I had the seriously good fortune of photographing a fantastic wedding in The Hamptons a couple of weekends ago. Not sure if this would technically be classified as a "destination wedding" since the bride and groom, Ann and Gabriel, and much of their family reside around New York City, but it was definitely "destination" for Meredith and me. Simply put, the wedding was amazing. I don't want to say too much here as I will be posting images from the day a little later on. But the whole thing was incredibly touching and sweet--the emotion more than matched the beauty of the location. Ann and Gabriel are about as gracious and kind as any two people can be. It's easy to understand why they are so adored by the friends and family lucky enough to be there with them on their wedding day. In the meantime, a few images from our time there, caught on my trusty point-and-shoot.

Meredith and I flew into Islip on Friday morning before the big event and drove the 45 minutes or so towards the end of the island. I can hardly begin to describe how beautiful the weather was that day. Golden leaves blew in the wind, dancing against the blue, blue sky. We rolled down the windows, imagining we had splurged on a convertible rental car that would help us better blend in with the rest of the island traffic. :) Before even checking into the hotel, we spotted a hand-painted sign advertising fresh produce and pulled over to enjoy steaming hot roasted corn and apple cider by the side of the road. With the exception of one incredibly persistent bee that set up camp in Mer's plastic cider cup, it was perfect. Perfect!

Fast-forward a day and a half, past the wedding, and Mer and I found ourselves in Montauk for their annual Fall Festival. Another crisp Fall day and the perfect setting for getting sugar-ed up on cotton candy and whipped around on rides that you pray meet safety code. New discovery: the merry-go-round is exponentially more thrilling (and nauseating!) when looking through the viewfinder of a camera. We totally got our 2 ticket's worth out of that ride.

A sneak-peek at the really, really, ridiculously good-looking Ann and Gabe, not captured on the point-and-shoot. ;) More to come soon!

This past week or so has been a whirlwind, to say the least. So much has happened, it's nearly impossible to detail it all. But we've received so many unbelievably gracious and kind-hearted messages by email, facebook, twitter and ichat. And some actual phone calls, too. Wow. What an outpouring of sweet feeling - thank you!! The two biggest questions we've received - can you share an update & what is she like? The update: We arrived in Cuenca, Ecuador after about a 24-hour trip. Not that long to fly, actually, only about 11 hours or so - but with delays and a necessary overnight, it took a while. We were able to meet with Ana Elisa the next morning, and we spent the entire day with her at the orphanage. The best way I can describe our first day with her would be this: It felt more like a reunion than a meeting. The entire experience just felt natural, loving, joyous and so downright easy. She was shy and distant at first but then so sweet and soooo affectionate. And the first time I saw her laugh - oh my goodness. Oh My Goodness. Such a sweet sound coupled with such a beautiful expression on her face. The orphanage itself is well run, sparkling clean and neat, another example of doing the very best with what is available. And such kindness everywhere. Nearly unreal: how many people dedicate their entire lives to making this world a better place for others. Leaving her at the end of that first day was difficult, but it proved to be even more difficult than expected when we showed up the next day. It was a lot like the movie Groundhog Day. We had to start all over again. They told us she had been angry at us for leaving and didn't believe them when they said we were coming back. She said that no, her family had just left her. So she would barely look at me after holding on so tight the day before. Luckily, though, we moved past that stage even sooner than I would have expected - and all went so well that second day that they actually sent her home with us at the end of it. That was quite a shock, as we were told in advance that it would be about a week of visits and then a formal approval process prior to an overnight visit. But we certainly weren't complaining. Mostly, I was relieved to not have to go through the same thing every morning for a week. And we were all amazed that she would be with us completely for the rest of our time here. Unofficially for forever (Sophie kept double checking, needed to be sure) ... but to be formally approved over the coming weeks (I still had to tell her, 99% sure for forever). Because of the rules, I am unable to show any photographs of Ana Elisa, which is a shame for a few reasons. 1. She's adorable. 2. I've gotten some beautiful photographs and 3. She's so adorable. But I did manage to grab a few image that do not compromise our process. One of my favorites: all three of our children on that first day, peeking into the baby room...

