Spring and New Life!

Over the weekend, I felt inspired to get outside and capture some of the beauty that is emerging all around, bit by bit each day. I think these are some of my favorite weeks of the year (next a couple gorgeous weeks in fall) when life is peeping out of its hibernation, eager to rejuvenate our thawing bodies.

On the topic of new life, I know many women around me are expecting this spring and summer. Let me know if you're interested in new born pictures for your birth announcements, or some precious 3 month old shots when your baby begins to smile! I'm very eager to expand this portion of my offered services, and feel that you'll enjoy doing the portrait sessions in the comfort of your own home.

Enjoy!

Lunar Eclipse

I don't claim to know much about night photography, but it has always interested in me. When I was younger I'd enlist my siblings in my projects by having them dance around with sparklers and flashlights, while I took a long exposure with a tripod. I think I got a few good shots that were exposed correctly, then but they're now buried in boxes of stray photos and archived 35mm negatives. Several weeks back we had a lunar eclipse, which inspired another tripod adventure. Enjoy!

Just an FYI, you can click on each photo to view its full size.
































The above two photographs were exposed for about 2-4 seconds, with the aperture wide open and using a tripod.























In this photograph I did not use a tripod, so you can see the movement my hand made as I tried to hold the camera steady. (The squigglys are stars!)

Hot Beans in Love

In February, I did a little photo shoot for the below pictured comedians for their upcoming "comedy cabaret" event in Chicago. Benji and Frankie Beans are the two characters who's honeymoon was nothing short of corny and ridiculous. It's a different pace from most of my wedding and engagement shoots, but undoubtedly a fun one! I thought you might enjoy a few..

For more information about this event visit their Blog or MySpace site!

Which came first?

These two photos were taking exactly one week apart, from our scenic back porch. The problem with Chicago weather is, you can't quite be sure which came first. In this case, the above photo was taken last Friday, while the below photo was taken tonight. Happy Spring everybody.

Brian and Kate

Brian and Kate were married in Australia last September, but celebrated with friends and family last Saturday night in a beautiful barn in Ann Arbor, MI.































Kate and Brian display their secret handshake which involves a thumb war.















I think the question was "who's the bigger trouble maker?"















The honored parents of the groom.































Some of my devoted blog readers. :)






















I think they're calling this the "prego dance".















Classic moment.






















Brian's family is Polish, so on top of having some delicious pierogis, we enjoyed watching a few enthusiastic polka dancers.