Nicole's Headshot Session
October 27, 2008
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I LOVE working with actors and actresses. There is this energy and freedom and amazing character about them. Nicole was no exception :)

I first met Nicole at NIU where we both earned our degrees. I had been working on a behind the scenes documentary project on a theatrical production of The Grapes of Wrath that the theatre department had performed my final year at NIU. Nicole was a member of the cast.

Today was a shoot filled with smiling, laughing, chatting and LOTS of walking. Amazingly enough, the weather cooperated fairly well. By the end of our session together, the cold air seemed to be getting colder, but we were satisfied with the variety of shots that we took.

In all, there are several hundred photos for Nicole to choose from to best represent her in the theatrical world. Here are just a few; a glimpse into our session from today.

Nicole, it was a pleasure :)

Matt & Stacey
October 18, 2008
Old St. Pat's / The University Club
Chicago
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I will always remember Stacey as the bride who 'accidentally' kissed her groom, Matt, before their wedding ceremony :) In order to ensure that we had ample time to take as many of the photographs around Chicago that these two amazing people wanted, we did a photo session before the ceremony. Having never done one of these sessions before a ceremony before, I went through my normal routine, and asked Matt and Stacey to kiss. What I didn't realize was the possibility of bad luck that this kiss could have caused. However, at the end of the day, I realized that these two really love each other, belong together, and that this wedding day superstition simply didn't apply to Matt and Stacey.

It's always amazing how you can plan a liberally timed schedule, and somehow end up rushing to make sure you are on time. It's exactly what happened yesterday, but it really made getting some of these shots that much more exciting! Luckily, I had Copper Siegel along to help as my assistant photographer. She was a tremendous help throughout the day, and I cannot thank her enough for all of her hard work!

Matt and Stacey, It was truly a pleasure working with you, your family and your friends. Thank you so much for making me a part of your big day! I wish all the happiness in the world to you both, and hope that you enjoy your Italian honeymoon!!

And now for some photos :)

Kaki King
Park West, Chicago
10/13/08
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If you haven't seen Kaki play guitar, you are truly missing out! I nearly didn't make it into the venue last night because of confusion over my photo pass. A special thank you to the kind ticket booth guy who helped me get my photo pass - you're my hero :)

Watching Kaki play, and seeing how the audience reacted to her was honestly like seeing hundreds of her close friends encouraging her to be the artist that she is.

The members of the audience were kind enough to let me sneak in their spot for a few tunes while I snapped a few photos. While I wasn't able to utilize all of the different angles I'd have liked to, I still managed to get a few decent shots.

Chicago Chapter of the Grammys
Annual Membership Celebration
Hotel Sax, Chicago
October 8, 2008
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Wednesday night, I was given the amazing opportunity to photograph the Grammys event for the Chicago chapter at Hotel Sax. Not only did I photograph the event, but I was able to network with some amazing people. A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to chat with me - I truly hope to keep in touch with each of you!

Here are some pics from the evening:

STEVE COLE (and guest performers)

ALICE PEACOCK and ANNE HARRIS

DAN WILSON

Unfortunately, permission was not granted to post these images, so I'll briefly talk about one of the key moments of the evening, in my mind :)

Dan took a moment from his performance to teach those in attendence a portion of the chorus. Once that part of the song was to be sung, he had everyone join him. I was personally expecting to hear what I always hear at a show: an off key barely melodic noise, cringing to the ear. What I heard made me so happy - it was musical! Harmonies could be heard with each note. It was so beautiful :)

DONALD LAWRENCE

STEVE "SILK" HURLEY and guest, FAST EDDIE