RETRO ALERT: September 1st Flashback – David & Nancy

Every now and then I’m going to post some material which pre-dates the Blog’s creation, and I think this should be a fantastic choice for the winter blahs n’ blues. Coincidentally it was the hottest wedding of the year by a long shot, pushing 94˚: The stunning but un-airconditioned Bond Chapel, the un-airconditioned Chicago Trolley, and 2 hours of fun around town!  This also was the first ever Thursday wedding for me after almost 200, which was weaved into the extra long Labor Day Holiday weekend.

So, without further adieu I bring to you the glamorous Nancy & David!

 

Bob & Jamie Rooftop Wedding in Little Italy . . . (from 9/24/11)

What can you say?  A picture perfect sunset wedding on the rooftop of the Grand Piazza on Taylor St.

Very happy, young and energetic bridal party, lot’s of great Loop locations and some pretty damn good food and atmosphere.

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WWII Restoration Work

It isn’t Normandy, Midway or Foix – but this was a small company of the Army Corps of Engineers which was as equally important to the Allied victory as any other fighting force.

These images were commissioned to me for restoration by the family of Bill Zakrzewski, featured in most of these pictures, which were destined to degrade, stored away in the conditions they were in. Thankfully these were made better than the originals and will now be preserved forever!  Bill, thank you for your sacrifice…

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Scott & Joyce – warm heart, frigid day.

A nice healthy dose of hit-n-run Loop style in the winter! Park, shoot, get back to warm up, go to the next place. The next place was generally unknown to us until we got there. Avoiding the hot spots you may want to hit on your wedding day can be a challenge for an engagement shoot…so you have to get off the beaten path a bit. But no better way to gel a chemistry than a couple hours of running through alleys, scaling the urban jungle and dodging speeding taxis through the greatest city on earth.

 

Lucky Spring Day in October! (after apocalyptic winds and cold rain)

Just a quick pick-me-up favor for a colleague who had other obligations today, Friday.  After some of the most depressing roof-tearing, cold, nasty, rainy winds for 3 days, the ugly front has moved on eastward to unveil a surprisingly sunny, warm and serene day!  To Haeley & Steve, a very luck strike indeed.

 

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A New Way of Proofing!!! – Dave and Lisa Rock the Montefiori of Lemont! (literally…)

This is the first prototype of the newer method of proofing weddings. This allows for almost instant results, with a boatload of mastered favorites bundled into the WordPress blog gallery.  It’s fun for the wedding party and family, eliminates wait-time and allows for a huge quantity, not editing the files down to under 1000.  Lisa will get her Jpeg folder via a download right where she works this Tuesday afternoon, less than 72 hours after her gorgeous wedding! (would’ve been 48 but the Cardinals pennant clincher got the best of me Sunday night…)

For the blog here itself, I’ve chosen 55 of my favorites to ‘Remaster’ (a word I’m a big fan of, which will definitely punctuate the hard work put into any shot used for the end-game of reprints, albums etc), some of which were fun, some which were more challenging and some which offered the opportunity to show off a little bit of artistry and post-production glory.

At any rate, this was a really great family and bridal party that welcomed me into the family for the day and I had a lot of fun with all of you..THANK YOU!

For the record, this started off at Lisa’s P’s in Palos (or very Orlandlike…inside joke) in a very nicely lit raised ranch; the church was hers growing up and then off to Montefiori in Lemont, a hidden gem with all kinds of hidden gems and sets throughout the expansive grounds. The perma-tent was elegant, the staff gracious and the food not too bad!

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Cantigny!

Nicky & Matt’s gorgeous outdoor wedding on the grounds of Cantigny park. Perfect weather & temp, lot’s of fall colors too!

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Rare early AM shoot in the Mich. Av. Bridge district!

It was an extremely early start with a fairly early finale, but I can’t say I’ve made it to the heartbeat of Chicago as early as this 8am run before the ceremony. And when the bridge is up no less!!

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Loop E-Session! Anita & Michael….

Autumn was officially here in this Mid-September engagement shoot downtown, and couldn’t have been a crisper day! Nothing like getting a jump on their pre-wedding marketing material, the wedding isn’t until next August!

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Just some cool morning sun dress & details shots!

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Something I’m working on from last week I thought I’d post up early….This hotel (Belden-Stratford) had pretty damn good natural light bathing the Bridal suite for the 1st hour before the dress went on.