Jenna and Chris' Wedding is Saturday

I spoke with Jenna earlier today and finalized the details for Saturday's wedding. It seems like just yesterday Jenna, Chris and I first met at Chris's apartment in Lombard. Looking back it really was last September, 8 months ago! Wow does the time fly and there have been many changes.

The most important changes since I first met Jenna and Chris are my Certified Professional Photographer Wedding Endorsement, this blog and some of the new ideas I've got for wedding photography. For instance, just this past weekend, I was at the Schaumburg Art Festival and picked up an idea from a fine art photographer that I'm excited to try. That is using mylar as a background to create irregular reflections in the background. I can't wait to try something similar with the rings, flowers and invitation! If I can find some mylar between now and Saturday, I'll show you the results.

Getting back to my conversation with Jenna, I think that the two most important pieces of advice I have for any couple on thier wedding day is:

1) Just enjoy the day, no matter what happens!
2) Get a lot of sleep Wednesday and Thursday nights before the wedding.

Cost and Value

I received some lower quotes so I was just wondering what the difference was in pricing. I am comparing right now, but I do want quality photos.

You have no idea how many times I hear something like this. Invariably the person who says this books with the seemingly lower price photographer only to pay more in the end.

My brother, Rick, owns ProScapes, a landscaping and snow removal company located in Central New York. ProScapes is not the least expensive company in the area but they are one of the best! Actually, I'm quite proud of my little brother's accomplishments!

Anyway, one day Rick told me he lost a landscaping contract for a local restaurant. The previous general manager had been transfered and the new GM went with the low cost provider. Rick didn't seem the least bit upset. He said this is a cycle he goes through with some of his contracts. Eventually, the manager would realize the low cost provider did not provide the same quality or level of service as does ProScapes. Eventually, Rick would receive a call from the manager asking for a quote to fix landscaping damaged by the low cost provider and take over the contract. The low cost provider ended up costing the restaurant more money in the long run.

With wedding photography, the low cost provider can end up costing you more. For instance 6 or 8 hours of photography coverage may not be enough to fully cover your wspecial day. Especially when your DJ decides to have your first dance at 8:30! Your album package may include 60 units but the sample album you loved is 120 units! All of these extras can make your "low cost" photographer cost you much more in the end. After all of this, you still need to take into account the qualifications of your photographer. After all, you will have your photographs for the rest of your life!

Photos as Promised

One of the competitors from Sunday's competition.


The recently crowned world champion in her age category!


From last Sunday's engagement session with Matt and Laura.


Not the best of photos, but this is a sleeping racoon we saw on Meghan's field trip to the nature center.


Just a nice spring flower we saw on our tour of the nature center.

Illinois Majorette 2006

Thursday, I received a frantic phone call from my accountant. No I was not about to be audited. She was in charge of the 2006 Illinois Majorette competition and she had just fired their photographer! She was having no luck finding a replacement and wanted to know if I could help find someone.

With a light schedule for Sunday, we talked about it and thought that I could do it. After several phone calls to my lab, I had my packages and prices set. Then it was a quick run upto Libertyville to get a special backdrop used for dances. There were other logistics to worry about. All too soon it was Sunday morning and I was off to the Wooddale recreation complex.

I photographed all day. As flash photography is not allowed during the competition, I was the only one able to get any good photos. Who knew there was actually a competition for majorettes! Some of the ladies were as young as 5 and as old as 18. In one of the divisions, the recently crowned World Champion was competing! I can only imagine how much these ladies practice to get so good.

Later, I packed everything up and rushed to Stone Prairie for Laura and Matt's engagement session. They are getting married this August at Starved Rock. We took some pretty cool engagement photos. I had my laptop with me, so we previewed the photos right there!

Today, I went along on Meghan's last field trip of the year to the nature center. It was a good thing I brought my camera because Miss Sullivan didn't have hers. Miss Sullivan is a farm girl and really knows the ways of Mother Nature. On each of the three field trips we've taken I've learned something new. Today we saw raccoons sleeping in the trees. I got some neat shots of the sleeping raccoons.

I took Monday off to spend the afternoon with Meghan and Mathew. You are just going to have to wait until later in the week to see some of the photos I've taken since Sunday.

