Addis Ababa, Ethiopia I photographed this incredibly sweet baby just over a week ago. As a result, this image will join a new portrait gallery in the orphanage where he lives in Addis Ababa. The making of this shot - and pretty much all the others - was the product of a group effort. For instance, I photographed him in a darkly-lit, rather crowded baby room. Firstly, we squeezed him between two other babies who helped to prop him up on a diaper-changing shelf. Secondly, he la

I head out to Los Angeles later today to speak about Expressive Portraits at the Creative Photo Academy. I will present a seminar in Torrance Friday evening. In addition, I will lead an all-day workshop on Saturday in Palos Verdes. During the workshop, we will photograph portraits near the cliffs overlooking the water. If you're in the Southern California region, come say hi!! If you would like to attend the seminar, you can see more information here: http://creativephotoacad

Photograph by Tamara Lackey Good Sports airs as the UNC Basketball Season officially starts!! In other words, perfect timing for our brand new episode of Chasing Frames Show! In this episode, we focus on student athletes. Athletes that don't just draw in fans and revenue but give a surprisingly substantial amount back to their local community and beyond. Photograph by Tamara Lackey Thank you Kevin Guskiewicz, Interim Chancellor of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill a

I met these two beautiful boys for the first time while they were still in Ethiopia. They were babies at the time, twin boys who lived in a rural orphanage far south of Addis Ababa. Photograph by Tamara Lackey They had just met their family, our friends Angela & Clint, parents who would shower them with love, expanding to a family of eight. These two joined four older children who adore them - and a mom and a dad who are SO grateful to have them in their lives. At the time th

On our new Swift Water Rescue episode of Chasing Frames, I spent time on a COLD and very FAST-MOVING river, joining elite first responders who train for a specialized, and very risky, form of rescue. They save others in swift-moving water emergencies. Photo by Tamara Lackey - Episode 03 - Swift Water Rescue As I experienced some of what they do, photographing them while in action, I heard remarkable stories. One story that struck me the most was a team on night rescue after a

Adorama To Celebrate Creative Storytelling Community With INSPIRE Event Series By Joy Celine Asto Published in News Are you a visual storyteller or content creative looking for inspiration to improve your craft? In celebration of creative storytelling and the growing community of visual communicators, Adorama is set to bring the Adorama INSPIRE event series rolling from June 25 to July 1 in New York City. The brand new, week-long event will bring together some key personaliti

What an honor! All this month, Nikon is featuring an image of mine as the cover photo for the main Nikon Facebook Page. You can check it out here. The Story Behind the Image Back in 2010, I began teaching CreativeLive classes. It was the first year they launched courses, and mine was one of the first multi-day live programs. At the time, participants were hand-picked from a long list, and we had to pick from quite a number of video submissions. O ne of the photographers we ch

Love, Fear & A Chance Encounter at Duke Children's Hospital I'd been holding my breath for the last five hours, struggling through what would end up being my daughter's 9-hour surgery at Duke Children's Hospital, when she sat down. Her name was Sue, and she asked if the seat next to me was taken. We were in the waiting room. I was positioned so that I could stare at the wall that separated me, in the waiting room, from the hallway that led to the operating room where my daugh

Beautiful Together's Orphanage Bathroom Renovation: Officially Completed!! We are thrilled to announce that the orphanage bathroom renovation that has been in process for nearly two months is finally, totally, beautifully completed!! When we first announced this Beautiful Together project, we weren't sure exactly how long it would take or what kind of complications we might run into, but much of the work was done before we traveled to Ethiopia, and it was done well - so whe

Best Gallery Opening EVER. Last week I wrote about my concept for a portrait photography gallery for the Kidane Mehret orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. And I spent two full weeks photographing the approximately 65 children who live in this orphanage with the intention of creating this gallery, feeling a strong desire to create it for a few reasons. First, one of the things I noticed from my experience photographing children in orphanages is that although they may know to

Beautiful Together - New Portrait Project As you may know, I’ve been in Ethiopia for the past week and a half working on renovating a bathroom inside an orphanage for our Beautiful Together non-profit. It has been an amazing experience so far, with our days filled with hard work of all kinds. I’ve been trying to update on my Facebook page, Twitter, and my Instagram feed, but Internet has been spotty at best! I wanted to give a small update on the blog and share another BIG pr

When this sweet family contacted me for a last-minute maternity session, I was SO glad I had space available on my calendar. They contacted me just a couple of days before dad was scheduled to be deployed. The family was headed out to Apex the day before he left, and it just happened to be a day that I was available for a session. We really wanted to do an outdoor session, but the weather here in NC is nothing if not unpredictable. The sky just didn't want to cooperate with

When this sweet family contacted me for a last-minute maternity session, I was SO glad I had space available on my calendar. They contacted me just a couple of days before dad was scheduled to be deployed. The family was headed out to Apex the day before he left, and it just happened to be a day that I was available for a session. We really wanted to do an outdoor session, but the weather here in NC is nothing if not unpredictable. The sky just didn't want to cooperate with

There's just no way I could pull together all the thoughts, emotions and experiences from this second experience teaching at creativeLIVE, so I'll just say this: I'm ridiculously grateful to be associated with such a cool organization. I'm overwhelmed at how many people from all over the world tuned in, actively participated, offered unreal support to everyone involved and were kind enough to offer fantastic feedback after the Taking Care of Business workshop. Okay, whew.

There's just no way I could pull together all the thoughts, emotions and experiences from this second experience teaching at creativeLIVE, so I'll just say this: I'm ridiculously grateful to be associated with such a cool organization. I'm overwhelmed at how many people from all over the world tuned in, actively participated, offered unreal support to everyone involved and were kind enough to offer fantastic feedback after the Taking Care of Business workshop. Okay, whew.

Sometimes we just need a good laugh!

Sometimes we just need a good laugh!

Photographer (and Mommy) : Heather Lauffer Today my youngest started preschool...as we prepared to leave for his big new adventure, I was struck by just how big he has gotten...and how fast he has grown. I am so thankful to be his Mommy... Taken from my favorite children's book written by Robert Munsch titled Love You Forever....this excerpt correctly sums up my feelings for this little man... I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby y

Photographer (and Mommy) : Heather Lauffer Today my youngest started preschool...as we prepared to leave for his big new adventure, I was struck by just how big he has gotten...and how fast he has grown. I am so thankful to be his Mommy... Taken from my favorite children's book written by Robert Munsch titled Love You Forever....this excerpt correctly sums up my feelings for this little man... I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby y

Jessi Blakely for Tamara Lackey Photography: Isabelle is quite the model already...I love how she conveys a different attitude in each image. From model-who-means-business to mama's little girl! She's got the looks down!