Cristina and Aaron's wedding

Once again I was at one of my favorite venues, Starved Rock, for Christina and Aaron's wedding. It was a beautiful day. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

5 Years Ago

5 years ago today, my wife and I walked into the dr's office for her weekly maternity check. Little did we know that Sheryl would be whisked through the secret cypher locked door directly into the labor and delivery suite at the hospital. Hard to believe that 5 years ago, our son was born. Our little baby has grown into an amazing boy.

This boy continues to amaze us on a daily basis. He has already started to recognize simple sight words like "the", "and" and "dog". I'm not sure if he has memorized stories or can actually read them but it is still quite an accomplishment.


My how the time has flown. In just a few short months, Mathew will be starting Kindergarten. It really makes me wonder what the next 5 years will bring or the 5 after that....

Congratulations Pro Scapes

Congratulations to Pro Scapes, my brother's landscaping and snow plowing company for being awarded the 2008 Excellence in Business and Safety awards at the recent annual award banquet hosted by the Snow & Ice Management Association in Buffalo, NY. I know my brother, Rick, works hard to maintain a customer centric, high quality organization. Way to go Rick!

The Fake Rave

It is amazing how much we have come to rely upon the internet and various boards for purchase information. However, how much do you really know about the person making the recommendation. I am fortunate enough to be a subject matter expert on a bridal forum. Every so often I see a post extolling the virtues a photography studio or product. Upon closer examination it becomes obvious the rave was posted by the vendor themselves and not by a happy client. Some signs the rave might be fake include:

1) This is the writer's first post on the forum. Why would somebody who has never visited, let alone posted to a board, suddenly show up and start praising a specific vendor?
2) The writer talks about only one vendor. Why not talk about the rest of your vendors too?
3) There is contradictory information listed. For instance, the post says something about a November '07 wedding but the profile shows an August '08 wedding date.
4) The wedding date given is a week day

The fake rave is just a way to obtain free adversing for the vendor in such a way as to deceive you. Just as the fake complaint is an attempt to drive people away from a competitor. For how to you really know who is the author of the anonymous post? In the end, do you want to hire a vendor who lies to you via a fake rave? For who knows what else they may lie about!

Webkins

"But mom, I'm the only one in the whole wide world who doesn't have one!. I want a Webkin" Over the last school year, we've heard many variations of this whiney complaint from Meghan. She's begged, pleaded and used every tactic known to a seven year old girl in order to convince us to buy her a Webkinz.

In case you're not aware of the Webkinz craze, it is basically a Beanie Baby. However, along with the purchase of the Webkinz, you also receive a code which allows access to the on-line Webkinz world. This is a world just for kids. It has games and activties. And oh by the way, the Webkinz you've bought comes alive. The kids have to feed and care for it every couple of days. Otherwise, it can become sick.

To make things interesting, the food, toys and activities for your Webkinz are not free. The owners have to earn Webkinz world money to purchase these things. I guess it teaches kids to save and budget. How do I know this now. Well, last Sunday, Meghan figured out she had $28 which was enough to buy a Webkinz. Since it was her money we decided to let her buy a Webkinz.

Tuesday evening, Meghan and I went to the mall to buy her Webkinz. She had spent time researching her purchase and knew exactly which one she wanted. Goldie, the dog. First we stopped at KBToys. They did not have the dog she wanted. They had frogs, cats, tigers and other animals but not the dog Meghan wanted. So we went to antoher store where we had seen the Webkinz. Meghan managed to grab the last Goldie.

When she checked the price, she discovered it was on sale. She asked if she could buy two. Before, I could say "No!," Meghan explained she wanted to get one for her brother Mathew because she knew that he would be upset that he didn't have a Webkinz too. After much consideration, Meghan selected a Brown Lab Webkinz for Mathew. The total came to $28.12. I was so proud of my young lady that I made up the shortage. She beamed with pride not only for making her own purchase but also because she was able to do something nice for her brother. Her mom was pretty impressed with her too!

Linda and Jim

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.

New Web Site

It's done! I have a new web site. After six weeks of hard work, we finally finished the site and uploaded it on Thursday. Take a moment to check out the new site.