Monthly Archives: July 2009

Jul 29 2009

Erich and Candice are taking the PLUNGE

And they took me along with them.

So.. how excited was I to do this shoot? Pretty daggone excited. I love challenging myself and stepping it up! And welcomed it eagerly!

I met Candice because she owns Yoj designs and events. She is a wedding planner locally here in Charleston, and does beautiful, customized work. You should check her out!!  I was initially struck by her warm friendly nature.  She has this GORGEOUS red hair and a smile that just makes the room glow.  We hit it off and was one of those meetings where we had to make ourselves leave b/c conversations flowed, it was like hanging out with an old buddy. We kept in touch back and forth in both our busy lives and she wanted to get together for margaritas. I thought it was b/c I was such a cool cat, but I soon learned that Erich had proposed and she herself was in the midst of planning her own wedding!! And she wanted no other than ME to shoot her wedding!!! I had to say. I was so flattered. She has access to numerous photographers and there are PLENTY in Charleston. For her to like my work well enough to hire me for her own wedding is one of the best compliments I’ve received.

So we talked…. Erich is in the Navy and they have a rich history on the water, and in the water. She certainly doesn’t seem like the ‘typical’ everyday bride. She told me she hired me for D.I.F.F.E.R.E.N.T!! *gasp, me?* .. so different we worked on.  I had always wanted to shoot underwater images so Candice was the perfect guinea pig. I know this isn’t for everyone but I love her willingness to be unusual! Fun for me. Awesome images for HER.

Might I mention, she also didn’t wear your everyday bathing suit.  Now, why would she? She had heels on, bright pink heels, I might add.. and a black dress that had a crinoline skirt, lots of jewelry and a hairpiece we kept fishing out of drains that resembled a peacock… she was going for fun and FAB! Mission complete.

The underwater housing for these cameras are Sooo expensive. I thought I might want to do this more often, but not sure I can afford to. Oh, I also don’t have a pool, but if you want to donate yours that’s one step closer. 

 

 

We had a sexiest hair toss competition. I dunno, it’s still a toss up!

And when Candice pointed her pruny, wrinkled finger at me…. I knew we were done! What a fun, invigorating shoot! I loved stepping it up! We will be getting married in April and I can’t wait. It will be a GALA affair, to say the least!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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by Tomme

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July 29, 2009 - 9:26 pm

Mell - Too much fun! I love seeing what you come up with, and I never know what you are going to do next. Well done, Tomme!

Jul 23 2009

As promised.

Here we go with Humpdates.  Today is July 22nd, Wednesday. Jim’s birthday was today and he turned… well, I can’t imagine he’d be ok with splashing that all over my front page. I’ll just say he’s distinguished at this rate.. and at times I catch him wearing black knee socks -up to his knees- of course,  and shorts.  I just shake my head.  He’s arrived. He’s arrived.

I’m so backlogged in most of my efforts that I’m just going to talk splash words on my page for a little bit and give you some insight on the happenings in my life this week.  

This month has been THE Birthday month for my family… 6 family members between June 18 and July 22. I’m broke! ;) -That’s kept me really busy.  Lots of cake and brownies and cards and hoping mail is fast and efficient.  Plenty of gift cards and receipts and SHOPPING! I had to shop! I really hate to shop! That’s the worst part of birthday season for me. I am the hurry up get in and get out person. Who generally checks out the mannequins for putting together outfits, or catalogs b/c all that TIME it would take me to piece together outfits. YAWN, that bores the BEJEESUS out of me.

My biggest news tho is: 

Bringing Erica on board as my assistant/Godsend/LifeSAVER.. and then whatever profound adjectives to describe her help being a must have in my life! Right now we are working out our kinks which has me further behind but I hope that once we get those worked out, it will be smooth sailing.  If we have something in the works and you are waiting on me, please be patient.. I want to do a fabulous job for you – not a fast one.  Erica is already doing a fabulous job and she is posting on my facebook fan page. We give information to brides trying to plan their wedding or to give some ideas from several perspectives. Erica is still kinda sorta in her newlywed phase and I of course see and attend several weddings, with a multitude of feedback from brides on things to consider.   You don’t have to friend me to be a fan, just come check it out if you want a great resource for your planning phase.  Come check us out! 

my fan page

I’ve had some really cool shoots lately.. boudoirs, seniors…… and seniors were a completely new, but fun endeavour. I really like hanging out with teenagers and getting to know them. They are so fun and full of life. I can’t wait to get some done to post! 

I will be introducing Erica formally, and hopefully get some pics to put on here as well, put a face with the name. I’m a visual kind of girl.. so those things help when I know and can reference someone, having an idea of that person in my mind. That may just be my strange mind at work tho.

School will be in session again soon. How quickly a summer flies by!   Back to school supplies, and sneakers that are way too overpriced…..oh, and SHEEZ.. that requires once again. SHOPPING!! ugh. 

Well – need to put my efforts to getting some of my jobs done. 

