Free To Succeed Tour

I had the privilege to attend David Jay's "Free To Succeed" tour last night thanks to my friend and fellow wedding shooter Ray Pryor. Ray called me up the other day and asked if I would be interested in attending. He told me that David Jay and Jasmine Star would be speaking and would be talking about the wedding photography business. I was sold... especially after hearing that Jasmine Star would be there. Man, that fired me up! I love her work and her blog. I go there everyday for inspiration and to see what she is up to. You can only imagine how excited I was to see her in person. She is even cooler than what I had imagined, and even prettier in person. That girl has it going on. One day I hope to be as cool and pretty as she is...

I learned so much at this seminar. My head is still spinning with ideas. I am very appreciative to both David and Jasmine for their openness and honesty. I really took to heart when David said that "we are here to serve our clients". That is so true, and that is something that I strive to do with every wedding that I shoot. Where would we be without our clients? They drive us to excel and to get better and to continue learning.

So my many, many, many thanks to David Jay and to Jasmine Star for sharing such great insights and precious nuggets of information. I also wanted to thank my friend and fellow Rock Star photog Veronica Hinojosa for hanging with me and for taking the photos of me and DJ and Jasmine. Rock on!!!

Ryan & Yung-Yi

Thanks to Ryan and Yung-Yi for having me shoot their awesome wedding. I cannot say enough about how much energy and excitement there was at this wedding. I knew this was going to be a fun wedding as soon as I met all of the bridal party. They were all playing and smiling right from the get go, and they did not stop having fun the entire day. The day started out at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. From there we all went the Adler Planetarium for group photos. we had some great weather that day, though it was a bit hot (low 90's). The humidity and heat did not stop us from having a great time. We got some really fun and exciting images near the lake and on the large cement steps. From there we went to the ceremony, which was held at the Sears Tower. It does not get any cooler than that. I am glad that we were inside for the ceremony becuase the rain came down pretty hard. It is pretty neat seeing rain when you are so high up.

The reception was amazing. That is all I can say. From the first dance to the last, it seemes that not pne person was sitting down. Everyone was dancing, and I mean everyone. From very young to very old, all were moving. Thanks again to the Nindorf's for having me be a part of their great wedding. We will be working on their album soon. I am looking forward to that. The wedding was taped by Matt Buckman of idofilms.net

Brian & Lauren

Thanks again to Lauren and Brian for a very fun wedding in Rock Island, Illinois. What a very energetic and fun couple, and very giving couple as well. All of their friends and family were a blast to be around, as you can tell by all of the laughs and smiles. I loved the cup cake idea! Lauren made all of them, and they were good. We had a beautiful day, though we did get rained on for just a moment. After the rain went away we were showered with plenty of sunlight and beautiful blue skies, which made for incredible portrait lighting. We also got that sweet looking rainbow. Very cool. I want to thank the Hensels again for having me be a part of their wedding. Thanks guys!