Tina Smith Photography

We are Excited about our New Website and Blog

2010-02-22T13:19:00.004-06:00

Our new website and blog are finally up and you can now visit us at Tina Smith Photography to see what is happening in our world. We wont be updating this page, so make sure you bookmark our new site.

And as usual all post are better with a picture, here is a little princess for you!

Children's Portraits ~My Little Cowboy~

2010-01-22T09:08:00.004-06:00

Happy New Year. OK I know it's the 22nd of January, but it is still a new year! I have been crazy busy getting things ready for a busy and exciting new year. I will be adding a new website here in the next few weeks that I am really excited about. It will be more "user friendly" with the website and blog all in one place. I will be offering new portrait products and albums and am really excited for you guys to see all the new and exciting changes coming up. In the mean time here are a few shots of "My Little Cowboy's" mini session.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T12:31:00.002-06:00

Wow this has been and exciting and busy year and I can't believe it is almost over! We have had a few trying times in our family this year and so many blessings that I can't count and I am just thankful to GOD everyday that I am here on this earth to be with my family and meet new and exciting people doing what I love. I will be out of the office from today until December 30th. We are Tennessee bound to play in the snow and hike in the mountains and just enjoy being a family. My husband has made me promise that I will not conduct any business on this trip, no texting, no emailing, no phone calling and no computer. I may not survive. LOL. SO, wishing you all a very Merry Christmas full of GOD's love and blessings.....And no post is complete without a few pictures........

Family Christmas Portraits in Freeport Florida

2009-12-09T09:49:00.005-06:00

Check out this little princess and her family. Isn't she the cutest little girl you have ever seen? OK, I know my opinion is a little biased since she is my granddaughter, but you have to admit she is adorable. Her parents aren't too bad to look at either. LOL! I hope you enjoy this little view from their Christmas session.

Family Beach Portraits Destin Florida

2009-12-09T08:13:00.009-06:00

Family beach sessions are one of my favorite shoots and this session was no exception. These little girls and their parents were a blast to work with. Thanks guys for choosing me to document your family's stay on our beautiful Emerald Coast.

Christmas Family Portraits

2009-12-09T08:01:00.004-06:00

I love doing family portraits, especially when there is a really adorable chubby cheek baby in the session. Here are a few of my favorites from a recent session. Thank you Bridget and Michael for choosing me to do your very first family portrait! Hope you guys enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

As always click on the images to see a larger version.

Family Portraits

2009-12-03T12:44:00.006-06:00

Every year around Christmas time is very busy with everyone wanting to update their family portrait's for Christmas Cards. Here is a family that is very near and dear to my heart and I just can't wait to photography them every year! Meet the Tucker family, my brother and his wife and boys! Merry Christmas guys, I love you!

Newborn Portraits

2009-12-03T12:12:00.004-06:00

I know I have been terrible about updating my blog lately but I have been so busy getting every one's Christmas orders processed that the blog had to take a back seat. Yesterday my friend Amanda told me that I seriously needed to update my blog and put some new pictures up. So without further ado, here are a few more of my favorites from Mr. Evan's newborn shoot. UMMM, did I say a few? OK so there are more than a few, get ready for image overload.. Hope you enjoy these Amanda and I will try to do a better job of keeping new stuff up for you to look at! I hope everyone else enjoys these too. Newborn pictures are so important because these little boys and girls grow way too fast and we want to remember this wonderful cuddly stage forever.

DeFuniak Springs Newborn Portraits Meet Mr. Evan

2009-11-16T08:46:00.002-06:00

Here is a sneak peak from Mr. Evan's newborn session, more to come latter....

Getting Ready for Stormy IDA in the Panhandle

2009-11-09T20:47:00.005-06:00

Hi guys, I'm sitting at my computer backing up and backing up again, getting ready for the power outages that are sure to arrive with Miss Stormy IDA here in the Florida panhandle. So if you email or call over the next day or so and I don't get right back with you, you will know that we have no power, no phones and no Internet connection. But have no fear as soon as things return to normal, I will get back with you! In the meantime, here are a few snaps from Halloween that I wanted to share :o)
The day started off wet and cold and when time came for all the fun to begin it was still cold but we were rewarded with a beautiful double rainbow! You have to look close to see the second as it was very faint but it was there!

Mr. Brayden's 1st Halloween, isn't he the cutest monkey you have ever seen?

Miss Alyssa was a beautiful butterfly!

Mr. Hunter was a fighting Ninja

I don't know who this guy was, but his costume was really cool!

Our cute little monkey again, not very happy with Halloween

We called this guy Halloclaus!

Miss Emma the ladybug

Miss Alyssa was really interested in what was in her pumpkin

She tried to eat every sucker in her pumpkin with the wrapper still on it!

Hope everyone stays safe and dry during the storm!

