The Tara Whitney Experience

I keep thinking of a masters card comercial when I try to write this post. You know the ones where they go through a list of items like....gas to california: $$$, food: $$$, hotel: $$$, ect, ect. The last line would be easy to write....it goes like this...
Meeting TARA WHITNEY: Priceless!

Ha, truly meeting Tara was a dream come true of mine. Cross that one off the bucket list (literally!). I've been "blog stalking" Tara for, like, forever. My father-in-law kept asking us on our trip...."why her?", "what's the big deal?" Well Tara is the big deal, really.

But let's get serious though...what a JOY to work with Tara. She was amazing. I emailed her on a whim of mine just to see how much she charged and if she was even available. She was super sweet when she emailed me back. Let's be honest here, though, she was more than your average photography session you'd normally get. Was she worth it? YES, a million times over!

Here is how we started our relationship:
(my email)

Tara,

You are AMAZING!!!

I'm afraid to ask (because if I put a price on your work it would probably be in the millions!), but I am interested in doing a session with you when we come to So Cal in May on Vacation.

So what can I tell you about myself? My husband is a ridiculously good looking cop (what more could a girl ask for?), I have a supermodel daughter, and I'm best friends with Chuck Norris (my dog)!!! Ferris says it best for Team Beardshall...."Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it!" Life is what you make of it so....LIFE IS GOOD!

I would love just one shot of us together (Katy is 2) just how we are....perfectly imperfect, just like you always say!

We wont take up much of your time and you can seriously just take one photo of us, but I think you are very inspiring and I would love some inspration in the form of a family picture from you!

You're the BEST, thanks for your time!

Amy Beardshall

She emailed me back shortly after that, and our "relationship" began. We put our deposit down and she took some time getting to know us. We had to fill out a family questionaire and send a picture of us together. She used that to find a location she thought we'd like.

Meeting her was just like meeting an old friend (maybe because I'm a stalker and read what she writes all the time!). When we met that night it was seriously hurricane force winds. I was kind of nervous about that "ruining" our pictures. But she assured me beach hair is awesome. After our time together I KNEW she worked her magic, I could just feel it. She was great with Katy and didn't think we were weird at all when we told her that pretend farting and burping always make Katy laugh (are we bad parents?)...she was all for it and joined in the fun!

She emailed us the next day saying "You guys are so awesome. Thanks again - enjoy Disneyland!" Yes, Tara said we are awesome! I will always remember that. I told her that after our shoot Steve told me "that was not that bad". Bravo to you on that one, that is a HUGE compliment coming from Steve! She told me when a dad says that was not that bad it's like he's saying THAT WAS FREAKIN AMAZING!!!! ha ha ha!

Thank you again for this AMAZING opportunity Tara. I will have these forever. I knew my family was amazing, but for you to capture us like this, through your lens, is like putting that into words (or pictures in this case!).

So here we go....these are my FAVORITES (sorry there are so many!)

My most favorite picture ever!

Thanks again Tara!