T-Dub and J-Dub Get a V-Dub (VW)

Ok crazy title right! When Jeff was working at BG Products the people in his department had last names that began with the letter W. So everyone had nicknames of K-Dub, J-Dub, C-Dub, and so on. So when he left BG it made sence to add T-Dub to the mix at T&J.

Ok now the the dub part makes sence. Tyff has wanted a VW Passat since we test drove one back in 2005. I kept telling her we would get one.

Finally on Dec. 13th we made an unplanned stop at our local CarMax and found a VW Passat with low miles. Yeah!!! The car made a great Christmas gift for Tyff.

Here is quick pic of the car out side of the studio.


Will have to post some picks of Tyff and her surprise gift from Christmas. A brand new Leaf blower and Vacuum. Yes I know what you are thinking... a Leaf Blower? No kidding, this is what Tyff really wanted for Christmas this year. When I picked it up I just kept thinking of mom's story of her 1 year anniversary gift from my dad, a dust pan. Granted it was probably a nice dust pan but I would advise any husbands out there to avoid this as a gift idea. Tyff is ready to start picking up leaves.

Updates

Hey guys, sorry for dropping the ball on our blog postings. We have been running like crazy and working late nights getting caught up on our editing and working on the details of the merger.

Tyff and I were just talking tonight at the rehearsal that we are amazed at the number of you that check out our blog. we feel very humbled that everyone is keeping up. So now that we are caught up on editing (for now) we are happy to start posting on a more regular basis.

Okay, so let's see what we've been up to over the past month... We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house this year. All went well. However, just a tip on prepping the turkey, make sure your pan is big enough! We had a close call where the turkey bag was hanging over the pan and almost burst in the oven. The bag was resting on the oven rack when we woke up to check on the turkey. Close call... Remember we are photographers not chefs.

Check back soon. We are working on some other posts as we speak.

BIG NEWS

The way things workout sometimes in life can be very interesting. Five short years ago we never could have imagined the blessings that would come out of starting our studio from the basement of Jeff's parents house in the small town of Halstead. If you haven't viewed "a snap shot" video clip that Fat Cat shot for us earlier this year click here. The video gives a great glimpse of where our studio has come from.

Ok so on with the BIG NEWS... Sorry for the delay in the announcement we have been swamped with edits and remodeling. We figure by now most think the "BIG NEWS" is a little one coming soon, however that is not the case. Rather it is not a little one, but a BIG ONE. We know this sounds very confusing right? Right... Now with everything clear as mud.

The BIG NEWS is that another studio, Brett Schauf Photography, will be merging his studio into T&J Studios, Inc. Brett Schauf Photography is one of the premier photography companies in the greater Wichita area.

We have known Brett for years starting back to the days when Jeff sold Brett his first camera while working at Lawrence Photo. Over the years both studios have grown in very similar ways and have worked together on various projects. The new merger of Brett Schauf Photography into T&J Studios, Inc. is a great opportunity for both studios. This will allow expansion of their creative styles of photography and add new products and services to their customers.

Ok so what does this really mean? T&J Studios is still T&J Studios and we will simply be adding Brett Schauf Photography as a division of T&J Studios, Inc. Events booked by Tyffany and Jeff will still be covered by them, and like wise events booked by Brett will be covered by him.

If your in the area feel free to stop in to meet Brett and check out the recent remodeling.

Greetings Once Again

Okay so it has been awhile since we have posted. Sorry... A lot has been in the kettle cooking. We did make it through October alive but not by much. Many, many early or late nights/mornings depending on how you look at it.

Oh yes we did just get in the mail a copy of MidWest Contractor Magazine. This is the magazine Jeff drove to Liberal to do the photo shoot for early last month. The magazine was nice to give credit to Jeff and the studio for the pics and ended up using our images for the cover and about 5 or 6 images in the article.

Ok, we have some BIG NEWS to announce... but not right now. Give us a few days to get the verbiage ready. Again BIG NEWS so check back. Well it's 2:00 am now and still have some more editing to get in before calling it a day or would it be a night? Not sure things kinda run together this early... Ok I'm rambling now. Really it's time to save you from the pain of more rambling so until later try to figure out what the BIG NEWS is.

Really it's BIG maybe even HUGE or MASSIVE. Oh yeah one last thing be sure to check out the quote we posted below in the Dreams and Changes post. Really cool quote one to challenge yourself to live by. Ok really leaving now. Later...

Dreams and Change

Changes are a constant in life. As we go through life we are continually fighting a battle with ourselves to become more than what we feel we are and more of what we are called to be. At times trying to grasp at a big dream that can seem impossible and over whelming to the point that we let our dreams die or hide for a time. Do Not let fear steal your dreams.

Here an interesting quote we came across on Mike Colon's blog.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most.
We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?'
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And when we let our light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."
-Marianne Williamson, American author and lecturer

We hope this will encourage those who feel they can't get through hard times or fear what might be possible.

Ok so today was a day for a deep thought. Simply want to uplift those who are in fear. We encourage you to share this quote with your friends or someone who may have doubt in their own abilities.

Congrats to Steph

Recently we were able to share in the freeing tradition of alarm clock smashing with our friends over at Fat Cat as Stephanie makes the transition to full time. Stephanie's last day was on October 28, 2006.

Here are some pics from the Joyous Occasion.

Two Wedding Weekend

Here are some pics from last weekend, which was crazy with two weddings. The first was in Topeka where the ceremony was held at Topeka Bible Church. There is a fun story with this couple. Dara, the bride, and her parents had booked with us before Bradon popped the question. We remember Dara's excitement when she called to schedule their engagement session, as she no longer had a boyfriend but a fiance. We know to most this might seem odd however since we have booked other weddings the same.

