Tina Jay Photography | Philadelphia Wedding Photographer » Photography

A Little Wrap Love

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:22:47 +0000

I know it’s pretty nerdy, but I look forward to when the mail comes….I rarely get anything good, but I still look forward to it every day, not sure why. But when I’m expecting a package to be delivered?? I probably check my porch every hour on the hour. So you can imagine how excited I was when I had a couple of gallery wraps delivered to my front door yesterday afternoon…..heard the package hit the front door, waited until I heard the truck drive away (tried to not pounce on the driver), and tore into it….I am LOVING how they turned out!

For anyone who hasn’t heard of gallery wraps, they’re pictures that are printed on canvas, and the canvas is then stretched around an inch thick wooden frame….seriously in love with this big one I ordered from Rebecca & Tommy’s wedding:

Absolutely love how the picture extends around the frame:

I also ordered two tinier ones – I love the idea of displaying baby photos this way also:

I can’t wait to have my OWN wedding pictures so I can get a huge canvas for above our bed:)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I’m off to the beach for the weekend with some of my college roommates – it’s going to be a much needed relaxing weekend:)

New Product: Guest Sign-in Books

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:24:44 +0000

I’m loving these new products I just got in the mail (more to blog later!) – here is the first product, my new guest sign-in books….I’m even making one for myself for my own wedding:) Here is a close up of the book’s pages – it has nice sturdy, thick pages for wedding guests to sign on:

All of the pages lay flat, so album spreads can stretch across from one page to the next:

Each book has a custom cover using a picture from your engagement session, and has your name and wedding date printed on as well:

The album spreads are designed using lots of white space, which leaves a lot of room for guests to sign on your wedding day:)

Brides, just let me know if you want to order one for your wedding day! These sign-in books can be added to any package:)

Happy Tuesday!

A Twitter Facelift

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:54:27 +0000

I’ve been thinking lately about how much I still love my headshots that Alison shot, even after a year of looking at them (hopefully that doesn’t sound vain, I just think she does amazing work!). I wanted to incorporate more of them into my online presence, so I decided to give my Twitter wallpaper a bit of a facelift:) I’ve been on Twitter for about a year, and for the past year I’ve just used a boring, blah, generic background….so I figured this would be a perfect spot to display more of my pictures. So if you want to see my face, repeating itself over and over (who wouldn’t want that??), check it out here

While you check it out, make sure to follow me!

An Updated Look

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:53:53 +0000

I love office supplies. It’s pretty dorky, but true. I absolutely love going to office supply stores – I think I could walk around and just look at things in Staples for hours on end. Maybe it’s because I’m overly organized, and all of those organizational items in office supply stores just make me feel at home:) A few months back I decided it was time for a bit of an update to my letterhead/business cards. The ones I had before were designed by yours truly, and well, lets face it – I’m not a graphic designer, so they were pretty plain and simple. I was SO ecstatic to have the amazing people of Two Paper Dolls design my new look, and I am absolutely in love with how it turned out – once I ordered all of my business cards, letterhead, envelopes and all of that fun stuff, I was so excited about it that I think I checked the tracking on the package about 25 times a day…..and the day the package arrived on my doorstep, well, it felt like Christmas:)

I am in LOVE with my new business cards:)

It feels so refreshing to have all of these updated supplies now! What do you guys think? Anyone else as dorky as me and LOVE this stuff?

Hello 2010!

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:11:31 +0000

Whew – 2010 – can you believe it?? I feel like 2009 was just a big blur because it FLEW by – but lots of great things happened:) Jay and I bought our first house, I did a LOT with my photography business, and most importantly, Jay and I got engaged! 2009 was such a whirlwind that I can’t wait to see what 2010 has in store. One thing I’m definitely looking forward to is growing my business this year – because as much as I LOVE photography and getting out there and shooting, I’m a big nerd at heart and love the business side of photography just as much. It’s so empowering growing my own business, working toward something that I have so much passion for and drive to accomplish.

I came across a post on Seth Godin’s blog the other day that has 8 interesting questions – I think would be beneficial for all photographers out there to ask themselves these questions to re-evaluate their business and start setting goals as we kick off 2010:

Who are you trying to please?
What are you promising?
How much money are you trying to make?
How much freedom are you willing to trade for opportunity?
What are you trying to change?
What do you want people to say about you?
Which people?
Do we care about you?

