Metropolitan Imageworks

Ariel spent a balmy August afternoon with the Souvenir family taking portraits. She captured large group, small groups, the ladies, the guys, the children, the grandkids and of course the folks who are responsible for this lovely bunch!

Despite the heat and humidity the entire family listened to direction very well and told Ariel that they had a lot of fun during the session.

Who says family portraits need to be boring?!

I love weddings. I love the visual appeal, the people, the emotions, the details, the sounds, the tears, the hugs and the laughter.  I love weddings because everyone is on their best behavior, wearing smiles, generally wearing their best clothes and they smell good!

Jenny and Isaac’s day just reaffirms the reasons I love weddings! Not only did they smell good but the warmth and love that emanated from all their family and friends just filled the farm with such a great aura. Each member of the large wedding party holds a special place in the hearts of Jenny and Isaac and you could just sense the closeness of their bonds while observing the interactions.

The location lent to the free-spirited flow of the day from the entrance of the grandmas on the horse and carriage, to a mostly barefoot bride, to sibling officiants, to horses joining in the formal pictures, to fresh Alaskan salmon caught by a cousin and cooked by an uncle, to heartfelt speeches, to a variety of pies and of course a jam-packed, rockin’ n’ rollin’ dance floor!

Ceremony & Reception: Huntington Farms, Viroqua, WI

Diane brought her two vibrant daughters out to a park along the river for some family photos and we definitely had fun running through the raindrops, posing, jumping, spinning and cracking jokes. I also learned not all little girls like to climb up and pose on a 5 foot tall fence, I will not try that again because all their focus is on balancing and none on smiling! These girls have some of the brightest smiles I have ever had the pleasure of photographing!

Shooting in light rain is ok because sometimes you are rewarded at the end of the session!

Meet my newest little buddy, Boden.  I met up with his family for portraits at Confluence Park in Denver, Colorado.  Boden’s birthday is soon approaching, he will be a whole year old, and Mom & Dad thought portraits were in store to mark this exciting milestone.  We timed it perfectly before the usual late afternoon shower in Denver and had a good time exploring the park and getting Boden to show his true personality.  Seriously he only cried for a minute when he first met me and I don’t take it personally – my camera is scary!

Practicing walking!

Elizabeth spent some time with little Miss Luca Jane a couple weeks ago. Here’s Elizabeth’s take on the session.

Luca was born December 29, so she’s 19 months. She says quite a lot of words; I think she said the word ‘fly’ for the first time during the photo shoot. She calls all kids Avery, after a friend of hers. She laughs when others laugh. She has an array of faces including duck face, “geek face,” mad face, and ‘o’ face. It’s hilarious and I captured it all. She’s getting her canines, so she was teething quite a bit and putting her fingers in her mouth, but Mom administered Ibuprofen an hour before the shoot and it kicked in after a little while. Luca wore a barrette for the first time today and she even left it in for a few pictures!

Lani and Michael’s first wedding ceremony and celebration was in Washington D.C. in May – here’s a reminder.

Part Duex took place in Chicago the last weekend of July. Saturday’s celebration at Opera was a kickoff to the weekend of events and friends and family came together to mingle, toast, nibble and dance with the wedding couple. Starting off a wedding weekend with a cocktail reception is a fantastic idea, as it gives everyone a time to relax and enjoy themselves and any venue that allows for another chance to dance gets high ratings in my book!

On Sunday, everyone regrouped at Temple Sholom for a lovely, traditional ceremony. Michael’s family has a rich history with Temple Sholom and it seemed very fitting that this is where Lani and Michael should have the final element of their wedding, led by a rabbi who has known Michael since his teenage years.

In the months leading up to the weekend’s ceremony and celebrations, Lani and Michael spent many hours planning the dessert reception to follow the ceremony. The goal was cake and punch x 1,000! From three types of sparkling beverages – Perrier, Champagne and Sparkling Cider – to cake, cookies, cupcakes, flavored popcorn, licorice, mounds of strawberries, brownies (with mint frosting and my personal favorite), chocolate covered pretzels and candy-coated almonds they really their achieved goal.

It was indeed a sweet celebration!

Wedding Coordinator: Beth Bernstein, SQN Events, Chicago, IL

Cocktail Reception: Opera, Chicago, IL

Ceremony: Temple Sholom, Chicago, IL

Florist: Dilly Lily, Chicago, IL

Cake, Cupcakes, Cookies: Sensational Bites, Chicago, IL

Candy and popcorn: Illinois Nut, Skokie, IL

Talk about fitting it  all in!  I was up in Madison for an engagement session and also scheduled Sasha’s 2-year portraits, some family portraits, another maternity shoot with Sasha’s parents, and some time with Sasha’s grandparents too! Whew! Kind of like a marathon portrait session!

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Jayme and Rob are getting married in Madison, WI next May and Jayme learned of me from a few different people, one a former bride and the other a former groomsman from a completely different wedding in a completely different geographic location. I love it when that happens!  I met up with Jayme and Rob one Sunday in July and we tooled around Madison taking pictures, dancing and talking about their wedding day.  The moody clouds kept a close cover, which is a photographer’s dream because it acts like one giant diffuser, and fortunately the rain stayed away the entire time we were outside.  Thanks for a wonderful afternoon and see you guys in the Spring!

I spent an early morning on the lakefront with two of my favorite siblings, Ezra & Zora, for their 18-month portrait session.  Grandma R joined us again as well as aunt P. We got to do some family groupings as well as individuals of Ezra and Zora. These two are still keeping me on my toes and I love every second of it!  I’m adding some more tricks to my bag for their two-year session this winter because I am sure by then their favorite word will be, “No!”

Love and baseball, that’s all you really need.

Imagine a beautiful summer day complete with blue skies, fluffy white clouds and temps in the 90′s.  Perfect weather for a game at Big Ball Park in Riverside. Add in a big, white tent that provides the right amount of shade and you have the perfect location for a wedding!  Jenny and Lee chose Big Ball Park for their wedding ceremony location for a number of reasons, most important being that Jenny spent many years there playing ball with her dad as coach. For sure he was there in spirit that day.

After a touching ceremony the festivities moved to Montefiori in Lemont complete with cocktails, live music, lawn games and the stunning landscape as a backdrop. Jenny and Lee added baseball touches throughout the day – guests used their “tickets” to find their tables, signed a baseball jersey with the couple’s last name embroidered on it, little baseball hats adorned each place setting and all of the paper items were baseball themed as well.   Reminding all of us that Love and Baseball is what makes the world go ’round.

(And this Cub’s fan has no problem shooting Sox fan weddings.)

Ceremony Location: Big Ball Park, Riverside, IL

Reception Location: Montefiori, Lemont, IL

Florist: Phillips Flowers, Chicago

Band: Deja Vu, Chicago

Videography: Metropolitan Filmworks, Nationwide