Photography Contest Winners! A huge congratulations to all who entered the End of 2014 Summer Blues Photography Contest, hosted by Nations Photo Lab and myself. We have named our photography contest winners!! We had some snags with uploading of entries after only a few days into the contest but, luckily, several hundred more images were uploaded with the designated contest hashtag - and we definitely found them all (and we found some absolutely gorgeous work!) It wasn't e

Free Online Education As summer winds down (yes, I'm slightly obsessed by this), and we gear up for Back to School season, I am teaming up with Adorama for 3 days of FREE online photography education. From Wednesday, August 27th to Friday, August 29th, I'll be sharing tips & techniques on everything from travel photography to portraits to gear, lighting, and more. How does this work? Here are the WHATs, WHENs, and... well, more detailed WHATs: What: Tamara Takes Over Adora

Photography Contests 2014: Summer Blues I'm teaming up with the friendly, talented and artistic peeps at Nations Photo Lab to host a fun, new photography contest, celebrating our collective Summer Blues - as in, summer is fading, school is starting back up, and vacations are winding down. So let's share what you shot this summer - we want to show your work some love! Together with Nations Photo Lab, we are launching this brand new photography contest today. Simply post y

Photography Workshops 2014 We finished up an excellent, sold-out 3-day Portrait Photographer's workshop in London last month, and it was truly a remarkable experience. I've come to realize that it's not just the teaching and photography I enjoy, but the opportunity to connect on a more meaningful level with those who attend my workshop. It really makes a difference to have that time together - and the one-on-one time with each individual - and for that, I'm grateful. Huge

Photographing London Three weeks ago, my family and I set out on a bit of a trip - a bit of work, a bit of play, a lot of exploring and a whole lot of photography; London was our first stop. There's also Ethiopia, Italy, Switzerland and more - but we started out with the U.K. We wandered London for a few days right after we got there. We were staying in Southwark but took the tube everywhere. To Camden Town, Kensington, Covent Garden, The London Eye, Buckingham Palace,

Nikon Takeover Since becoming a Nikon USA Ambassador, I've had the good fortune to do some very cool new things - but getting to do a Nikon Takeover is definitely one of the coolest of the cooler new things yet. If you have any questions about cameras, lenses, gear, portraits, lighting, shooting, or anything photography-related, I'll be doing a Nikon Takeover tomorrow - well, to be specific, I'm just taking over their twitter account ; ) Feel free to tweet any questions usi

Nikon Takeover Since becoming a Nikon USA Ambassador, I've had the good fortune to do some very cool new things - but getting to do a Nikon Takeover is definitely one of the coolest of the cooler new things yet. What does a Nikon takeover involve? Well, if you have ANY questions about cameras, lenses, gear, portraits, lighting, shooting, or anything photography-related , I'll be taking over the Nikon twitter account to answer A LOT, LOT. Feel free to tweet any questions u

Open Call for Models London **6/24/14: Note, we are all set with some rather wonderful models, and the workshop is completely sold out - thank you! (Our last workshop of the year is in Durham this September, and there are only a few spots left ). Our 3-day portrait photographers workshop is coming up very, very soon, and we will need about six more models to round out all the shooting clinics we will have over the course of our workshop! We have been quite lucky to ha

When Chris Rosati was first diagnosed with ALS (historically known as Lou Gehrig's Disease), it came as a pretty incredible shock to he and his wife. What had started out as muscle twitches, and eventually some muscle weakness, now had a diagnosis - ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that attacks motor neurons (the cells that control our muscles), a disease that changes what you knew as your life, a disease that is fatal. A diagnosis of ALS can change everything.

