Author Archives: Tara Showen

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As the "senior citizen" Tiptoe member, I tend to be the first to run into issues associated with getting older. I honestly can hardly believe that I am staring 36 right in the face! I remember turning 30 and thinking, "hey, no big deal!" Then 32 came along and I realized that 40 was fast approaching and I started to panic a bit. I also started to notice that everything I had heard about your metabolism slowing down was absolutely true. Add more panic to the mix...I had always lived a pretty much sedentary lifestyle (anyone remember my post about being a Netflix junkie? ....yep!) and I self admittedly always said I hated to exercise! I had formerly done T25 to get in shape for vacation but that always slacked off as soon as I returned from the beach and started to build my fall wardrobe. I then started working on my "sweater body"!

Fast forward to last December when I started picking up my T25 routine again. I started seeing this Fitbit thing everywhere. I did a bit of research and thought it was a pretty nifty gadget. Count my steps, count my calories, make me accountable for my own fitness regime! I wanted one. However, I was pretty slow to pull the trigger. Just the idea of spending $100 minimum on myself for absolutely no reason was pretty daunting. Also, I am someone who is pretty into clothes and accessories and I thought the Fitbit band looked a lot like something you would tag an animal with in the wild. Not the cutest thing in the world by any means!

Fast forward once again to July...I finally bit the bullet and bought the thing! I had just returned from vacation, already hit that exercise slump and did not want my "sweater body" back! So, my husband and I did a quick run to Dick's and I became the proud owner of what has become my slave master!

Reading over the info, I noticed that the daily step goal was 10,000 steps. I thought, "I got this! I totally take 10,000 steps in one day!" Well guess what? I surely do not! It is more like 7,000 steps per day for my normal count. Refusing to "fail", I found myself walking/jogging around my house at 10pm every night, desperate to get my 10,000 steps in. My husband thought I was crazy. At meetings at the studio, I would be walking in place, thinking nothing of it...until I noticed the looks I was getting from my co-workers. Finally, Lisa summed it up in one statement, "you know that makes people uncomfortable, right?" At that moment, I realized I had become a slave to my Fitbit.

It has been 5 weeks now and I have to say that this thing has definitely helped me to keep up with my workouts! I have yet to hit 20,000 steps in a day but am super proud that I average about 11,000 a day now, easy! There has only been 1 day where I didn't hit my goal and it isn't likely I will let that happen again!

Soooo, let me know guys! Is anyone else out there a slave to their Fitbit? Let me know I am not the only one...

~T

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Is it too soon? If you are like me, you feel like the summer flew by and here we are with only 17 days until the new school year begins. 17 days, people! I am in an absolute frenzy, buying book bags, school clothes, new shoes, etc all while desperately trying to enjoy the last vestiges of a summer coming to an all too rapid end! There is A LOT to get done in a very short time frame! But....do you know what you don't need to worry about? Having to pay for expensive, crappy, mediocre, school pictures....... because we got you covered! We are now booking for our annual Tiptoe school portraits! Let us give those bland, unimaginative school pictures our signature high-end touch! We take it to the next level with personalized settings matched with unbelievable pricing! Don't settle for anything less this year; call or email now to reserve your slot!

Tiptoe school pics

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Before I retired the camera for good, I had the opportunity to photograph someone I have had the pleasure of knowing since she was 4 years old. She is now heading into her senior year of high school and I am officially old!

My husband and I met the Browning family when we moved in next door to them as newlyweds waaaaaayyyyy back in 2002. Some of my earliest memories of Briana were as an adorable and spunky little 4 year old who would come right into my house and try on all of my shoes! Well, that little girl has turned into a gorgeous young woman who lights up any room she enters! This girl is going to do great things and I wish her the very best in everything that life has to offer!

A few images from Briana's senior session...

B7 B14 B16

B20

 

 

 

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So, big news has been brewing in the Penick family lately! It really never went "Facebook official" so I decided that now was the perfect time to make an all in one announcement. My sister and brother-in-law are expecting their first baby this November! And it is a boy! I am super, over the moon, excited to be an aunt again and I can hardly wait until November to meet this little guy. Since this baby factory is permanently closed for business, I have been getting my baby fixes from all of our newborn sessions here at the studio. A new little nephew to love on is right up my alley!

We actually did a maternity session/gender reveal/pregnancy announcement photo session while on our family vacation last week in the Outer Banks, NC. Kristy and Will were married  right along this stretch of beach five and a half years ago so, it was pretty cool to capture this next milestone of their lives right here as well. Here are a few images from their session:

1 (Large) 3 (Large) 5 (Large) 7 (Large) 9 (Large) 10 (Large) 12 (Large) 14 (Large)

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Howdy, everyone! I am fresh back from a week long vacation to the Outer banks of North Carolina and while it was truly nice to sit back and unwind, I am very glad to be home!

Our trip just happened to fall during a period of heightened shark activity that had me in an anxious frenzy prior to leaving WV. Those who really know me, know that I am terrified of big bodies of water. (Like, big puddles scare me. No joke....and I know it sounds crazy!) I watch shark week; I know that I supposedly have a better chance of being struck by lightening than by being bitten by a shark. However, this year I am not too terribly sure about those odds! But, I pulled on my big girl panties and ventured into the ocean...up to my knees. And I let the kids play in the ocean as much as they wanted...up to their knees. My absolutely fearless, half-fish husband had a blast body surfing and splashing with the kids...in knee-deep water.  But seriously, we had a blast anyway!