Fall Children's Portraits in DeFuniak Springs, Florida

2009-11-09T09:31:00.008-06:00

FALL COLORS * PRETTY FLOWERS * WONDERFUL SUNSHINE * BEAUTIFUL SISTERS = GREAT PORTRAITS

Just a few of my favorites from another recent fall shoot. I am so loving the fall flowers this year, even if I have to double up on my allergy medicine to go out and play in them. It is so worth it. Hope you enjoy :o)

(Click on images for larger view)

Maternity Portraits at Hammack Bay in Freeport Florida Part 2

2009-11-09T09:11:00.005-06:00

Congratulations Bryan and April...Baby Evan was born Saturday and we will be doing his newborn shoot very soon, so stay tuned. In the mean time, in honor of the birth, I just wanted to share a few more shots from April and Bryan's maternity shoot from a few weeks ago. This shoot was so much fun. Warning...IMAGE OVERLOAD :o)

Fall Children's Portraits~Freeport Florida

2009-11-04T21:01:00.015-06:00

Fall flowers + little girl = really cute fall portraits

This shoot was so much fun! I love the expressions that children make when they are allowed to just be kids. Sorry for the image overload, but I couldn't pick a favorite :o)

Maternity Portraits at Hammack Bay in Freeport Florida

2009-10-19T08:23:00.003-05:00

April and Bryan are patiently awaiting the arrival of baby Evan :o)

This recent Florida weather has left a lot to be desired but that didn't stop us from shooting April and Bryan's maternity portraits. We battled the wind and the cold and managed to grab some great images. Here's a little sneak with more to come as I get them edited.

Florala Alabama Children's Portraits ~ Children's Fall Portraits

2009-10-13T09:44:00.008-05:00

WARNING! IMAGE OVERLOAD!
Here are some of my favorites from a recent walk I took with my son and granddaughter around Lake Jackson in Florala. Alyssa is becoming very inquisitive and had to stop and examine every leaf and twig along the way and then bring them to me to look examine. We had a wonderful time exploring and feeding the ducks and the squirrels.

A little cutie at a Destin Beach Wedding

2009-10-13T09:05:00.004-05:00

Recently I had the opportunity to shoot with the beautiful and talented Kelly Young at the wedding of the beautiful and talented Sandy McCranie and I will be sharing those images soon. But first I wanted to share these images of Sandy's little boy. I had such a wonderful time watching him run around all night. He is such a cutie!

Destin Florida Children's Portraits

2009-10-06T12:32:00.004-05:00

I love fall flowers and I love photographing children and when I get to combine the two, I am a very happy person. I hope you enjoy this adorable little one year old, I know I did.

DeFuniak Springs Children Portraits

2009-09-28T08:08:00.004-05:00

Wow, I can't believe September is almost gone and it will soon be Halloween. I love that the weather is cooling down and it is enjoyable to be outdoors. This Saturday I took my granddaughter out in the front yard to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine and play around with my new 50mm lens. We had a great time just sitting and walking through the grass and I was able to capture some really cute shots of Alyssa. I love capturing candid shots of children because they are so full of energy that trying to pose them usually just frustrates them and the parents. I think sometimes it's better to just let them run and grab shots where you can and I think that these shots of Alyssa prove that point. I hope you enjoy these samples and take advantage of the great weather we are having and get out and enjoy the fresh air :o)

Click on the smaller images to view larger images :o)

A Wedding at Eden Gardens in Point Washington Florida

2009-08-30T23:33:00.006-05:00

~Meet The Rocketts~

Jonathan and Jessica were married August 22 in a beautiful afternoon ceremony at Eden Gardens in Point Washington, Florida. Here are a few of my favorite images so far and a sneak for Jessica while I finish editing! Hope you enjoy.

Thanks guys for allowing me to share in your special day:o)

Beasley Park Family Reunion Beach Portraits

2009-08-19T12:30:00.007-05:00

This family is from four different states and they decided at the last minute that they wanted to have family portraits made to commemorate their stay in Destin. They had arranged with another photographer early in the morning to take their portraits, but that photographer had to cancel so they called me at 5:30 PM. I live 45 minutes to an hour from Destin depending on the traffic and it was pouring at my house but they assured me that is was "dry" in Destin, so I jumped in my car and headed out explaining that they needed to be ready to shoot as soon as I got there because we were going to lose the sun fast. I ended up shooting past sunset by cranking up the ISO and shooting with flash. But I have to admit that this was one of my favorite sessions ever.This is one of the most amazing families that I have been privileged to meet. They are all funny, friendly, beautiful and just so full of life and laughter. I love all the families that I meet, but this family just melted my heart and made me feel so special, they were just fantastic.

So what do you get when you combine two fun loving grandparents...

with their four amazing children and their families......

and two smoking hot couples....

You get a beautiful family of 19 that visits a new location every two years together for a family reunion!

And here is a shot of just the grandparents with their grand kids!

Beasly Park Family Beach Portraits

2009-08-19T12:04:00.008-05:00

Meet Andrews Family....

This Illinois family was visiting Destin and of course they wanted Family Beach Portraits and as usual it was raining in Florida! I'm still trying to figure out why we are call the Sunshine State, because we sure haven't seen much sunshine these last few weeks... So we shot between showers and managed to get a few shots in before the floods came again....

