taraphotographics

newborn:wren

2012-03-03T14:21:00.001-07:00

little wren is just beautiful.

she was born 3 weeks early and teeny tiny perfect!

i loved spending the afternoon with her

and her awesome parents.

it's amazing how much goodness

can be packed into such a little person.

snow

2012-03-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

it's been snowing.

a lot.

and having a big camera results in never

being in pictures together.

sad.

little miss evie

2012-02-29T17:35:00.002-07:00

i'm in love with this little girl.

i had to fight the urge to squish her every 5 seconds.

such beautiful bright eyes and kissable cheeks.
happy 6 months little miss genevieve. :)

prettiest momma ever?

totally.

july

2012-02-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

glitter madness

2012-02-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

sometimes it is fun to do something completely

different than you are used to doing.

it keeps the creative juices fresh. :)

erin from legit hair wanted to do another shoot

so we thought of of the glitter theme and went for it.

each girl had her own "color" to compliment her hair color that erin did.

it was totally funky and different but a lot of fun to try something new.

during this whole shoot i couldn't help but think of this.

it's funny.

admit it.

jessica:graduation

2012-02-23T14:08:00.001-07:00

i am so stoked for jessica and the exciting times coming up in her life.

a mission & graduating!!

we ran around rexburg in the freezing cold together all afternoon and i had SO much fun.

and that's saying something since the cold usually makes me umber grumpy.

good luck jessica and thanks for hanging out with me and letting me

photograph your beautiful self. :)

legit hair

2012-02-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

erin from legit hair does some amazing work.

this photo shoot was to showcase some of that talent. :)

thanks everyone for being such good sports in the freezing cold.

give me your forever

2012-02-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

i've been trying to teach my friend mette what i know about photography.

she took these and i edited them. she did pretty dang good huh??

it was interesting being on the other side of the camera for a change. :)

i love this man honest to goodness with all my heart and soul.

valentine's day round two : couples

2012-02-08T09:10:00.001-07:00

here is round two of all the couples.

seriously so many beautiful people.

i am one lucky photographer. :)

kissing booth prop inspired from here and photo booth props from here

valentine's day round one:kiddos

2012-02-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

k it's a doozy but i can't help it.

and this is me narrowing it down A LOT!

there is just too much cuteness not to share. :)

happy birthday paisley

2012-02-06T16:39:00.001-07:00

i asked paisley if i could take her home with me and she said yes.

but then her beautiful mom reminded her of her pajama party

and so she said i could take her little brother instead.

thanks pais. i hope you had the best 4th birthday ever. :)

dress, vest and tie: mellonmonkeys

flower in hair and on dress: all things ribbon

for no particular reason

2012-01-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

i know this is a photography blog but i am just

really grateful so you guys get to hear about it. :)

i went to the temple with my husband the other day and

the cute old man at the front desk asked me how married life was.

i smiled and told him it was going well.

he then asked me if matt was a fast learner.

i laughed and said he does pretty good.

then with a big smile on his face, he looked me straight in
the eyes and told me not to give up on him.

i laughed and promised him i wouldn't.

i keep thinking about that and how powerful that really is.

it's just us forever and ever. no matter what. never giving up.

it's a promise we will keep for the rest of eternity.
i like that.

our marriage isn't perfect but i was thinking about

things that make it happy.

some are random and some obvious but they work for us. :)

1. be patient. so my husband isn't totally incredible at a few certain things

but he will always rub my feet when they hurt, laugh at my stupid jokes,

and put on his jacket before he even hangs up the phone to go help

a stranded friend in the middle of a freezing cold night without even a second

thought. but sometimes those things that he is not so incredible at are easier to
focus on. but we are in this for the long haul. relax and give it time. cause honestly..

i am pretty sure we are equal on the "you're driving me crazy" scale. i need to give him
and myself time to learn and develop into that cute old couple holding
hands in the park who always say cute things about each other.

they have earned that love. we'll get there someday. we just can't give up.
and being relaxed and patient makes the journey a lot more enjoyable.

2. choose to laugh. this sounds weird but it helps! the last thing i want

to do after a long stressful day is allow myself to laugh at something that

isn't really that funny. but if i just allow myself to laugh at my husband's
lame joke, myself, locking us out of the house again and

watching my husband climb through a tiny window, or the dang dog hair
i have to vacuum up for the 4 billionth time, life becomes a lot happier and
easier to cope with. no matter how painful or "fake" it was at first, it started
coming easier and easier and now we laugh a lot. every single day.
and i like that.