Normally we stay in the Nags Head area of OBX but this year we ended up staying a bit out of the way in Corolla. I was super surprised to find that I actually like this area a bit better! It was much less crowded, less commercial but still had all of the perks you look for when vacationing such as shops, restaurants, miniature golf, go-karts, etc. I mean just take a look at our "deserted" beach (it doesn't get much better than this!):

ocean

We even got our annual Showen Family portrait done...super fancy, guys...

feet

Haha, we totally take this shot every year and I get a kick out of seeing how those little piggies have grown! And since it is just feet, there is no arguing over location, wardrobe, etc. Easy-peasy and everyone is happy!

A few more from various activities:

Surf fishing...

fishing fishy

Ghost crabbing...

crabby

Anyway, it is great to be home and I look forward to getting back into the swing of things! Be on the look out for a teaser of a special session I did for one of my family members, coming up this week!

T

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So as we approached our 7th year anniversary, we decided to make a few changes in how we operated Tiptoe. Most of you have probably not even taken notice of it, as the changes have been fairly subtle. For the past year or so, I (Tara) have been weaning myself from shooting so much. It started with regular sessions and most recently, I have even stopped shooting weddings. Wondering what in the heck I do in a photography business if I don't take pictures? The answer to that is pretty much everything else! I now do the scheduling, man the phone and email, conduct all the ordering sessions, consult with the accountant, pay the bills, pay the employees, design promotional flyers and place all the print/product orders. Needless to say, I stay pretty busy! And you know what? I actually like it! And with all of this being taken care of, it leaves the other ladies plenty of time to shoot, edit and make amazing artwork for all of our wonderful clients! It is totally a win-win situation!

To all of my awesome clients, I promise you won't even have time to miss me! I still do each and every ordering session for all of the shoots and I have even been known to snag the "baby-whisperer" spot for most of our newborn sessions. (I mean, who would turn down the chance to snuggle a baby? Not this girl!) I am just thankful that our business has grown so much over the past 7 years that we need someone to oversee daily operations. And who do we have to thank for that? All of you! We wouldn't be where we are today if we didn't have the best clients in the business! So thank you for letting us be "your life photographers" and cheers  to the next 7 years!

Just a little glimpse into what a typical day "behind the scenes" looks like for me:

typical day

(Actually, I totally straightened up before I took this shot...it is normally a much bigger mess, lol!)

 

 

 

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First of all, Happy Father's day to all of the wonderful daddies out there! The ladies of Tiptoe Studios hope you have an absolutely fabulous Sunday!

We thought there was no better day than today to kick off our 7Sale! That's right...7 years ago this July Tiptoe Studios formally came into being. That adds up to a ton of happy memories captured by us over the years! To say "thank you" for letting us into your lives to capture all of those precious moments, we are holding our 7Sale up through July 27th! Book a session between now and the 27th and pay a $7 session fee (normally $50)! To sweeten the deal, all a la carte 5x7 prints will also be only $7 each (normally $27)! And, if you are someone who likes to have the ultimate freedom in printing your own images, now is the time to take advantage of our session CD for the hugely discounted price of $700 (normally $1300)!

The 7Sale covers all regular sessions and cannot be combined with any other promotions/specials currently running. Ordering session for your shoot must be held before July 27th to take advantage of this deal.

This will be our biggest sale of the summer so don't miss out! Help us celebrate our 7th anniversary in true Tiptoe style! We can't wait to hear from you!

7sale

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We have heard from several of our loyal subscribers that, for reasons unbeknownst, you had stopped receiving our blog posts to your email. After a lot of confused looking at each other with shrugged shoulders, we have FINALLY fixed the issue and so, we should have popped up back in your inbox where we belong! Suffice it to say that a lot of this blogging stuff is not exactly user-friendly and definitely takes some getting used to (and we thought Photoshop was bad!)

So to kick off our newly-reinstated blog, take a look at this fabulous flyer, advertising our annual Daddy & Me sessions, coming up on June 14th. Give us a ring if you would like to reserve your slot!

It's great to be back!

DaddyDay2015

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We have already had numerous inquiries for our annual father's day sessions, so here goes! We would love, love, LOVE for our Tiptoe dads to get super creative and do themed shoots this year (or maybe we should say we need some Tiptoe MOMS to "inspire" the dads to get creative since that is normally how it works)!  We would love to see  baseball/sports themes, trucks and/or tractors, fishing/hobby themes, superhero themes....really the sky's the limit with these sessions! Give us a call or shoot us an email to secure your slot and let's give dad the appreciation he deserves on his special day!

DaddyDay2015

 

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It's that time of year...senior portrait time! We get sooooo excited to start shooting senior sessions because they are so much fun! Tiptoe Seniors always bring such awesome energy and life to their sessions. Wardrobe, hair, make up, props; for our senior girls it is a whirlwind day full of preparation and laughs. From our senior guys (who don't normally look forward to this process quite as much as the girls do!) our highest compliments have been that we make it a painless (and sometimes even enjoyable, lol) experience!

Because we enjoy our seniors so much, we are able to bring a vibrant, more personal touch to our images. Gone are the days of the backdrops and cheesy props. We're heading to the great outdoors in the location of your choice! The possibilities are endless and the Tiptoe girls are up for anything that will bring that personal touch to your session- just ask!

We are also introducing something a bit new. Since we had such success with our Tiptoe parties, we have created a special collection for Senior Parties! Honestly, isn't is more fun to do these things in groups anyway? Take a look at our promotions and give us a call for more information!

senior flyer SENIOR PARTIES