Back again next week.  xxooxx

 

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by Tomme

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Jul 15 2009

Two Wildcats!!

Hello my friends. Tis Wednesday and time for another Hump date. Life has been zany and has slowed down slightly on my weddings.. until fall so I will be adding some other blogs to my hump dates including boudoirs, a senior shoot and some personal things as I go. 

I feel the need to tell you about something that makes me smile  —   I have a WONDERFUL collection of koozies thanks to my couples, thank you for allowing our beverages to stay cool.  We prob have about 50 different koozie couples. 

I also don’t know if you know this, but  I keep a small photo collection of my couples, if we do an e sesh (or a bridal) I put one on my fridge… sometimes couples will send me ‘Save the date’ magnet , so I have the majority of my couples greet me at the fridge every morning – I will have to take a pic and show you, a collage of all my friends that just so happened to hire me to take great images for them. All these smiling lovebirds that make me happy b/c I’ve taken photos of them, being in love with each other, ME – doing what I love. Yeah, I adore those pics! There are a couple things that I like to do to get my day started on the right track & you guys being on my fridge, reminding me of what I love every day.. sets that pace for me. 

Well, I got to shoot Robin Wright-Penn and Orlando Bloom recently. Ok, not exactly BUT that’s who Megan and Ian look like to me.  Jim says that Ian looks like Charlie Sheen, but I don’t see that. I think he’s much more Orlando.

What I DO know is how photogenic they are. I spent lots of time with them and felt like I got to know them tremendously. And, as fortunate as I end up…..I’d love to hang out with them again at another time.  They are just that like-able. 

Megan is going to school to get her MD. And I’m so touched by her gentle soft nature and how SWEET she is.  I have a background in medicine, and MOST female dr’s were a little harsh.. So I’m really enamoured that Megan is going to be such a great Dr. with such a FABULOUS bedside manner… her patients will love her.

Ian is finishing up his PhD and they have moved to Lexington, KY.. which is where some of my family is from. I’m jealous they will get to sip mint juleps and go to the Derby. Kentucky really is an undiscovered beauty.. Lexington is actually a pretty nice area.. with BLUEgrasses and rolling hills, and horses that run full speed for miles and miles…….also the fans of UK there are pretty committed to their teams. I have pictures of myself when I was 13 – I have a UK Wildcats tank top on.. with HAIR WINGS, lots of aqua net and pin striped pants. I could also find that for you and you would prob never want to hire me, but my love for UK started long ago.. so guys, don’t forget to invite me sometime.

Ok, pics already…………

I had some really cool lenses and I love how just the sequin part of this dress is focused and the other is soft and dreamy. Love that. 

Her bouquet was bright and brilliant and really stood out.

Orlando’s debut.

Pretty darn photogenic, huh?

Her expression coming down the aisle.

and HIS expression seeing her come down the aisle. This is classic.

Man, I loved this fountain.

We chased them in our car and caught up to the limo!

I’m trying to decide if this my favorite shot of the night. So many ….

Megan with her pops.  I so loved how her dress would just cascade thru the air like that. I don’t always get dresses that have so much movement so I think I really tried to capitalize on how hers moved. 

And this was the ‘vette that Ian was really excited to rush Megan off to the hotel!! I am not sure if he was excited about driving that vette or just getting to the hotel, wink wink

Well, that’s all for tonight. I will catch up with you again next week! xoxo

 

 

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by Tomme

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July 21, 2009 - 11:36 am

Valerie Schooling - These are ABSOLUTELY beautiful…I’m such a fan of your work! Every image is different, creative, artsy. I love it!

July 21, 2009 - 10:43 am

TOnia - LOVE the last two shots … and all the rest as well, of course.

July 20, 2009 - 1:57 am

Megan - This whole set is just beautiful!

July 16, 2009 - 12:27 am

Bill Nixon - Tomme –

Hope you are doing well. Just wanted to drop a note to tell you that I LOVE the picture on the car. Fantastic!!! Denver is rocking it. Talk to you soon. IM me sometime to catch up.

Bill

Jul 09 2009

And Trisha married a near convict…

What a story! Trisha and Ryan. Got married July 5th at The Historic Rice Mill . { Insert photo }

The event planning was smoothly ran by OOH ( Out of Hand) Events. 

The delish little well worth it calorie delights was thanks to delight petits. 

These things looked so amazing and I forgot to get one. Well seeing them now, at 1230 am makes me want to run to King St for a sugar rush. 

As the girls were getting ready in these cool green dresses. Trisha and Roz decided to sashay. I think AMTM would be impressed!

Does this give you an indication of how cool Trisha is? I mean, honestly.. I could have posted this as the first shot and you could just tell how much fun and spirit she has. She and I vibed so well from day one. She is upbeat and fun, and loves to dance. The girls danced most of the time they were getting ready. It was fun, energetic and I’m sure it kept her mind off being nervous. 

