Photography Friday: Tara Whitney

Hi Tara,

Before we get started I must confess something. For a long time I thought of you the same way I thought of New Kids on the Block back in their prime. “Don’t like them. They’re a fad,” my sister so adamantly told me. She was 8-years older than I so everything she said was totally right. A fad? Hmmmm… I’m pretty sure I privately looked up the word “fad” in our old, green Dictionary that sat on the closet shelf in our living room. Yea, a fad. I will not like NKOTB. So, I spent my jr. high days listening to Lenny Kravitz and Madonna and putting Grateful Dead dancing bear stickers around my room.

Those words from my sister have popped into my head numerous times as I have grown older. Any band or movie or movement people have raved about I’ve always tended to go the opposite direction.

Have you heard of Tara Whitney?? Oh my gah. Have you SEEN Tara Whitney’s work? Yea, it’s like Tara Whitney. I like that photo. It reminds me of Tara Whitney’s stuff. Oh, you’re a family photographer? Do you know of Tara Whitney? Tara. Whitney. Tara. Whitney. Tara. Whitney.

Tara Whitney. Good gracious.

But, then … the same way I would secretly dance to NKOTB when they would come on the radio I would stumble upon (okay fine. straight up type in your url into my web browser) and would feast on the way you photograph life.

It took me a good year … maybe longer and I finally caved. I squeal each time a new blog post pops up on my Google reader. It’s TARA WHITNEY, ya’ll! Have you seen her work?!?!

Give me the posters, the cups and t-shirts, the toothbrush and sheet set. I am on the front row, screaming my head off! (Lucky for me you are nothing close to a fad; your “music” is here to stay forever).

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I’m sure you hear it all the time, but your photos … ahhh … your photographs … it’s as if every single one of them screams with life. Just be. The perfect slogan for your style. I would love to chat a bit about how you are able to capture life the way you do.

This is the question I get the most often, and it is the question that I have the hardest time answering. I truly do not have a pat formula I go through for every session. My best advice is to relate genuinely to people, and they will relate genuinely to you.

Paint a picture for us of where you are right now as you type. What state of mind are you in?

I am hungry, and waiting for my husband to get home.

Share with us how you got into taking pictures for a living?

I was given a Canon Rebel (film) as a gift ten years ago, and encouraged to take some photography classes by my husband. I did. I spent the next five years taking millions of photographs and burning through thousands of dollars in film. I upgraded to a DSLR and started my blog. Suddenly I had complete strangers emailing me, asking if I photographed other people, not just my family. I had always thought that someday…maybe…I would start my own photography business. I am so lucky that it came to me, fell in my lap, and has snowballed naturally into what it is today.

All the fun ideas your photos have (putt-putt golf while pregnant, playing football in the backyard, eating ice cream & cotton candy) are these ideas you come up with or do your clients?

They are usually ideas I have come up with while getting to know my clients.

How long did it take you to really find your style?

I knew what I wanted to do going into it, (casual, candid, real, fun, happy, loving, modern) when I started learning. But I think that I will never truly be content with where I am as far as “style” goes.

As artists it is so easy to feel insecure about our work (are they really good?, will my clients like them?, what do other photographers think?, etc.). How did/do you overcome this?

My only real concern is that my clients are happy with the images, and that I am also pleased with what I have produced. Of course, insecurity creeps in, and creeps in OFTEN. But experience helps confidence grow. The more experience you have being successful, the more confidence you obtain.

I am always incredibly intrigued by successful working mothers. How do you find balance with it all?

I am not sure I do, actually. The great thing about where I am at now is that my children are all in school. I have every day from 9-3 to work. When they are home, I do my best to spend my time with them as much as possible.

With my workshops, I have tons of mothers who take it simply because they strive to always be growing. Many of them, as you can imagine, find the “artist within” and have either started or are well on their way to starting their own business. What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

FOLLOW YOUR GUT.

Don’t plagiarize or attempt to be someone else.
It’s just not worth trying to be someone else when you are special and unique just as you are.

Take images without apology – whatever makes your heart sing – GO FOR IT and don’t look back no matter what anyone says.

If you love what you are doing, someone else will too.

Canon or Nikon? Canon 5d (classic)

Favorite lens or two: 24-70, 50 1.2

Editing software/workflow: CS3 and Bridge

Favorite actions: I use actions very sparingly, but when I do I use Totally Rad.

Do you ever shoot with a flash? No.

How do you overcome situations when the lighting stinks (to dark/too bright)?

I don’t worry too much about poor lighting conditions. Of course I prefer golden rays of sunlight just before sunset – who doesn’t? But every light has beauty in it, and it is important to learn to see that.

Do you shoot around the same time of day normally or whenever is convenient for everyone involved?

If I am shooting at the beach or another open place, I stick to early morning or sunset. Any other place I am okay with any time of day. I also schedule most of my sessions on weekdays because I prefer to keep my weekends free.

Describe your ideal client/shoot: Anyone who loves their family and values photography and is open to trying something new.

Your children are taken care of, your bags packed, the tickets being handed over. Where would you love to travel with just your husband? (Money’s not an issue, of course!)

Krabi, Thailand

What about a trip, kids included?

Australia!

Favorite movie:

Too hard. I love too many movies.

Favorite book:

Also too hard. : ) I love too many books.

Favorite song or artist you’re listening to these days:

This is Ivy League

If you could snap photos of one celebrity family who would you love to be hired by?

I would LOVE to photograph Jack Black and his family, what a riot that would be.

Someone/thing that always leaves you giddy: A good deal, someone being thoughtful, getting a beautiful shot of a hard sell, margaritas.

Someone/thing that always makes you weepy: When my children do something sweet for one another. The sky.

Something even your avid blog readers might not know about you: I am psychotically afraid of a bird touching me.

It’s been so much fun doing this little interview (some questions came from the help of my budding-photographer assistant, Stephanie). Thank you so much for taking the time to share yourself. And, more importantly, thank you for being so much cooler than NKOTB.

For more of Tara check out her fun and fabulous website or take a minute to get to know her, her work and her adorable family at her blog.

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Happy Friday!

jc

p.s. much too often do I hear of photographers fearing to up their ISO b/c they don’t want any noise in their photos. Pa-lease. If you are after truly capturing the moment, who cares? Up it, eliminate the chance for blur and capture the incredible relationships that are alive. No one will even notice the noise when they’re captivated by a genuine moment captured in a photograph.  (confused? check out Tara’s photo, 3rd one down … the b&w one. an absolute favorite of mine.)

p.p.s. did you see April’s new challenge posted below? can’t wait to see what you guys capture!