Meet Andrew's parents... and check out those storm clouds in the sky!

The next two shots are all about DAD. I did not pose Dad! He was really into his beach session and was a blast and kept me laughing the whole shoot! You rock Doug!

Meet Ryan, he's Andrew's brother...

Is this shot funny or what? I asked them to give Mom a kiss on the cheek and you would have thought I asked them to get "root canals"!

We finally got tired of battling the wind and rain and hit the SWAMP but not before I managed to slip and fall on the steps leading to the parking lot! Yes, can you believe it? I fell right on my rear-end in front of everyone but I didn't drop my camera! I did however have a few very ugly painful bruises the next day and I now know that if the steps at Beasley Park are the least little bit wet, "Do not walk down them really fast wearing high-heeled sandals"! :o)

Hope you guys enjoyed your session and your vacation despite the storms and thank you for being so concerned over my slip and fall and not laughing your heads off! I hope I see you guys next year and I can't wait for Ryan's senior year.

2010 Illinois High School Senior at Beasley Park on Okaloosa Island

2009-08-19T11:36:00.008-05:00

2010 Illinois High School Senior at Beasly Park on Okaloosa Island

Meet Andrew...

Andrew and his family were visiting Destin for their summer vacation and mom wanted some senior shots of her "Big Boy" to go along with the traditional senior shots he had taken by the school photographer. The day of their session was scattered with Thunder Storms and it was windy! Did I say windy, I mean it was "WINDYYYYYYYYYYYY". The sand was blowing and the waves were crashing and it was their last day in Destin so we couldn't reschedule. So in between storms we hit the beach and managed a few shots before the rain started again. Here are a few of my favorites from the beach....

SOOOOOOOOOOO, What do you do when it's raining on the beach? You find another spot close by to shoot at. So we hit the "Swamp" a local restaurant at the Boardwalk and we finished Andrews session there. Here's a few of my favorites from the Swamp...

Join Me on Facebook

2009-08-13T09:28:00.006-05:00

Come on over to Facebook and join our fan page to keep up to date on all the happenings at Tina Smith Photography. Be the first to know about any upcoming portrait specials! What are you waiting for, come on over, just click the link below.

Photography For All Occasions by Tina Smith Photography on Facebook

And since all post are better with pictures... here's a few from the Little Princess at a recent beach shoot at Seaside. Hope you enjoy :o)

Hollis Gardens Lakeland Florida Family Portraits

2009-08-10T10:10:00.009-05:00

I really don't know where the month of July went to and now we are in the second week of August and I have been crazy busy and haven't had any time to blog!

Kim, Sherron and Shelly! Your pictures are on their way and here's some of my favorites from that day. Hope you enjoy!

Friends and Families at Hollis Gardens in Lakeland Florida

2009-07-28T19:32:00.004-05:00

I was in Lakeland Florida this weekend and was very happy that I had the chance to visit with my "Bestest Friends" from high school and their children. We all went out to Hollis Gardens after we waited for the rain to go away and shot a "few" pictures. Kim, Sherron and Shelly: I had a great time and I hope we get to do this again soon. Here's a sneak peak for you guys. I hope you enjoy them and I will get the rest done soon. These are just a couple of my favorites!

Texas Meets Fort Walton Beach~ Family Vacation Beach Portraits~

2009-07-23T12:09:00.008-05:00

This family was a blast to work with! Mom was so excited about having their first ever family portraits done on the beach and even Dad was very cooperative. The little girls had a blast playing in the sand and water and were so very well behaved. Thanks guys for choosing me as your photographer and I can't wait to see you next year.

Marlies told me that they didn't have a photographer when they got married and the only picture that she really wished she had was a shot of their wedding rings on their hands. "I know you probably think it's crazy", she said, "but I really just want a shot of us wearing our rings." Do I think that's crazy?Please, I take pictures of street signs when I'm on vacation. If you can point a camera at it, I will photograph it. "Crazy shot", hmmm, I think I invented that phrase. So as you can see below, of course we got that shot and few to go along with it!

From Birmingham Alabama to the Beautiful Shores of Destin Florida

2009-07-21T15:30:00.004-05:00

~From Birmingham Alabama to the Beautiful Shores of Destin Florida~

~Family Beach Vacation Portraits~

Susan and her family were visiting Destin for what her friends and family have told her "may be your last family vacation." You see Susan's daughter will be going off to college in the fall and she is hearing all these "horror stories" about how your children leave the nest and you can "almost never" get their schedules coordinated with yours again. I really don't think that she has much to worry about, Miss "K" loves her family and I really don't think that she will be able to stay away from them for long. When I asked her if she thought her brother would miss her she said, "probably very much, but school is only a few hours drive from home so I will be able to come home every weekend." So rest assured Susan that your little girl will always be coming back home. I hope you guys enjoyed your Destin Family Vacation and I hope to see you in the future! Good luck at school Miss "K". Here's a few of my favorites from the day. I find that I have become obsessed with storyboards. I always have a difficult time deciding which image I like best and want to have frame, storyboards give you the option of having several favorites in one frame! Yes, I know I am obsessed.

