Tammy Sims has established herself as one of the most versatile residents in Dallas County.

The Valley Grande resident is a former dental hygienist and a part-time beekeeper at their honeybee farm, Tranquil Hill Apiaries. She graduated from Selma High School in 1988, and has lived here most of her life.

Over the years, Sims developed into a top-notch photographer and this eventually led to starting her own business, Tammy Sims Photography (also known locally as TSP), in 2010.

“TSP is such a blessing to me and to those people in our community that have chosen me to capture their beautiful family,” Sims said. “I am eternally grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to me. I really enjoy spending time with my photography clients from capturing their sessions to editing and filling client orders throughout the week.”

Sims said photographing her two children over the years motivated her to start a photography business. During the ordeal of the loss of her grandfather in 2009, she was inspired to gather and organize photographs to honor him. She successfully designed a pictorial album and made a slideshow to share with her family.

“What would we do without all of those special memories and milestones that we capture photographically,” Sims said. “It was my way of organizing and documenting his life and honorable service to his country, city and family.”

After that process, Sims was inspired to register at Auburn University at Montgomery to become certified as a professional photographer after a year full of photography courses taught by Paul Robertson. Paul Robertson and Jerry Seigel were her mentors and inspired her photographic talent.

Sims credits her husband, Hart Sims for supporting her dream to become a professional photographer.

“We combine to make a really great team,” Sims said. “He is the business manager, and I am the creative artist. I’ve been blessed with wonderful family and friends that support my passion for photography. I continue to find artistic, creative inspiration in them to document their lives photographically.”

TSP offers portrait photography services specializing in newborns, children, high school seniors, families, corporate headshots, bridal portraits and engagements.

Until 2017, TSP also photographed weddings and special events on weekends, but ended the service in the spring of 2018 because Sims preferred to spend more time with her family. She said it was a difficult decision to make, but the choice was obvious to her.

Sims’ oldest son, Chase Sims, is a Senior Cyber Security Analyst at BBVA Compass in Birmingham, with his wife, Lea and their three children. Her youngest son, Wyatt Sims is in the U.S. Navy based in Charleston, South Carolina. He’s engaged to Caroline Lunn from Chattanooga, Tennessee, with plans to marry next year.

“Family is important to us, you cannot simply get back lost time,” Sims said. “I have found there is a delicate balance with managing a growing family scattered from Alabama to South Carolina and coordinating two businesses day to day.”

Sims has a simple approach to taking exceptional photographs. She uniquely captures images with a creative use of light. “Every photographer has an individual style of capturing images, which is inherently reflected in their photography,” Sims said. “Everyone sees something different through the lens of their camera, it’s how you choose to capture it that sets you apart.”

But Sims said what sets her photography business apart from other photographers are TSP oil paintings. TSP has a skilled senior artist on staff that has been creating oil portraits for professional photographers in the Southeast for over 40 years. Sims said the artist paints over an image that has been printed on the canvas, then the paint is applied in a painterly fashion to create a genuine likeness that becomes photorealistic.

“An oil painting of a loved one is the one of most beautiful treasures you can hang in your home,” Sims said. “It all begins when I capture that special image that portrays the child’s personality and spirit. Imagine having an oil painting created from that very image that captures the essence of childhood innocence to be enjoyed and admired by many generations.”

Sims said TSP offers both light oil and heavy oil paintings of children and adults. She said the difference is a light oil painting has a solid white background and the oils are rubbed on the canvas create a gentle softness to the subject. Sims explained that heavy oil paintings have a richer depth and texture to them. The oils are painted onto the canvas covering the entire surface, which has a complicated environmental or Old Masters background.

“By having an oil painting created of your loved one, you will possess a beautiful treasure that can be shared with your family and friends for generations,” Sims said.

While digital images have become the norm in today’s social media age, Sims still loves printed photographs. “We continue to offer the option to purchase your edited digital image files, but I sincerely feel that printing your precious photographs is becoming a lost art in a world that archives everything on social media,” Sims said. TSP offers fine art products for their clients to order and have printed in house on museum quality papers with archival pigmented ink.

Sims proudly wears many different hats and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“My attention is definitely divided between my family, my photography business and our honeybee apiary,” Sims said. “I find it easier to balance things now that my children are independent adults. When you have young children, you find yourself balancing a career, your children and their school, their sporting events and extracurricular activities, while trying to make time for your spouse and friends, all the while keeping up your household can definitely be a challenge for most of us.”

Sims will celebrate her 10th anniversary next year and looks forward to providing photographs in Dallas County for years to come.