The TMI Team

It has been a busy several months at Tessa Marie Images. We moved into a new studio in the East Falls area of Philadelphia in February of this year. (Open house to come) We expanded our commercial department and will be photographing nearly 40 weddings in 2016. Jenessa had her first baby girl, precious Nora June (If you don’t follow her on IG, go do it now @Jenessa_Seiz) Mommy and baby are doing fantastically.

With all of the changes it was time to expand our team. Over the winter months, Jenessa helped to train Victoria Walters to take over second shooting responsibilities while she was on maternity leave. After only a couple of weddings it was clear to see she was the perfect fit. She has a great eye, takes initiative and is simply amazing with interacting with people.(Instagram: @ForkAndCrumb)

Jenessa will be returning at the end of July (we miss her so) and will continue to cover Lancaster based weddings, while Victoria will cover destination and Philadelphia based weddings.

Several months ago I spoke at Tyler School of Art, my beloved alma mater. There I met Haley Adair, a photography student who also grew up in Lancaster County. After grabbing coffee a couple of weeks later, I knew I had to offer her the internship position I was about to open up. And again we added another to the team. Haley is fantastic! She is a hard-worker and soaks up knowledge. She has an amazing and creative eye and captures people in a refreshing and beautiful way. (Instagram @HaleyRaeAdair)

I could go on and on about how much I adore these girls. You wanna get to know them, because they’re pretty awesome.

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– I am the eldest of four girls.

– I love to cook, have a food blog, and bake wedding cakes.

– I once won a rock climbing competition in the novice division.

– I was 12 minutes away from qualifying for the Boston marathon when I ran the Philly marathon in 2011.

– I studied abroad in Tokyo and the city stole my heart.

– I love to travel and have the goal to go somewhere new every year.

– I’m a singer and I sing in an Acapella group, In the Mix and at Epic Church on the worship team.

– My last meal would be my moms bechamel lasagna.

– My husband and I home brew beer.

– My sister and I just started a wedding planning business.

– I’m married to my better half and favorite person in the world.

– I love love and can’t wait to take your picture!

 

Some people know exactly what they want to be when they grow up, from an early age. I am not that girl. When I was little I thought I’d be an ice skater (for the uniform), then a designer (but I can’t draw), then a lawyer (I’m an accomplished argument starter), but when I entered college I finally had to choose. So I chose two tracks to hedge my bets; pre-med and business. My junior year I decided I didn’t have the drive to do medicine, even though I had the grades, so I graduated with a degree in international business and marketing. I worked a job in sales for 3 years before deciding I was bored and fed up and I found the job I’m in now as a strategist which opened me up to the world of freelancing. I never thought it’d be the life for me, being in business I always saw myself as a 9-5er or business owner. Discovering photography has encouraged me further into this freelance lifestyle. By 2020 more than 40% of the workforce will be freelancers, so why not pursue my many interests and make money at the same time? So what do I want to be when I grow up? Anything I want. I’ll strive to be the best I can be and learn something new every day. For now I am a photographer, strategist, Etsy shop runner, blog writer, wedding planner, and cake baker. I’ll wait to see whatever else the future has in store for me.

– V

006-storyboardHALEY: Summer Intern
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– I don’t like donuts and I’m not particularly fond of chocolate cake.

– I’m an avid tea drinker because I can’t drink coffee.

– My favorite foods are manicotti, quesadillas, and all fruits, and I love Mexican food but I am among the 4% of the population that hates cilantro.

– My mood from day to day really depends on how I feel my hair looks.

– If I didn’t decide to go to school for photography, it would have been interior design.

– My favorite things to photograph are are trees, myself, and interesting moments created by natural light in reflections, shadows, patterns, etc.

– I really love restaurants/bars/houses with rooftops, especially when they have a great view.

– Some of my favorite pastimes are watching all the indie movies on Netflix, and exploring the coffee shops of Philly while people watching.

 

One of the biggest things college taught me is that its okay to be introverted. I love doing things by myself, in fact I prefer it, but I used to try to force myself to try to be outgoing to fit in. But in the past few years – huge thanks to my college experience – I have learned that its okay go be quieter and its okay to like being  alone. So if I could give anyone in a similar situation a piece of advice, it would be to let yourself be yourself. If you allow yourself to do the things you like and become comfortable in your own skin, you will be so much more comfortable in all aspects of life – even those that require you to tap into the more outgoing side of your personality.

Another invaluable thing I’ve learned in the process is to be my own biggest fan – in life, in art, in relationships, everything. Especially in the art field, everyone is their own worst critic, so why not be your biggest supporter as well! Confidence really is key.

– H

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Good things ahead!
– T

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