TJM Studios Photography
TJM Studios – Professional Wedding and Portrait Photographers
TJM Studios was started by Tom (TJ) Morrissey in 1998 as TJ Morrissey Photography / Florida DJ.
I have always been an avid photographer. I have always loved photography. I have crates and albums of pictures I have taken since I was a kid. I still have my dad’s 40 year old Canon 35mm SLR. I have always taken great pictures. I am a photography addict.
The problem I had was paying for my photography addiction, while buying food and paying rent. I had several cameras and thousands of pictures; but not a lot of money.
Why a DJ company (Florida DJ)? I have a long history as an aspiring musician and as a Club / Wedding Disc Jockey (see about Tom). I wanted to break into the Wedding Photography business in Gainesville; but at the time, it was almost impossible. The “powers that be” did not want to have any new photographers competing with them. Brides would not hire you for their wedding without an established portfolio. Bridal shows didn’t want to let you in unless you were an established photographer. It was quite different back then. The barriers to entry into the professional photography field were very high.
I was an established Wedding Disc Jockey. I had performed at hundreds of weddings. At these I had taken hundreds of pictures. Why not market myself as a Wedding Disk Jockey / Wedding Photographer? I could build my portfolio and make extra money to pay for my photography addiction.
Danielle (like me) has always had a photography addiction. Besides being the “Love of my life!” since 1998; she was also the second photographer at most of our DJ / Photo jobs. (You know someone really loves you when you’re not yet married and they take pictures for you at four hour wedding receptions for free!)
We built an impressive portfolio of wedding pictures. We had some very happy brides. They loved the music and the pictures. I started to book more wedding photography jobs. We soon became busy enough to drop the disc jockey service completely and become full time professional photographers.
In 2001 we switched from Film / Digital photography to 100% digital. We purchased two Canon EOS 1D Mark 1 Cameras for $6,500 each (at the time this was the cutting edge / state of the art technology). These were the photojournalists dream cameras. Although this was a major financial investment; the image quality of these cameras was unmatched at the time.
In 2002, we joined the local professional photography guild. This helped bring our photography to a new level. In 1998, we had started out as photojournalists. At the time, this was the new cool thing. We were able to get great candid heartfelt images. The problem was the quality of our portraiture. Like most photojournalists, we knew nothing about taking a portrait. We found our “On-Camera” flash and “P” for professional was not giving us the quality images we wanted for our customers. We invested a ton of time and money into cameras, lenses, lighting equipment, and most importantly education. The jump from photojournalism to portrait photography was a big one. The quality of our candid and portrait work increased tremendously.
We have since joined and become involved in many professional photography organizations:
PPNCF – Professional Photographers of North Central Florida (Gainesville)
PPSNF – Professional Photographers Society of North Florida (Jacksonville, St. Augustine)
WPPI – Wedding and Portrait Photographers International
FPP – Florida Professional Photographers
PPA –Professional Photographers of America
NAPP – National Association of Photoshop Professionals
CPS – Canon Professional Services
We are award winning photographers. Our album and prints have won awards at a state and national level.
We constanly strive to stay on top of all the latest photographic trends. Whether it’s our style, our technique, our equipment, or our commitment to excellence; our goal is to create the best pictures possible.