Blog of Orange County photographer, Tara Whitney. Features client sneak peeks and sessions, the "check it" section (where Tara shares her favorite things found online), and personal stories from her life as a woman and mother of four.
Michel and Christa are friends of mine. Michel works for Treats! magazine. (Treats! link contains nudity) Christa is a self employed baker at Mini Baker. They live in Los Angeles. They are getting married soon.
They told me, “Do whatever you want with us.”
This is what happened.
xo
Tara
PS – LOVE YOU GUYS! Can’t wait for the wedding. (That I won’t be shooting.)
- Dangit, you are a genius.
- Oh God, I just love this Tara. What a little hottie couple, too. That apron look? Damn.
- there are no words. simply awesome my friend. :)
- beautiful session. where on earth is that wonderful california sign?
- Damn girl. You never cease to amaze me. <3
- Lovely. Seriously, your creativity amazes me and the way you can get photos of people being themselves and expressing themselves. These are the types of photos I strive to get. I'm not there yet, mainly because I don't have the courage to take the leap to base my business that way. You and your work are inspirations to me. I know that may sound kinda melodramatic, but your authenticity in how you live your life and run your business help me to know that's the only way to be. Rock on, Miss Tara!!
- Tara. I love your work. I love the realness of it! And this is beautiful!!
- Wow! That kitchen scene is unbelievable! Just stunning work, Tara.
- this might be my favorite shoot of yours. ever.
- One of my favorite shoots of yours! Great job Tara. I love your beach photos, but it's nice to see a different location.
- what a lovely day together! love the end of the day shots!
- oh i love these so. adore the bond that comes so clearly through. someday youll need to shoot Chris & i like this if i can tear you two away from playing WWF for an hour.
- oh my! these are ...WOW! love them. and I agree with others..this is got to be one of may favorites of yours. WOW!! and how did you do that one where they are walking toward each other? Cool.
- Hope this comes across the way I intend it. Gah! (As in jaw dropped in wonderous amazement.)
- Again I love your work! So rich and Raw. Great stuff!
- Totally amazing! All of them! I know you don't shoot weddings but MAN I'd love to see what you would come out with at a wedding!!!!!
- my favorites are the ones in the bedroom on the bed. and i just ohhhh and awe at the tunnel light. i bet this was super fun.
- Tara, this is amazing! Love, love, love this session!
- I like that you can see her freckles on her ears....I like details like that.
- these are so cool
- Tara...I've been reading your blog for about 100 years. Well, not quite that long, but a long, long time. And this is my first blog comment which is seriously rude of me to be such a peeping tom without so much as a hello. Anyway, THIS shoot just might be my favorite of your work. I've enjoyed seeing your evolution along the way and I'm really loving what you are doing these last few months. I feel like this is so vulnerable and raw and just really beautiful. Thanks for sharing with us. And I'll try not to be such a peeper anymore :).
- WOW!
- Oh Tara these are AWESOME!
- I think that may be the sexiest game of Scrabble I've seen! :) Love the jumping on the bed shots too!
- a beautifully captured day!
- Stunning. Just stunning!
- you just raised the bar loveylou:)
- i am so stinkin in love it's ridiculous, tara. LOVE!
- this post is just sooo awesome! I have to comment and tell you that this is just an amazing shoot!!
- wow, tara! these pictures are incredible, and they tell such a story about this couple. awesome!!!
- Definitely one of my favorites... :)
- ...LOVE!
- I love the total lack of pretense. Truly beautiful.
- Loooove the images. One thing, though, you might want to mention that the "treats!" magazine link is NSFW. I'm all for nudity and I'm nowhere near offended by it, but I unfortunately am not in an environment where it accepted so openly. Maybe a "(Caution: nudity)" could be added to it?
- You are so amazingly talented! This, I think is my very favorite photo shoot ever! So very creative!! Well done Tara! I see you unique style all over this!! adorable couple!!
- You are absolutely right - fixed. Thanks for the reminder. I wasn't thinking at all of the workplace.
- Thank you! Again, gorge images :)
- Why must I live in Iowa? You truely capture your subjects souls, individually and as a couple.
- LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Especially the scrabble shots :)
- That last black and white of them about to kiss...if that doesn't end up HUGE on their wall, they are crazy...LOVE IT!!!
- You make my heart beat a little faster! Amazing!
- stunning! great direction you are going in! Can't wait to see more.
- And then you wonder why couples send you wedding inquiries ;-)
- such a fun session. what an awesome couple. Great job!
- from start to finish, one of the best sessions i've seen. I LOVE THIS ONE. i love it. and what, exactly, is meowslam?
- gorgeous :)
- Genius. This whole shoot is gorgeous from the get-go.
- you are amazing. plain and simply put......AMAZING!!!!!!
