Engagement – Amanda and Steve

I was thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to take my friend Amanda’s engagement pictures. Amanda and I were actually in the same sorority at Michigan State but she had graduated the year before I joined and we ended up meeting through mutual friends in Chicago. Amanda is engaged to a wonderful man named Steve. While taking their pictures last week it was impossible to miss what a great match they are for the another. Congrats you two and thank you so much for letting me capture your love!

This is a picture at the actual table where Steve popped the question!

I told Amanda to show Steve how to work it, I think she did a great job!

Then it was Steve’s turn 🙂

These last two are my favorites from the day…

Cystic Fibrosis Scholarship Foundation – The Art of Fine Wine

A few weeks ago I had the honor of photographing the annual wine tasting for the Cystic Fibrosis Scholarship Foundation. The event is celebrating it’s second year in Chicago and was hosted by the Foundation’s founding families (say that 3 times fast); the Bottorff’s and Harmon’s. Titled “The Art of Fine Wine”, the event is focused on exploring wines from different areas around the globe. This year the focus was on wines from France.

The event was held at the always gorgeous River East Art Center downtown.  Kristie did a great job planning the event and all the delicious food was provided by the wonderful folks at Blue Plate. (Of course I sampled some of it…or all of it. I was especially excited about the Crepe station!)

There we so many wonderful pictures from the day I put them together in a gallery for quick viewing. (If you click on a thumbnail you can see them full sized.) Enjoy!

Wedding Workshop

That’s right, I got to spend my Sunday playing in a professional photo studio with models dressed up for a wedding! I learned a lot and can’t wait to go back for my next class in studio lighting. Here are some of my favorites from the day. (Side note: these two are actually engaged in real life!)

I really love his shoes, they definitely brought some attitude to the outfit.

The bride had some great tattoos

These last two are my favorites from the day

Still in Love

It’s been almost 6 months and we’re still in love. Every day I find something new I love about you, dear sweet iPhone.

That’s right, I’m in love with my phone. From it’s ability to keep me connected and laughing on my ride home from work to all the photo apps available, I can’t get enough. I recently downloaded the “Best Camera” app from Chase Jarvis and have been playing a lot. My favorite is using it along with ShakeIt Photo. Here are just a few of my recent shots from the good ol’ phone.

M*WUAH! (That’s for you, iPhone)

P.S. I’m rolling my way to East Lansing (yay for the train and broadband) for homecoming weekend. I can’t wait to explore campus with my big DSLR (I didn’t have one in college).

Weekend Lovin’

If you follow me on twitter, you will have noticed that I have uploaded a bunch of images from my phone recently. It’s because I am officially OBSESSED with the ShakeItPhoto application for my iPhone. It simulates the almost obsolete and loved art of Polaroid image processing, something I have been obsessed with forever. My aunt, Susan has done some very cool things with actual Polaroids. When she finally gets a website together, I’ll be sharing it.

Back to my point, as a result of my new obsession I spent the entire weekend taking pictures with my phone. Luckily for you dear reader, I actually did some fun stuff :). Here’s a little documentary of my weekend adventures as told via my iPhone.

Friday:  Drinks at the Congress Hotel, Salsa Dancing in Grant Park, and ending with some inappropriate neon

Saturday: Long walk, Air + Water Show from North Avenue Beach

And Jessica’s Birthday Party!

Was it Rodge?

Apparently Roger and I both went to Michigan State and have a lot of the same friends. I vaguely remembered meeting him years ago so I was excited when my friends told me that he was coming to town and was looking for someone to shoot some new photos. Well, having been stuck working on the interwebs for the past month straight I jumped at the chance for a photo shoot. We decided since we were both super busy it would just be something quick and dirty, a plan I think turned out really well. I had an absolute blast shooting Roger and I can’t wait for him to come back to town so we can do something more formal. Thanks Roger for a great day!

A little extra background, Roger is a wonderful actor based in New York. Check him out http://www.RogerWingfield.com

And then the glasses came off…

These last three are my absolute favorites from the shoot. (Especially the last one!)

Sushma

A few weeks ago over drinks my friend Sushma and I started talking about how I wanted to do more portrait sessions. Because she is amazing and gorgeous, she agreed to be my model and to show off some of her Indian heritage in the process. We spent Saturday morning down in the flower gardens by Lincoln Park Zoo, laughing and having a blast. (I even have the sunburn to prove it!) Anyway, here are some of my favorites from our shoot. Every time I have looked at these pictures in the past week it has brought a huge smile to my face. I hope you enjoy these pictures of my dear friend as much as I do.

Best Buddies @ Rockit Bar & Grill

Last Thursday night I had the pleasure of shooting another event for the Best Buddies of Illinois. The mission of Best Buddies is to “enrich the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment”. It is a wonderful organization and the work they do in their community is truly inspiring. They hosted an evening networking event at the very cool Rockit Bar & Grill to raise money for the wonderful work they do.

She said YES!!!

I am in the process of furiously editing the pictures to share with Joe and Leslie but I wanted to post this one! Last night I have the pleasure and honor of documenting their engagement. I’ll share the story with the full set of images but for now, you can have this one.

Chicago iPhone Pics

Well, it is officially spring in Chicago. The weather is chilly and I’m pretty sure I’ve not seen the sun for days with all the rain we’ve been having. Because I like to live dangerously (and by dangerous I mean randomly) I decided today that I wanted to pull the images off my iPhone because I have a few I wanted to share.

I love the angle I got on this one – it looks like the bus is trying to run away.

Even walking in Chicago you run into pot holes…

April Showers bring Tulips!

Leaving Milwaukee to come back to Sweet Home, Chicago

A self-pic that I think turned out rather well…I can still feel the sun on the back of my neck