3. your spouse is the hottest person who ever has lived, is living,
and ever will live.

my husband told me when we were dating that he didn't want to hear which

celebrities i thought were attractive. at first i thought he was a little crazy, but

he doesn't ask for much, so i decided to go with it. i have come to LOVE it. i

know there are hotter people than me out there but for all i know, my husband

has no idea they exist. my mom used to ask us all the time if we were
"helping or hurting". hearing about how other people are attractive might
not really seem like a big deal but it's definitely not helping. at the
beginning i would catch myself almost saying something all the time
and now when i see girls googling over guys on pinterest or at the mall,
all i can think of is how dang good looking my husband is and how i am
lucky to have him. there may be sexier men out there but for all i know,
mine is #1. i am sure of it.

i am a firm believer that you can be as in love as you want to be.

you can train your mind to do anything. if i can learn and train my mind

to understand and pass my chemistry class, i can train my mind and heart

to love as deeply as i want to. but just like that chem class, it's going to take
a lot of time. i am still pretty new at this marriage thing when looking at the
big picture but if these things make us happy now,
they should work forever right?

i know this post was way too lengthy and if you are still reading, you are either
awesome or crazy or maybe both, hah but i just wanted to end on
one more cheesy note...

i really do just love all the friends i meet when taking their pictures.
i get to see beautiful couples starting out their stories together and
families i can only hope and dream to be like someday. i always feel
like i learn something from them every single time i walk away from
a photo shoot. i have so much to learn and so far to go but i just
wanted to say thank you for inspiring me to be better.
don't ever give up on your beautiful families and keep on keeping on.

you guys rock. :)

pretty awesome

2012-01-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

you know you have a pretty awesome friend when she is

willing help you out in the freezing cold spur of the moment.

love you mette. :)

this is some more scrappy yarn awesomeness.

don't even worry that i wear that purple scarf like every day.

whatta babe right???

valentines day mini sessions

2012-01-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

i am pretty excited about this.

i love this holiday!!

super quick and easy.

i've got a ton of cute props and ideas that i can't wait to show you.

feel free to contact me with any questions at all

and spread the word.

taraphotographics@gmail.com

here is an example of the halloween mini shoot last october

but this one will be decked out with love. <3

film

2012-01-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

i have done a few assignments in school here and there

with film but i've wanted to get good at it for a long time.

and because my wonderful husband surprised me with

a beautiful film camera for christmas,

i have no more excuses holding me back.

i hope you will bear with me as i learn.

we'll see how it goes. :)

here are a few from my very first roll of film...

i heart faces photo challenge

2012-01-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

best face photo of 2011?? seriously?

i have no idea how to narrow that one down.

but if it wasn't totally creepy for mallory,

i would frame this picture huge in my room

so that's got to count for something right? :)

the nordstrom family

2012-01-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

another absolutely beautiful family.

these two were high school sweethearts

and now have two adorable kids.

my favorite was when i asked little brooklynn

to sit on a chair for me so i could take her picture

and she said, "no thank you".

hahah such good manners for a spunky little girl.

she is a girl after my own heart for sure.

arianna:bridals

2012-01-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

it's been awhile huh?

i took a much needed and enjoyed break for december.

i am ready to be back full swing though.

i've missed you guys. :)

arianna and mike got married about a week ago so

i can finally post her bridals!!

i loved this shoot.

this girl is seriously such a babe.

while she was planning her wedding she kept a fun

blog and gave me an awesome shout out.

love her.

kellie&abel and jordyn&shea

2011-12-10T11:16:00.001-07:00

i have loved keeping in touch with kellie & abel and getting the

chance to take their pictures for different times in their life.

and i loved the idea of doing the photo shoot with their friends jordyn & shea.

the sun was setting quick and it was freezing but they were troopers.

you guys rock. (and your dogs too)

just like jordyn said. i have almost gone full circle with these two..

engagements wedding and now a baby along the way!!

the Jamison family

2011-12-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

yes. another absolutely gorgeous family.

these guys were such troopers in the freezing cold!

i wish rexburg would be nicer.

i love meeting such amazing people and families.

i hope one day my little family can be as awesome as this one.

the Willits family

2011-12-05T22:07:00.001-07:00

these guys mean the world to me.

