Yearly Archives: 2014

I’ve been talking about really big things happening over here for all my clients… and it’s about time I revealed what’s going on!

I’ve been really inspired lately… this past year really… to up the game for children and family photography!  Last year I decided to specialize in it because it was where my heart was and it’s where my passion for photography really lives!

This year though that passion increased ten fold when Tuck was away.  I realized just how incredibly important children and family portrait photography truly is and how this area of photography needed some real love and some real growth!

I realized that with each passing day our stories are changing, second by second!~  I realized that each day WE are changing and our children are growing and moving forward right before our eyes.  We may not see it because we are there every day and so we become so accustomed to those little tiny details.  When we step away though for a day or two, well it just hits us like a mack truck!  Before we know it, the time has flown by and our babies are grown up and have independent stories of their own!

I recognized some things in this part of the industry that I wanted to enhance and I wanted to really change and make special for families!

This is why I created the Lifetime Experience and why I am so incredibly excited about it!

I don’t want to just BE your family photographer… I want to be MORE than that!  I want to create a real relationship with you and your family so that years from now, I can help you remember all those tiny moments that happened in between those big adventurous ones!

I want to be your photographer and help you document your families moments for a lifetime!  There is not a single moment that I don’t want to be a part of or share with you!

When we think about the images we want framed in our house, we want the type of images that are raw and genuine and beautiful!  The BEST way to get those images is to know the person behind the camera and have a real relationship with them!  A relationship that is build on trust and a relationship that is comfortable!  You want your children to feel at ease with them and feel excited to see them!  I want to be that person and I can do this by being a consistent person and friend in your life.  I specialize in only children and family so I have the time and the availability to spend all of it on YOUR family!  Your family has my undivided attention!

I don’t want to just be a photographer that comes and goes.  I don’t want to just be someone who swoops in with the click of a button.  I want to be a part of your life and share those good times and share those memories!  I want to be more than just that photographer that has a million sessions on their plate.  I want to know what your children love and what they are into.  I want to know how they are growing and what activities they love at this moment.  I want meet them on the session and then have the time to not only shoot but also play and have fun!  I want to have the time just like you do.  The time for everyone to just play and feel free and relaxed!  We don’t need to rush these moments any more than they already are!

For more information on the Lifetime Experience check out the website:  www.brooketuckerphotography.com

 

Timing is a funny thing!  It has a way of working itself out on it’s own schedule, not when we want it to.  Usually it seems like it’s all wrong or funny or ironic, but in the end when you look back timing is usually kind of spot on and perfect.

This was the case when we started planning our family session with this incredible family!  We had it all set and planned last year but so many things kept coming up or getting in the way.  Illness struck a few times, weather came and went that prevented us all from getting to where we wanted to be but in the end timing just happened to work out perfect!

Almost a year later we all came together at Courtney’s family house on the water and we all just played and laughed and spent an evening of fun together!  It was a family session that I live for and one that I will never ever forget!

I truly felt blessed to spend just a few hours with this beautiful and close family!  A family that loves God and loves one another in a way that you can truly see and feel!

A little bit about Courtney according to her family:  She’s beachy, and she active but she loves the quiet too.  She’s very social and she loves her family (although sometimes she wishes her family would be a teeny bit quieter!)

A little bit about Tim (from Courtney):  He’s fun and traditional.  He’s thoughtful and he keeps our family smiling!  He’s very family focused!

A little bit about Taylor (6 years old):  He loves swimming, legos and water guns!  He’s fun loving and silly!  He’s thoughtful, sensitive and carefree!

A little bit about William (4 years old):  He loves swimming and go karts!  He loves to fish and loves t-ball!  He is helpful, quiet, impulsive (sometimes), loves to hug, loves to smile and is the most dapper of all the boys!

A little bit about Benjamin (2 years old):  Loves anything that his brothers are into!~  Loves to play with cars and trucks.  He is loud and never wants to miss a single thing!  He is happy and very conversational and always very busy!

How fun is this family?!  Right!!!!  And now probably one of the most amazing couples I have EVER met and will ever meet!

Dr. Hubbard (according to Courtney):  He’s sentimental and traditional.  He’s very hoard working.  He’s a republican which is important to him.  He loves hid bride and his family very much!

Mrs. Hubbard (Candy):  She loves her boys (her grandkids!)  She loves her horse and she is very traditional and very family focused and faith focused as well.

I’ve never met two people more in love… fresh in love!  Dr. Hubbard always wanted to know where his girl was and it touched my heart in a way that reminded me we should always appreciate our loved ones.  Even as newly weds we don’t appreciate one another the way this couple truly appreciated each other!  We often take our loved ones for granted but not Dr. and Mrs. Hubbard!  They love each other with 100 percent of their hearts, 100 percent of the time without fail!  It was really moving and something I will always remember for the rest of my life.  Something I hope to be able to apply to my marriage every day from here on out!

 

We left the dock and switched things up from popsicles and treats to a little dip in the pool!  The boys had a blast jumping in and showing me all their amazing tricks!   Tim broke out the water guns and things really got exciting then!  It was such a fun way to end the night!

I enjoyed these boys so much!  I even put my camera down and jumped in on some of the water fun!

Thanks guys for such an incredible night!  Courtney and Tim you have an INCREDIBLE family!  I can’t wait to see you guys again!  Taylor, William and Benjamin… next time I’m coming with my own little water surprise… so BE READY!!! MWAHHHHAHAHAHAAH!

