G Family Sneak Peek

Oh how I have got to start using this blog again!  It's been way too long. I thinking it would be good to get things going with a sneak peek on my most recent family shoot. We had a beautiful day last Saturday when we met at the Arboretum.  I've known this family for a couple of years now, as our kids attend school together. I was thrilled when the mom asked me to do a family photo shoot.  Everyone had fun and I think we got some great shots.  Here's a quick peek into their session.

They were ready to go, right from the start.

I love the love in this image.  They were so willing to do what I asked!

What a little man.  He didn't have a lot of patience for multiple shots.  Most of the time when I took a photo, he'd say, "Are you done?"  Most of the time, I would respond with "Noooo."  It made me laugh!

Such a gorgeous girl!

A very happy family!

I hope you enjoy the images so far. Thank you for the opportunity to capture your family!

My Warrior!

Last weekend, Kevin embarked upon this insane race called The Warrior Dash.  Almost 19,000 people competed in it between Saturday and Sunday with waves of 500 people going off every half hour on both days.   What an event this was to behold.  The race is a 5K interspersed with multiple obstacles such a jumping over fire, climbing a straight up wall with just a rope and footholds, working your way through smashed up cars and tires and ending in a lovely swim through the mud.  My hubby did an amazing job, finishing in 26 minutes and coming in 9th for his age group.  He finished 158th out of the 8797 people who competed that day and somewhere around 350th of the 19,000 total competitors.  As insane as this all sounds, I'm tempted to do it next year myself, as long as I don't have to run full out the entire time.  Here's a sneak peek into the events of the day.  (I could only see the final few obstacles but they were some of the best ones.)

Warrior - Ready for Battle!

Two Male Warriors!

The cutest little warriors I have ever seen! (probably the friendliest too!)

The amount of people that do this thing is mind boggling!

To me, this looked like a war zone, but fun. And with great music!

In the starting gate.

 

We were happily surprised to find that Kevin's mom and her husband had come to cheer him on!

Daddy's biggest supporters

There was some serious heat coming out of those fire blasts!

Coming into the final stretch of obstacles

Rope wall climb

Jumping the fire. This one made Maggie really, really nervous.

Sliding into the mud. And yes, he slid. No avoiding it.

The final swim to the finish line.

Can you see how exhausted he is?

FINISHED!!!!

Failed attempts to get kisses post race. NO WAY Daddy!!!

Mom got a huge hug!!!  She was such a good sport!

My rocking' warrior!

Perhaps I'll join him next time....

S Family Sneak Peek

What a fun shoot this was! As soon as the kids climbed out of the car, they were happy, laughing and joking with one another. The energy was high and I knew right away this would be a great session!  It took place at Mayslake in Oak Brook, a spot I had not been to before.  I had not shot here before and I was glad to be introduced to this property by their Dad.  My job was made very easy by the fact that the kids immediately showed me the closeness between them! Such great interaction between all three kids.  Here are a few images for the Sneak Peek.  

Such beautiful siblings! And, I loved how the water looks like a watercolor painting in the background.

Trekking to a bridge I wanted to shoot at. It made for a pretty journey through this field!

One of my favorite shots!  This was on a little hidden path.

We all had quite a fun time near the willow trees!

Thank you for asking me to be your photographer. It was a joy to meet all of you.  I loved seeing the wonderful relationship between all three kids.  Hope you enjoy the images!

Oh how I love Mother's Day!

Each year that passes, I grow to love Mother's Day more and more.  Being a mom just keeps getting better and better. And, I get more spoiled each year. I love having one day where I don't have any obligations, I don't have to make breakfast, clean up the kitchen, make dinner or honestly, really make any decisions about anything.

This morning my husband woke up, told me to go back to bed and not come downstairs.  (yay!)  I drifted off again and woke up around 8. I didn't hear much but I did start to smell pancakes.  (yay!)  I grabbed a new library book and started reading.  (seriously, a luxurious morning).  Not long after that, my little guy came upstairs, said, "Hi Mom, " dropped this on the bed and headed back downstairs. It made me laugh.

I went back to reading and shortly thereafter, the pancake smell got stronger.  A wonderful thing happened when my whole family appeared carrying this fabulous gift.

Breakfast in bed!  How fun!  The kids stayed with me for awhile and I shared my fruit and a few bites of the pancakes. Eventually, they headed downstairs to eat their own breakfast and came back upstairs again with all kind of wonderful goodies.

Am I lucky or what?!

Once all the morning hoopla was over, the kids and Kevin headed to see his mom and I got a few extra hours to myself.  I read some more, edited and posted photos and got ready to see Salt Creek Ballet's spring performance of Sleeping Beauty (Aurora's wedding) and other repertoire. My mom joined us for the show.  What a fantastic performance!  The dancers did an amazing job.

The day wrapped up with dinner at Maggiano's with my mom. We stuffed ourselves silly and then did a quick little photo session before we hopped into our cars to head home.  All in all I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

Me and my fabulous mom!!!!

Wishing all the other moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day! You deserve every single minute of it.   

Buddies

Earlier last month, I got an email from a former colleague and friend of mine.  He and his wife had an anniversary coming up and he wanted to surprise her with photos of him and their furry baby, Winston.  I thought that sounded like a lot of fun and we set a date.

Winston is an adorable pug dog.  While I am terribly allergic to dogs and can't ever have one of my own, I must admit that pugs are one of my favorite types of dogs.  Getting Winston to do what we wanted him to was challenging but made us laugh. Dave was prepared with treats of string cheese to use as bribes.  He also armed me with the names of Winston's other dog friends who he plays with at the park. When I'd ask, "Where's Lulu?", he would cock his head to the side, look right at me and perk up his ears.  (see the second image below).  It worked like a charm and completely cracked me up!

In the end, we got some fun shots. I was even happier that it gave me a chance to see my friend who I hadn't seen in quite a few years!  Enjoy the images.

Wishing Dave & Jeanette a very Happy Anniversary and many more years of love and happiness!

(Winston too!)

A Perfect Pairing

As many of you know, I don't profess to be a wedding photographer. I have been asked on several occasions to photograph a wedding and I have always turned them down. When Margaret called to ask me to be her wedding photographer, I have to admit it would have been hard to say no. She was a former dance student of mine (in my former life when I was a professional dancer and jazz teacher) plus, I just adore her. Originally, this was going to be an 8 person wedding with lunch.  That sounded doable.  By the time all was said and done, it was a 50 person wedding being held at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.  So, i rolled with it and jumped in with both feet.

I was nervous and excited all at the same time.  This was a wedding with a lot of people and an official schedule and was bigger than anything I had photographed before.  So, I took a deep breath and off we went! I'm truly happy with how these images turned out and the moments of the day that we captured.  I give so much credit to everyone who was involved in the outdoor photos - especially the bride - as it was 30 degrees and oh so cold outside. Such a trooper she was!  You never would have known how cold it was outside.

Please enjoy the images that show some of my favorite moments throughout the day.  I wish all the best to this absolutely adorable couple who I couldn't be happier for! Thank you for trusting me with this truly special day.

What a day!  A perfect start to a lifetime of love, happiness and lots and lots of laughter!

Congratulations!