Moms to See in the 803 :: Tammy Colleu

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In 2018 I came across a special Facebook post. It was an opportunity for families of children with special needs to take free pictures with Santa. It was being held at a local church by Tammy Colleu of Prancing Pony Photography, along with Mark Bailey, who is a wonderful Santa.

Every year since they have been collaborating and continuing to offer free pictures with Santa for families with special needs children. My family has been participating every year.  We enjoy taking pictures with them, and we are so grateful for their willingness to do this for the special needs community. 

I always wanted to know more about Tammy and why she decided to do free photography for families of children with special needs. I was so happy to be able to interview her for Columbia Mom! I think you will love what she has to say, and then will book your own magical photo session with her.

Tell me a little about yourself and your family.

Hello! My name is Tammy Colleu. My husband, Xavier, and I own a photography business called Prancing Pony Photography out in Leesville. We have three little boys aged 19 months, six years old, and nine years old. We own a small horse farm where we use our horses in our photography. My husband is from France. We met through Facebook about 12 years ago and got married 10 years ago and have been living our happily ever after ever since.

How did you get into photography?

About seven years ago, we brought a little girl’s dream to life by bringing a unicorn to life for her birthday. A year later, we decided to start a photography business doing unicorn shoots and have expanded to do other things in the fantasy realm since then. I have always been artistic and enjoy bringing people’s wildest dreams to life. Soon after getting started, I met Santa through a website, and we got together and started doing free Santa shoots for families with kids with special needs. We are now going on our sixth year of Santa photo shoots. 

What do you like the most about photography?

I absolutely love bringing people’s wildest dreams to life. To see a child (or adult) smile because they were able to fulfill a dream of theirs makes me happy.

How do you juggle being a mom and an entrepreneur?

Some days are hard but splitting my time between the two really helps. I mainly work while my kids are in school or on weekends when my husband is home. I have a big support system in my husband as well.

1 hour shoot with a horse

What motivates you?

Me being able to explore my creative side and being able to bring a fantasy to life motivates me to keep going. And of course, hearing others express how much they love my work. My husband also supports me in my endeavors and brings in his own ideas, as well as builds stuff to use in each shoot we do.

Why did you start doing free photos for families of children with special needs for Christmas?

I just know how hard it is for special needs and immune compromised children to go out in a crowd to meet Santa. So, I wanted to be able to provide them a quiet environment where they can have a chance meet with Santa and have pictures taken too. And the smiles we see from the children and their families is totally worth it.

Thank you for sharing with us, Tammy! 

You can check out Prancing Pony Photography on their website, Facebook, and Instagram pages. 

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