they were our first friends in our apartment complex after we got married.

patricia is one of the sweetest most genuine people ever.

they fed us dinner all the time when we were so broke we could barely afford toilet paper.

and they love our travis so they double score as cool friends. :)

and their little morgan?! hello. one of the cutest babies i have ever seen.

she flirts with my husband and gives him the biggest smiles ever.

it is pretty stinking adorable.

it was absolutely FREEZING so we brought the rest inside so we could all keep our toes.

patricia!!! you are such a BABE!

the Elliott family

2011-11-20T00:50:00.001-07:00

this family is seriously 100% gorgeous.

the kids laughed and laughed the whole time.

i wish i could put a sound clip on here so you could

maybe understand how stinking cute it was.

i loved it with all my heart.

to see more click here.

Cortney&Matt:Wedding

2011-11-18T02:59:00.001-07:00

this wedding was beautiful!

i have been excited about this for a while.

every little detail from her white rainbow flip flops

to his cufflinks were totally blinged out and

everything was sparkly and incredible.

the wedding party were all amazingly attractive

and the bride and groom were stunning together.

i mean, your wedding is bound to be pretty epic

when you get married on 11.11.11 at 11:00. :)

go here for some more of this beautiful day.

this makes me laugh really hard. so. many. cameras.

some epic brother-sister-ness.

seriously.. these groomsmen. a bunch of studs.

simply stunning girls.

beautiful couple right??

i really do just love redlands, california.

oh my.. the treats at the reception.

so much yummy homemade goodness i could hardly stand it.

the Webb family

2011-11-16T17:31:00.001-07:00

so i used to refer to them as "those people".

now i refer to them as "us".

i am now officially now a "dog person".

but i am coming to find out that dog people are all sorts of awesome,

so when i got the email asking to take pictures of heidi, her hubby & their dog,

i was stoked.

they didn't prove me wring either. these guys rock.

oh, and don't be fooled by the yummy warm light.

these were taken before classes and work super early in the morning

and it was FREEZING! but worth it. :)

autumn splendor: i heart faces

2011-11-15T01:26:00.001-07:00

the very brief time of autumn before it snows here in idaho sure is beautiful.

janay.eddie.jade:christmas

2011-11-14T19:09:00.001-07:00

i was so excited to take pictures of this beautiful family again.

the christmas tree farm + jade's adorable snowman outfit + beautiful people

was all so perfect i could explode from the cuteness.

and i am a california girl to my very center so the concept of

christmas pictures without snow is a beautiful thing.

i hope these pictures make your heart smile like they do mine.

to see more click here

janay made this cute sign. love.

love this:

such a beautiful mom

janay would read to jade and every few second she would look up at her

mom and give her the cutest laugh ever. the cuteness was almost unbearable.

one years old.

i heart faces: black

2011-11-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

a "black" themed photo challenge. (no black and white photos allowed)

amanda about to become mrs. black in a matter of minutes with her beautiful

black hair and cute bridesmaids watching her make her finishing touches.

fitting right? =]

This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

consider yourself updated

2011-11-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

updates on our little life:

1. i am redesigning my "brand" with a friend and am pretty excited about it.

all those graphic design classes can't be put to waste right?

2. my husband takes the GRE on tuesday.

(aka a big fat expensive test that determines our whole future)

say prayers, cross your fingers and toes, and wish him luck!

3. it's cold here. like really cold.

but it's ok cause my wonderful husband just brought me

a cup of hot chocolate he secretly made for me in the kitchen.

score.

4. I like this:

"Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of

others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though t'were his own."

-Goethe

lets all try it, yeah?

and this really has nothing to do with anything but

i'm totally digging the cupcake trend right now

and i hope it never ends cause they rock.

halloween mini session pictures

2011-10-30T12:44:00.000-06:00

i absolutely loved every second of this.

there isn't anything much cuter than kids dressed up at halloween.

oh and don't worry that i felt super sneaky in my

slippers slinking around rexburg early in the morning

trying to find trash bags of leaves.

you may think it's ghetto. i think it's resourceful. :)

personally i think it should be a sin to rake up those beauties

but what do i know.

these are some of my favs but to see more click here.

cousins :)

mitch&paula's grandkids

2011-10-29T13:01:00.000-06:00

ok so i got made fun of the other day by my friend

who says i say every single photo shoot is my favorite.