Ultra Sound

The Ultra Sound pictures tell it all! Our baby is doing just fine and is still due around August 7, 2006. But does he look like me or Sheryl?

A baby's name

Those of you who are parents understand the importance of choosing just the right name for your child. I thought it was difficult enough to name a dog. But a child... that's another story. At least the dog doesn't care if it is called Rover, Pongo or HeyU. Your children have to live with the names you pick for them for nearly 100 years! If they don't like their name's it is your fault.

Yesterday, Sheryl and I had lunch at Bennigan's and pored over the baby name books looking for names for our soon to be born son. We are not sure if we will continue the naming pattern we already have established. Everybody in our household's first name is 6 letters and has an "H" in it. The kids names all begin with the letter "M" On the other hand, do we name this child in honor of my mom who passed away two years ago?

So once we find a name which either fits the naming pattern or honors Mom we put it on the list. Some names get crossed off immediately. Reese -- Reese's Pieces. McHale -- McHale's Navy. Simon, Simple Simon or Simon Says... You get the idea.

I don't think I will ever forgot what happened to my friends Joe and Tina years ago. They were expecting their second child, a girl. They agonized over the name like Sheryl and I are doing now. After much thought they decided to name their little girl Amber. They thought they had found a name which the kids couldn't make fun of. How wrong they were. Just days after Amber was born, they brought her home to meet her 3 year old brother, Sam. Upon meeting his sister for the first time he said "Hi Amber-ger!"

Mother's Day

Once again it is Mother's day. The day when dads do all the work and moms get to rest. Well, rest as much as the kids will let her. I tried to let her sleep late this morning but Mathew was in our bedroom earlier than normal, 6:00 AM. Somehow, Sheryl convinced him to go back to sleep. Then Meghan arrived. She too went back to bed until her alarm went off at 8:10 for Sunday School.

I took her to Sunday school and then we were off to have brunch with the Milwaukee half of our family. One of the best things about being a professional photographer is having a ready supply of gifts available. Both Moms and Grandmas love new photos of the kids. Over the last couple of days, I took some new photos of Meghan and Mathew to give to Sheryl and her Mom as Mother's day gifts. Here are the photos:




As you can expect the gifts were warmly received. Don't the kids look so sweet when they are almost asleep or sleeping? I put Sheryl's in the hall frames when she was out and she was surprised when she saw them. Meanwhile, I wrapped my mother-in-law's photos in a box for her to open at brunch. I also gave everybody wallet sized prints so they could show everybody.

On a sad note, this is the second Mother's day since my mom passed away. There are still times, like today, when she's especially missed. I'm sorry Mathew never really got a chance to meet her and the baby we're expecting will never get to know her. We've decide to honor my mom by naming our son (expected arrival 8/7/6) after my mom. Now we just need to find a name. Any suggestions?

I've also been working on a new promotional slide show for Magical Moments. It can be viewed at http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewshow.html?fl=2593303&alb=0. Just so you know, you may be asked to install the Photodex Presenter Plug-in. It's ok to do so. The show runs about 10 minutes. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Meghan's Field Trip

After much anticipation on Meghan's part, it was the day of her class field trip to the Brookfield Zoo. Never mind that she's been there hundreds of times already. Today was the day her daddy, me, would get to spend time with her and her classmates. Meghan's teacher, Miss Sullivan, has two kindergarten sections. So when we arrived in her classroom this morning, it was controlled mayhem. Somehow, after thirty-three years of teaching kindergarten, Miss Sullivan has field trip organization down to a science (too bad she's retiring at the end of next school year).

We were quickly assembled into our groups. Our group had three kindergarteners: Sammy, Bobby and Meghan. There were the fourth grade buddies: Sara, Cindy, Angelo, Alex and one boy who's name I never did learn. The chaperones were Mary Kate, Frank and me. That made for eleven of us. Soon we were on the school bus along with all of the other groups from Miss Sullivan's classes plus the other morning kindergarten class.

During the bus ride, we traveled through the tail end of rush hour. I realized this was one thing I did not miss from my former life in the corporate world. The rush hour drive. We arrived at the zoo a little before 10:00 and waited on the buses until it was time to go in. For those of you who are not in the Chicago area, I guess I should tell you that it was a miserable day.