Destin Florida Family Beach Portraits

2009-07-06T00:14:00.008-05:00

New Orleans Family Visits Destin Florida For Family Beach Portraits

The best part of working as a photographer is getting to meet new people from all over the US that come to our beautiful beaches along the Emerald Coast of Destin for vacation and this family was no exception. The little boys weren't crazy about posing so we did a lot of candids and I love the way they turned out! Thanks guys for choosing me as your photographer, can't wait to see you next year.

I decided to use a new black and white process from Totally Rad Actions, let me know what you think!
Click on the images below to see a larger version :o)

Summer Time Beach Portraits and Children's Portraits

2009-06-25T20:17:00.003-05:00

OK I know I am a terrible blogger! There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day for working, editing, and posting, not to mention sleeping! So here are a few snaps that I did of my son and granddaughter last week. I promise I will get sneaks up soon. For those of you waiting on your sneaks, thanks for being patient, it has been a busy, busy week! Hope you enjoy these.

Aren't they the cutest?

~DeFuniak Springs Children's Portraits~ Pigtails and Personality~

2009-06-18T11:18:00.006-05:00

Here's some of my favorites from a recent shoot! This little girl is 8 months old and full of personality. It was one of my favorite shoots, she was such fun.

Hope you enjoyed this little peak and Mom your prints are on their way!

Until next time,
GOD Bless,
Tina

~Children's Head Shots~

2009-05-30T15:58:00.008-05:00

~Beautiful Baby~Beauty Pageant Head Shots~

You are never too young to have head shots! Here are some recent head shots of the most precious little girl! We had a great time shooting these. Hope you enjoy :o)

This is her "I'm shy look"

"My profile"

"The I'm ignoring you look"

"The I'm tired of this look"

"The I'm going to cry look"

"The giggle look"

"The sticking out the tongue look"

"The I'm so sweet look"

"The now I know what you want me to do look"

"I'm perfect"

"The I would ratter be playing with my phone look"

"The pick me up I am done look"

And some in black and white...

I love to hear what other people think of my work, so please leave your comments.

Until next time...

GOD BLESS

Tina

I ♥ Faces Tracy Joy Camera Bag Giveaway

2009-05-28T13:40:00.004-05:00

Don't miss out on your chance to win one of these great bags! Head on over to I ♥ Faces and enter today!

I ♥ Faces Week 20 - Photo Challenge (Silhouettes Category)

2009-05-26T18:07:00.004-05:00

This is my entry for the I ♥ Faces contest this week. The category this week is Silhouettes and this is my favorite silhouette from a beach bridal shoot I did!

If you have never visited the I ♥ Faces website, be sure to head on over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ to check out all of the beautiful face entries this week, you will be amazed at all the wonderful pictures!

Fort Walton Beach ~Family Vacation~ Beach Portraits

2009-05-22T14:56:00.009-05:00

Fort Walton Beach~Destin Florida~Family Vacation~Beach Portraits

Wow! Where has the week gone to? Last week I had the opportunity to photograph two very beautiful Young ladies and a beautiful 6 month old. Victoria lives in Nebraska and came to Destin to visit her sister Maria and other family and she wanted to have beach portraits done with her 6 month old daughter and her sister. So we meet up last Wednesday at Beasley Park in Fort Walton. We were supposed to meet on Monday but mother nature decided to give us lots of rain instead of sunshine so we had to postpone our shoot. Thank you girls for being so understanding and working with me and my crazy schedule. Needless to say we had a wonderful time and got some great beach portraits in the process. Here are a few to share. Victoria, Maria and Miss C. Thank you so much for choosing me to photograph your beach portraits, I had a great time :o)

Santa Rosa Beach~Family Day~Children's Portraits

2009-05-20T22:43:00.005-05:00

Meet My Son~Hunter

Last weekend my husband, my son and I spent the day at the beach and even tho the forecast was for rain, not a drop fell from the sky until we were on our way home! We have a great day, just the three of us and my son was in Heaven. Now I am really not a beach person, give me a pool with fresh water any day and I'm happy, but our little boy convinced us that he needed to learn to surf. So off we went to the beach with "boogie board" in tow. Come on now he is only 7 and is no way big enough to carry a surf board much less ride one. I can' tell you in words the amazing day I had watching him and my husband get pounded by the waves! Now I don't normally post a lot about my family or post a lot of family pictures as my son so recently pointed out to me. My little man told me, "Mom you have to put my pictures on your web page so all my friends can see how cool I am." So here you go guys meet my "cool" little man, Hunter!

I hope you enjoyed meeting my son, isn't he the "coolest?
Until next time,
God Bless,
Tina

Victoria's Beach Portraits: The Sneak Peak!

2009-05-15T14:48:00.005-05:00

Victoria and her daughter are from Nebraska and are here in Destin visiting family! Victoria here is a little sneak peak from your beach shoot to tied you over until I get them all edited and posted. I hope you enjoy!

Thank you for choosing Tina Smith Photography for your Vacation Beach Portraits!