We were honored to photograph Dara and Bradon's special day and wish them both great joy for years to come. Here are a few of the pics from their wedding day.






Sunday morning we drove back from Topeka for our second wedding that started at 1:00. It was a very beautiful outdoor wedding for Chris and Jacklyn. Chris is a member of the Christian band Nameless Faces. The group played a spirit filled praise and worship ceremony. The sunset was gorgeous backdrop behind the couple during their ceremony. Can lights under the trees were used to light up the backyard. The window tent was a very cool atmosphere for guests to mingle and visit with the bride and groom later after the wedding.

Here are a few of the pics from their wedding day.





This Grooms cake was amazing and completely edible.



This past week was another full week filled with two Jr Cheerleader sessions, preschool pictures, senior session and our Jessica and Jerrad's wedding last night. We will work on trying to get some of their pics up soon.

Gone Construction?

Hey everyone here is some of the pics from the commercial shoot last Monday. To recap a magazine contact us to take some pics for an article they are writing about new GPS technology being used with grading equipment. The Technology is pretty interesting if you're more of the tech type. We will post the magazine and spreads once the magazine is out for circulation. These are just few of the pics we ended up shooting around 200 images for the magazine. Not sure which ones they will end up using but it was a blast getting to play in the dirt.








Sorry for the delay in getting them up. We had two weddings this past weekend and a week full of school and Jr. cheerleader sessions to shoot this week. Check back later we will be posting some pics from the two weddings this past weekend. Both weddings were great and we were able to capture some amazing images for both couples.

Hang-in Out in KC

Last Thursday we had a great time hang-in out with one of our amazing couples Melissa and Brian. We spend most of the day and night taking their engagement pics around the KC area. Below you can check out some of the pics from their shoot. Sorry guys it will be a bit yet before we get the rest finished. We have a few to edit.

Our shot started around the couple's apartment complex and we ended up at the Downtown Plaza area. Thanks again guys for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. The food was great. We are so glad to have you both as friends.

4 8 15 16 23 42

Ok if you don't know what the numbers above are then you're probably not a "Lost" fan. Just had to drop a quick line that "Lost" is starting up tonight. We are very excited, as we are huge "Lost" fans. Abc has a great new feature that they tested last session where you can watch episodes online if you miss one. Click here is the link if you want to get caught up on any episodes.

Check back later tonight will be posting some pics from our photo shot in KC last week. And some pics from a commercial shoot Jeff did on Monday.

The Festival Nightlife!

As promised here are the a few pics we took from the Festival nightlife. Sorry for this short post but we are off to sleep for an early morning tomorrow.

The Carnival is in town!

The Annual Valley Center Fall Festival kicks off tonight with a complete carnival setup on Main Street. Here are some pics showing the new view from our studio.








Should be a good time tonight around Main Street, we are taking our camera to get some fun nighttime shots of the rides and nightlife. Unfortunately we have to keep it a short night as we have a wedding tomorrow morning and we like to get a good nights rest before our events. We will try to post some of the pics before we call it a night.

Addition to the studio family

Yes that's right we have a new addition to the studio family. Ok before our parents read this and get to excited. (we are not having a little one yet, in due time yes. However, it's simply not that time yet.) Now that, that has been address on with the exciting news.

Tyff has a new computer... Yeah. Ok so maybe not as exciting for everyone else as us but still great news nonetheless. No matter what Barry at Fat Cat says, Apple makes the worlds best and most creative computers period. Just ask Barry and Steph how sold we are on Apple. We make them watch the new ads every time a new one comes out. Ha ha. Click here to see these truly creative and fun ads.

Here is a photo of here new Bad Boy machine. Thanks to Apple for the great product photos. Sorry we had no time for a formal photo session as we had to get the new machine in place asap.

This New Mac Pro 64 bit Quad 2.66 Xeon processor machine has a nice but unfortunately Dell 24in wide screen monitor. Ha ha, just kinding actual is a very nice flat panel display. Well back to editing we go.

Dancing for Dollars!

Below are the photos we were talking about in the last post. Sorry for the delay in getting them up our workload has been continuing to pickup since Jeff has come on full time.

We would like to thank our customers and the community of Valley Center for your warm welcome and continued support.


1) Alcohol may have played a small part.


2) They stepped in as fill-ins for the bride and groom after the dollar dance. Helping the couple earn more money for their honeymoon.


3) They simply liked to have a good time.

Roberto and Compassion

More posts coming soon... Sorry for dropping the ball on the daily posting, things have been crazy this past week. Our design side of the business has been taking off with numerous magazine ads, logo designs and website development. Currently working on getting our design samples area prepped so check back soon. Here are a few of the logos we have recently finished.

We've added a few links to some causes we feel can make a difference by changing lives. Please feel free to check them out. Below we've posted a photo of Roberto our child, whom we sponsor through Compassion International. We first learned about Compassion's program while attending a Mitch McVicker concert when we were dating. After Compassion's presentation we felt lead to sponsor a child and have proudly been sponsoring Roberto for 6 years now. It still amazes us seeing that we started our sponsorship while still in college and made the commitment to sponsor together before we where married. We feel we've been truly blessed by these opportunities of giving and look forward the future ones that are yet to come.

Well back to the editing for now. We thank you all for your words of encouragement and support. We are blessed to have the customers and friends we have encountered in this business.

Oh, almost forgot. We had some fun pics from last nights wedding dance. We're downloading that wedding now, but will try to pull a few pics to show you some of the fun. Congrats again to Jennifer and Jeremy DeCou your guys were a blast to work with.