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!

Nicole – A Photo Shoot

I finally got the guts to go out and buy myself a new lens that I am pretty sure my friends are sick of hearing about. Well, it finally arrived on my birthday and my friend Nicole was kind enough to test it out with me last weekend. Nicole just finished Law School and passed the bar this summer. Congrats Nicole and thanks for being my model for the day!

One of my favorites right here!

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!

I’m on a Boat!

Yes, catching up on my life has been a challenge these past few weeks. For instance, I called up a friend and found out she had finished grad school, passed her exam, accepted and started a job, moved AND started dating someone all while I dropped off the face of the planet. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Anywho, I had the good fortune to spend the 4th of July on the water. My friend Kerry’s parents have a lovely boat they keep downtown and they were gracious enough to allow me to crash their party. It was a beautiful day full of boat rides, drinks and so much good food I can’t even talk about it all. Here are some of the pictures from our day on the H2O.

Driving lesson on the boat = Kennice almost falling overboard

Pride Brunch

I know this post is a long (very long) time coming but it has taken me a while to get through all the pictures. Since I live on the parade route, my roommate and I decided to host the 2nd Annual Pride Brunch on the morning of the Chicago Pride Parade. It was a beautiful day and we had a great gathering of friends. I have to say, watching the parade from the comfort of your own home as opposed to hanging out with the masses is definitely the way to go. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Coming soon…parade pictures!

Inspiration for July

This has been a busy month for my interwebs job. Our newest site launches Saturday morning! I have been so busy with it that I haven’t had time to shoot/edit images for a while. I will pick up again next week but in the meantime I wanted to share some of the items I’m enjoying right now:

Great little Taylor Swift song…

Also booked a little vacay to Mexico. It’s not till November but I’ve been singing every possible song about Mexico I can find. James Taylor and Montgomery Gentry have a couple good ones!

I am hoping to be able to post my pictures from the Pride Parade and Brunch very soon. Look for updates!

M*WUAH!

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.