New York City
November 1-4, 2008
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This post is LONG overdue! I apologize for the lengthy amount of time it's taken to have these pics posted; there were simply too many photos to go through before I felt satisfied in choosing which ones to post!

The purpose of this trip was that I wanted to get away while my boyfriend was on tour with his band. Since I'd never been, and because I miss my friend Shannon, I decided to go to New York City. It was the most colorful, amazing and exhausting experience I've had in such a long time. This trip has made me realize how badly I really need to get outside of Chicago to capture the world.

Because of the huge number of images I want to share, it may take a while for my blog to load. Please be patient :)

OH!! And I'd love to hear what you think!!!

Enjoy!

This guy goes by "Throth" - He broke out into violin playing an falsetto operetics...





And then batman and court jester clown girl joined in dance!








A memorial to John Lennon (in Strawberry Fields)





This guy was sitting right by the memorial - I LOVED his honesty ;)













This was not staged/posed.












Trying to decide if this rainbow wall even comes close to the one in Chicago... nah!!





Where John Lennon was murdered :(





Ground zero.... I was amazed at the lack of progress after 7 years.





Across the street from ground zero are some of the oldest tombstones I've ever seen





This dude was creepy





Shannon making music at the 34th street stop





A pic of me, compliments of Shannon





This little guy still makes me smile









Brooklyn Bridge









This was in Soho - an eyesore among the high end stores (but I LOVED it!)





Reminders to vote were everywhere - from delightful posters of Sarah Palin....





To Palin, McCain and Obama condoms ("because either way you're gonna get screwed" he said)





This little guy was so sweet! He's 16 years old, and using the wheels to get by :)




Time Square

















An overhead look of the city from the Empire State Building





Shannon had a shoe obsession while I was in NYC....





Jeff Buckley took a photo here before...

For more images from my trip, visit my facebook albums!

Album 1
Album 2
Album 3

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 :)