Week 17 at I ♥ Faces Theme: Hats

2009-05-04T18:56:00.004-05:00

Photographers love looking at other photographers work, let's face it we all learn from each other and that being said, I absolutely love looking at all the entries at I ♥ Faces every week. There are some fabulous photographers out there who also contribute to the weekly contests. This will be my first entry this week because when I seen the theme this week was "hats" I just had to enter this picture of my granddaughter. So without further ado here is my entry for the kids category this week.

If you have never visited the I ♥ Faces website, be sure to head on over to www.iheartfaces.com to check out all of the beautiful face entries this week, you will be amazed!

Walton High School Navy JROTC Military Ball

2009-05-03T22:08:00.004-05:00

Last month I was asked to be the photographer for Walton High School's JROTC Military Ball and even tho the students received their printed packages weeks ago, I was recently reminded by one of the students, I never blogged their event! These students put planned the ball without any help from the adults and did a wonderful job. Their theme was Mardi Gras and everything was wonderfully bright and colorful. Their night consisted of the presenting of arms, salute to the MIA/POW, an awards ceremony, the crowning of a king and queen and lots of dancing. I can't possibly blog every single picture, so if I didn't post an image of you, please don't be offended. So here it is guys! Hope you enjoy :o)

Until next time,

GOD Bless,

Tina

Ben and Lacey's Wedding Sneak Peak

2009-04-20T22:26:00.005-05:00

Ben and Lacey were married in a beautiful beach wedding on Panama City Beach with all their friends and family there to celebrate. The weather was beautiful but a bit windy. Thank you Ben and Lacey for letting me share in your day. I had a great time.

OK I know you have all been waiting, so here's a little sneak peak. I hope you enjoy!

More to come latter....

Until next time..

GOD BLESS!

Tina

Lacey's Bridal Portraits at Seaside Beach

2009-04-15T10:34:00.013-05:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot Lacey's bridal portraits but she asked me not to post them until after her wedding and everyone has been patiently waiting. Ben and Lacey were married this past Saturday on Panama City Beach and I will be posting shots from there wedding a soon. So finally here are a few of my favorites from Lacey's bridal shoot. I hope you all enjoy them.

We couldn't be serious all day, so we had to throw in a few fun shots too!

Hmmm, maybe Coca Cola will pick these out for their next Ad!

We did several shots inside the seaside community. Lacey received many, many compliments on what a beautiful bride she was going to be and received a few propositions!

This was the last shot of the day at sunset! I love the colours in the sky!

Well I hope that the wait has been worth it and that you enjoyed your visit here today. Come back soon to see what is going on!

Until next time,

GOD Bless,

Tina

2009-04-13T12:14:00.009-05:00

Happy Easter Everyone! I know I'm a day late, but better late than never> I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday filled with love and sunshine. We had a wonderful day at the Smith household filled with 30 relatives and lots of food and Easter eggs. I just wanted to share a few pics from the Easter Portrait Special I did last Saturday. I hope you enjoy them. We had a great time and I got a ton of much needed exercise!

I added a water color filter to this one. What do you think?

Isn't she just a cutie?

This little rascal kept me running his entire session.

How adorable is he?

Another watercolor, this is my favorite of the whole day. It just "screams" innocence.

I love her little curls.

and another watercolor.

There are tons more but I can't blog them all or I would be here all day. I hope you have enjoyed your stop here today and I hope you had a great holiday.

For those of you who are looking for Lacey's wedding and bridal portraits, I promise, sometime this week I will get them posted.

Until next time.

God Bless,

Tina

Our New Addition

2009-04-06T12:31:00.003-05:00

Meet Miss Daisy

Miss Daisy is the newest addition to Tina Smith Photography and she had a very big welcome this past Saturday during our Easter Photo Shoot. Miss Daisy is such a sweet girl and she works for Milk! I just want to thank all my clients who came out on Saturday and had their children's pictures made. I had a great time and I hope you did too. Sneak peaks will be coming latter in the week. I think you are going to love them. Thanks again.

GOD BLESS,
Tina

JROTC Military Ball Sneak Peak

2009-04-06T11:37:00.003-05:00

Walton High School Navy JROTC Military Ball

Recently I was asked to be the photographer for the JROTC Military Ball for WHS and I would like to share one of the ceremonies that the students performed during this event. It was a salute to the POW/MIA's and I found it very moving and it really made me think about how much in life that I take for granted. I do not personally have any family member's that are severing our country but I do have a few family friends that are serving. Over the years I have had numerous family members serve and fight for our country in the various wars but have been so very fortunate and God Blessed that I have never lost one. I know of numerous families that have lost many of it's members to War. The poem below is what I have been told is a standard version that many of the Armed forces use during this presentation and everyone puts their own spin on it. This is not exactly word for word as the students performed it that night, but I hope you get the point and remember all those who have fought and died to protect this country.

REMEMBER

We call your attention to this small table, which occupies a place of dignity and honor near the head table.

It is set for one, symbolizing the fact that members of our armed forces are missing from our ranks. They are referred to as POW's and MIA's. We call them comrades.

