Jolene & Mark

Yesterday, I worked for Essence Photo and Video for a wedding. The biggest bonus of my day yesterday was the fact that everything was 5 minutes from my house :) Everyone was a lot of fun, easy to work with, and very helpful.

For a bride who claimed that she wasn't fond of taking pictures, I must say, Jolene was quite photogenic and beautiful! Her bridesmaids were all lovely as well, and had wonderful personalities :)








Mark, the groom, and the groomsmen were all a lot of fun to work with too. I tried to make the whole picture process as quick and painless as possible for them. Hopefully it wasn't too bad for them. The humor that came from the group made this mini session very enjoyable.






On to the ceremony. The ceremony and reception both took place at the Klein Creek Country Club in Winfield, IL. The grounds were lovely, and the sun lit the altar area perfectly (although it did make the temperature MUCH hotter). The ceremony was short, but I could certainly tell how much Mark and Jolene truly cared for each other. I managed to capture Jolene's dad in a particularly emotional moment, too.






Because of the heat and the brightnes of the sun, I did my best to take as many pictures in the shade as possible, including one of the bridal party immediately after they all met at the end of the aisle at the ceremony's end.




The rest of the night was a great time filled with laughing, dancing, drinking and hugs. Jolene and Mark, I wish you the best of luck in your new lives together!

News from behind the camera

I've been doing a lot of writing about the shoots that I've done after I've finished them. It's been a while since I last wrote about things going on in my career. I just sold my first art print last week! The woman who purchased it told me that it was going to be an auction piece to help raise money for charity. It really made me feel good to have my work go towards a good cause. Thank you, Karen, for thinking of me so highly!

This week coming up is going to be a busy one for me. I have two weddings this weekend, followed by a trash the dress session on Monday. I've booked a photo session with a local band for next month, and am really pressing forward with my L.L.C. It's a very exciting time for me right now.

So when I'm not working on all of this photography stuff, I'm working the chopper job for ABC. I still absolutely love it after 5 months of being here :) I have to say though, as neat of a job as it is and as people perceive it to be, it is rather trying at times on my emotions. We rarely fly over anything that has a positive outcome. We oftentimes serve as an airborne news truck because we can oftentimes get to the scene faster while staying out of the way of authorities.

Last week, though, I realized that we can be so much more than that. We were called to a water rescue search at Lake Michigan downtown. A little girl was swept out by the undertow, and the coast guard had been searching for at least an hour by the time we arrived. We started out by getting a few shots of the scene, and then tried to help the coast guard find the little girl. That day, I had two pilots rather than just one. The lead pilot spotted something red in the water. We notified the coast guard, and when they got to it, it turned out to be a large red shirt. Shortly after that, I saw something large and blue in the water that looked like a body to me. The three of us talked about it, and decided that the figure was too large to be a 6 year old girl. The lead pilot told the coast guard about the find anyway, and we continued our end of the search. Ten minutes or so later, the coast guard went to the figure we found, and it was the little girl.

They rushed her body to shore, administering cpr all the while. I had absolutely no control over the tears that streamed down my face, and hoped that by some miracle, they could revive her. I saw the rescue team rush her body to the ambulance that sat nearby. After they closed the doors, the ambulance didn't budge. I figured that they had pronounced her dead on scene.

The three of us (me and my two pilots) made our way to a nearby airport to refuel so we could return to base. None of us said too much on our way there. We saw the coast guard at the airport, and talked with them for a while about the incident. We found out more about it, but also were able to change the topic and feel better about what we'd just witnessed.

In the end, the little girl did die. Another little girl was rushed out of the water and died a couple of days later, too. It was said that the beach this happened on was a restricted beach because of the strong undertow that was common there.

On a lighter side of things, I just met with some of the management from the studio for lunch yesterday, along with my base manager and ther other camera operator for the chopper. It was definitely an honor to get to meet them and to talk to them about the way that things are going. Sometime in the near future, they'd like us to come into the station to meet everyone that we talk to on the radios everyday.

Anyway, that's my professional life at the moment. I have to say, I'm pretty excited with the way things have been going, and definitely proud of everything I've accomplished in such a short period of time.

Kristen and Tad

When I walked into Kristen's house yesterday, she greeted me with a bright eyed smile and a very happy "hello." I instantly knew that she would be a very beautiful bride. Her mother greeted me with a warm hug. Something told me that this wedding would be different from all the others. It was.

We began the day with some detail shots, a bridal session, and shots of the girls. Kristen's mother had a photograph from her wedding day that she asked me to replicate. I did my best, and hope that they are happy with the results :)








I made my way to the church, St. Joseph Church in Addison, IL (which is also a school), to get some pictures with the guys and also of the church. The priest really rushed me, which kind of stinks. He also placed quite a few restrictions on me that really prevented me from getting some of the shots I'd have liked to have taken, but to be honest, I did expect it. These rules are pretty common in a Catholic church.






The ceremony was very nice though, and ended before I knew it. We took our pictures at the altar as quickly as we could, and headed off to a nearby park.

When I got to the park, I thought that I had miscommunicated with Kristen - they weren't there! I called Kristen's maid of honor (her sister), and asked if I was in the right place. Kristen talked to me on the phone and told me I was fine, and that they'd meet me there shortly, which they did.

I have to say, never before have I had such a lively bridal party. Everyone was so full of energy and FUN! :) They really helped make this part of the day go by much more smoothly. Thank you, everyone!!!








The reception was held at the Empress Banquets in Addison, IL (sorry, there's no web page for this hall). I'd never shot there, and I knew that I had an upcoming wedding this December at this hall, so I was pretty excited that Kristen and Tad's reception was there.

What a beautiful reception! Kristen and Tad's room was just beautiful. The hall surprised the couple with complimentary chair covers which were all white. It made the entire room have this incredibly elegant feel to it.





Before we knew it, the night was over! Everyone had so much fun from what I could see. After I put my equipment into my car, I made a round around the room to say goodbye to everyone. Sadly, I wasn't able to find Kristen's mother or Tad's father to say goodbye. If you both are reading this, thank you so much for your kindness, and congratulations to you, too!

Lastly, congratulations, Kristen and Tad. I truly hope you both know what wonderful people you both are, and how truly wonderful you are together! The best of luck and happiness to you both, and of course, CONGRATULATIONS!!!