(and after each question, ask “why”?)

I know I’m going to answer each of these questions as I start setting goals for my business this year:) So that’s one of my New Year’s resolutions – really focus on growing my business and reaching my business-sided goals this year. I also have another resolution, but I’ll save that for a later post:)

In the end, I’m SO excited to see what 2010 has in store – but I know one thing – it HAS to be a great year because I get to marry my best friend in the whole world in October, and I. CAN’T. WAIT.:)

Hope everyone had a safe New Year’s, cheers to 2010!

Two Paper Dolls: AIGA “New to You” Event

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:15:08 +0000

Vanessa of Two Paperdolls asked me to shoot an event they hosted at their design center last night, so of course I didn’t hesitate to join in:) They hosted the AIGA “New to You” series, which is an annual lecture series where different creative small businesses in Philly speak to the guests about the history of the business, and how they grew their businesses to where it is today. Then the Two Paperdolls employees gave us a tour of their letterpress area, and gave all the guests a cool letterpress gift:) Here are some of the shots from last night:

All of the delicious treats:

Here are the AIGA folks, talking about the invitation for the “New to You” event, which Two Paperdolls designed:

Here is Vanessa doing her thing:

A few more of Vanssa, showing some of her handy-work:

Is it wrong that I covet her boots?? I LOVE them. I need them. Now. :)

I loved all of the things hanging on their walls in the letterpress area (if you look at the picture on the top right, you can see a picture of Alison Conklin’s awesome letterpress business cards – she is the one who took the awesome shots of me in my header!):

Then Scott from Two Paperdolls gave a demonstration on their letterpress. It starts like this:

Then at the pull of a handle turns out like this! Voila!

The final product that each guest was able to take home:

It was packed in their studio!

Loved these little cut-outs:

Can I mention again how much I love how their space is decorated? Vanessa, can you please come decorate my house?? I’d love you forever! Hah:)

They also had some of their work on display:

I had a great night hanging out at the event, Vanessa – thanks for asking me to come get some shots!

Night Time Shoot: Center City

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:46:29 +0000

Jaime and I first became friends in our 9th grade gym class. I was intimidated by her because she was friends with all the cool girls in our grade – but then we ended up being assigned to the same gym class, and we bonded over our un-athleticism (is that even a word?). We were really bad at gym class. Like, REALLY bad. Anyone who knows me knows I am just simply not athletically inclined. I received the worst grade I ever got in my WHOLE LIFE in that 9th grade gym class. I never got below a B in all my years in school, and even B’s were rare. Well I got a D in that gym class, and I believe Jaime got an F. This gym teacher was just AWFUL, and really hated that we found it funny how bad we were at sports. Well in the end that D was worth it, because now Jaime is one of my best friends in the whole world:)

Last night I headed into center city to celebrate Jaime’s birthday with her and Karen, and we had an awesome time having dinner and dessert:) Then of course I convinced them to have a little night-time photo shoot in the streets of Philly to push Jaime out of her “early twenties” to welcome her to her “late twenties”:)

LOVED Karen’s look in this picture:)

Just chillin’ in a random alley:)

Hanging out in the middle of Broad Street:)

Jaime workin’ the camera:)

Love you girls!!

Happy Birthday Jaime!!! Love ya!

Two Paper Dolls

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:45:29 +0000

I love meeting other vendors in the wedding industry. It’s always fun talking to people who have been in business in this industry for a long time, to hear their little tidbits of business advice from years of experience. Tonight I went to the Two Paperdolls design studio to meet up with Vanessa, who is the owner and creative director of Two Paperdolls – and she is also easily one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We chatted about the importance of branding and identity for your business, and just all things wedding-industry related. It was SO nice of her to take time out of her incredibly busy schedule to meet with me, and I had an awesome time – I just absolutely love talking about this industry, and how to further your business in this industry. She started her company about 9 years ago, and it has grown to become THE place to go in Philly for any kind of branding/identity items you need for your business, as well as the place to go for wedding invitations/save-the-dates/etc. I had seen their work on their website and other vendors’ websites, but I was blown away by the quality of the products once I actually saw them up close during my visit to their design studio. All of their work is amazing, and I definitely recommend them to anyone who is in need of these kinds of services:)

I am also totally in love with their design studio – I wish I could rent out a little corner of it for myself just so I could work inside their awesome space all day long:) Check it out:

How fun is this studio??