They are unable to be with their loved ones and families tonight, so we join together to pay our humble tribute to them, and bear witness to their continued absence.

This table, set for one, is small, symbolizing the frailty of one prisoner, alone against his or her suppressors.

The tablecloth is white, symbolic of the purity of their intentions to respond to their country's call to arms.

The single red rose in the vase, signifies the blood they many have shed in sacrifice to ensure the freedom of our beloved United States of America.

This rose also reminds us of the family and friends of our missing comrades who keep the faith, while awaiting their return.

The red ribbon - tied so prominently on the vase represents the love of our country that inspired them to answer the nation's call.
This same ribbon is worn on the lapel or breast or as a red bracelet worn on wrists of thousands who bear witness to their unyielding determination to demand a proper accounting for the missing.

A slice of lemon on the plate reminds us of their bitter fate.

The salt sprinkled on the plate reminds us of the countless fallen tears of families as they wait.

The glass is inverted - they cannot toast with us this night.

The chair is empty - they are not here.

The candle is reminiscent of the light of hope which lives in our hearts to illuminate their way home, away from their captors, to the open arms of a grateful nation.

Let us pray to the supreme commander that all of our comrades will soon be back within our ranks.

Let us remember and never forget their sacrifices. May god forever watch over them and protect them and their families.

I will be sharing more from this event latter in the week. I hope that this post has touched you hearts as much as it touched mine.

Thank you to the WHS JROTC for choosing me as your photographer for your event.
Until next time.
GOD BLESS,
Tina

Little League Baseball

2009-03-30T11:09:00.008-05:00

Take Me Out To a Ballgame

I absolutely love little league baseball! I love watching every year as these little boys and girls learn the basics of the game and acquire the skills to play. The expression on their faces are priceless when they hit the ball or manage to catch a ball. Their joy at being able to play this all American game is contagious and just leaves you will this happy warm feeling all day after the game.

In our little town, everyone loves Little League Baseball. Every year on opening day we have a big parade and the teams ride through town throwing out candy and prizes to the people lined up on the streets to watch them.

Below the teams are all lineing up at the middle school getting ready for the parade to start. The grown up "little boy" would be our coach "Andy" Our practices are never dull!

This would be our team waiting for the parade to start! Mrs. Stacy thought that these blow up bats would be "good" for the boys to "wave" during the parade. As you can see, they had other ideas on what to use the bats for!

Can you see all the excitment in their faces?

I have no idea what they were looking at but I love the expression I caught on his face!

The children really have a great time and can become quite boisterous during the parade, so please watch out for flying missiles, aka candy or you may find that you get hit in the head.

The parade ends at the little league ball fields where the opening ceremonies take place. All the teams line up out on one field with their coaches and someone sings the National Anthem. All the city officials are present for the opening ceremonies and someone is chosen every year to throw out the first pitch. Then the games begin! This year we actually had beautiful weather and I hope that everyone had a great time, I know I did!

Is he not the cutest little boy you have ever seen! You gotta love those big blue eyes.

And last but not least we have our own "Famous in a Small Town" Jackie Clemmons! Everyone knows Jackie and she might be running for Mayor of DeFuniak Springs one day, so everyone make sure you vote for her!

I hope you enjoyed my blog today. Come back and visit again.

Until next time, GOD BLESS,

Tina

Seaside Beach Portraits

2009-03-25T10:58:00.007-05:00

Beach Portraits at Seaside Anyone?

This is my favorite time of the year for beach portraits before it gets so unbearably hot!

Last week Lacey and I went down to Seaside to shoot her Bridal portraits. For those of you who don’t know where Seaside is or have never been there, you are missing out! Seaside is one of my favorite places on the Emerald Coast. It was founded by builder/developer Robert Davis in 1979 and many scenes of the 1998 film The Truman Show were shot at Seaside. It is really a great place to visit with many shops, restaurants, and of course the BEACH and all the people I have meet there have been very friendly and helpful. So if your have never been or haven’t visited in a while, take a drive out there this weekend and have a look around.

OK! Enough about Seaside. Like I said, Lacey and I were there to do her Bridal portraits and since I can’t post those shots just yet! I will share with you a few shots of Lacey’s son and her mom who tagged along that day to join in the fun.

Isn't he the cutest little boy?

Zane was having a blast filling the seashell up with sand over and over again.

Grandma finally convinced him to have his picture made with her and stop playing with the sand.

I hope you enjoyed your stop here today. Check back again soon and I'll have Lacey's Bridal Portraits ready to view.

Until next time.

GOD BLESS,

Tina

A Baby Shower

2009-03-17T09:41:00.011-05:00

Debra's Baby Shower

This past Saturday I attended a baby shower as a guest. Well, I thought I was there as a guest, soon after arriving I was put to work as the photographer. But of course that was fine with me as I never leave home without my camera and will use any excuse to take pictures. Debra is one of my good friends and is currently living in Tennessee but all of her family live here in Walton County so she came home for the shower. It was held at the Pizza Hut in DeFuniak Springs and the place was almost too small to hold all the quests. This will be Debra's second child. Her first child being Katie who turned 18 this year and will graduate from high school in May. Yep! that's right she is starting all over again! So here is a picture of the happy mom to be.

