Hi. I’m Teresa. While photography may be part-time for me, documenting your stories is never treated like a side hustle. My full-time gig is teaching high school English, journalism, and photography at an all-boys’ school in Washington, DC. Journalism is my favorite subject to teach because it is as much about writing as it is about the art of observing the world, and I became a photographer because of my experiences in photojournalism. You’ll see in galleries with my families, children, newborns, or weddings, my style definitely is more about documenting connection and trying to create real moments. I love a good portrait, but my heart is happiest when I get real smiles from people loving on and playing with each other.
“Collect memories, not things.”
In my family sessions, my experiences as a mom help me to connect with children. I am a mommy to three miracle children…two with fertility help and one that was a pure miracle. I LOVE to play with the kids I photograph because I know that was essential to getting the images I love with my own kids.
Fun Fact #1: I have known my husband since we were 17.
We met just before we were 18 years old; we were both in a production of Godspell. We didn’t start dating till almost a decade later, but we had made one of those “pacts” at 18 or 19 that if we weren’t married by the time we were 33 years old, we’d marry each other.
Fun Fact #1: I have known my husband since we were 17.
We met just before we were 18 years old; we were both in a production of Godspell. We didn’t start dating till almost a decade later, but we had made one of those “pacts” at 18 or 19 that if we weren’t married by the time we were 33 years old, we’d marry each other.
Fun Fact #2: I almost didn’t date my husband because he was in the Air Force!
We just recently ended our time as an active duty Air Force family. My husband retired from the Air Force after serving for more than 20 years, and he flew Huey helicopters. If you’ve never been on a helicopter ride, you should do it once! They are a lot of fun. We made it through two year long deployments, and those parts of our life were not as much fun. I have great respect for military spouses, especially those parents who hold down the fort during deployments.
Fun Fact #3: I love Australian Shepherds.
In 2007 and 2008, we rescued our first two Australian shepherds, Darcy and Scout. Scout passed away in August of 2020 on my first day of school. We had to let Darcy cross the rainbow bridge in February of 2022. (And yes, Darcy is named after Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and Scout was named after Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. They are two of my favorite books. See earlier note about my other job.) In 2020 and 2021, we added puppies Aussie, Kylo and Hux to our home. (Yes, we’re nerds about Star Wars.)
Fun Fact #4: I am a perfectionist.
I’ve taken the official test on Pottermore, and I am a Gryfindor. So it should not surprise you that I work hard—like really hard, but when I get to relax, I love drinking a bottle of Côtes du Rhône or some other red wine. I love dark chocolate with sea salt, and Kakoa in St. Louis is my favorite. Since the start of the pandemic, I have been playing D&D every other week on Sunday nights.
If it’s winter, I love our real wood-burning fireplace. I adore traveling with my family. I have loved my family’s trips to Topsail, North Carolina, our visit post deployment vacation to the mountains of Colorado, and our RV adventure in Central California where we hiked in four national parks.
Fun Fact #5: I adore these kids.
They keep me centered and grounded. I fought to have them. (Respect to all those parents who had to have IUIs or IVF!) I created my business so I could help raise money for their education. Every penny I make in TCJ Design that I don’t invest right back into the business goes into an account for their education. They are my muses. I get so many of my tricks for my family photography from my experiences being their mom. I adore documenting their lives, and so much of my style as a photographer stems from what I have loved to document as they encounter each new stage of childhood. I love telling their stories. See more of me documenting their world and my life at instagram.com/tcj_photos.
why photos mean so much to me
Photos freeze moments in time. They let us keep something alive. They keep people who are special to us alive. They keep milestones of our children alive. They let us relive those moments, big and small.
A few months before my Catholic wedding, in early March 2007, my dad slipped and fell on black ice outside of Church. That fall caused him to get a sub-dermal hematoma. He was in a coma for weeks. And when he finally woke up, he couldn’t walk and could not talk. It was probably his stubborn Irishness (which I admittedly have) that kept him alive until December of 2009.
He made it to my wedding, but he didn’t get to walk me down the aisle. We did a photo op at the end of the aisle where my brother held him up, and then my brother, who was also my godfather, escorted me down the aisle. We repeated the photo op for the father/dance at my reception.
Those photos I have of my dad, from my wedding and other moments in my life, are the only way my kids get to know their grandpa. The photos remind me of stories about him and let a piece of him live for years after his death.
I didn’t grow up in a family that had a lot of money. My dad had a grocery store that he lost, and after that, life was very modest for us. Our only professional photos were for the church directory, but my mom and uncle frequently had a camera near by, and I cherish the many photos I have from my childhood.
I cannot repeat this enough: it is such an honor to document all of my clients. For a short span of time, I get to hear your stories and document your lives, and if I’m lucky, I get to see you year after year and document the milestones, big and small. I feel like a part of your extended family.
It is truly a gift for me to tell your story.
IF I HAD TO DESCRIBE MY STYLE IN THREE WORDS:
JOYFUL
CLASSIC
TIMELESS
Documenting all the stages of your life
