Tammi Nowack Photography Photoblog

The Moving Company is LITERALLY moving boxes and office supplies from around me while I type this, but I was so excited when I saw these images come through my inbox that I wanted to share them with you all.

About 6 months ago I was contracted through SRJ Architects and the Mitchell Co. School Board to do some commercial images of Mitchell Co. Students as art/signage for their new school that they’re building.  I enthusiastically agreed and with Beth and the fantastic team at SRJ we dove right in.  The art has been printed and installed in the last month and I just got a few pictures yesterday so I thought I would show you.

Mitchell Co. Principal Jackie and her staff were such a help in coordinating about 40+ kids for various images on  3 separate shoots. The kids at Mitchell Co. are so great – fun and happy, obedient and cute as can be; an obvious testament to parents that care and great teachers. Many thanks to Casey Perkins, Erica Pollock, and Beth at SRJ for helping to pull together props, corral kids, and organize the shoots.

A few months back, I threw on a hard hat and walked around the school for a little tour and it is SUCH a cool space for kids to learn.  SRJ Architects have utilized daylighting to conserve energy and aide in a better learning environment for students.  The school is so bright and cheery, with fun colors that make it a great space very conducive to learning. I hope that more schools start to incorporate this type of more sustainable construction and environmentally conscious design to help the environment AND students.

When I come back to Albany in the months ahead, I hope to get out to get more pictures of the rest of the images around the school but here’s just a few.

School: Mitchell Co. Elementary School

Architects: SRJ Architects

Art Printing: Dougherty Blueprint

Models: Students of Mitchell Co. Elementary School

Photography: Tammi Nowack

Whew! It’s been a whirlwind month around here and I’ve been a busy busy little bee (name that movie) over here! 3 Weeks ago, my son AJ and I headed out to Memphis with St. Jude’s as our destination, so that we could spend some time with my nephew Johnny.  We had a great time for a week and a half – going to Memphis Redbirds games, swimming, sprinkler parks, swimming, the Fire Station Museum, The Memphis Grizzlies, Beale Street, The Peabody Ducks, Horse-drawn carriage rides and many a car ride with Johnny and AJ riding in my backseat…many, MANY jokes and giggling (most often about something related to toilets or bodily functions).

Those are memories that I will cherish for a very very long time.

Those of you interested in keeping up with Johnny, can check for updates on this facebook page here.  Johnny’s birthday is August 1st and if you feel so inclined, a gift to St. Jude’s in his name would be greatly appreciated.  I can’t sing enough praises about St. Jude’s, the Ronald McDonald House, and the fantastic staff that they have there.  That place is a true beacon of hope and comfort for families walking through a very dark time in their life.

This one was at the Memphis Grizzlies Draft Party…..the monkey, the butterfly and the bear.

After Memphis, AJ and I flew up to Ohio where we met up with my husband Steve and our other 2 boys and spent a week with family in the Canton-Medina-Cleveland area.   That week was filled with Tyler’s 3rd birthday, celebrating Grandma’s 95th birthday, sifting through hundreds of my grandfather’s old photos and listening to his WWII stories, Owen losing his 2 front teeth, playing with my 2 beautiful nieces, Independence Day fireworks, meeting up with old friends, dabbling in some pet photography, parties,  running through sprinklers, and much more.

And now we’re back! Saturday we had a yard sale, and on Wednesday we’re moving! Thank you thank you, THANK YOU to my current clients for your patience during this hectic time! I’ve got print shipments going out this week, orders being placed, discs being burned, and blog posts coming up…..keep an eye on the blog in the very near future for Blog Previews for Katie, Brooke, Peyton, and Sumner!

This has been a CUH-RAZY couple of weeks for us around here and it’s taken everything in me to keep everything under wraps.  I feel like my emotions tumble from one extreme to the other on a minute-by-minute basis, so it’s with a happy/sad/excited/overwhelmed heart that I tell you that The Nowack family is MOVING!