Giveaways 2014! Photography is awesome. Also , getting great photography gear can be expensive. Luckily, the good peeps at Adorama are currently holding TWO new contests, where you can win up to $1100 in giveaway money to spend at their online superstore. What can you buy? Nearly everything, it seems - but, if you want any suggestions to help narrow it down, here are some of my favorites. The first giveaway opportunity is their You Be The Host Contest, where you get a

Nikon Ambassadors This week Nikon announced that the Nikon Ambassadors program expanded to include four new photographers, for a total of twenty - and I was thrilled to read my name included as one of them. One of the more popular posts I've written on this blog was about why I switched to Nikon. Since the first time I started working with the Nikon system, I truly haven't looked back in any way. I am loving the gear (if curious, here's what's in my bag), the qual

2014 Boston Marathon My studio manager, Sarah, and I were able to watch the live stream of the Boston Marathon yesterday at lunch, on an iPhone, while I was between portrait shoots - and we were absolutely glued to the tiny screen. It was incredible to watch such incredible athletes run so fast, so powerfully. Not just the leaders of the race, but the nearly 36,000 runners who took on the difficult 26.2 miles on what turned out to be a beautiful morning. We were also luck

Photography Contests - Best Emerging Photographer I'm teaming up with the generous peeps at Nations Photo Lab to hold one of the more fun new photography contests - Best Emerging Photographer. Nations Photo Lab prints so much incredible work each and every day, they would like to recognize one talented artist as "Best Emerging Photographer". Please note, this title isn't just for new photographers , it's for anyone whose style and vision is emerging with each new creativ

Photography Workshops 2014: 3-Day Portrait Photographer's Workshop in London Announcing a brand new workshop! Our 3-day Portrait Photographer's Workshop is coming to London for the very first time, and we're thrilled to be crossing the pond. After delivering workshops all over the U.S, in Canada and in Australia, with a 100% would refer-a-friend rate that we're extraordinarily proud of, this will be our first foray into Europe. (I have had the pleasure of teaching at SW

I was ridiculously shocked to hear my name called out at the 2014 WPPI Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas, as the winner of the WPPI Adorama Inspire Award. The ceremony had just started - I swear we were five minutes into it - and Jerry Ghionis, who was hosting the ceremony, introduced Jeffrey Snyder as the first person to present an award. I remember that Jeffrey said a whole lot of very nice things about someone who inspired others in photography and in life, and then he finished

WPPI 2014 & Animoto Pro Giveaway I had to check my journals to confirm that the first year I went to WPPI in Las Vegas was, in fact, in Spring of 2005. That vaguely struck me as a while ago, until I used all the fingers on both my hands to realize that this year, 2014, will be my TENTH time at WPPI. Year Ten, Wow. A lot, lot, lot has happened in that time - about 15 different journals' worth, to be exact. My experience at WPPI has continued to become more significant, and

Mom's Night Out - Taking Better Pictures Nikon's famed Nikon School is bringing their wonderful new program Mom's Night Out to Raleigh, North Carolina this March 13th, 2014. This program is intended for moms on the go who are interested in taking better pictures and need a night out. That being said, the last time we did this there were a number of very interested fathers/male humans there, too - so all are invited! I was fortunate enough to be the guest instructor for Nik

Talks At Google I was recently invited to the fabulous, futuristic Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California to present a program on photography. This was part of their rather awesome Talks At Google series, so I felt ridiculously honored - and not just a wee bit (okay, a lot bit) nervous. Before the talk even began, we went to lunch and, wow, walking around Google's campus was a thrill in and of itself. I loved the free Google bike system, the major slides connect

3-Day Portrait Photographer's Workshop with Tamara Lackey SOLD OUT – Please contact the studio to be put on the waiting list in case of cancellations and/or to be put on our list to be the first to know about new workshops later in the year! DETAILS: Full Workshop Price: $1695.00 Limit of 15 Participants Includes: ▪ 3 days of workshop participation, May 20th – May 22nd (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) ▪ A generous bag of assorted photography products and goodies, worth h

Shopping Spree Giveaway GIVE!!! The NPL Holiday Shopping Spree Giveaway -> Want to give $500 of photography to someone, or some organization, you know deserves it??? (Will have to act quickly: this Contest ends December 16th & the winner is chosen December 17th!) What person/family/cause that you love deserves a Nations Photo Lab shopping spree giveaway this holiday season? Tell your story, or a story close to your heart - whether it's an organization, a friend or family m