Harvesting

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Well it is hard to believe that Halloween is almost upon us. Around here that means the growning season is over. While I may still need to mow the yard once more, there’s not much left to do but bring in the harvest. In case you came in late, Meghan and I planted a garden this year. We planted corn, watermelon and pumpkins.

I think the squirrels enjoyed the garden more than we did. We ate about 8 ears of corn out of over 60 corn stalks which sprouted. The rest went to the animals. At one point we had three pumpkins. Today, there was only one left which we could decorate for Halloween. Finally, we had a late entry of one watermelon.

I figure I spent about $75 plus countless hours in that garden for 8 ears of corn, 1 watermelon and 1 pumpkin. All of that costs less than $10 in the store. But somehow sharing the garden with Meghan made it all worth while. There was a certain thrill in her voice when she came back into the house after discovering another pumpkin or that we finally had a watermelon. As the commercial says “priceless”

Now it is time to get ready for Halloween. Meghan will be a fairy princess (what else would she be?). Of coarse Mathew will be Thomas the tank engine and Michah will be a pea in the pod. This year I’m a room parent for Meghan’s class and so I get to celebrate Halloween at school. That should be fun.

Whack-a-Mole

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Ever seen the “Whack-a-Mole” arcade game. The idea is to hit the little guy on the head before he runs back into his hole. As soon as you hit one of the moles, another one pops up from another hole. It seems like you are fighting a never ending battle. At least in that game, the time ends the game and you collect your coupons based on your score.

Unfortunately, real life is not quite like that. It seems that my work is like those pesky little moles. Each time I attack one of my piles of work, another one or two pops up and demands my immediate attention. Once again, despite my best planning, I’m getting backed up as we head into the holiday season. We’ve got just another 2-3 weeks before the album companies start applying the holiday deadlines. Meanwhile, I don’t sleep and I keep falling farther and farther behind. Oh those pesky moles!

As soon as I started getting caught up on my albums, I fell behind with proof books. Catch up on those and then I fall behind on my postings, phone calls and e-mails. Well you get the idea. I thought I would have a 3 week lull without any events to allow me to catch up. As luck would have it, over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had Strep (along with the rest of the household), a pyogenic granuloma which required a surgical consult and something I can’t pronounce let alone spell. Anyway here is the attempt, Epiditimitis which required had me in such pain, I needed to see a Dr. — Stat. As it was, I was in bed from Friday night until Sunday morning.

Although Friday night, I did attend Meghan’s Consecration ceremony. She is getting to be such the little lady. I’m not sure who’s smile was bigger, hers as she was getting consecrated or mine as I watched her with pride. Nana and Poppa drove in from Milwaukee to watch Meghan. Despite being told I should take it easy, there was no way I was going to miss my daughter’s Consecration. This is the reason, I’m a photographer. To be able to set my own hours to be with my kids when it is important to them.

The next day, the in-laws all met to celebrate Sheryl’s birthday. Happy birthday! I’m told they had fun. I slept through it at home.

So anyway, the next two weeks will be filled with whacking moles and trying to catch up before the moles take over.

Another Weekend!

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Well here we are in October and just about ready for Halloween. It is hard to believe that it is just a couple of weeks away. We’ve already got the kids costumes but, I’ll try to talk about that when we are close to the actual holiday. Meanwhile I manage to fall farther and farther behind. It feels like I’m so snowed under, I can’t find the snow blower. Hey Rick, please send me a plow or two or yours! As it stands now, I have two weeks without any events scheduled. So I hope to dig myself out of this hole over the next three weeks before my next event.

This weekend I extend a “Mazel Tov” to Daniel Charous for celebrating his Bar Mitzvah. I photographed his Bar Mitzvah portraits Friday Morning at B’Nai Tikvah. Here he is still studying for Saturday. While I was not there to see Daniel, everybody says he did great!

Daniel's Bar Mitzvah photograph at temple

Saturday, I spent with Sarah and Jeremy at Prairie Landings Golf Course for the wedding ceremony and reception. It was a beautiful location. They really did a great job with the landscaping at this venue. Unfortunately, it was windy most of the day. As you can see, the matron of honor, Anne Marie, had to hold Sarah’s veil out of the way during the ceremony. Later on we had a great sunset.

When I was talking to Cindy, one of the wedding coordinators at Prairie Landings, she told me this part of the building was over 100 years old. When I heard that it just reinforced my idea to take a photo of Sarah and Jeremy in front of the building and “age” the photo. So here is a quick attempt at the process. I still need to work on it a little bit but I like the concept.

