Snezhana and Rob knew that they would not have time during their wedding portrait session to come down to the city because it was being held at Petergoff in Northbrook. Read More
Sometimes its the odd places that make for a fun and unique location for a Springfield senior portrait shoot. When I met up with Rowela in Springfield, I was driving through and I noticed an old abandoned building. After pulling over I gave the best directions that I could for her to get there and to give that location a shot. Turned out that the nice warm tones of the building were a perfect match to the already setting sun behind the cloudy skies.
Unless someone specifically wants to get images in front of local landmarks or expresses an interest in a specific areas, I usually try to mix it up. Just because we’re in Springfield, doesn’t mean we have to photograph all things Springfield. For the folks who live in the area it’s often times nothing new. Just as in my hometown of Chicago there are people who have no interest in getting their portraits captured in front of the Chicago skyline or other landmarks. Each client should be consulted as to what they’re looking for before actually planning the shoot since they are the final recipient of the prints!
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We headed off to Springfield, IL a couple weeks ago for a photography convention. Before the convention began we had two senior portrait sessions in the state capital with the first one kicking off near the Illinois State Capitol building. I’m curious as to what percentage of my parking tickets helps pay to keep it up and running. Kayla is relatively new to Springfield herself and was up for trying just about any location. I’m sure that area has been photographed quite a bit, but since this was my first time there I thought it would be a nice place to start. When everyone in 8th grade went on the trip down to Springfield, I was heading out of town with family and unable to make it. But as most 8th graders will tell you, it can be a bit of a drive.
The day of the shoot was actually a bit on the cooler side due to it being mostly cloudy. Cloudy days are great for providing nice soft light and no worries about your images going too light or too dark in certain areas. But cloudy days in the early spring can also mean temperatures in the low 50’s which in the Midwest is usually welcomed with open arms, but when you have to stand still to have your portrait captured in the middle of a busy street, not as much. We moved in and out of the wind and cold and tried to keep Kayla as toasty as possible by heading under bridges and into a garage before popping back outside. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time. The nice thing about it being the state capital is that folks seem to drive a bit more carefully with all of the police rolling around.
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When we’re photographing a wedding or engagement in Chicago one of the things that we go over is the theme and feel of the images that each couple is looking for. Sometimes couples who are happy go lucky want to mix it up a bit and go with a bit more style and glamour while other times it’s all about keeping it lighthearted and fun! Either way the choice is yours and one that should require a little bit of thought. These images will be your memories for years and displayed as albums or photo art in your home, so the question boils down to “What would you like to see?” In fact for the engagement session is the perfect time to put a true theme or style together. Since you have more time during the engagement session it’s a great time to think out of the box. If you enjoy bike riding together, let’s grab some bikes and head to the lake front! If bowling is right up your alley then that’s a great place for us to stage a couple shots…with permission of course.
The one thing to keep in mind is that even if you’re doing a more dramatic themed or styled shoot (something our studio specializes in), it’s still important to capture a few happy shots that truly show who you are. Don’t be afraid to crack a smile or have some fun! Drama might make for some artsy images, but smiles are what make the memories of your wedding photography.
Every so often you come across a couple who meet and hit it off with each other right from the get go. Katy and Chris met online and then got together to meet each other face to face. It wasn’t long before they began dating and eventually got engaged and now we find ourselves sitting around and discussing their wedding plans! When you meet Chris he’s a mans man…cool calm and laid back. We got a chance to grab a drink together and as it turned out we had some mutual contacts in the business world! So hearing that he was just a wee bit nervous when proposing to Katy made me empathize since I had just gotten engaged myself around the same time as them.
The night they got engaged, Katy and Chris headed to The Green Door Chicago to celebrate with some friends and family. The Green Door is a speakeasy located in the downtown Chicago area and is quite literally an old school speakeasy. There’s a bar and restaurant upstairs, but then once you make your way downstairs and round a corner, behind a locked door is where you will find the speakeasy. While the lighting down there is dark and moody as you would expect, if you throw some strobes on the decor down there you will get some amazing color from the vintage furnishings. We will be staying in the city for their wedding as well coming up on August 31st at which time we will be photographing at the historic “Rookery”!
Venue: The Green Door Chicago
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Location: Aurora, IL
Venue:
We got together with Veronica and Matt in Aurora for their Engagement Session and aside from a couple gusts of wind, we had a spectacular day. For the photos where we needed sun and when we were looking for some shade a cloud would roll through at just the right moment and shift the light to get the image just right…if only every wedding day had such versatility. We walked much of the downtown Aurora area and incorporated the various landmarks in their photographs. With the ever changing conditions of the day, it gave us the perfect opportunity to capture images with completely different feels. We had nice subtle shade that provided a number of warm images, some stronger sun to make the colors pop and then a bit of twilight to finish the day off with some more dramatic images. This was my first visit out there and was a great place for a photo shoot…and a beer after.
Veronica and Matt are having their wedding out in Riverside Receptions in Geneva, IL which, depending on the speed you choose to drive ends up being about an hour long drive. We will be capturing their wedding photography out in Geneva.
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I think fun and smiley best describes Annie and Terry. You chat with them for a few minutes and you can’t help but smile as well. And to cheer us up even more, the weather down in Albuquerque, NM was perfect for their early March engagement session. We grabbed our gear, hopped in the car and drove (that’s right drove) down to New Mexico. I had never seen the Southwest from the car so I thought I would check it out from the road.
When we arrived in town, we knew that desert was the place to be so we started near the petroglyphs, which are rocks with very old drawings on them down by early settlers, to a plateau that overlooked the sunset. Of course what trip to the Southwest is complete if you don’t have some Tex-Mex style food when in the area after the shoot. The best part of the shoot was that the temperature stayed nice and mellow in the upper 60’s all day! We could have stayed out all night shooting in such a nice location, but alas it came time for some dinner so off we went!
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We headed off to Cincinnati for Hannah’s senior shoot! It is warmer than Chicago, but not that warm, at least not for Hannah. While myself and the rest of the crew were bundled up in winter gear, Hanna was in her…well take a look!
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When in Rome do as the Romans, but when in Chicago during the winter…just go inside. We headed in to the Chicago Cultural Center for Jessica and Dima’s engagement session…
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