweet boy and such a great family. Thanks guys and I look forward to seeing you guys again.

Nathan and family


This was such a fun newborn shoot because he was so bright eyed and bushy tailed in the beginning =). All of the hard work though eventually wore him out and we got some sweet sleeping shots as well. Thanks guys. I had a great time hanging with you all for the morning. We've always called his older brother "Baby Will", but I guess his title has now changed to "Big brother Will".





Monday, February 04, 2008

Great deals now until this Friday (the 8th)!!!

Your last chance to purchase those images that you meant to get from your 2007 session! Expires this Friday February 8th.

Get 50% off of any prints from your 2007 session.
There will be a minimum order of $100.00 (sale pricing).

Get all of your images from your 2007 session on CD for only $400.00!!!!!!!!!
Yes, you read that correctly. I'm testing the waters a bit here for something that I may start offering in 2008.

I've received so many people asking about digital images and I realize that the digital age is here. You will be able to do with these images what you please, I would only ask that when you have them printed, please use a decent quality so as not to harm the reputation of Tammy McMillan Photography. You can use them to purchase prints for family or friends, print more for your home or collages, digital scrapbooking, to create gifts for family (from Ofoto or Snapfish), for digital frames or digital keychains, gift for Grandparents - the uses for these could go on and on.

You have to have met your $300.00 print order minimum for that 2007 session to be eligible for either of these offers. Shipping will be applied where applicable.

A day in your life..

I love everything about these types of sessions. I love how they steal a little moment of every day life to preserve that precious time in your families life to look at and cherish always. It's still much like any other indoor session. I will do some family shots (if that's what you're looking for) and a few shots of your child/children posed. The biggest focus though (as with most of my photography honestly) is unposed shots. I like to follow your family around - getting up in the morning and having breakfast nad bath time, just hanging out in the middle of the day, or bundling up and going for a walk. The choice is yours. You'll have me for two hours, but opportunites for longer sessons are also available. Custom designed bound books will be available for these types of sessions as well.

For the months of February and March you can have one of these sessions for a sitting fee of $100.00!!

The first five people to schedule one of these will receive a free 5x7 of their choice. Minimum orders still apply. To check out the website or pricing, please go to www.TammyMcMillan.com.

Not a creature was stirring....not even a D


I wen't from Christmas rush, to a tree falling on the house, to my husband having shoulder surgery, to Christmas, to family members coming to visit the day after Christmas. So, do you forgive me for not catching up during the holidays? ;)

I've honestly just caught my breath from all of that and the repairs have finally been finished on the house so now I'm ready to fully get into the swing of things here in 2008!

Here's a shot that I took of my little man at Christmas. This was supposed to be our Christmas card, but cards never made it out this year. There's no way that I could show you everything, but I'll try to catch up with some of my favorites from Christmas portrait sessions soon.

On the 15th day of Christmas, an ice storm brought to me.....



Yes. That would indeed be a tree laying on the power line and on our house. It happened at 4am and shook the house so badly that we just knew that it had come through the house. To make matters worse, it was on D's side of the house so needless to say, we broke our necks to get over there. Thankfully the tree penetrated the exterior of the house, but didn't actually come through - what a blessing and what a crazy experience.