Some days you just get lucky. There are those who say luck is when opportunity meets preparation. But then there are times when you have to notice the opportunity in order to take advantage of it. Today was a little like that.

I had the honor of photographing Linda and Jim’s wedding on Saturday. As I walked upto their apartment, I noticed a window sill with an interesting view of a brick wall. I thought that if time worked out, I would sit the bride there for some portraits. As luck would have it, we did have time. I took a test shot to get my camera set and noticed the grooms reflection in the window. A little adjustment, and we have the shot you see here!

We had an opportunity to take a couple of quick snaps at Humbolt Park.

The ceremony and reception were at Calo in the Andersonville area of Chicago. Calo had placed votives in the brick wall.

A moment of levity during the ceremony.

I walked by a wait station at just the right time: 6/7/08 9:10 PM

The end of a wonderful and memorable day.

I’m home early tonight and feeling just a little down. Today was a beautiful day. It was a beautiful wedding. Yet, it was the last wedding of the season for me. We could not have asked for a better day! The sun was shining, it was nearly 80 degrees with a nice breeze. Normally, I like to meet my clients and spend time getting to know them before I photograph the wedding. But today’s couple was the exception to the rule. Nicole and Bart put their wedding together in just a few short weeks. For you see Bart, received deployment orders.

Meanwhile, Nicole is a student teacher this semester. In fact, the night before the wedding, she had to grade papers for Monday. Can you imagine that! No time off to get married. I feel bad for these kids. Yet the day was filled with love. I could just see it on their faces through out the day. I hope I have the opportunity to be there in a year for the reception. Here are some photos of the day:

As I mentioned the other day, I helped another studio on Saturday. I photographed Sarah and Steve’s wedding for them. There complete wedding day was at the Doubletree Hotel Alsip. This is the second time I’ve been there this season. Once again I had the pleasure of working with Noelle, from the Doubletree. She also got me some of their chocolate chip cookies. Yum.

There were a couple of things which made Sarah and Steve’s wedding, uniquely theirs. First, they met at a racetrack, so the wedding was race themed. Rather than table numbers, they used track names. The head table was named after the racetrack where they met. Another difference at this wedding was that Sarah made the floral arrangements with faux flowers. Didn’t she do a great job!

This weekend is one of the very rare weekends when I have two weddings. The first I’m shooting for my self. Tomorrow, I will be helping another studio since they were short a photographer or two and I was available. Normally I would not have done this but Roxanne and Mike had booked me until 10:00 and Saturday’s wedding did not start until 4:00 so I knew I had enough time between events.

Roxanne and Mike’s wedding was held at the Old Barn. This actually has a special meaning for me as well. When I was looking for a new job within EDS, I had just accepted the position here in Chicago. I delayed my departure in order to have dinner with the team at, you guessed it, the Old Barn. It has been years since I’ve been there but the place looks exactly the same.

I’ve got to rest as I’ve got a busy day on Saturday.

It was a crazy day! But at the end of it April and Tristan were married! April was very late getting started this morning, so we did not get a lot of the usual getting ready photos. Then when we arrived at the ceremony/reception site, more disorganization followed. Despite all of the chaos, love reigned supreme.

I’m am just too tired to post any more about this wedding. I really worked my butt off today to catch up and make sure all of the required images were captured!

Saturday was Patricia and John’s wedding. Being a Greek Orthodox wedding, it was a little different than I’m used to. Despite the rainy weather, it was a great day. There are just so many great moments from the wedding that the only way you will be able to see them all, is to visit their on-line gallery.

We had originally planned to visit a park for some bridal party photos. But when the rains came, we went to plan B, the Schaumburg Renaissance. I had been waiting for an opportunity to photograph at this great one of a kind location. Now I had my chance.


If it is going to rain, then what a great spot. There will be even more photos available in Patricia and John’s on-line gallery.