Catching up to do

Well, it's been a while, again... The chopper job's been taking up most of my time, though I have had a few photography projects here and there. I suppose the best way to go about sharing some of these photo experiences will be to write a little background on them and
then posting a few pictures... enjoy!

*******

I went on a mini road trip out to Loredo Taft in Oregon, IL with Liam, my boyfriend, to spend some time taking photos and getting him acquainted with my d200. We ended up having a great time, took a few decent shots, and got a great workout walking up and down crazy flights of stairs and climbing steep hillsides.






A few months ago, my friend Nate played bass for Jim Mullins at the House of Blues in Chicago. Nate asked me to come watch, and also invited me to the after party. It was definitely an experience that I couldn't pass up. I knew it'd be a good time, and that I'd have plenty of future ammunition for teasing since he was given a pair of skin tight black velvet pants for attire.

While I was in the VIP area after the show, I met the sound engineer, James Teitelbaum. He and I talked for quite a while about many things, but especially music and photography. He also told me about a few writing projects that he had been working on. James and I scheduled a photography session a few weeks later, and finally were able to find a time to go through with it this past week since our schedules were so busy.


The session was initially for James' friend's restuarant, the Tiki Terrace, located in Prospect Heights, IL. The owner wanted some pictures of the clothing line, and asked James to be the model. Once we got going in shooting, we tacked on a publicity photo session for James to use on his book tour.

Oh, and by the way, James is going to be launching a book of his called Tiki Road Trip 2.


James became fascinated with Tiki bars around the country, visited a great deal of them, and produced an amazing book describing an element to our culture that so few people are even aware of. I highly recommend that you check it out. Anyway, here are some pictures from the "tiki session." :)

I had a meeting today with my friend, Jason Kaczorowski. We met with a client that he booked a wedding shoot for and asked me to second shoot with him for. She seems like an absolute sweetheart. I've no doubt she'll make a beautiful bride on her big day.

After the meeting, we scoped out the church where the wedding will be held in Lemont, IL. Both of us agreed that we'll get some beautiful shots at this church, both inside and out.

New Photo Projects

Hi, everyone. It's definitely been a while since I've last written, but I've been really working hard on several different projects.

The first major thing that has happened is I landed a full time job as a helicopter camera (video) operator for U.S. Helicopters. This company then subcontracts me to work for ABC 7 Chicago. My work can be seen on tv and the internet.

The next thing that has happened is I had to buy a replacement for my Nikon D200 that I'd only had for about 6 months. I noticed that I had some dead pixels, so I sent it in to Nikon for repair. They had to completely replace the sensor. In further investigating the issue later on, I found that the dead pixels had been an issue from the moment I took the camera out of the box.
I then discovered another issue with the D200 - it did not have a sharp focus. I performed several in depth tests to determine if it was indeed the camera or the lens. I discovered that it was definitely the camera. I then contacted Nikon, and after about two months of debating the issue, they finally agreed to replace the camera (rather than repair it again). I should be receiving my replacement sometime this week.

When Nikon and I came to an agreement that it was definitely the camera body causing this problem, I realized I now had another problem - I had a wedding to shoot the following day, but only a faulty camera to shoot it with. My solution? I decided to buy a brand new Nikon D200.

I have to admit, I was extremely hesitant to buy the new camera based on my fear of it performing in such a disappointing manner as the first one I purchased. Since I already had invested in other Nikon gear, I didn't have a choice... I decided to buy the camera from Best Buy because it was cheaper, and they have this amazing damage warranty plan you can buy separately (it covers damage - dropping, water, etc. - for 4 years after the purchase date; no questions asked).

After reviewing my images from the wedding, I was thrilled! Never had my previous D200 produced such gorgeous results. It completely restored my feeling about Nikon. I've continued to have nothing but pleasing results.

I also picked up some other equipment. I decided to buy a new lighting kit. After several months of research, I had narrowed my choice down to two or three brands, but decided to go with a completely different brand in the end. I chose White Lightning, a brand of lights created by Paul Buff, the creator of Alien Bees. I haven't gotten to experiment with the kit too much, but I have to say that so far, the colors and amount of control these lights give to me are just out of this world. When you add the price tag to the factor, it's unbelievable!!! I'd already dealt with the amazing customer service through Alien Bees, and when I found out that it's the same company, it was a no-brainer.

So one last thing to touch on are my upcoming projects. I plan on venturing out and doing a few experiments this summer... Of course, I'm not going to talk about them until the projects are complete, but I'm definitely excited about it.

Schaumburg On Stage presents Thoroughly Modern Millie

I've finally finished a week's worth of hard and in-depth work from a shoot that I did for Schaumburg On Stage's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. I presented the photos tonight for the first time to the cast and their family and friends. I was very happy with the positive feedback and reaction to my work.

While at the Prarie Center for the Arts, I was able to see some photography work my friend, Christoph Olesch, has on display. It's so much more emotional to see this work of his in a proper setting, rather than just flipping through the frames of work scattered about. This one piece that he did in particular which he calls "Homeless Bound," never fails to give me the chills. Tonight, it did far more than just that. Christoph is truly amazing at what he does. I'm very fortunate to have him as a mentor.

I've updated my Web-site so that the photo galleries are in flash format. Yes, I did this to protect my images from piracy. I also did it because, well, it just looks prettier ;)

I've also decided to take a huge step - I'm officially filing for Amy Aiello Photography to become an L.L.C. on Monday!!! It's funny, but I truly never thought that I'd have my own business, and here I am, venturing into it, in a way. It really makes me smile :)

My camera is currently at Nikon for repair - apparently, the sensor has gone bad. In shooting for this production, I discovered one hot pixel in the upper right third of the frame. After completing last weekend's shoot, however, that one pixel turned into roughly six or seven (possibly more). I'm truly lucky that it's under warranty, and plan on purchasing the extended warranty incase something like this arises again.