Debra and her husband Chris are very excited about this new edition to their little family and are looking forward to spoiling their new little princess!

Here are a few more pictures from the day....

Here is a close up of the cake. This is one of the cutest cakes I have ever seen at a baby shower! Baby shower cakes sure have changed since I had my children. All my cakes were flat sheet cakes from the bakery with little plastic babies and blocks! Which I might add that I still have tucked away in their memory boxes.

Here is Mom with her new "best mom" nightgown and her first princess and pizza!

Debra was very blessed to have so many friends and family show up and bring tons of gifts! This is going to be one well dressed little princess. The bottom right picture is of Debra and her Mom who had to be bribed to pose for the camera.

Isn't the pink bunny "cuddly" the cutest thing?

Family photo op! From left to right we have The first princess Katie, her Mom and the Mom-to-be, then it's Grandma and next we have Becky, Debra's twin sister and last but not least we have Miss Brittany who is Becky's daughter.

The little princess isn't here yet and she already has her first pair of diamond earrings, courtesy of Aunt Becky and a beautiful memory box from another guest.

Mom received a swing from her first princess and this made her very happy and she finally sat down to enjoy her cake!

And our last picture is of Ms. Debra practicing for the months to come. Miss Alyssa is teething and thought Ms. Debra's necklace would make a wonderful teething ring, then she broke it!

Did you notice that I referred to the expectant child as "the little princess" all through this blog? That's because the mother to be will not tell anyone what the "little princess" name is going to be. They have two names picked out and are waiting until the see "the baby" before they choose the name. Debra explained that they want to make sure her name matches her face! Isn't that sweet?

Well I hope you have enjoyed my blog today and that it brought back fond memories of your own baby shower's or left you with anticipation of your future showers. Until next time..

God Bless,

Tina

Spring is in THE AIR!

2009-03-11T21:20:00.009-05:00

For those of you who know me, you know that spring is my favorite time of year! It's not too cold and not too hot and all the flowers are blooming and new animals are being born. Spring is the time of birth or new life, it's exciting! One of my favorite pastimes is to take nature walks with my camera. I don't get to do this very often because life just gets to busy sometimes, but when I feel stressed or in need of a "time out" as my loving family likes to say, I take a walk. It is amazing what a walk in a garden or in the woods will do for your mood and help you to put into perspective what is really important in your life. So today I would like to share some photos of one of my spring walks.
Did you know that dragonflies come in all different colors? I didn't until I started documenting my nature walks. Dragonflies are also difficult to capture an image of. They startle very easy and fly away very fast.

First up we have an orange dragonfly. Isn't he beautiful?

Next is a green dragonfly. He almost blends in with the plant.

And last a blue dragonfly. Pretty cool.

Butterflies are another of my favorite things. They also come in many colors shapes and sizes. Here are some of my favorites.

Now my next example may make some of you cringe and I have to admit they aren't beautiful creatures and can be really scary if they happen to jump on you when you are least expecting it, but they are still one of God's creatures and they have their place on earth too. What am I talking about? Giant grasshoppers! Okay, so I might be a little crazy about some of the things I decided to capture for prosperity, my family sure thinks so. But these grasshoppers are really neat. They don't run away, they don't talk back and they actually will sit and pose for the camera and look you right in the eye. So with no further ado, here are my grasshoppers.

So what else will you find on a nature walk? How about a bumblebee and a lizard?

Aren't they cute?

Okay, so I've showed you that there are bugs in nature and maybe you don't like bugs, most people don't. But they do have their place and captured in their environment, they can be beautiful.

Okay enough of the bugs, now I will share some of my favorite flower images with you so that you can see I'm not completely "bug" crazy and I do draw the line at snakes. Sorry, there is nothing beautiful about them. They are scary and I run as fast as I can when I see one!

I hope that you enjoy these images and the next time you feel stressed, angry or upset, take a nature walk and remember to enjoy life.
Until next time,
GOD Bless,
Tina

Community Spot Light

2009-03-08T16:35:00.010-05:00

Today I am going to start a blog about my hometown, DeFuniak Springs, Florida. How many of you have been on vacation and been asked by someone “Where are you from?” If you live where I do, you more than likely get a “dumbfounded” look when you say DeFuniak Springs, Florida. Then of course you have to explain where DeFuniak is and it is always surprising to me that everyone knows where Pensacola, Panama City, Destin and sometimes even Crestview are located, but they have never heard of DeFuniak Springs. I really don’t understand this when our town was founded in the late 1800’s and is one of the oldest towns in Florida. We host the “The Chautauqua Assembly” every year, we have one of the only two perfectly round lakes in the world, and we have the most fabulous display of Christmas lights every year. Why we were even the home of Florida’s 22nd Governor, Sidney Johnston Catts. So I really want to know, why don’t people know where DeFuniak Springs is located? So over the next few months, I have decided that I am going to “Spot light” my community and local area business. I wonder how many people live in our community who really don’t know what we have to offer? I for one know that there are several businesses that our located right here in our little town that I have never visited. So, I have made a goal to myself to visit at least one business in my community a month and spotlight them on this blog.

