TA Schmidt Photography

Back to studio stuff/ Redding photography

By now you may be tired of my travel pix so I will back off until my next trip!

I remember years ago having to sit thru boring slide and Super 8 movies of family and friends vacations so I do understand.... Much more fun being there!

Well-- we are back to work in town with Kids Contest pix going on now and next Thurs thru Saturday our annual Fairy days. Only $19.95 for your session (girls only 18 month - 10 years) in which we supply all the clothing, props, backgrounds and even magic Fairy Dust.  There are a few appointments still open each day but it will fill up by the weekend.

peace,

tom s

PS--- Got a bride in the family or a friend for this year?  I am working on a new Boudoir Wedding package and need a couple cute new brides for sessions to build a new brochure and website for the product.  Somebody will get a FREE session and prints if I can use their images for this new offering. Have them call me at 244-2636 for an interview to see if they qualify!

Final Malta pix and thoughts...

Of course when I travel I am checking out other biz. It was surprising to see only one photo studio and one art gallery during our entire trip!  Maybe we were in the wrong areas but with a week on a small island like that I would have expected more.

My most memorable biz observation is how male and female shop owners and managers just "hang out" on the front step of their establishment when no customers are inside. Mostly the guys, smoking and looking cool in the doorway. Attire was a big change too. The men were almost always in suit and sie while the women usually looked ready to go out on the town for a nice evening.

We had many wonderful meals while there... many downstairs in 400 year old buildings.  All but one of the restaurants were owned by Brits! The cabbie told us that heating costs are so high around London that it is cheaper for them to vacation in Malta for 3 months than it is to heat thier homes!

Have a great week...

tom s

My biggest Malta surprise

was the lack of sandy beaches. Being used to SoCal and Hawaii with all the sand I was shocked to see the rocky outcroppings and huge cliffs around the island. Only one the far northern end will you find a traditional beach to enjoy the sun and water sports.

There are lots of water activities. Sailing, diving and of course fishing all minutes from anywhere on the island!

My favorite part of the villages...

were the narrow winding streets. Barely wide enough for the tiny cars that race full bore past the homes that are connected shoulder to shoulder for long blocks. The sidwalks for pedestrians are only inches wide and are often shared with the cars zooming by!  Our tour guide explained the curvey nature of the street layout.

Hundreds of years ago when they were building the town each curve was the distance an arrow could fly accurately.  This allowed the villagers an advantage in defending their homes from the Turks and Romans that invaded over the years.

But what I most wanted to see were the famous fishing boats.  Our timing was not the best as most were put up for the winter. Still it was a great time seeing the village and the Sunday street market loaded with fresh baked goods and seasfood staraight from the water.

7,000 years of manmade history

Malta is a great island for studying how man can adapt and grow within the environment.  Starting as farmers and fisherman they develped the tools and technques to build amazing churches and cities out of limestone they quarried by hand.  Incredible artwork, statues, paintings and craftsmanship is one display every few blocks at the many places of worship.

Of course my favorite part of the trip was the food. Seafood and pasta every meal for a week! Not to mention the dozen of pastry items I have never seen before and did I mention great local wine and wicked good chocolate?

peace,

tom s

The Fairy Days are back!

 

Just toasted...

While the crew was installing the new printing equipment I made a little side trip to Malta to drop off daughter to college there, for some R&R, and to build a set of images to start for our canvas wraps. Jet lag from all those time zones, 15 hours in the air and another 4 hour drive back from SF has me a bit looney tired! Got great pix and stories to share over the next few days...

tom s

 

SuperBowl Weekend

With much sadness the North State will watch the SuperBowl that could have been. I have managed to ignore all the hype leading up the the big game. Don't care about Brady or Manning. The stat junkie in me has missed all the over analysis of X's and O's.

I am sure I WILL ENJOY the commercials. Over the top expensive and funny we can expect a few that will be worthy of Monday morning chatter. My favs are still the workforce guys with the chimps in the office. How can you go wrong with a monkey or two or three?

Enjoy the game,

cheers!

tom s

Romance Month Begins...

Valentines Day is just one of these 28 days you can score big with your love. Dinner and movies, surprise gifts and goodies, even a spur of the moment trip to some bed & breakfast to change the pace of your life.

What can you do to surprise and thrill your significant other?

Start the month off today with some thought and a little action to see where it leads...

peace,

tom s

PS Woodland Nymph sessions are coming up the end of this month. You can start reserving the limited sessions spots on Feb 10th!

Happy Monday!

Just a reminder that we are closed this week and the first couple days of next week to install our new Gallery Wrap Art Canvas printing plant and get the needed training to make it work without loss of life or limb. Lots to learn again and will have to do it on the fly since I have a bunch of projects coming up.

Kids contest pix are going strong. Do you have a child or grandchild age newborn-12 years? Get them in for a fun 2 outfit session for only $19.95 including the contest photo!

cheers,

tom s

Valentines Day just two weeks away!

Got something for your Honey that will be remembered and cherished for years to come?

Maybe a fun sassy and sexy glamour session for him.

Maybe a great portrait of you or the kids for her.

Or a gift certificate to get what ever they really want.

Chocolate and flowers are fine. But flowers fade away while candy goes straight to the hips.  A
TA Schmidt portrait is a lifetime of looking great!

peace,

tom s

Tis the season for brides

While we don't do weddings any more we still do more than our share of engagement portraits and storybook albums. These are some of my fav sessions because we get to work in the studio and on several locations to really tell a STORY about the couple.

These can be done anywhere. Local is fine but if you have  special location we can and do travel. It's always a big treat when we head to the coast and shoot on the beach and in the old parts of Eurreka and Ferndale. Even more fun this time of year is Mexico--Cabo and Cancun both have wonderful areas to shoot and are not too pricey to fly down and stay for a long weekend.

If you are not satisfied with the usual lame photos in someone's backyard or at the park give me a call to talk about what could be done to make this time speical.

Did you know that the famous Wedding March was first played on this day in 1858?

peace,

tom s

New Gear Arrives this Week!

I am sooo excited since we are going to be able to do more fine art type creative work and print full canvas Gallery wrap portraits in-house soon. Our new wall collection products have been a big hit and these new tools will allow us even more flexibility in making the exact size for any room in your home or office. We are even talking about a couple "Gallery Openings" every year to show off some of my fav personal work... something I have not done in over 20 years!

Sometime in late Feb or Early March we will have a great 1 week promo to show off our new art. More than ever you will want the special portrait over the couch or above the bed's headboard!

cheers,

tom s

Still in mourning....49ers lose bid to Super Bowl

It will be a long Winter and Spring of reflection for the 49er team that could have/should have taken on the Pats in the big game. Considering how far they have come during the season, how much they have learned, and the buzz about a new stadium in two years we should all be not quite happy but very satisfied!

Kdis Contest is running strong with all ages from newborn to 12 years on the books or in the camera room. Hard to beat the $19.95 for a session and contest print!

peace,

tom s

High flying hoops from Shasta vs Foothill Boys

 

A bit of girls Hoop from TA Schmidt Photography

 

Seniors keep on coming...

The 2012 senior class continues to fill session times here at TA Schmidt Photography. Even with the rain we can get great pix with our indoor sets, props and hundreds of backgrounds. Why look like everyone else with park pictures that someone's Mom took with her new Costco camera?  Show off your style and attitude with images that will make you sing.

cheers,

tom s