The other question - what is she like? The answer ... well, we're still finding out :) But I can tell you this - she is so, so affectionate and she has decided that she is all about Mami for now. She tells total strangers, over and over: "Estes es mi mami" - this is MY mommy. She has become my little shadow. If I go to the door, she goes to the door. If I walk across the room, she walks across the room. She has also made it clear that being held is clearly better than not. So, in that respect, she has also become my blanket. As we have been walking much of Cuenca, I have been feeling her love in my lower back. But I am also feeling it strongly in my heart. So ... it evens out :) Her sister, brother and father have been enormously patient with this, and with her. The only real issue is that they are all dying to get at her - Sophie was literally hovering her hand over Ana Elisa's head at breakfast, begging to please pet the cutest little sister in the world, while I asked her to please just give her sister just a bit more time to take it all in ... hilarious and so sweet. Our children have surprised both of us wiith how great they have been with this. And we already knew how wonderful they were going into it. She does not seem to eat much, but we are told that they do not feed the children large meals at the orphanage. When she does choose to eat, though, it's amusing & kinda heartbreaking to observe. She crooks her arm completely around the bowl or small plate and she presses it tightly against her chest. She also keeps a keen eye around her to make sure no one comes near her food. She remains like this until the last bite. And she eats precisely and slowly. Also, she only processes one product at a time. She is eating exactly this or she is finished and can now eat exactly that. After which, she can drink this or, possibly, exactly that. And she drinks with her spoon. Or, a new passion: her straw. There is also this about our child: When I hold her, she scrunches down a little so that she can put her head against my heart. When she sits on my lap at restaurants (my blanket), she constantly turns around to see my face. And she smiles. She reaches forward to touch my cheeks with both hands, and she even pulled me to her for a kiss yesterday. Un beso dulce. She has giggle fits that can go on for a while. She teaches me Spanish. (I am totally half fluent in Spanish already for the age 3 & under crowd, I swear!) She cleans up everything. A total neat freak. It's awesome. She is completely potty trained, even waking in the middle of the night to go. She smiles shyly at her father. She thinks it's hilarious when she's dipped while dancing. She sings unabashedly, with the sweetest voice. She's feeling a lot. That includes anger and sadness and confusion and a need to exert control. And we just stay with all that emotion until she's spent. And there she is again ... our daughter :) Steve grabbed a couple really sweet images of me & her (thank you, Papi!), playing up against the fence at the orphanage... She's just so wonderfully snuggly. I guess when she's not hanging on to me, I'm hanging on to her.

With so much intense focus on this adoption, I haven't had an opportunity to photograph Cuenca much yet. But I will because it is absolutely stunning. Walking around this gorgeous city in the clouds (nestled up high in the Andes Mountains), I'm trying to figure out how the heck I hadn't heard of it before this experience. Every time you turn a corner, you see this beautiful architecture, these grand mountains rising up at the end of the streets. It's a visual feast! I will certainly be posting more images soon. But, for now, here is the city at night from our hotel room, in the busiest part of downtown...

So much more to come. In every way. (and thanks, again, for all the sweet words. we are saving them in a book for her. . and collecting our imagery as we go :)

I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with John and Lindsay on campus (Go Heels!). Not only are they an awesome couple... but I also found out that they are huge fans of The Office! Fact. :) Thanks for putting up with the rain... looking forward to your wedding in March!

A funny 3 series...

Lindsay was a dancer during her college years...

The lovely Lindsay!

Hello love!

warning: grab a nice beverage while reading this post. It's a bit long ... but, i don't think, wastefully so :) Some of you may already know about this, but a pretty significant amount of you will not. That I can not tell you all one at a time, I apologize. But things seem to have just moved so quickly lately that it's been nearly impossible to communicate it all. In addition, part of being more quiet about it all has been the feeling of good-old-fashioned not wanting to jinx anything - y'know? But, anyway - our update: We are flying to Ecuador in three days to meet our new daughter, to live together in an ancient colonial city, to immerse ourselves in a language we have yet to learn ... and to return as a family of five at a time that can not yet be determined. So, y'know, not really much going on here right now. :) :) :) We are - all of us, the whole family - going together. That's pretty amazing. We will be moving there for around 6-8 weeks, although we know that timeline might extend based on a variety of factors. Or it might just stay put. We're getting an apartment, trying desperately to learn Spanish and - as best we know at this point - are all caught up on vaccinations, passports, and that surprisingly detailed list of stuff to do/have/secure. Just to follow all the rules & regulations (so, so many), there is much I cannot say at this time. But there are a few key things that I can, happily, share about the best part of all of this: Our new daughter's name is Ana Elisa. She's almost 3 1/2 years old, and although I cannot show her photograph, I can assure you that she has such a sweet, sweet face and eyes that have absolutely captivated me. I am so intrigued to learn more about what's going on behind those eyes. I am so interested in knowing her. Wow. A bit of background? After our daughter was born, my husband & I got really excited about the idea of bringing our second child into the family by adoption. And when our Caleb came home from Ethiopia, at the age of nearly ten months, we experienced first-hand how incredible adoption can be, how we could form a true-in-every-way family based on nothing more than, really, love. The connection between our two children was immediate and, as we've happily come to learn, lasting. Here's one of my favorite images that I'd captured right after he came home, almost four years ago. Downright vintage! But this image conveyed so much, his sweet, open smile - her inability to stop looking at him with such fascination and wonder...

