TalkingWithTami: Alecia you and I ran across each other at the taping of my family on Vern Yips HGTV show called,”Deserving Design”! You were the photographer for that show and our pics and album are fabulous! Tell us how you got started in photography?

Tami,  I took a very round about way into the photography business!   After college I was working at CNNfn and looking for a side job to keep me busy.  I had taken a photography class in college and was good at it but never thought it could be a “real” career.  But I stumbled into assisting a wedding photographer and fell in love!   Soon I was shooting weddings on my own and Alecia Lauren Photography took off with client referrals.  I always had this creative side that working in corporate America never let me explore but now I get do exactly what I want every day.

 

 

TalkingWithTami: Another thing we have in common is that you are a contributor at Flowers Magazine! I had the pleasure of interviewing Margot Shaw some years back. How do you like working with the magazine and taking photographs of those beautiful flowers?

 

Working with Flower Magazine has been an amazing experience and I have definitely learned a lot about flowers!  I love to work with women that have built a successful business following something that they love – Margot and Flower Magazine are a perfect example of that.  Margot and her team put together a superior magazine that I am so proud to be a part of.  I mainly photograph the section Trellis with Ryan Gainey and I look forward to it every time.  His garden is beautiful and his knowledge of flowers keeps me captivated every shoot!

 

 

TalkingWithTami: Your wedding photographs are absolutely wonderful! Is that your biggest joy?

 

 

Thank you!  Weddings are my first love.  There is something about being invited to be a part of the start of a couples life together that gets me every time.  I am that person that cries at every wedding!   I take 10-15 weddings a year so that every client gets my total attention.   I work with every client from the first meeting through the wedding to the album delivery.  I get to know my client’s personalities and have become great friends with most of my past clients.  Shooting weddings takes me to amazing destinations too!  For weddings this year I am heading to New York and Nashville and in 2010 I will be in Maine and New Orleans.    

 

 

TalkingWithTami: For the youngsters (like my son who is very fascinated with photography),can you share some good advice for them?

 

My advice is to shoot everything!  Take your camera everywhere, photograph people, places and everything that you see.  Learn the rules of making a great photo like composition and exposure then break the rules.   A big part of my wedding photography is seeing the moment that makes the wedding day.  That moment is not the expected or posed shots, but the father seeing his daughter for the first time or the first moment the couple has as man and wife.  Being able to capture that emotion is what my photography is about. 

 

 

TalkingWithTami: What has been your biggest achievement in your line of work?