This was on our way to see Ryan for the first time. They met before the ceremony for their pictures and they both were SO nervous! It was so cute!  I get anxious for them when I do these shoots too.. how long they’ve waited for this moment and how much planning involved…..

So here is where the convict story begins. Ryan asked me to come to the gas station with them to get some brews. We decided to take a pic of the guys sitting down chilling out for a few minutes with their brew. WELL……..http

 

 

 

 

So the guys got this beer for the photo op. Some guys weren’t from here and didn’t know how easy going our Charleston Police Dept can be at times. smirk. So the cop car was a female cop who happened to pull in at the same time we started the pics. The guys, not thinking about anything but having to get there ON TIME got in the car with the beer, the OPEN beer can. You pretty much get where this is going, right? So, she had a SWELL sense of humor, I must add. She came right to the windows of the vehicle searching for contraband.. and whaddya know,  found what she was looking for!  Lotsa guys, in rare form, open beer and ready to party! Ugh, this wasn’t looking good for us. Ryan, in his best spirits tells her not to worry we were just doing SHOTS! I quickly intervened and let her know that we weren’t doing ‘shots’ but were taking photos! This could have went south fast! Needless to say, thankfully for those photos Ryan had proof as to why he almost didn’t make it to his own wedding! 

 

 

So, it’s 1:30 am and I have a bridal meeting in the morning so I am saying Sayonara? and Thanks to Trisha and Ryan for the amount of time you gave me. They are off to Paris for their Honeymoon! ;)  

xoxo

 

 

 

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by Tomme

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September 9, 2009 - 12:35 pm

Bill Bartmann - Great site…keep up the good work.

July 14, 2009 - 12:27 pm

Kirsten - Awesome! I definitely LOVE all your detail shots. They are just SUPERB. Very beautiful.

Jul 02 2009

JessEdwin

So I was gonna pretend I forgot about keeping my word on making sure my humpdates are strategically finalized on Wednesdays at midnight.  But, I am a terrible liar.  Terrible. So here’s my deal. My BFF is going to California and asked me for none other than MARGARITAS!! to celebrate her going — and I know you know how much I despise those golden Mexican delights. So, as I always do.. I set out for ”JUST ONE”. I usually have my head buried in editing and rarely get to hang out with my friends or more often that not.. see the light of day. Sometimes I just throw my hands in the air and decide I have to live.  And L-I-V-E I did!!  Ok, so I had a mediano margarita which wasn’t the fishbowl monster mambo jambo.. kind of small. Then, my friends decided on another – we asked the waiter if we could have Patron in our margaritas for the happy hour price and he said yes, as long as we all got the GRANDE’s!! So, my arm went behind my back in a twisted motion and I knew I had no strength. NO editing/No blogging no nothing was going to get done at this point.. The damage was done. The margarita arrives……with an exorbitant amount of Patron, and Grand Marnier.. as an added bonus? THEY thought so,  but it was the death clench.  Fast Forward: I didn’t quite feel my normal self until about 11am today.   So, that is the truth. I am a day behind and I promise next week, if I’m late on blogging, it’s because of some other reason than spirits with my amigas. 

Let’s talk Jess and Edwin. 

If Jess looks familiar other than you catching her bridals or her engagements.. it’s because of her identical twin sister Erica who had her wedding last October.  These girls are both SO beautiful, that it’s kind of a marvel that God made two of them! These girls have such fashion sense that I was NOT born with, so I really admire them for that. They have their hair different every time I see them.  I have such thick hair that I have the diversity of ‘up’ or ‘down’ and those are my two looks. 

I remember Jessica being worried initially about how Edwin would do with engagements. He hadn’t taken professional images before and it can understandably be daunting. Thing is, we keep up such fast pace and I don’t make the guys do the cheesey smile shots that they hate….and I think they really appreciate that.  So Edwin came through as a SUPERB model and Jess, in turn was very happy.  

We got married in Little Mountain, SC. Cute little town, blink and you’ll miss it. The reception was in a new location in Newberry that was really cute. Floyd-Carpenter house. I looked for a link to take you directly to it and couldn’t find one.

 

 

Sometimes shots create themselves.. and that’s how I prefer them actually. This shot just looked so sincere of the truth of being in front of God as a witness to the union creating before him.

 I’m told all the time I have a great sense of creativity and romance. The truth is – I try to feed the energy from my clients. Are you goofy? Romantic and serious? I try to think of different shots and poses all the time.. I will wake up with thoughts and jot them down.  The truth is, you inspire me.

The first bedroom romp as a married couple. 

I giggle every time I see this shot. 

For this shot, we ran across the street to an old house and hoped no one was home.

 

 

I have one friend of mine who tries to morph every couple’s name into one. That’s my lame attempt for Jessica and Edwin.

I am looking forward to a boudoir and Trisha and Ryan’s wedding this coming weekend. Next week holds several shoots so I have lots to post for the next humpdate!! 

Good night all. Beware of the large margaritas!

Until next week. xoxoxo

 

 

 

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by Tomme

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