and he is right. because every shoot IS my favorite.

and i really do mean that with all of my might.

this was no exception.

this is just a tidbit of the pictures we took but

how much would you LOVE to have pictures like this

with your grandparents and cousins

in your grandparents back yard??

family really is such a beautiful wonderful thing.

this little guy might look familiar. this picture cracks me up every single time.

sara

2011-10-23T18:16:00.000-06:00

this girl is such a babe.

i took these the same day i took these

on our sweet trip to bannack.

sara is an awesome photographer and

such a stud.

i am so lucky to have to have the friends i do.

the beautiful Marlor family

2011-10-22T15:07:00.002-06:00

this shoot was every photographers dream.

lindsey is an awesome photographer and blogger

and had so many fun ideas and is a total babe.

we totally made a great team i think.

it was so great to work with someone who loves

this as much as i do.

every little detail was perfect and their family

is absolutely beautiful.

isn't this place so dreamy? right next to the river

with the most beautiful leaves ever. i was in love.

cassie

2011-10-21T22:37:00.000-06:00

i have always dreamed of being a redhead.

i tried to fake it for awhile once. it's just not the same.

but CASSIE is a babe.

and her natural red hair rocks.

we had to go to this ghost town for like 50 frabillion hours

for our class and now she knows all about my weird obsession

for egg nog and my whole life history.

and she let me take pictures of her pretty self.

we are pretty much bffs.

and if i didn't like her so much she would probably just

make me grumpy cause my hair will never be as fantastic as hers.

The Knight Family

2011-10-20T00:23:00.000-06:00

so i really wish every single person reading this post

could have come with me to meet this beautiful family.

they just had so much happy beaming out of them.

[so much happy totally makes sense. promise]

i want to hang out with them lots more and learn their secrets

so i can be as inspiring as they are.

"be so happy that when others look at you, they become happy too"

i really love all these amazing people i meet and cross

my fingers that i can truly capture how beautiful and

amazing they really all are.

hot dang. that is one beautiful couple.

fav.

double fav.

christina&dustin:engagements

2011-10-18T08:24:00.002-06:00

kate and william have got nothing on these two!

seriously though.. b.e.a.utiful people.

i loved spending the afternoon with them

getting to know them and their cute story.

they are so genuinely happy together and it's totally contagious.

i am so excited for them to start their beautiful life together.

congrats you two.

hello hair envy.

um yeah. she for real is this hot and he is this dreamy.

the sun peaked through all for us and they

got to experience my nerdy love of beautiful light.

tate

2011-10-17T07:57:00.000-06:00

ok seriously. i love my job.

i really do meet the COOLEST people.

shayla and i clicked instantly and i totally

and completely love her and her son.

tate is the cutest little guy ever.

he seriously had me laughing out loud the whole time.

and his froggy costume for halloween kills me.

everything about this kid is adorable.

he is all boy and so full of happiness & life.

i told him i would give him candy and this is what happened.

i've got some magical bribing skills people.

my husband is a rockstar

2011-10-16T10:38:00.001-06:00

3 reasons my husband is a rockstar

1. he puts up with me (that's huge people)

2. he is in a pretty awesome band

3. he played in his show last night even though he had

food poisoning and felt like he was going to die.

i love this man with all of my heart

and it seriously kills me to see him so sick

but amazes me that he is studly enough to play anyway.

good job guys. you all did absolutley awesome.

more cuteness from scrappy yarn

2011-10-15T13:35:00.002-06:00

beautiful baby in dang cute stuff!

here is some more stuff from scrappy yarn

for you to swoon over.

tons more stuff coming up soon so like

her facebook page for updates.

thank you so much annmarie for letting me

photograph your beautiful baby girl.

tiny hazel

2011-10-11T19:28:00.001-06:00

i seriously mean it when i say tiny...