Fast forward several years later, we started thinking that maybe we could switch from one-on-one to a zone defense - and upgrade our family to three children. Or, as my friend Rachel would put it: Lackey Family v3.0. I've been asked a lot of questions around our motivation for adoption. I know that it's so different for every one, their reasons. We are simply floored by the beauty of adoption. For us. For others. To me, it looks a lot like hope. And so we quickly realized that we were considering no other option but to grow our family through adoption. It just felt the most right to us. Almost exactly seven months ago to this day, I posted an article that showcased our children on the front page of the News & Observer, the Triangle's major newspaper. The article itself was very detailed, and very sad for me to read, even as I was quoted throughout the piece, and our family was showcased. The takeaway was that, basically, foreign adoption is getting almost too difficult - it was a discouraging read for anyone considering the possibility, and I was sorry to see it put out there. But, in all honesty, it also came out at a time when we had just experienced a major stall in our own process. A process that's been about 17 months long at this point. But we received a call two months ago that changed everything. They told us her name. They sent us her photograph. They mailed us a background document that was sparse but telling. She's been in the orphanage since she was 5 days old. She sways her body when music is played. She does not nap but is put to bed, in a room with many others, at 5pm every night. She recognizes the concept of pronouns. We accepted the referral immediately. And then we waited. For a green light to book tickets and a go-ahead that we'd been scheduled with the courts. We got that green light several days ago and booked all of our flights - Raleigh to Miami to Guayaquil, next day in-country flight to Cuenca. And we put a new date on the calendar: the exact time of the exact day that we will meet Ana Elisa. So...a lot there. So beautifully much. ____ As for studio stuff, I am beyond blessed to work with some amazing people. Truly. Any one who has ever heard me speak about Lisa Walter, our Studio Director, knows that I ooze affection when I speak her name. But she is so capable, so smart, so darn competent. She, specifically, was a significant factor in our decision-making process: can we take on an adoption involving so much red tape, so much commitment in-country? But Lisa is why I know that I can leave an enormously busy studio during an enormously busy time - and also just know that everything will be under control. That I will return to a business that is not only still thriving but also probably a few steps ahead. That realization is huge to me because this business is in no way just a business for me. I love photography, I love this entire industry. I am quite grateful to our amazing clients, that so many return again and again and then they tell their friends, allowing us this fantastic opportunity to offer our talents, coupled with our enthusiasm, again and again. And the support here - Rachel, Courtney, Michael, Jose, Steve, all those who will do their job so well and support Lisa's efforts, too ... thank you. My amazing clients: we have a great process set up to of course still be able to fulfill all those holidays orders, the gift certificates, the holiday cards, the albums. To put it simply, we are on it. For those whose portraits have been photographed but not yet received, the gorgeous wedding I am photographing tomorrow - all of your images will be turned around in the same timeframe we'd discussed. I appreciate your extra patience but every single image will be delivered at the same level of quality, even if it takes just a few days more :) ____ Melissa Locklear, staying in our home, taking care of our animals, checking the mail. Probably sneaking in a few house parties, hah. You have been a sister forever. You are beloved - and we are beholden. (word of the day. had to use it. it was just too perfect :) _____ We are moving to Cuenca, the third-largest city in Ecuador - interestingly, one of the first cities that came under Inca Empire domination. Normally, a bizarrely random fact but I had the opportunity, a few years back, to happily endure a four-day hike through all the gorges and passes of The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu ... and watch the sun come up over that forgotten city on the last morning. I just have had a whole new sense of appreciation for the Inca culture after that. And anyone who's been there probably knows what I mean. But, I digress. Ack. Back to the point, our new home for the next couple of months:

I plan to keep up the blogging from Ecuador. Goodness knows, I have a lot to catch up on - I am months and months behind on posting weddings and portraits. It's been a beautifully busy year! If you have been looking for your post, as some of you have emailed me, it is coming :) I honestly haven't shot one wedding, portrait or editorial session this year that has left me feeling anything less than so pleased, and I am excited to share the wonder of that. Since I just don't know exactly how often I will be able to post, though, I will be sure to twitter often. That is simply the easiest thing for me to do to stay in touch. If you are not on twitter, sign up {it's easy, fast and free, mom & dad!} once you sign in, just search for "Tamara Lackey" and click follow. That's it. And once you're there, I'd love to follow you, to keep in touch with many of you that way, too!! ____ Lastly (for any of you who stuck around this long, whew!) more than a few wonderful people have asked me if there's anything they can do. Honestly? Just send a ton of great energy out for this little girl who is about to experience such an enormous transition. That's all I would want. Everything else is just kind of wonderful. Crazy, lovely universe.