Tamzen Jade Portraiture

06/06/2023

So true! No one is going to gather around the computer in 20 years and pull up a digital gallery of baby pictures to look through, printed albums and portraits are so important!

I watched an episode of the tv show, "American Pickers.” For those of you unfamiliar with the show, two dudes named Mike and Frank travel the country looking for antiques and collectibles. Spurred on by tips from Danielle, the cool gal who I suspect really runs the place, they climb into rodent infested attics, packed barns, and other places where angels fear to tread in the hopes of finding something of value and not getting tetanus.

The episode I watched found the boys in a Portland clock shop owned by a man named John. And holy smokes, what a shop it was. So. Many. Clocks. And not just clocks, beautiful clocks-clocks that doubled as works of art. Clocks made with great precision; clocks that have stood the test of time. (Pun intended)

And during the Episode, Mike (my favorite picker) had a short monologue.

Mike: “Nowadays, unfortunately, we live in a throw-away society. The things that we’re buying right now don’t become family heirlooms because of they way they’re made. And the way we view them.
You know, when you go to a big box store and you buy a clock to hang on the wall, a kitchen clock or something, and it’s got a battery in the back of it, is THAT gonna become a family heirloom?
Probably not.
The price-points are a lot lower, and the craftsmanship is not there.
But John is a craftsman and he’s very good at what he does, so the people who collect clocks or that have family heirlooms that are clocks, THAT is his customer.
Someone that TRULY CARES about that clock hanging on the wall.”

Mike, buddy, you spoke my heart.

See, to my mind, that battery operated clock you buy at the box store is a lot like digital files. It runs for a few years, but before long, you end up tossing it. It was MADE to be thrown away. Or in the case of digital files, you won’t be able to find them or open them, so it’s pretty much the same as throwing them away. I mean, no one is going to say, “Hey, where’s the link to Grandma’s baby picture gallery?”

Remember: digital files don’t become heirlooms.

But you know what does? Printed photographs.

Don’t let your memories fall victim to a throw-away society. Print what you want to preserve.

05/25/2023

I’ve known Z since she was in kindergarten, and now look at her!! Not so tiny anymore!

I love keeping things fun and easy-going for family sessions; we play games and make silly faces 🐵 no fake smiles here!!

04/23/2023

Henry is such a sweet, gentle boy, and is definitely one of the easiest dogs to photograph! He plopped right now onto the backdrop and relaxed while I captured some photographs. While I’m all up for the challenge of capturing a couple great images of a wriggley puppy when the majority of the photos I’ve taken are a blur, there was no challenge with Henry!

I’m SO happy this sweet boy has found his fur-ever home and will be on his way to be with them soon 🥰

04/23/2023

Henry is such a sweet and gentle boy, and is definitely one of the easiest dogs to photograph! He plopped right down onto the backdrop and relaxed while I captured some photographs. While I’m all up for the challenge of capturing a couple great images of a wriggley puppy when the majority of the pictures I’ve taken are a blur, there was no challenge with Henry!

I’m SO happy this sweet boy has found his fur-ever home and will be on his way to be with them soon 🥰

03/03/2023

No studio, no problem!

One of my favourite place to do photography sessions is the - Central Library especially has some great areas for portraits, both indoors and outdoors! Here are some of my favourite photos I’ve done there:)

10/30/2022

I've made a list of some of my favourite Calgary and area businesses to make shopping local easy for you this holiday season! There's something for everyone:)

The ultimate "Shop Local" shopping guide for Calgary and Alberta | Let's support our small businesses this Holiday season.

10/20/2022

This family session in Drumheller, AB is by far my favourite location I’ve shot at! Thanks Jillian for requesting this location, it was so much fun!

06/21/2022

I’ve been LOVING doing newborn sessions 🥰

Lifestyle photography is becoming increasingly popular for newborns, and is such a fun way to get pictures with your new baby 💕 we can do in-home sessions for a convenient and safe space, and can even have a same day viewing to get your images the same day we take them!

06/14/2022

Story time!!

I am the eldest of three children, and my sister is the middle child. Now, because I am not only the eldest child, but also the eldest grandchild on both sides of our family, there are a loooot of pictures of me as a baby and kid. And I have all of them in 4x6 prints stored in envelopes or organized into albums. I'm talking hundreds of prints! I also have this beautiful framed image of my mom and I when I was a baby that is displayed in my home office. It's a bit beat up over 20 years later, but I still love it:)

My sister, however, doesn't have that. Like, not a single album or print or anything. (Cue: Middle Child Syndrome 😂)

Now, for those of you who might know me or my family, you can probably guess this wasn't the case. My sister was not excluded from having baby photos taken. But she really did believe that there were little to no pictures of her as a baby because didn’t have the prints I do so she hadn’t seen them.

See, the transition from film to digital images just so happened to occur in the five years between the time I was born and the time she was born. So even though my mom actually has just as many pictures of my sister as she does of me (maybe even more!), my sister never would have known it until she went looking and asking around. The difference is that almost all of the pictures of my sister are on my mom's hard drive instead of in albums, envelopes, and frames.

My mom had to sift through years of digital images and files to find the pictures of my sister so she could send them to her, where as I know exactly where my baby albums are stored and could have them in my hands in seconds. And all of that, just for my sister to go and print them off anyways!!

It was after this had all occurred a couple years ago that I realized: no family is going to gather around the computer to click through digital images of Baby. Or wedding images. Or whatever it might be. But many families will gather around a photo album to flip through the pages and reminisce together! This is why I prioritize prints and albums over digitalis in my business 🥰🥰

05/07/2022

Today’s the day!!

Still looking for that perfect Mother’s Day Gift?

Head down to the Bowness Community Association between 10 and 3 today and support local artists and businesses 💕

Admission is free or by donation to Mamas for Mamas ✨

05/02/2022

I’m so excited for my first year with a Model Rep program 🤩

These beautiful girls are members of Team23 - my studio’s year long model program. Yesterday we met at for our first event of the year! This has been in the works for a couple months now and I am so happy to get started 🥳

We learned some makeup skills, a couple new hair styles, and some basic posing techniques 💁🏻‍♀️

I’m already looking forward to our next session together 💕

Local Calgary businesses - if you’re looking for models + a photographer to collaborate with, DM me!