Tampa, Florida photographer | Theresa Marie | the blog

moving day

Yes, Mr. blog has been quite neglected for some time. It was for a number of very good reasons. I have been quite the busy little bee, doing as much as I can to get caught up and to me caught up is essentially being two steps ahead. The blog is just an extra goodie and everything related to my clients such as galleries, orders and communications comes first. just makes sense, right?! : )

However, I have been rewarding myself with small amounts of time to do some blog building for every three things marked off of the never ending to do list. It is finally ready to be launched.

You will notice a bit of a clean design and I just LOVE it! I was going to have it chock full of color and my signature pattern but I am SO drawn to the clean minimalistic look and feel of advertisements and the design of companies such as Apple, Ikea and Real Simple Magazine. It also focuses attention on the images and thats what this is all about, YOU. The emotion, the love, the life... the stories and emotions in my images are all better translated without the distraction of colors and patterns.

So here it is. A breath of fresh air.

www.theresamarie.com/blog

Giving is Awesome Winner!

Disclaimer: I know, what happened! I definitely had this entire post typed up and scheduled to post on Christmas Eve and while I was celebrating the merriment of Christmas with Nicholas and our Families, I had no idea that it wasn't up! So my apologies and here it finally is:

    As I read all of these humbling and inspiring stories about such amazing people I knew this decision was going to be hard... So I enlisted some of Santa's elves. My elves have very caring hearts and I trusted them in choosing the most awesome someone to receive this gift. And this is who they picked...........

I have already been in contact with their dear friend Suzanne who nominated them and she was able to give them a very Merry Christmas present. I got the most exciting email from her soon after and since I decided not to post the story for personal reasons I thought I would share Suzanne's excitement, I LOVE IT:

Oh MY GOSH!  Theresa you just made our day!  This is the best gift we could get – I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!  You’re the best!  I’ll call Kate now and we’ll be in touch!  Thank you JESUS – Thank You Theresa!  Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Suzanne

And my Thanks pours out to all of the absolutely wonderful referrers who took time out of your busy lives to tell me about your someone,  that is a gift in itself.. Thank you. You are beautiful people.

Congratulations Kate and Family... It would be a honor to document your beautiful family. You definitely deserve to have your love and togetherness captured and kept forever in print. : ) Im so excited to do your session!

I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas Holiday for those who celebrate. Keep checking back here because there will be some more fun happenings that you wont want to miss out on! : ) (or you can subscribe with the box in the sidebar so you get notified by email instead of visiting here everytime! that will also put you on my newsletter list for news on giveaways and promotions.)

Isnt giving awesome?

 I think so...but Im wondering about you all.

Can I give you $25 to think so?

Just a few days left in the Holiday giveaway and my spirits are a little down. Despite the enormous amounts of hits to the blog I've only received a few nominations. This means only a few cans of food and out of thousands of visitors we could only come up with a handful of deserving people in all of Central Florida.

So in this event, I have decided to give a little more incentive to tell me about the someone you know. I will send a $25 gift certificate to be used towards a session or prints any time next year to each and every person who nominates their someone.

Need a last minute Christmas gift? How awesome would it be to give them a unique $25 gift certificate that you didn't have to shell out your hard earned clams for!? And just so you can have it before Christmas, I will stay in one central location for up to 2 hours on Monday evening for you to come by and pick them up! If you would like to keep it for yourself, I can just send it to you in the mail but let me know in your nomination email what you would like to do with your GC. For those who have already sent in your nominations, you will definitely be receiving one as well.

Think about it people. All you have to do is think about someone who would love photos and then type. : ) I know you know someone. I know you know someone who deserves this. And if you think its you that deserves it then have somebody else nominate you!

I have been SO inspired and touched by all of the stories I have received so far. Truly thankful to have been influenced by all of these amazing people and families. Im not going to be the one judging the entries and picking the winner, to be completely fair, but my judges are going to have a tough time choosing. That doesnt mean you dont stand a chance, PLEASE send me those nominations!

And stay tuned to the blog, Ill be giving away a TON of stuff for the new year to celebrate the launch of something new. You can subscribe to receive email updates by typing in your email address in the box to the right. over there ------------->

And because blog posts are just so much more fun with a photo, Ill leave you a christmas capture of the little girl that our lives revolve around. She has her daddy wrapped around her tiny little finger and her mama absolutely smitten. : )

Happy Holiday planning!

Lee & Jon | Engagement

Meet Lee & Jon.

Safety Harbor, FL. Sitting in my favorite Starbucks in all of Tampa Bay, I waited anxiously for them to arrive. While chatting about photography with a patron who noticed my equipment, the color of fire caught my eye. I knew they had arrived.

