well… I am in southern France…. going to be standing in one of my best friend‘s Weddings today! Really quite exciting!
Also exciting is that Bri & Jon’s Engagement shoot got featured on green wedding shoes yesterday. This makes me happy.
go and leave some love on their post :) … if you want to.
Mary and I graduated together from Moody a couple years ago… we had just about lost touch – so I was (gladly) surprised when I saw her calling me on a late winter sunday afternoon. Turns out she met a guy… up in Alaska… but he’s from the south… and he wanted to marry her… turns out she wanted to marry him too – So she called me :). I love that my job keeps me involved in so many friends’ lives well beyond my college days! I drove up to Madison Wisconsin last month and met up with all of them at Olin Park. I was blown away by the beauty of the place… they set up chairs down by the lake, facing the state capitol building.
There was nothing very rehearsed about it… it was all easy going and a bit of an improv. Nathanael’s dad is a pastor, and he just gave a few directions to the bridal party and all the guests before the ceremony started. I loved it. He asked for the bridal party to lead the guests down to the seating area where we then just waited for the bride to come. Twas quite cool.
Instead of renting out a banquet hall, Mary and Nathanael just rented out the top floor of an Irish pub, which happened to be right across the street from the state capitol. They only had 60 guests so they had an open bar and shepherds pie for all… it was there that I was introduced to Spotted Cow Beer… good stuff.
towards the end of the evening we went out for a few more pics right as the sun was setting.
Mary & Nathanael, you guys are beautiful inside and out… I hope these images bless you for a lifetime!
Hayley & Justin randomly found me while browsing the web last winter… when Hayley told her coworkers she and Justin were going to meet with a photographer over beers at the Two Brothers, her next cubicle neighbor peeked up and told her not to book with him until she checked out one of his buddies work! Crazily enough, that cubicle neighbor was one of my good Friend’s from church Keith! Haha, such a small world. He showed her my website that evening and she freaked because I was already the one she was going to visit. She greeted me with Keith’s Business card in hand and I was confused. :) I guess he told them I was a cool chap because they did decide to book me and we went out for this rock and roll Engagement shoot last month! We started off near the museum campus and moseyed over to Navy Pier in time for fireworks. Gotta love it.
Last Week, I had the privilege of spending three awesome days with some fantastic photographers on top of a Mountain in Colorado (don’t ask me which one, all I know is we were right next to Pike’s Peak). I was there for the Don’t Give Up Project which was put on by the rock and roll wedding photography husband and wife duo Jeremy & Ashley Parsons.
It was a workshop unlike any other workshop I’v ever attended. Rather than obsessing over technique and shooting style, the Parsons imparted unto us the vision and meaning they have infused into their lives and Business. They probably wouldn’t say this in so many words, but they mean for their photography to be a sort of a life long vaccine to divorce. They want their wedding photos to be so powerful that people will not be able to look at the pictures without being overwhelmed by the love they had for each other on their wedding day.
This has challenged me in a very deep way. As a couple’s photographer, I am much more than a cool-image-maker. I have a duty to attempt and capture the beauty of their relationship, their love and their lifelong commitment to each other. I have more thoughts on this, but I’ll tell you more about it when we meet (get engaged already!).
These first couple of shots were from our first night at the Cabin. Props to Jeff Short and DJ Ellis for their help in light painting the words “Don’t Give UP.”
We were each assigned a fellow workshop attendee to shoot a few shots of. I got lucky and got the red-haired, blue eyed Christine McGuigan
These two are Ashely & Jeremy Parsons! They woke us up at 5:30 AM to do a sunrise shoot of the beautiful Dave & Jessi Lueck – Dave was our chef for the week. I tell you what, I am for France and I’ve had a lot of good french food, but this man was a master of fine dining. It was all vegetarian, but everything was so good and so refined I never really went into meat withdrawal.
and this is what twenty photographers mobbing a beautiful couple looks like… :)
Bri & Jon & I met up at the McHenry Dam for their super fun engagement shoot! These two were high school sweet hearts and thought it’d be swank to have a high school themed shoot… I couldn’t have agreed more! Bri scowered craigslist and all of her friends’ attics to get all the props she needed… I was blown away by her resourcefulness. We then moseyed around the rest of the forrest reserve for some more epic portraits!
for a few more pics not blogged, check out the Facebook fan page :)
Last month I had the privilege to capture Sarah & Eddie’s Wedding in the southwest suburbs. Eddie was the Best man in a Brian & Megan’s wedding which I shot around this time last year! Even back then Eddie was tons of fun – he kept the whole bridal party laughing… which made my job all the easier! Sarah was a pleasure to work with – calm even amidst a stressful veil problem… which was all figured out in time… and she rocked out this amazing vintage veil… which I really wouldn’t know how to describe — just because I’m a guy. They had their reception at the Cog Hill Country Club which I loved right away. The dark wood inside made for a beautiful decor! Instead of describing it all, feast your eyes on their wedding’s epicness.
Katherine, Stephen and I met downtown a 7am on a bright Monday morning for what turned out to be one of the coolest downtown shoots I’v had in a long while… it was nice shooting without worrying about random other people walking in and out of the shots. The tourists were still having breakfast while we hit up some of chicago’s coolest landmarks.
A few weeks ago I shot a few pics of my good friend Chris’ daughters over at the Herrick Lake Forrest Preserve… as you might be able to tell… one of my favorite local forrest preserves!! Audrey, Beatrice, and even their dog charley were all full of smiles, giggles and occasional barks!