It was a cool 40 degrees with a steady drizzle most of the morning. To make it even more uncomfortable there wind was blowing and making it seem even cooler. Despite the weather, we set off in good spirits. The first problem was deciding what to see first. We had a limited amount of time as we had to be back on the bus at 12:40 and also take time for lunch.

Somehow, we decided what to see. We started off at Tropic World. The kids were fascinated by the monkeys. Especially the two baby gorillas! After that we went to see the bear Miss Sullivan adopted. Lunch was next, followed by the dolphins, seals, tigers, lions, elephant house. Suddenly it was time to leave. In spite of the weather, a good time was had by all.

Wedding Day Tips

Earlier this evening I met with Michelle and Ryan who have a July 15th wedding planned. We spent about 2 hours scheduling the events for their special day. I want my clients to have an unforgettably wonderful day. A little advanced planning goes a long way. Towards the end of our conversation, Michelle's mom asked me for any words of wisdom I might have. After a little thought I gave them several. I decided I would share some of them with you this evening.

1. Once your wedding day begins, there is no more planning you can do. So enjoy your day!


2. Delegate people to handle problems for you. Traditionally this was the job of the maid of honor and best man. Sometimes you'll want somebody who is not in the bridal party to be able to act on your behalf.


3. A week before your wedding, test drive all of your routes. This includes where you are getting ready, to the church, and to the reception hall. Look for any signs of immenient construction which you'll need to avoid on your wedding day.


4. Call the town to determine if you need a permit for outdoor photos or if there will be any special events which might interfere with you plans. This is especially true for Rosemont (permits needed) and Long Grove (special events).


5. Provide only clear liquids to drink when getting ready, spills will not be seen on the wedding dress.


6. If you must have doughnuts for snacks, make sure they are not powdered with sugar. It gets all over the guys tuxes and is difficult to remove.


7. Finally on the topic of breakfast snacks, make sure everything is cut bite sized. This avoids spills and drops.


8. Have the guys get their tuxes as early as possible on the day before the wedding. When they get back to the house, try everything on to make sure you have everything. If something is missing, the tux shop will have time to retrieve the missing items from the ware house.


9. Ladies, have your nails done the day before the wedding. It takes less time to fix a chip than to have your nails done.


10. Test your hair style the week before your wedding. Also take photos of your hair in case something happens to the stylist you are planning to use.

PS. Happy Birthday to my Dad (who stopped counting birthdays 30 years ago!)

Milwaukee

Today we combined family and business on our one day trip to Milwaukee. We took the kids to a McDonald's playland for lunch and to allow them to burn off some energy. Immediately after lunch we drove to Milwaukee. I dropped the family off at the in-laws and drove down to University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee to meet with some potential clients, Lindsey and Joseph. They are planning a June 2007 wedding. She is a student at school there and did not have the time to meet me in Chicago.

Sheryl's parents were entertaining some guests who they've known since Sheryl was a little girl. They wanted to see Sheryl and the rest of her family. Finally, the in-laws love every opportunity to see the kids. They don't care about us, just the kids! Once again my kids have been spoiled with gifts from Nana. Boy does she love shopping. I think my kids are just the excuse my mother in-law needs to support her shopping addiction!

We ate dinner at the North Shore Bistro. The food was ok but not as good as I would have expected for the prices. I ordered clam chowder which had too many potatoes and not enough clams. Later on, my specialty burger which I had ordered medium came out beyond well done. It was so bad, I had to send it back after one bite. At least the company was entertaining and my in-laws had the chance to spend time with the kids.

Brookfield Zoo

Even though I have a residential studio and gallery, I enjoy the occasional opportunity to spend time with the kids. Most days I steal a couple of minutes here and there to play with them. But, today, I spent the whole afternoon with my family at the Brookfield Zoo. Despite the overcast skies, it was a beautiful day. It was warm enough to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt. Here are some scenes from our zoo trip.


There was one giraffe who I think was playing hide and seek.

He didn't do such a good job.


I just like the zebras!


The baby goose under a parents watchful eye.


The wolves look almost like dogs it is hard to remember they are wild animals until...


Now a week from Friday, I'll be back at the zoo as a chaperone for Meghan's class field trip.