So here we go……
This week I will be spot lighting “Bass Style Shop”
Bass Style Shop is located In the Historical Downtown District of DeFuniak Springs at 858 Baldwin Avenue and you can contact them at (850) 892-0540.

Bass Style Shop also hosts a collection of "Barber" memorabilia from over the years. Below are a few images I snapped while visiting with Connie , Al and Wendy.

So I have told you where you can find Bass Style Shop, now I will tell you about the people who work there and help to keep the people in our community looking so stylish!

First up we have have Connie Strickland who is the owner and head stylist at Bass Style Shop. Connie is one of the sweetest people I know and she is always happy and smiling! It is always a pleasure to have Connie style my hair and she never complains that it takes her over an hour to wash, cut, dry and flat iron my hair! Did I mention that I have enough hair for two people?

Connie is an expert stylist who can wash, set, style, color and perm your hair. She also provides services for "Up Dos" for proms, weddings, pageants and any other special occasion you may have.

Did I mention how wonderful it feels when Connie is washing your hair? That's why her client is smiling in the picture below!

Bass Style Shop also sales numerous products to help us keep our hair looking salon fresh!

Next up we have Al Suforna! My little boy loves Al and will not allow anyone else to cut his hair! He and Al have been friends for the last four years and I honestly don't know what we would do if Al ever retires. You see, my son Hunter had a few "not so great" haircuts before Al came to work at Bass Style Shop and he doesn't believe that "a girl" can cut his hair. Connie has tried to talk him into letting her cut his hair and he very firmly tells her "girls can't cut boys hair, they will mess it up." Now I can't tell you why he thinks this way, all I know is that when he feels it is time for a haircut, he tells me "Mom, it's time to go see Mr. Al. My hair is touching my eyebrows." So if you have a little boy like mine, go see Al. He is great with kids of all ages.

One of the great things about Al is, he always knows what Hunter wants. We never have to explain anything and Al always does a great job. I'm sure it helps that Hunter never changes his hairstyle. Boys are so different in that regard to girls. My daughter changes her hairstyle every week.

Al is a Barber and can give you a great haircut or shave and he also has some really cool memorabilia. In the below picture you will see that way back when, you could get a shave and haircut for 25 cent. He is also the first person you see when you walk in the door and always has a ready smile and a little conversation for everyone and he still has an official "barber pole".If you visit Bass on a Saturday morning, as we usually do, it is not unusual to find many men from the community sitting in the chairs waiting their turn with Al and there is never a lack of conversation. I have been privileged to hear all the latest gardening news, political news and even up dates in health care. Go visit AL one Saturday morning and you will come away with a great haircut and maybe a little more knowledge on who knows what subject or you can start your own subject.

Al has also been known to give very good little children a quarter for the bubble gum machine.

Next up we have Wendy Alumbaugh who is the newest addition at Bass Style Shop. Wendy is a stylist and can wash, cut, color, perm or style your hair. Wendy is very friendly and has a very welcoming smile. Wendy says she is happy to be at Bass and meeting new people everyday and Connie is happy to have the additional help. Go see Wendy and make her feel welcome.

I hope you have enjoyed the "Spot Light" on Bass Style Shop and continue to come back each week to learn more about our wonderful community and our local businesses. If you are a local area business and would like to be featured in my "Spot Light", give me a call.

Until next time....
GOD BLESS
Tina

Easter Portrait Special with a Baby Lamb

2009-03-02T14:10:00.004-06:00

Hi Everyone and happy Monday :o)
I have had a lot of clients asking for Easter mini sessions in the last few weeks so I have decided to do Easter Mini Portraits with a baby Lamb. These mini sessions will be one day only! on March 28th. The price is $50.00 and you will receive 1 8x10, 2 5x7's and 8 wallets. I can't wait for everyone to see the baby lamb setup, it is going to be so cute, I might have to get in front of the camera too. LOL. If you are interested please book early because these spots are going fast! I have already booked four slots and I just posted the special last night on Myspace. It will also be ran in this weeks newspaper. So hurry and book or you will miss out on this great deal. If you need more information give me a call or message me!
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Tina Smith Photography

Welcome to My New Blog

2009-02-22T19:06:00.028-06:00

Hi and Welcome to the new blog for Tina Smith Photography. I am really excited about my new website and hope that you will enjoy looking through my photography galleries. So please, to take a look and let me know what you think!

Tina Smith Photography provides services for on location portraits for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, beach portraits, children's portraits, senior portraits, newborn portraits, maternity portraits or portraits for any occasion. The locations are unlimited! So if you are looking for a fun, friendly and energetic photographer, give me a call.
Now, I have never had a blog before and I can't promise to update it faithfully, but my goal is to update at least weekly. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I love meeting and talking with new people and we can never have too many friends.

In closing today I would like to share some recent portraits of my son and granddaughter! My two favorite subjects! I hope you enjoy them :o)