A little meeting area for clients, this is where Vanessa and I chatted:

Another little meeting area:

I loved how they showcased their work in these shadow boxes:

LOVE the press-printed products:

Isn’t that one of the most awesome studios?? I absolutely loved the design, it looked like it came straight out of an interior design magazine:)

Check out more of their work at their website, or head on over to Etsy to see even more – thanks Vanessa!

Garden Party Shoot

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:35:46 +0000

This weekend I had such an awesome time meeting up with the sisters of A Garden Party – they’re re-vamping the look of their website and wanted some fresh, fun images for their new site. Mary and Dawn are the co-owners behind this fabulous company, and I highly recommend them to anyone – they bring a young, unique view to the florist industry. I always have a great time hanging out with these girls, and I’m so excited to see their new look once it’s all put together!

For their shoot we met up in center city Philadelphia, and it was SO much fun walking around finding new spots that I never knew existed. Who knew there are so many random gardens in the middle of the city?? Also, who knew there were so many mosquitoes – I think we all got eaten alive that day….but it was worth it:) Here are some of the images of the sisters:

Mary is the one who gave birth to Lee about 2 months ago. And yes, she looks thinner than before she got pregnant. She was looking fab in those jeans!

Here are some shots of the bouquets they made for our shoot:

Love the monogram detail!

Those pearls are AWESOME. I loved that detail:)

Mary and Dawn brought a little bling for me to shoot through:)

Mary and Dawn also brought along Sarah and Sara to model some bridesmaids and bridal gowns with the bouquets:

Sara got quite a few comments in this outfit – got about 6 “congratulations”, 4 people took pictures of her, and 1 guy shouted that she can still get out of it if she wants to:) Yet no one asked where the groom was….

WOAH. Let me just say I love this image. Like, REALLY love it. When I saw it for the first time I gasped – love the feel, the lighting, everything about it. Oh and it doesn’t hurt that Sarah is a hottie:) Did I mention she is my bride in January? Yeah, I’m a lucky photographer:)

Then I saw this picture – LOVE this one too! Mary and Dawn have some hot friends/sisters:) Sara looks like a model in this picture – her new hair style worked perfectly with this outfit!

This picture is not perfect by any means, but it’s one of my favorites from the session. It’s just two sisters, hanging out, havin’ a good time:) Love it!

Haha had to throw this picture in there – Sarah had the brilliant idea of carting all of our bouquets/wardrobe changes around in Mary’s stroller:) Mary was wondering how many people would ask where the baby is – but no one even looked twice at us – gotta love Philly! Hah:)

Thanks again girls for asking me to do the pictures for your new website! Hope you enjoy them:) Can’t wait to see the final product!

And for anyone looking for fresh, fun floral designs, head on over to their website and send them an email!

Welcome to the New Blog-site!

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:18:26 +0000

Welcome, everyone, to my new blog-site! I wanted to combine my blog and website into one application, so vio la….here is my blog-site! This way you can get all the necessary information about my photography that you need, and see all of my most recent work at the same time. If you scroll down, you can see that I have incorporated the last few posts of my old blog into this new blog. You can also now browse blog posts by “Category” above, or by month, by clicking on the “Archive” link at the top of the page. You can always go back and check out my old blog (but come on, do you really want to? This one is so much prettier :) ) by clicking on the “Links” at the top of the page, and selecting “Old Blog”.

I am so excited to have launched my new blogsite! I’ve been working hard on the blog-site and overall branding for the past few months, so leave me comments and let me know what you all think!

And as always, you can contact me directly at tina@tinajayphotography.com, or click on the “Contact Me” link above, and shoot me an email. Thanks for checking it out!

And because all posts without a picture are boring, here is another one of my palm tree pictures from my trip to Florida back in April. Ahhh how I wish I was on vacation again:)