Finally....

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here.... http://www.talleyimages.com/ is finally up and going! I would love to hear what you think of the site - good or bad.... what needs changing and where the problems are.

I hope each one of you had a wonderful Christmas/holiday, and that the new year brings you much blessings....

And because I cant leave you without a picture.... here is my favorite from the year....

And if you are looking for Rowe's pics.... I promise they are coming!

Thinking "inside" the box

Too many people think that when the weather gets cold that you cant do pictures.... or at the very least, you have to do them inside a cramped studio. Im here to dispel that myth. If you are willing to think outside the box, then you can have some really great pictures that will not be so cookie-cutter. Dont get me wrong - I love seeing/taking those wonderful outside pictures with the green grass and flowers in bloom, but.... sometimes, you can get something spectacular if you dont always go the normal route.

Here are a few examples. My husband and I took our daughter, Emma, with us shopping in Tuscaloosa one day and got some of my all-time favorite pictures of her.... ever. I wanted something more editorial and artsy and got exactly what I envisioned in my head.

Inside a local music store....

Inside a local movie store....

I think this may be my all-time fave picture.... if I had a studio this picture, on a huge canvas, would be the first thing you see when you walked in

Right inside a Kirklands.... how awesome is this set?!

And at a local diner..... I love how artsy these are....

So.... dont be afraid to think along some new lines....

A few notes for inside pics to work - 1. you need to have permission from the place you are shooting at - some people will not let you shoot in their store, 2. Stores with alot of "stuff" are really great for pictures, but it also needs to have big enough aisles that you and your kids can move in, 3. Bright colored clothing! You need to attract the eye straight to the subject with all the stuff around - avoid busy patterns though or they will fade into the stuff, 4. Inside pictures are not for everyone, so its best to know how the subject will act before you schedule these sort of things....

Anyway, Id love to do some more artsy stuff like this if anyone is willing..... Email me at talleyimages@yahoo.com and let me know your ideas!

Also, dont forget that you have until Wednesday to leave comments so I will donate cans to the local food bank!

The Manning Family

The Manning family.... I have absolutely nothing but niceness to say about this family.... they are gorgeous, and super nice and alot of fun to hang out with.... And we got lucky with the weather - it was supposed to rain, but God blessed with an unbelievably comfortable morning.... the colors were gorgeous!

And guess what? There were twins in the family - and I got to photograph them! I was so excited - and dadgum if I didnt get lucky and they were super cute to boot! Ok, for some reason, when there is a set of something, I like for things to be matchy-matchy so I did these two to be hung up together....

And how cute is this guy.... hmmm, ladies, you will have to ask his mom if he's single....

Back to the twins, one of my main goals was to get both of their personalities in one frame as many times as I could.... I dont think I did too bad.... (ok, to be honest, these are some of my absolute favorites)

How sweet is this!

Another mom and son one!

Ok, these next two.... could these not be ads for some cute children's clothes or something?

I so loved this family and thank them for giving me the opportunity to work with them - I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Also, if you are looking for some super-rad, super-cute custom designed cards.... you should check out the Manning daughter - Jenny, she is so talented at what she does and you will not be disappointed.... you can view her site at http://jennyhollowaydesigns.blogspot.com/ but get ready to ooooohhhhh and aaaahhhhhh...... I so want that owl card!

And as a special bonus to all my faithful readers.... I am now "canning for comments" - for every comment I get from today until oh-lets-say, next Wednesday, then I will donate a can of food to our local food pantry. So its all up to you, show some love for me and for the needy all in one easy step.... yeah, thats how I roll..... oh, and dont feel like they all have to be on this one post - although the Mannings are awesome, feel free to share the love around.... :)

As always.... feel free to email me at talleyimages@yahoo.com if you have any questions or just want to chat.

The Long Family

The Long family.... these are the sweetest people.... I do not know one single person who is not in love with this whole family.... You may remember Rowe from an earlier shoot - the baby with the super-blue eyes? Well, meet the rest of the clan....

We started off with Rowe and his great-grandmother - how much fun are they having?!























Next, we got in on some Christmas action!

Seriously.... how gorgeous can one family be!

We got all the girls - looking amazing!

We got all the guys too - how super-cute are they?

And had to get a few with the cutest one of them all!

Yes - he still has those amazing blue eyes!

One more to round out the day!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. I, myself, have so, so much tgo be thankful for. Tell everyone you know how much you love them.

You can email me at talleyimages@yahoo.com if you have any questions, but I will be out of pocket for the next few days and will get back to you as soon as I can.