Featured Photographer Tara Whitney!

Check it out! Our very first FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER!! We'll be doing these fun interviews from time to time ... if you have a favorite photographer you'd like to know more about, let us know and we'll see what we can do to get them on the blog!

TARA WHITNEY!!

Today I got to interview one of my all-time FAAAAAAAVORITE family photographers, Tara Whitney! Her work is so fresh and clean and modern and fun and colorful and happy. You can't look at her website without smiling! Check it out yourself : Tara's Website and her BLOG!



Your name? Tara Whitney. I also answer to babe, dude, and MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Where do you live and work? Orange County, California (if you want to see a REAL housewife of orange county, come to my house)

How long have you been a lifestyle photographer? Professionally: almost 3 years, for fun: 8

What's your shooting style? Do you hang back and rock the zoom lens or are you rolling around in the grass, getting down and dirty with the
kids to get all those great moments? I am totally getting down and dirty. I come home from sessions a complete mess ... sweaty, dirty, sand everywhere. I lay down on the street, whatever I've got to do. I don't even think about it at the time. I just reACT.

What do you love most about photographing babies, children and families? I LOVE getting to know people ... like, really get to know them. Not superficially. And thats what I do with my clients. I feel like I have a way of making people feel very comfortable with me - I'm not sure how it works - it's just happened to me my whole life. People trust me.
Families are my favorite, and after them probably couples. I love capturing the connections that happen so naturally with both.

You probably have a lot of repeat clients! Do you ever start feeling like family to the kiddos you photograph? If not family, definitely close friends. especially with Mom. I honestly come away from each session with a new set of friends.

Do you ever travel for sessions? If so, what's the farthest or coolest place you've ever been? I do actually. I started it last year. The farthest I've gone is New York City. I'm hoping to make a trek to Australia either this year or next. My favorite place is always San Francisco. I selfishly book a lot of sessions there. :)

What's a good tip you can give moms that want to take better photos of their children? Get a zoom lens and go outside and let them play. Don't ask them to look at you or smile. Just capture them doing their thing.

What photographer inspires YOU? So so so so many. I love all types of photography in general, but I am REALLY inspired by the things people do that I cannot-like commercial work, fashion, high editorial, etc.

And of course, some fun, non-photo-related stuff ...

What's your all-time favorite movie? A toss up between Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind (I like to think if my husband and I lost our memories we would find each other again-and the music, oh the music in that film), Notting Hill (because I want to have a flat with a blue door in London, and a roommate called spike), and The Family Stone (someday I hope my family is as funny, smart, and eclectic-without the cancer of course.)

Favorite flavor ice cream? Homemade concoction of vanilla, chocolate syrup, and a scoop of JIFF peanut butter. (Creamy)

What was the first concert you ever went to? Depeche Mode - Violator Tour NINETEEN NINETY THREE baby.

If you weren't a photographer, what would you want to be? A lady of leisure. Sipping drinks pool-side and traveling the world with my cabana boy Jeff.

And of course, some of Tara's favorite photos ...











THANKS TARA!! The Mamarazzi School LOOOOOOOOVES YOU!