Tara Whittaker Photography

Tara Whittaker Photography will be supporting earthquake relief efforts during the month of February. I am offering mini-engagement sessions for $300 (plus gst) which include 30 minutes of shooting within the Calgary area and 20 High Resolution Images on a CD. For each mini-engagement session booked during the month of February, $150 will be donated to Help Haiti through Samaritan’s Purse. Give us a call to book your shoot at 403-247-3746.

If you’re interested in making a donation of your own, click here.

I have the privilege of being the resident photographer for Fire Exit Theatre here in Calgary and this week their second play of the season, Second Bloom, opened. If you have a chance to catch their final performances on Saturday the 16th, I highly recommend it. They have 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm performances tomorrow in the Engineered Air Theatre at the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts. Check it out.

I was first introduced to Totally Rad Actions about 18 months ago and I’m a huge fan. They have become a staple in my editing process. When I heard that Doug Boutwell had come out with a new set of textures, I had to have them. They just up the “cool factor” of a photo. Check them out.

Meet Shea Brown. This shoot was a special treat for me as I’ve collaborated with Shea on a number of projects. She is a super-talented make-up artist and she works out of Hue Hair Salon in Okotoks. The last time we worked together she mentioned that she would love to do her own wedding photos over again. Ding, ding, ding. Next thing you know we were doing a very-post-wedding shoot for Shea and her husband Allan. Many thanks to Tara Watts, owner of Hue Hair Salon for working her usual magic on Shea’s hair and for allowing us to shoot in her gorgeous salon. Take note of the lovely bouquet and boutonnière that fit into our winter wonderland theme so perfectly. These were provided by Wanda of Wildflowers at Kensington. She has the most beautiful shop on 10th Street NW in Calgary so be sure to stop in the next time you’re strolling through Kensington.

Last night we went to the Chantal Kreviazuk concert at the Jubilee Auditorium. Can you say goosebumps? Chantal was breathtaking as always. If you’ve never heard her live, I highly recommend it.

I was also introduced to a new group (new to me that is) called Dala. I was so blown away by their voices. Check them out.

Yesterday I did a fun, 1920-30’s themed shoot with Tara Watts of Hue Hair Salon, and her daughter, Mya. Tara and I have collaborated on a number of other projects so it was great to get Tara in front of the camera and get some unique family shots for her. Tara is an amazingly creative person and I’m always surprised and delighted with the results we come up with together. Special thanks to Shea Brown for doing make-up for us yesterday.

I had been looking forward to ARTwear ever since I heard about it back in August. I am thrilled to be associated with The Art Gallery of Calgary and have the opportunity to cover their fundraising events this year. ARTwear is the gallery’s annual fall fashion fundraiser. For me, one of the highlights of this action-packed evening was a runway show at Hotel Arts, featuring some of Calgary’s hottest boutiques.

I’m thrilled to be involved with Fire Exit Theatre as their resident photographer. Last night the season opened with a tremendous one-woman-show, LiliA. It’s an inspirational and heart-warming play, written and performed by Libby Skala about her Grandmother, Lilia Skala. Libby is expressive, engaging and will have you enthralled with her story-telling. It runs for the next three nights at the Engineered Air Theatre at the Epcor Centre. I highly recommend that you check it out.

I’m excited about my Christmas card offerings this year but the deadline for printing is quickly approaching. If you’re an existing client and had your wedding or portraits with the studio this year, give me a call. For new clients, I am offering a promotion. If you book your portrait session prior to November 1st, you will receive 25 complimentary, personalized cards. Check them out.

This shows the front, back and inside of the cards.

I did a portrait session for this family back in June. At the time I was eyeing a certain product for creating slide shows and embedding them into my blog but I hadn’t purchased it yet. I promised that when I did, I would make a slide show from their portrait session. When I heard that Ella’s nickname was Sweet Pea, I knew exactly what to do.

Today I finished up a guest book for an August wedding and wanted to show off the results. I use Finao for my albums and one of their offerings is a guest book using photos taken at your engagement session. The guests then sign their names on the blank side, opposite the photo. In this case, the guests will use a white or silver pen to sign with but there is an option for a white background too. Finao has a wide range of cover options to complement any wedding color scheme. It’s a unique way for you to remember your guests and fun for your guests to see those photos.

I first met Barry Nephin from Aquilla Homes, back in September when I worked for Glessing Design as a stylist on his show home. I was more than happy to pop by and take some shots of this same show home in Strathmore for his new website. The house is beautiful with impeccable detail. Check it out.

Due to our wintery Calgary weather, my paying gigs for the weekend were postponed. When my friend Milton Kim asked me to take some photos of his jazz ensemble Mingus Jazz, I jumped at the chance. He asked for “photos of the jazz band that were unusual….and captured the essence of the music.” Given the fact that I shot with ambient light only, I was pretty pleased with the results.

These guys do a rendition of Summertime that would give even George Gershwin shivers.

A while back I posted a few pieces by the talented designers, Tari and Jamie of kidfluenced. I’ve been busy photographing some more creations from kidfluenced on Etsy. They design custom art for children and will be at the Lilac Festival on May 31st in Calgary. Be sure to stop by and say hello.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with these two superheroes. They are Tari Glessing and Jamie Wiebe, the co-founders of kidfluenced on Etsy. They design custom art for children and will incorporate your own memorabilia to make the pieces extra-special for your family. Tari and Jamie are the ultra-talented, interior designers behind Glessing Design and I have worked with them on many projects, including show homes for the Foothills Home Lottery. kidfluenced is such a natural evolution for them as they have an incredible knack for creating children’s rooms and for finding the latest and greatest in kid’s stuff. Yesterday we focused on pieces that Tari had made for her own kids but stay tuned for more incredible pieces. For those of you who are local, they will have a booth at the Lilac Festival on May 31st in Calgary.