Sara and Jeremy's photograph during their wedding ceremony at Prairie Landings
Sunset wedding photo of Jeremy and Sara taken at Prairie Landings
Antiqued evening wedding photo taken in front of Prairie Landings

I concluded the weekend by meeting up with Daniel and his family for the family party to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah at Maggiano’s. If you’ve never been there you don’t know what you are missing. They are a “Lettuce Entertain You” restaurant and as such they uphold the standards seen in all of the other LEY establishments. The party itself was a little bit of a reunion as I was with some of these same folks a couple weeks ago to photograph the Bar Mitzvah of one of Daniel’s cousins.

Later in the day, I was out photographing the engagement session for Lance and Megan who are getting married at Starved Rock next June. They are another one of my couples who really like the outdoors. Therefore, I took them out to Stone Prairie for their engagement session. Despite having been out there several times this year, the change in season, creates a totally different look/feel to their images.

Megan and Lance's Engagment Photo taken at Stone Prairie

Amanda and Joey’s Chicago Wedding

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This week is starting out behind schedule. I photographed Amanda and Joey’s wedding last Saturday. I was there until after midnight. By the time I finished everything back in the studio, I did not get to bed until 4:00 AM and slept until 1:00 PM. Yet I was still dragging on Sunday. Sunday night, I went to be early (ok early for me) at midnight. So this morning I was surprised to see the clock said 11:00 by the time I got out of bed. Boy I must really be missing a lot of sleep over the last couple of weeks. Well a new baby will do that to you. Michah is still not sleeping through the night.

Today, is Columbus day and Meghan had a day off from school. I decided to play hooky from Magical Moments and took the kids to the zoo. It was a fun time. After spending time with the kids, we like to ask them what was their favorite part. Mathew’s answer was seeing the zebras. Meghan, melted my heart and let me know that taking the day off was the right thing to do. What did she say? “The best part of today, was spending it with daddy!” For me the best part of the day at the zoo was seeing my kids smiling and having fun.

Now I have to take a moment to say something about Amanda and Joey’s wedding last weekend. Most of the day was typical wedding. The weather was perfect. Who would have guessed we’d have such a nice day in October. We did get some great shots at the Shedd. But all in all, a typical wedding day. But when we arrived at Porrett’a, all of that changed. The food there was simply the best I’ve ever seen for a wedding. It was a culinary work of art. It started with an hors d’ouvres buffet with at least fifty different items to choose from. One could have made a meal from the hors d’ouvres. Next was the meal itself. Soup, salad, Chicken and Filet Mignon were served. By the time the main course arrived, I was filled. I was so filled I couldn’t even look at the desert table. It was a visual and culinary master piece. Petit fours, frest fruit and pastries were all included on the desert table.

Amanda and Joey were great hosts. Despite this being their big day, they were so concerned with making sure everybody had a good time. Even the videographers, DJs and myself. Every time I ran into the bride or groom they said to eat some more. Who is going to argue with a bride on her wedding day. Certainly not me!

I’m finally beginning to catch up. I have two weddings to process and post and then I can start working on the album backlog. Right now that is about 6 albums. But that could change at a moments notice. Maybe one day I will get totally caught up!

Time Flies

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Where does the time go. It seems like each day flys by and is over before I know it. Can it be nearly two weeks since I last updated the blog? I didn’t mean for it to be so long but Michah, Mathew and Meghan do take up a lot of the time. Everytime I turn around, one of the three demands my attention.

You would think there would be a repite once the kids go to sleep. Nooooo, that’s not the case. First there is getting the kids into bed. We try for 8:00 PM but most nights it is a little later. Meghan usually falls asleep pretty fast. Meanwhile once she is sleeping, Mathew, yells “I have a stinky” So time to change his diaper. Someday he will be potty trained but he is resisting all of our efforts. So finally Mathew is changed but now he needs to sample all of the beds and may even try to watch tv with Sheryl.

Somewhere during all of this Michah wakes up and demands to be fed, burped, and diapered. If we are lucky Mathew will drop off somewhere around 11:00. I’ve tried to get him to take shorter naps but he still manages to stay up late. Now that Mathew is asleep, Michah has settled, I get a couple of things done. But soon Michah is crying again. Only this time he wakes Meghan. Now I have to resettle her. Before I know it the night is over and it is time for me to drop off. There is still so much to get done and so little time. It is no wonder that my head drops around 5:00 PM for a 30 minute cat nap.