5lbs tiny.

and the most adorable little thing in this big ol world.

huge beautiful eyes, perfect full lips, and a button nose.

all the features we would do anything for.

i was seriously in awe the whole time and couldn't get enough of her.

and we had the cutest props from scrappy yarn EVER!

talk about photographer heaven.

gorgeous mom. hazel didn't stand a chance.. of course she is beautiful.

cutest potential christmas card ever? i vote yes.

as of late

2011-10-09T12:52:00.001-06:00

it was my husbands birthday and i made him a sweet cake..

that tasted absolutely horrible cause i accidentally bought sugar free frosting.

so it's nice to look at, but none of us will eat it.

the splenda headache is so not worth it.

we ditched work, slept in, went out to eat every meal, and opened presents.

and mallory saved the day from my cake disaster and brought him incredible cupcakes.

i am so glad he was born.

i love him more than words could ever say.

then on friday we were supposed to go camping for matt's birthday

but it rained and snowed like crazy so we figured it was a bad idea.

so we went and splashed around in puddles instead.

epic.

after, we hung out with our other cousins, brynn, bryce, & cali

and made smores in their kitchen.

cali may just be the cutest almost 2 year old ever.

such a ham.

and THEN! we went caving again. fun fun fun.

marking the entrance. awesome.

when we came out the whole valley was GOLD!

cheesygoodness sunset pictures.

i love my husband and our life together.

sad snow day

2011-10-06T18:21:00.000-06:00

it's snowing outside and that makes me sad.

but i came home, got on my computer and my dog travis came up to my feet

scrambling and trying with all his might to fit between my legs and the desk

so he could sit in my lap.

that made the snow not so terrible.

thanks trav.

halloween costume awesomeness

2011-10-01T12:50:00.000-06:00

i am really excited about this and seeing all of your costumes.

email me at taraphotographics[at]gmail.com to select your time slot.

feel free to share with those you think will be interested.

mallonao

2011-09-28T19:01:00.005-06:00

this is mallonao (mallory naomi)

whom i freaking love with all of my heart.

you guys have seen her on my blog before

but thats what happens when your bff

(who conveiently became your cousin) is this gorgeous

and you need a model for your hw assignment.

you rock mallory. thanks a billion.

arianna&mike:engagements

2011-09-26T07:34:00.000-06:00

i think these pictures pretty much speak for themselves

but just incase.. this couple is GORGEOUS!

seriously. look at them go.

this shoot was full of legit fist pumps and happy dances on my part.

i loved how game they were. they were totally cool with

crossing a freezing cold river all for the sake of a fun picture.

they sure do know how to make a photog happy.

oh and check out the facebook too. =]

arianna is an incredible dancer and he proposed to her

in this beautiful ballroom. so romantic huh?

JT&Kjersten:Engagements

2011-09-25T12:46:00.000-06:00

even though it seems crazy..

rexburg, idaho is an awesome place.

a lot of people meet and start their stories here.

like kjersten and JT.

(who are just the cutest ever)

i really wanted to show rexburg in these pictures so they

will always remember their time here once they leave.

these places are photographed a lot but for good reason.

i hope someday when they look back at these pictures that

it will bring them back to this wonderful place and their memories

of falling in love here.

there is picture overload here but just in case you want

to see more or be shown previews in the future and all that goodness..

go to my Facebook.

heart sun flare?

where he bought her ring

taytum&nash

2011-09-20T19:10:00.000-06:00

i was seriously in baby heaven taking these pictures.

i could not get enough of these sweet kids.

little nash is two weeks old and oozing with sweetness and

taytum is full of spunk. totally a girl after my own heart.

it's kinda picture overload

but there was just too much cuteness not to share.

one of my absolute favs. so sweet and peaceful.

i love his little monster hat!! so so cute.

the girl who made it is starting up an easy shop but in the meantime

check out her Facebook!

beautiful mama.

photo challenge : a touch of light

2011-09-18T21:39:00.004-06:00

i don't do this often [actually ever] but i heart faces

is doing a contest with the theme "a touch of light"

and since that's my absolute favorite,

i thought i would enter just for fun.

yay for beautiful light.

shadows are rad

2011-09-15T21:38:00.001-06:00

my life lately.. me & my computer.

[and the shadow of a chandelier cause

our apartment is slowly but surely getting cute]

happy day.

recent shenanigans

2011-09-11T12:52:00.000-06:00

my husband and i celebrated our anniversary in palm springs

before we had to head back up to school.

we absolutely loved it.

then we had to make the 16hr-ish drive from california to rexburg.

it looks like this pretty much the whole time.

so so painful. but we made it.

happy day.

then yesterday we went to the ice caves outside of rexburg

with our cousins matt & mallory.

these caves are super deep and super awesome.

you walk and slide the whole way to the end on ice.

then at the end there is a big opening with a slide that we messed

around on for forever.

i guess rexburg had its perks after all.

hope you all have the best week of your life.