Greg, Violet, Lily, and Baby On Board

November 29, 2009

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Yesterday, I had a fabulous time visiting with Greg, Violet and Lily. We had done a larger family session earlier this year, but this time it was just the three of them. The shoot was at Grandma Judy's house (I LOVE her!!!), and I brought along my little 'set' that I created for my girls night a few weekeneds ago. Judy was so sweet - she offered me fresh coffee and delicious homemade biscotti while we had our photo session :)

Lily was so cute and so well behaved during the shoot. She LOVES to smile, and was very happy to do so yesterday. She even had a clothing change for the photos!

After our shoot, I found myself with such great company, that I stayed and chatted with everyone for a while. I believe I've found some more wine tasting buddies, and may even be able to convince Judy to come with me to Napa!! Of course, I'm pretty sure that everyone else will also be joining us too :)

Hope to see you all again soon - thanks so much again for being so kind!!

The Lureau Family
Medinah Country Club
November 28, 2009
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We were fortunate to have gotten lovely weather today, as I met Joe and Sarah for yet another photoshoot, but this time with their entire family/family to be. We had our shoot at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, IL. Many of you know and recognize that name as one of the top courses in the country. It is often used for PGA events, and is just a unique and lovely place.

We primarily took todays photos outdoors, but also managed to capture a few neat shots inside the beautiful clubhouse.

After our session, Joe's father, Mike, invited me to join the family for lunch (thank you so much again, btw!!). What a great time!! And now I've got some ways to make Joe and Sarah laugh for their wedding day photos!!!

See you guys soon!

~amy

A Special Photo Session Offer
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Hey all! From now until Christmas, I am offering a special on my portrait sessions. Each session is on the location of your choice, and will last up to an hour and a half in length. You'll receive copyright permission for the images, a disk of all of the final hand-retouched images, and a password protected online photo gallery to share with all of your family and friends, complete with an online store and free image downloads.

Sessions are now just $100, and are regularly $250.

ALSO!! Engagement sessions for this very special cause are now half price - just $250. These sessions offer the same as my portrait sessions, however, we will shoot until we all feel as though we're satisfied with our session (up to 3 hours total time!).

Every penny will be donated to the Shannon Sperando Cancer Fund and gift certificates ARE available!!! When you purchase your session, you'll have an entire year to schedule your shoot with me.

Thank you everyone in advance for your continued help!

xoxo

~amy

This Holiday Season,
Giving a Little Gives a Little MORE
Holiday 2009
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This year, I will be doing something a little bit different. I need EVERYONE'S help, so please pass this information along to as many people as you can!!!

As you may remember, an old friend of mine from high school has been battling cancer for a few years now. Last year, lots of people helped me put together a benefit concert in honor of Shannon Sperando. We were able to raise a modest amount of money, but the holiday weekend that the benefit took place on hindered us from doing as well as we'd hoped.

As many of you may already know, Shannon's health has taken a roller coaster ride this past year, and she now faces incredible uncertainly. Her husband, family and many friends are all taking the news on a day by day basis. Shannon continues to surprise everyone with her strength, and by achieving the opposite of what the doctors have been expecting.

As everyone well knows, cancer is an unforgiving and brutal battle. It is emotionally, physically and financially draining. Worse than anything, it is one of the most uncertain battles we as beings can face.

While we cannot guarantee anything as far as Shannon's health goes, we CAN guarantee that at least a little bit of stress can be relieved from the financial end of Shannon's battle. There will be many things I will try to orchestrate, starting with a photo print sale.

When you order a print directly from my website, www.amyphotochicago.com, I will personally be paying for the cost of the print to be made so that 100% of that cost can go directly to Shannon's cancer fund.

ALL 8x10 prints on traditional photo paper are only $50 when you enter the coupon code: shannon01.

ALL 11x14 prints on traditional photo paper are only $100 when you enter the coupon code: shannon02.

ALL OTHER traditional photo paper prints LARGER than a 16x20 will receive a $250 discount when you enter the coupon code shannon03.

FINALLY, all other prints ordered from my site that are made on either canvas or metal will receive a $500 reduction when you use the coupon code shannon04. With these specialty prints, I will unfortunately be unable to personally cover the cost of materials, as they are quite expensive, yet will still be donating 100% of the proceeds to Shannon's fund.

In addition to my website, ALL proceeds that I would otherwise personally receive from ANY prints purchased from the Chicago Photography Collective website or gallery will be donated to the fund. PLEASE remember that while purchasing prints this way will cost more, it will also yield more money to be donated to the cancer fund. As an added bonus, prints purchased from this outlet will ALSO support so many Chicago photographers as we work to get our artistic efforts noticed and appreciated.

To learn more about Shannon's situation, and for the most current updates, please visit her website at www.shannonsperando.com. There, you will also find the following information where you can opt to donate directly to Shannon's cancer fund without purchasing a print:

Make checks payable to:

The Shannon Sperando Cancer Fund

Mail checks to:
Hills Bank & Trust Company
Attn: Katie Miller
1401 S Gilbert St
Iowa City, IA 52240

The beautiful Shannon last year at the benefit concert in her honor

An advanced THANK YOU to everyone for your help with this effort. Happy Holidays!

xoxo

~amy

Sarah and Carlo the Chihuahua
A Christmas Card Photo Shoot
Milwaukee, WI
November 23, 2009
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I took a mini road trip to Milwaukee today to spend time with the fabulous Sarah :) We took her adorable little Chihuahua, Carlo, to downtown Milwaukee for a photoshoot that Sarah wanted for this year's Christmas cards that she'll be sending out. We ended our shoot with a trip through the drive through at Starbucks - Carlo's favorite!!

I also wanted to share with you all these beautiful pepper mills that Sarah hand painted. She gave me one of them as a thank you for today's shoot (the other was one that I had already ordered as a gift).

Sarah not only paints pepper mills, but a variety of other neat objects like wine stoppers, tables, mirrors and even guitars! To see more of her work AND to support this talented artist, please visit her website at http://www.sarahgallenberger.com What a fabulous gift idea, just in time for the holidays!!

Stay tuned for future shoots with Sarah - we've got some fun things planned!

Cindy & Gracie

November 22, 2009

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You may remember a photo session from earlier this year with Cindy, Gracie and Dan. This morning, I made my way to take photographs of the lovely expectant mother and her absolutely adorable and photogenic daugher :)

Can't wait to see you both when the new little addition arrives!

~amy

Andrew Belle

with opening act, Kailin Garrity

Uncommon Ground - Chicago, IL

November 21, 2009

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Last night, I took the opportunity to see Andrew Belle perform live at one of my favorite spots in Chicago, Uncommon Ground. It's a special little place where quite a few well known performers have dropped in to play over the years, including one of my absolute favorites, Jeff Buckley.

Before Andrew started, Kailin Garrity performed her music, and some 70's classics, for the small and very crowded back room of this charming little place. She had quite a set of pipes on her, and a wonderful energy about her. Her smiling and enthusiasm rubbed off on the audience, and a tone was set from her performance.

Andrew's turn was up. Andrew shared the incredibly limited "stage" with his friends in music, and I shared the incredibly limited (in fact, almost non-existant) walking space with his sister, Maggie, as we both snapped photos while Andrew played his music.

In addition to this special performance, Andrew treated his fans with an opportunity to pick up his yet to be released new album. Well... me being a sucker for his music since hearing it over at Uptown Recording for the first time, I picked up a copy. My apologies for seeming a bit biased, but um... you should get a copy when it comes out!

Keep checking out the blog for a unique photo shoot with Andrew in January 2010!