On another front, I have been informed by the Chicago Jewish News that they will be publishing 3 of my photos from a wedding I photographed earlier this month. It seems they are doing a story on the wedding because it was the first Jewish wedding at Starved Rock State Park in recent memory. So anyway, they will be using some of my photos to accompany the story.

I also heard from the Chicago Wedding Guide that they wanted to publish 5 of my photos. Rather than paying a stock agency for photos for their magazine, they contact photographers and ask for submissions. I submitted nearly 50 photos and they picked 5. I was also told that depending on the layout they may want to use some additional photos. So all in all it was quite a day.

Glasses

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I know this post is overdue. Where does the time go? I was just talking to somebody the other day about Y2K. We never hear about that anymore. Remember that? We were all so concerned there would be major computer snafus when the calendar changed to 2000. There were a couple of strange mishaps like 105 year old adults getting Kindergarden registrations. We can laugh at that now. Speaking of now we are getting ready to usher in 2007. Hard to believe.

Anyway today was the day Meghan and I went to get our eye glasses. I’ve known for a while that I needed glasses. Small print has been giving me more and more trouble. About 3 weeks ago I saw the eye doctor. Yup, I needed reading glasses. Meanwhile, Meghan had been tested at school and then referred her for an eye exam. She is farsighted and needs glasses. At least there is hope she will grow out of the need for glasses.

Today was the day to get glasses. I wanted Sheryl there to make sure I did not look like a geek, nerd or a refugee from the fashion police. We took the kids and headed to LensCrafters in the mall. We spent some time picking out frames. Meghan was a great help. No matter what frame I tried on, she loved it! Finally we found frames for the two of us and it was time to order the glasses. When it came time to sign the paperwork, it was full of small print. You would think that a place that knows their customers have trouble seeing would make sure the documents were readable. The sales clerk agreed! A couple of hours later, Meghan and I have our glasses. This is really going to take some getting used to.

Michael Andretti and the Century Council

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Did you know that 65% of underage drinkers obtain their alcohol from friends and family? I didn’t! As the parent of 3 kids, I never would have suspected this. However, as it has become more difficult for minors to buy beer, they turn to other sources.

Last week I received a call from the Century Council to see how much I would charge for a special event. As I did not have any plans for Friday morning, I asked what they needed. Just a photographer for a couple of hours to take some photos at a special event. After a little more conversation, I discovered the Century Council is a not-for-profit organization working to reduce underage drinking. Since I felt this was a worthwhile cause, I thought this would be a good opportunity to give back to the community and donated my photography services.

While one of the sponsor’s is the distillery industry another sponsor is Michael Andretti, the Indy Race Car Driver. This morning’s event was the start of a new awareness program aimed at making parents aware of where 65% of underage drinkers get their alcohol. Along with local dignitaries, Michael Andretti was there speaking and signing autographs.

Event Photograph from the Michael Andretti's Downtown Chicago Visit
This is one of less than 5 street legal Indy Race Cars.
Michael Andretti's Downtown Chicago Visit Event Photograph
Event Photograph from the Michael Andretti's Downtown Chicago Visit
Michael Andretti is on the left.
Michael Andretti's Downtown Chicago Visit Event Photograph
I think that Michael and I were the only ones who were not wearing a suit.

Incredible Weekend

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This weekend actually started out on Thursday with an engagement session for Shannon and Derrick. They will be getting married in October. We met for their engagement session and went to the Village Green at Stone Prarie. It was a great evening and you can tell these two are so in love. I had a great time photographing them.

We started a little before sunset. There was a quarter or a half moon in the evening sky which added to the romance of the evening. Looking at these photos, you would never know we were in the middle of an office complex. The area was so quiet and serene that evening. Just us and the wildlife. Finally we had a nice sunset and it was time to go home.
Shannon and Derrik's Engagement Photo at Stone Prairie
A photo of Shannon and Derrik at Stone Prairie taken during their engagement session
A quiet wedding moment during engagement photo session on the trail at Stone Prairie
A sunset engagment photo of Shannon and Derrik taken at Stone Prairie

Friday I photographed Renee and Nick’s wedding. This was the first of two wedding for the weekend. It was a lot of fun. We started at Renee’s house where the women were getting ready. There were a a couple of flower girl’s who were not sure what everything was about.
Renee getting ready for her bridal photograph on her wedding day

When I got to the church, the guys were not ready. So I had some time to experiment a little bit. The church has these great stained glass windows. I wanted to see how I could use the light coming through these windows to my advantage.
Elgin Church Photo on the wedding day.
Nick's wedding day photo

