Oh Babies!

Babies, babies, babies! They are so priceless, tiny, and squishy. OK, maybe not so squishy... more like delicate. They are a blast to photograph and I know that these photos will mean the world to mom and dad as they see their little one grow up right before their eyes.

Mario & Liliana

The Lopez wedding was an absolute party! Mario and I are co-workers, so I knew that his wedding was going to be full of energy. Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to his wedding.

The day seemed to be perfect. The weather was absolutely awesome (look at the sky in the photos... saweeeet). The church was beautiful and the priest allowed me to walk around the entire church. That was cool of him. And all of the family members were present for the family portraits. After the portraits we jumped in the limo and drove over to the Adler Planetarium. Oh, did I mention that there was little to no traffic, on a Friday night!!! That was sweet all on its own.

So we get to the Planetarium and the sky is looking luscious... it was just asking to be photographed. There was also some beautiful light bouncing off of the building right next to the Planetarium, which gave me some amazing fill light on Mario and Liliana. They loved the photos and I was a happy camper. My Nikon and I were best of friends that day. I guess the only negative was that it was pretty darn chilly that evening, so our shoot was crunched down to about 12 minutes (fun).

We then took off to the reception. The music was pretty much blasting from the moment we arrived and it never let off. I think my ears are still ringing from that night. I could not have had a better time with the Lopez and Galarza families. Thank you again Mario and Liliana!!!

Chris & Lindsay

Joliet, Illinois was rockin' on 09.26.08. The Lotysz wedding was a very fun wedding to shoot (man, all of my weddings have been a blast this year. I'm not complaining). I met up with Lindsau and her girls in Flossmoor at the Marc Alan day Spa. These are some pretty awesome girls and you can tell so much from the company that you keep. So I know that Lindsay has some great friends and family.

From there we traveled to The Renaissance Center in Joliet. Let me tell you, the Rennaisance Center's website does it no justice. This place is very nice with plenty of room for great photographs. There is where I met up with Chris and his groomsmen. soon enough the ceremony started and the rest is history.

I am grateful to the Lotysz and Smith family for having me be a part of their special day. I must mention that Chris and Lindsay played "Always With Me, Always With You" at their wedding. This is the first time I have heard this song since MY WEDDING almost 7 years ago. Chris, you are one rockin' dude! Hearing that song made my day. My many, many thanks.

Rob & Jill

Jill was very excited on her wedding day, as she should be! It has been a while since I have worked with such an excited bride. It was a joy seeing her this happy. I could tell that she was soooo ready to get married. Rob must be a pretty awesome dude for this gal to be so over joyed. Good job Rob!

Thanks again guys for having me be a part of your wedding. You all have such caring and loving family and friends. Rob, your friends are a blast, and boy can they dance.

Thad & Kristin

My many thanks to Thad and Kristin for having me shoot their wedding. I always find it such an honor to spend an entire day with a couple and photographing them in one of the most important days of their lives. That is pretty darn special and amazing to me. There is so much trust in that relationship, one that must not be broken either before or after the wedding.

I am also amazed at how quickly the wedding day goes by. All of that planning... all of that worry... all of the anticipation... and then it is done. Then all that is left are the photographs and a few choice mementos of that day. Man, it is so cool to do what I do.

These photographs that I make mean something to my couples, and they mean a whole bunch to me as well. All of the hours and investment in knowledge and photo equipment all makes sense when the couple sees the photos for the first time and are in awe at how amazing they look. That is the moment that I look forward to every time. My thanks again to Thad and Kristin.

Matt & Joy

I have to say that out of all of the weddings I have done this year, Matt and Joy's wedding stands out for a couple of reasons.

First :: Matt and Joy are a very warm and loving couple. I could see and feel this from the moment I met them at my Starbucks studio. They have an innocence that I have never really seen before in a couple. That was very refreshing to see and experience. The ceremony took place at the Linder Conference Center in Lombard, IL. This was a very cool place to shoot a wedding. The reception was at the Wyndham Drake in Oak Brook.

Second :: This was one of my first weddings to incorporate different lighting techniques during the portrait sessions. Mainly the use of Pocket Wizards to trigger my Nikon SB-800 flash unit. I also used a CTO gel on my flash giving me the beautiful warmth to my images. It was a different approach to the way I normally work, but I think that the results were very satisfying.

So my many thanks to the Ling and Shen families for having me be a part of their wedding day. Thanks Matt and Joy!