Lee and Jon are a crazy fun couple full of life and love! It was SUCH a pleasure to sit and chat with them over our yummy drinks about their relationship and their wedding day. My favorite part about meeting my favorite type of people, those who are in love, is the whole getting caught up conversation. I LOVE to learn how they first met, the proposal and their favorite type of music. Lucky for me, Jon and Lee had music incorporated into their story! How perfect are they for me? Seriously. 

We finished up and got to photo time. This is what we did for about 2 hours on a GORGEOUS Afternoon:

GORGEOUS hair. Gorgeous smile. Gorgeous bride to be.

Cant even describe how happy this photo makes me.

Seriously. Can you stand how awesome they are?

Oooh, I felt like a peeping theresa here, but it was SO worth it. I love shooting through random things. : )

Handsome man! I freaked when he gave me that crooked smile. They rocked this shoot, how beautiful are they?

Lee is HOT! Look at the fierceness. Do I need to tell you how much I love this one?

**sigh** I love them.

I LOVE and must admit that I am a little jealous that music was incorporated into their love story. This was my inspiration for their slide show. They first met while this song was playing and because of it. Jon also proposed while at a concert, he was asked to come on stage by the singer, then he asked her to come on stage making her think that she was going to have to sing. He got down on his knee instead and asked her to marry him in front of six dozen of their friends and the rest of the audience! Their song was played right after she said yes. How incredibly sweet is that? And is this not an awesome jam to have as your "song?!"

Lee and Jon, Thanks a bunch for letting me witness your love for each other, I had SO much fun! Your wedding is going to be KILLER, you are going to look KILLER and I can NOT wait to capture all of the love!

'Tis the season to give.

 Giving takes up a large space in my heart. As a little girl, Ive always found so much joy in giving. My biggest dream all began when I was 9 years old. During a certain part of my 3rd grade school year we focused on what we wanted to do when we "grew up" and while I had all of the ideas of successful careers fed to me by my elders, I never knew exactly what job would make me happy. I did, however, have the extreme desire to help people. Even if I couldn't go down in the history books because I changed the world, impacting the lives of a large group of people was all I needed to feel complete and give my life a purpose. Luckily for me, 3 generations of females in my family grew up being involved in a Masonic youth service organization and it was my turn at age 11. For 8 years I was given the opportunity to give back and help others by raising money and making misc items to donate to our annually adopted service projects such as "The Boggy Creek Gang Camp," "Operation Smile" and "The Shriners Hospital." Once I graduated High school, and started preparing for adult life, that part of my heart was exercised in only the smallish ways. In launching my own business, it has been a primary goal to get to the point where I can make a major difference with my photography. I haven't figured out what that will be yet, although I have been toying with different ideas. I cant wait for when that opportunity will come! I have high hopes that there will be many and they will be large.

So with that said, I needn't tell you just how thrilled I was to have found out about this amazing project that my fellow photographers are taking part in all over the world. This is the perfect way to start off the photography giveaways I had been planning to announce for the new year! One little step in my journey to making a difference. And what a perfect time to do it?! I know that the season will help bring in those nominations and Ill be able to reach out to more than one person this holiday.

You know someone. You know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family’s spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography – $1200 worth, to be exact. This awesome holiday give will include a portrait session, a 10 page 8x8 inch coffee table album, a $100 print credit and the high resolution digital images…it’s in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a a complimentary session of their own and a $100 print credit. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* You may only nominate one someone. If you know of more than one really deserving someone, share it  with another someone that you know. They can nominate the person and have a chance at getting their own portrait session. Remember, it is all about giving. Spread the word!

* The nominee must reside in Central Florida. Tell me who you know, where they're from, what they’re experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a photo of your someone if you have one and a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well. (If you wish to nominate someone who's not in Central Florida, check out Giving is Awesome for participating photographers around the World!)

* You must e-mail me the full story and leave a small comment here as well: tm@theresamariephotography.com Nominations will be accepted until 9pm on December 22nd.

Im asking for your comment on the blog because I'm doubling up the give. For every nomination I receive that has a comment on the blog, I will donate one food item to a local food bank to help feed someone for Christmas. So please bring in those nominations, leave some blog love and send this link to ten someones that you know. More IS merrier. : )

The winner will be announced here on Christmas Eve, in just enough time for you to print the winning email out and package up or forwarded to your someone to let them know you've won them lasting memories for Christmas! I can’t wait to read all of your entries! Open your heart to someone this holiday season – and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine. : )