After the ceremony, we went outside the church for some photos. I was lucky enough that there was a light breeze to move Renee’s veil just right for this photo! Sometimes, everything works out.
My favorite photo from Renee and Nick's wedding

Then it was off to the Sheraton Four Points for the reception. After seeing this sweet table I wanted to skip dinner and start with the deserts. I also saw something interesting, the DJ was actually using an I-pod to play prerecorded music. What ever happened to discs? Not records mind you, but CDs! I have seen some DJs use computers before but never an I-Pod.
Photo of the desert table at Nick and Renee's wedding
iPod DJ at the wedding

Saturday, I actually took some time off to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary with my wife. I can’t believe it has been 9 years with this wonderful woman. In those 9 years, there have been several trips to Walt Disney World, 2 dogs, 3 kids and so much more! If not for her, I would not have been able to open the studio.

To celebrate our anniversary, we ate dinner at Weber’s. A couple of years ago I photographed a wedding at Weber’s in downtown Chicago. The food was great and I’ve always wanted to go back. About a year or so ago, they opened one here in Schaumburg. However, we’ve never had the opportunity to go. For our anniversary, my in-laws came and babysat our three kids so Sheryl and I could go out for dinner. It was nice to be able to eat and talk without the constant interruption from one of the three kids. All too soon the evening was over and time to go back home.

Sunday found me back at Starved Rock for another wedding. This time it was for Lauren and Joel’s wedding. These folks are such great people and so in love. Every time I met with them, you could see the love they have for each other. Believe it or not, this was my first opportunity to photograph a Jewish wedding. The bride and groom do see each other before the ceremony. I did want to provide them the opportunity for a “first look” and get the expression on Joel’s face when he saw his bride for the first time.

Following the advice provided by Cliff Mautner at our photographer’s workshop, I had Lauren stand by herself for a few minutes. Then I had Joel come to meet us. Anticipation! You can tell just from looking at the photos of Lauren that she can’t wait to see Joel. I was able to capture his expression as he rounded the corner and saw Lauren for the first time on their wedding day. Mission accomplished.

Laureen anxiously awaiting a wedding day first look at Joel.
Joel walking to meet Laureen at Starved Rock Lodge.

A little bit later, I was taking Joel’s photos when this butterfly decided to spend some time with Joel. No matter what we did, the butterfly just would not leave Joel alone. It was hyterical.

Photo of an unexpected wedding guest at Laureen and Joel's Starved Rock Wedding

Lauren and Joel’s ceremony was in the Great Hall at Starved Rock. I have never seen this place look any better. Everybody did a fabulous job decorating the place. There were so many little details that when they all came together – WOW.

Starved Rock lodge setup for a Jewish Wedding

At the reception, Joel’s thirteen year old daughter, Robin, sang “At Last” during the first dance. She sang so well that I expect to hear her on the radio or on Broadway someday. Well what is a Jewish wedding without the Hora? This was Robin’s first time being put in one of the chairs. You can see the fear on her face as she is first lifted into the air. As she feels more comfortable, her expression changes to one of excitement.
Starved Rock room first dance reception photograph
Photograph of an expected moment during the Hora.
The Hora Photo during a Jewish wedding reception at Starved Rock Lodge

Finally, it was time for Lauren’s dad’s speech. I guess he is known in the family for his speeches and everybody was waiting for the toast. Well the “confluence of influences” was quite a hit. It had everybody laughing. Some folks were laughing so hard they were crying. You just had to be there. Unfortunately, the evening came to an end about two hours before I think it should have. A great time was had by all.

Laureen and Joel's Jewish Wedding Reception at Starved Rock lodge.

Laura and Matt’s Wedding at Starved Rock

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What an incredible wedding! Last Friday, I had the honor of photographing Laura and Matt’s wedding which was held at Starved Rock. Instead of using the Great Hall like many other couples do, they decided to have their ceremony at Council Rock. I’ve been to many outdoor weddings but this wedding was actually in the middle of the state park and away from everyday modern distractions. Laura and Matt met in the Peace Corps and like nature. Their wedding reflected this. Something about being in the middle of nature made the wedding special.

In a strange juxtaposition, I am currently reading “The Shelters of Stone” by Jean M. Auel which set in prehistoric era. In the book, Jondalar and Ayla have returned to Jondalar’s home which is described as being part cave and part rock overhang. I could easily imagine prehistoric cavemen once living at council rock. Ayla and Jondalar “tie the knot” on a promontory overlooking the rest of the tribe. This was much the way Laura and Matt did too!