For those of you who don’t know, my husband is a school teacher at Deerfield Windsor School.  In a whirlwind of activity over the last several weeks, he interviewed and was offered a position at the fantastic premiere prep school, Rabun Gap Nacoochee School in the mountains of north Georgia.  This is an opportunity that we are so very excited to embark on.  A new city, excellent schooling for our boys, an opportunity for me to get back into coaching volleyball, a lifestyle that is more in line with our eco-nerdy, vegetarian philosophies….the list goes on.  We’ll be very sad to leave our friends and our “adopted” family that we’ve come to love here but we’re greatly anticipating this next chapter in our lives.

Obviously, this has ramifications for my current clients.  Unfortunately, considering that we will gone from Albany in ONE month (a period of time in which I will be gone for several weeks traveling) there are very, VERY few dates left open for my clients.  However, I WILL be returning to Albany in Sept. and again in November (Thanksgiving weekend) for weddings and I will happily be offering a day or two of sessions jam-packed into those weekends.  Clients waiting on proofs will not be affected  – although I may have to ship your orders long distance. I also have recommendations for several photographer-friends that I know will be more than happy and VERY lucky to take on any of my clients with immediate needs for photography – I truly do believe that I have the best clients in Albany and I will miss all of you immensely!!  Please email me at info@tamminowackphotography.com or call me at 229-669-8545 for information on the last remaining dates I have available for appointments (seriously, I only have like, FOUR) and my recommendations for other photographers in the area.

DON’T think that this blog is dead! I’ll be continuing to update it with current clients, weddings, and our family adventures as we settle in up in Rabun Gap.  DO be sure to keep checking in here, and on the Facebook page for updates, fun links, and the first announcements when I’m coming back to town! Also, be sure to sign up by tomorrow night for our Photography101 class offered THIS Saturday, June 19.  Only 4 seats left!

Thank you Albany for all of your support for the last 2 years!

I’m always proud to show off my boys and AJ is no exception.  He actually turned 6 a couple months ago, but between my procrastination, a “themed” shoot that turned out to be a bit more involved than I thought it would be, and our sudden trip to Memphis for a family emergency – his photo shoot was broken into two parts and stretched over 2 months.

Last year, I did a Knight-themed photo shoot with my oldest son and of course AJ wouldn’t let HIS birthday slide without an equally cool photoshoot.

“well, what do you want to do?” I asked him (whilst day-dreaming about fantasy type scenarios: think “little boy blue” or “peter pan”)

“STAR WARS!” he replied.

{silence}

“uh….how about Peter Pan?”

“No way mom. STAR.WARS.”

So I was stumped. And I thought about it for a looonnnggg time.  How do you do a Star Wars Themed Shoot without it looking like a bad Halloween catalog??  I pondered all the Star Wars “scenes”…Jabba the Hut?  The Ewoks in the Forest?   Tattooine?    EUREKA!  Thanks to the fact that Albany happens to have some random sand dunes out in the middle of nowhere…..Tattoine would work out just fine, thank you very much.  So out we went, me and Annakin Skywalker…. and that night I hunched over my computer screen and did my best to make the planet Tattoine come to life from SW Georgia.  Thank goodness for  Twitter and my tweeps who helped me nail down the details….”Hey friends, does Tattooine have 2 or 3 moons?” LOL

This is my favorite from the Jedi series….I”ll probably print it as a large poster for his room.

For the hard-core Star Wars fans who are looking at the body paint skeptically, it’s actually Annakin Skywalker’s tattoo from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

I had to just throw this one in there – Annakin Skywalker and my assistant Darth Vader.

I LOVE being a mama to boys.

Themes are fun, but I also like to have some “regular” birthday portraits too (and so do the grandma’s), so just this week we went out and finally finished up his birthday pictures.

AJ, I love you to the moon and back and I’m so proud to be your mom.

Yesterday we received devastating news about my 7 year old nephew Johnny, who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.  Obviously, we are all reeling from this news and I’m heading out to Arkansas tonight to be with my family. We would appreciate your prayers, positive energy, healing thoughts at this time…Johnny needs a miracle.

I will be unavailable for at least a week. I apologize for any inconveniences.

Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time.

My nephew Johnny.  Bright, funny, mischievous, sneaky and just a really fun kid.  I love him bunches.

My boys with Johnny last year at the beach.  My Owen and Johnny are only 3 months apart in age.  They love him bunches too.