I got a call from Dan Barkin, Deputy Managing Editor for the Raleigh News & Observer, after he saw a press release about my work making its way into a variety of publications. Dan is keeping a highly-viewed blog, monitoring his experiences as a Father of The Bride. He wanted to learn a bit more about wedding photography, and we spoke for about an hour or so. It has been interesting to read through his blog and to see what all this wedding planning is really like from the perspective of the bride’s dad. You can see his post here … or you can just read it below.
All in all, his post was a pretty good overview of our chat, minus the tangental discussions. The only phrase I wasn’t crazy about was when he referred to “my staff”. I know it’s just a term that is commonly used, and many blogs are written in shorthand – but I really feel lucky to work with such talented associates. I love that I can feel confident about the reputation of our studio regardless of who the client chooses to work with, and I am grateful that I get to come to work every day and hang out with such a fabulous bunch. Okay, I am done with focusing on semantics now!
A pretty good month for Tamara Lackey
Submitted by danbarkin on November 27, 2007 – 9:36am.
Tags: Father of the Bride
Tamara runs a photography business out of South Durham, in one of the new office buildings that have cropped up around the Streets of Southpoint. This month, her photos have appeared in seven different magazines, including Inside Weddings, where she has a six-page spread (Lead story: 1,000+ engagement rings & wedding bands….). That’s how I found out about her, because her intrepid publicist’s email found its way to my inbox. The occasion was a pretty fancy wedding at a resort on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina, which is way out of my Johnston County price range.
Being intensely interested in all things weddings, I bit. We had a conversation last night, around 8 p.m., and her work day had not ended yet. Tamara and her husband, Steve, are the classic, high-achieving newcomers. They came here around 5 years ago from San Francisco, and have two little children, a boy and a girl. Steve runs Endurance Magazine. I get the feeling that a good time for these folks is a triathalon.
The first wedding she shot was a friend’s, in Florida, in early ’03. The friend had a photographer already lined up, but Tamara wanted to see if she build a career in the business. Not necessarily a wedding shooter. It turned out well.
Today, her business is split between weddings and portraits, and she personally does 15 weddings a year. She used to do 45 herself, but dialed back and now her staff does most of them.
She says that styles have changed. Bridal portraits are less formal than they used to be, for one thing. And wedding photography is now more than just table shots.
It’s not unusual for brides-to-be to contract with her a year out, and some line up her services two years in advance. That gives her enough time to really get to know the couple, so that when the day comes, she feels like a friend.
As we talked, I realized (duh) that shooting a wedding is tricky. You have to capture incredibly important images, but you can’t interrupt the preacher so that you can get a better angle. How does she manage?
Well, for starters, Tamara always takes a second photographer with her. Ah, I said, that makes sense. And with the right lense, she can stand at the back of Duke Chapel and take shots that look like she was standing behind the couple. At the reception, she’ll enlist a family member, maybe a young cousin, to help her figure out who’s who.
If you want to see some of her photography, you can go to her blog, where you can also learn more about here, like how she met Steve. her previous life as a management consultant and growing up as an Army brat.