I had a totally different post in mind for this morning, but sometimes you just gotta roll right?!

I think all the mama’s (and dad’s too, I won’t discriminate) will say a silent amen to what I’ve got going on today!

For the most part, I consider myself a stay at home mom.  I LOVE this role.  I love spending the day with Lincoln and participating in all his adventures and getting to see his little boy world unravel each and every day.  I cherish it.  I love waking up with him in the mornings and making his breakfast and sharing our crazy morning conversations.  They are some of the best!

I love that some mornings (like this morning) he just wants to snuggle in his bed with me.  By snuggling, I  mean he wants to a lay in his bed and read books (on a good day) or on a normal day it means he wants to run his excavator up and down mommy’s face.

This is the role I always dreamed I would have and wanted so badly all my life!

Linc does go to school a few days a week.  While this makes me sad a bit, he absolutely adores it!  He can’t get in the door to his classroom fast enough and he can’t get me OUT of the door fast enough.  I usually get a quick “bye, love you” before he slams the door in my face.  School is wonderful for him and he gets to participate in some of the most amazing activities that I would never ever dream up!

School also means that I get to come home and actually work at my other job:  photographer.  I also cherish this role and I love that for a few days out of the week for just a few hours, my clients get my full, undivided attention!  This is why I am able to turn over my sessions so fast.  It’s why I am able to respond to e mails in less that 24 hours (most of the time) and why  I am able to treat my clients like they are my family, because to me they are~!

I LOVE my job as a photographer and I love that I get to be both these roles.

What most people also don’t know about me is that I also teach body flow on the side!  Body flow is a yoga, pilates tai chi combination class developed by Les Mills.  If you haven’t heard of it or ever taken a class you HAVE to go check it out.  It’s an amazing class and if you have ever wanted to try yoga but are a bit afraid to go to an actual yoga class… this is the class for you to try!

I love teaching body flow because it’s another way I can serve people.  I also love it because it helps me quiet my mind and gives me a sense of peace and calm.  It’s also set to really phenomenal popular music so it’s a place for me to connect to music in a way that reminds me of a time when I used to dance.

I also really pride myself on being big on family and being a good home maker.  I know that might sound silly to some but it’s the truth.  I may not be suzi home make because let’s face, I’m AWFUL at baking ( I can even mess up the little drop and bake cookies that are in the freezer section something fierce) but I love creating a home that is comfortable for family.  One that we can take pride in.  I love having family dinners where all of us can come to the table and eat the same meal and talk together about our day.  I love creating a home that is neat and cozy.  One where Linc can feel safe and comfortable playing and having fun in but also is presentable and welcoming to guests.  That’s quite the task when lego’s feel like instant death under your feet.

I cherish all these roles but sometimes they tend to clash with one another!  Especially when you are trying to be everything to everyone all the time.  It’s impossible and perfection is impossible!  As hard as you try, it’s just not there and working harder gets the better of you.

Perfection isn’t even a good thing right?!  It’s boring.  The flaws are what make us beautiful and interesting.  It’s what helps us to connect with one another and makes us endearing to each other.  Still though, we all strive for it… and at some point we all fail.

Last night, I failed miserably and I had a mini melt down.  I had a toddler melt down actually.  It was the laundry room that threw me in.

Anyone with a front loader washing machine will totally understand how I feel on this!  I went in to fold what I thought was “clean” laundry and realized they all smelled like mold.  UGH BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!  Dumb front loader!  The thing with those awful machines is if you leave a load in there longer than hour or two, they get this funky moldy smell.  Who can be on top of the laundry like that with a family?!  WHO!!!

Our laundry has been piling up and I just feel like I can’t get out from underneath it.  So this clean laundry stinking just threw me over the top.  I melted down after a day of Linc feeling less than perky.  A day of tasks that needed to get done being pushed aside for yet another day.  I felt buried under all the things I needed to do and I felt like I was failing.  I was frustrated and upset and worst of all, I felt embarrassed.  I was embarrassed because I couldn’t keep up with the pace I had set and I was letting down all these people I so wanted to please.

I couldn’t be everything I wanted to be to everyone at that moment!

So what happened?!

I woke up this morning and realized it’s just not going to be possible all the time… and that’s OK!  No one can be perfect and no one can be everything to everyone EVER!  You just do the best you can and laugh at all the other stuff.  I’m human and I’m not perfect and I will celebrate all my flaws.

I will let go of the laundry room moldy smell.  I will re-wash and laugh about it.  I will realize it’s kind of funny that the dog only pees in the house when I’m home with her right after we’ve just spent an hour outside playing.  It’s just funny when the neighbor’s cat taunts our big scary pitbull (who is somewhat afraid of that cat) that when she jumps up she spills my coffee all over me onto the only last pair of clean clothes I have (including my bra).  So yes if you plan on seeing me today, I will be wearing no bra!

Everything will get done… it just has it’s own time!  Some days we all need to allow ourself a moment to breath, drink a little extra coca cola (or your beverage of choice) and enjoy the day!

In light of that I’m going to share with you my laundry room  that was just picked up, and my pantry (the pantry that still gives me hives when I think about how awful it is in there.)  Give me a shout out if you have rooms in your house that look the same!

And yes that would be a box of Krispy Kreme donuts in the back of the pantry and yes there is still one or two donuts in there.  Sad but true!