Laura looking a her wedding cake at Starved Rock Lodge
Laura getting a sneak peek at the cake.

Laura and Matt during their wedding ceremony at Council Rock in Starved Rock State Park
Matt and Laura on the promitory overlooking the cavern during the ceremony

Photo of all the wedding guests at a Starved Rock Wedding
Everybody who attended the ceremony could fit under the overhang with plenty of room to spare!

Laura and Matt's wedding portrait taken at Starved Rock State Park
Another Wedding Photo taken at Starved Rock State Park
A quiet wedding moment on the trail at Starved Rock State Park
I’m not sure why, but the feelings of love between Matt and Laura were amplified out in the forest. It just seemed like I was intruding on something special between the two of them.
A Starved Rock Sunset wedding portrait
A beautiful sunset capped off a great day!

August 2006: Catching Up

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Wow,

I can’t believe that Michah is almost 4 weeks old already. Where does the time go? Somehow, I look back and realized I’ve fallen behind with all of my work. There is so much stacked up that I will just have to start digging and then one day I hope to be all caught up.

The day after Michah was born, I was scheduled to photograph Arianna and Tony’s wedding. Arianna is a big Cinderella fan. So much so that her entire wedding was themed, Cinderella. The couple got married in a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church near downtown Chicago. There was so much to photograph. While I did visit with my family before the wedding, I owe a big thank you to Kelly Moore for giving me an after break for a second visit.

Photo of Bridesmaids flowers at a Chicago Wedding
Arianna and Tony's Chicago Greek Orthodox Wedding
Arianna and Tony's Chicago Greek Orthodox Wedding Ceremony
Arianna and Tony's Wedding Photo

I did have a weekend off but there was still no time to get anything done. My family was in from Syracuse and Sheryl’s family was in from Milwaukee to see the baby and celebrate Meghan’s 6th birthday. Hard to believe she is 6 and going into the first grade. After my week off, it was time to celebrate with Courtney and Jim. Their wedding ceremony was held at the Naperville Settlement Church. The reception was at Mill Creek Golf Club. It was a long drive from the church to the reception. The golf club made the mistake of letting the groomsmen drive the golf carts to the photo locations. Here are some photos from Courtney and Jim’s wedding.

Wedding bands
Courtney and Jim's Naperville Settlement Church Wedding Photograph
Photo from Courtney and Jim's Naperville Settlement Church Wedding
Photograph of Courney and Jim outside the Naperville Setllement Church after their wedding
Courtney and Jim's Bridal party photos taken at Mill Creek Golf Course

The week after Courtney and Jim’s wedding, I attended a 4 day Digital Wedding Forum (DWF) Photographers’ workshop. Since it just so happened to be in Arlington Heights, I decided it was well worth the time and effort to attend. There were 4 different days with 4 different photographers. The first day was taught by Jeff and Julia Woods. In addition to talking about balancing our lives (Julia said “balanced” 38 times in 6 hours) they showed us how they photograph an engagement session. Then we got to try it ourselves with some models.

The next day, Cliff Mautner taught us about marketing and how to use difficult lighting conditions to our advantage. Once again, he showed us what he does then let us try it ourselves. The last two days were taught by Becker, workflow and Laura Novak, business strategy. It was an exciting 4 days with information overload. I wish I could have joined the group for the evening events but family responsibilities called.

Last weekend was a little busy as I photographed my first Indian wedding as a lead photographer. It was a major change from the weddings which I typically photograph. All of the women were wearing saris of various colors. It was actually quite colorful. The flowers which Alina selected were also quite beautiful. All in all it was a fantastic day. With over 500 guests, the wedding really kept me going.

Chicago Area Traditional Area Wedding Party Photo
Neat photo of a wedding unity candle
Flowers from a Chicago area traditional Indian wedding ceremony
A photo of the bride during a Traditional Indian Wedding Ceremony

Finally we have Amanda and Joe’s engagement session. There is a nice hidden park at 115th and Harlem just beside the Cal Sag waterway. We were there just before sundown for this session. I really used the new skills and techniques I learned at my DWF photographer’s workshop just the week before. Amanda and Joe were a lot of fun to work with and I think this is one of my best sessions ever.

Amanda and Joe's engagement photo
Amanda and Joes engagement photo
Engagment Photo of Amanda and Joe

Tuesday was Meghan’s last day of summer vacation. We took the family to the Brookfield Zoo. As there are e-mails to read and reply to, albums to design and other work to get to, you will just have to wait a couple of days to see the photos from Michah’s first outing to the zoo.