- ooh la la. These are fabulous. The black and white kitchen shot is so dang sexy in a sweet way. And LOVE the scrabble set!!!
- Wow! I never comment but I just had to on this one. AMAZING session!!
- favorite post of yours in the last littlest while! (though that could be last week since all your sessions are beautiful!) love the intimacy you captured between them!
- Tara!! You HAVE to fill us in on WHERE that AMAZING California sign is!!
- I love, love, LOVE this shoot!!! So natural...so fun!
- HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Man alive these are so dang rad! That first one and the first one in the kitchen made me stop dead in my tracks. And that California sign?! so cool. you rocked it out (as usual) Tara.
- Loving that California sign. You always find these quirky, perfect locations with odd-in-a-good-way backgrounds.
- This. Is. Amazing.
- So quirky and so you, Tara! I'm thinkin you need to do more of this kind of photog. Reach for the stars! love your work. love you. Oh yeah! And I love the scrabble play with words...sh## and your name. Very funny!
- WOW! I don't think I can say much more! Blown away by these shots!
- What an amazing set of photographs. No doubt they will be treasured by them forever!
- love them all!
- tara. whitney. i love your guts.
- Oh tara- you did a wonderful job again. I especially love the bedroom and kitchen pictures. I can't wait to be in or take photos like those!!!
- These are amazing, you knock it out of the park every time. Totally makes me want to meowslam (?!) someone, that's how awesome they are. ;) Congrats to the soon to be newlyweds!
- you inspire me. not just in photography (even though your photos take my breathe away!), but as a mom, and wife, and friend. there is magic in everything you do.
- so beautifull, it's amazing!
- Favorite. Engagement. Shoot. EVER.
- Loving this go with the flow session and all the little stories behing it :)
- WOW WOW and WOW. LOVE these Tara. beautiful:) x0 Perfect - such a connection - and YOU captured it perfectly. I can *see* their love. AWESOME.
- This is so real and fun and inspiring. LOVE it. Amazing work.
- oh my, muy fantastico.
- I stalk your blog/website :) Can't help it. Gotta post this time. I covet your mad skills. These are inspiring, and beautiful.
- nothing short of perfect! amazing session!!!
- golly gee these are wonderful!
- WOW. These are amazing! That tunnel is AMAZING! You are amazing!
- Hi:) I love your work and you are such an inspiration. I am in love with this set :) They make a beautiful couple...makes me want to do this with my husband!! Such fun :) Did you use one specific lens for this? In N.Y. we are still waiting for some warm weather...ugh. California looks amazing! I miss the sun! Tara.. I have 4 children...1 with a learning disorder. She is 15 and I am going to get her tested again after all these years...I am seeing signs of slight autism...you really inspire me to fulfill my dream and overcome the hard battles we all face in one way or another. :).
- gorgeous! i love your shoots that take place in people's homes and beds. where is that "california" sign?!?!? if you don't want to give up the spot that's fine as today i started a folder in my savings account labeled "tara session" and you'll just take me there when you shoot scott & i :)
- I love this session Tara!!
- Tara - amazing!! no "lining up against walls" needed here. You showed this couple, their home, their love in a soft, sophiscated way. Great job! I am totally in love with the feeling I get then looking at the bedroom photos (almost kissing ones!). Such unique, personal background for all of these!! xoxoxoxox
- love the ones under the tunnel with the orange sunlight.
- love how comfortable they are with you. It is quite a gift you have.
- LOVE this SHOOOOOOOT. You my friend have mad skills, thanks for making me smile:)
- These photos are absolutely beautiful. I don't even know them and it just makes me happy that they found each other!
- Tara! Wow! What a blessing these images of Mike & Christa are; Sharon and I are so stoked! Your work is beautiful, and my favorite part is that you work in Natural Light, and are a Master of it. We love your work, especially what you've done of our kids. Thank you! Terry
- OMG yes! These are so awesome. LOVE!!!!
- these images are so fun! i love it.
- Tara, you're AMAZING! Such a great story teller (visually & verbally). I'm sure Christa and Michael will treasure these photos forever, as well as their family. Great job!
- So stunning.
- So, I am still learning all about photography and now I realize how lame the 'lens" question I posted sounded-sorry! This is my favorite work of yours :)!!
- And I just linked to nowhere on my own name...;).
- As Christa's mom and now Michel's mother-in-law, I can say that yes these pictures are fabulous because for me they really capture their zest for life, and love of each other. They will treasure these for a very long time and always look on them and smile. The photography is stunning, inventive, surprising, and personal. That's what it's all about. Blessings to all of you.
[...] just check this engagement pic of her friends and tell me u just don’t feel like call her and beg her to shoot [...]
by Tara Whitney
show hide 91 comments
link to this post email a friend