Virginia is for Lovers

About a month ago I had the privilege of being able to shoot my first wedding as an assistant photographer with Wendy of Wendylew Photography. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the year, but it’s amazing how instinct just takes over and you are so in the moment that you just do without thinking. Besides it was too hot to be nervous! Jon & Elisa’s wedding was held outdoors at the beautiful Tarara Winery in Leesburg on a sunny summer day complete with Virginia’s trademark humidity. However, the heat and humidity couldn’t take anything away from this event. Every last detail was perfect and inviting and in most cases hand created by the bride, Elisa. Guests were drawn in by the brightly colored handmade table linens and mismatched plates, with mason jars as glasses and macaroni and cheese on the menu it was a vintage eclectic meets southern hospitality.

The tent softly lit by glowing lanterns was full of so much love, happiness and genuine affection it was impossible not to be affected by it.  The camaraderie between relatives, friends and strangers alike was incredible – it was clear that everyone was beyond thrilled to be at this winery on this night celebrating these two people.

And the bride and groom? They couldn’t take their eyes off of each other all night.

I feel truly honored to been able to be a part of this amazing couple’s special day and to have contributed something concrete that will help them to look back and remember the day that all of their friends and family came together to celebrate their love for each other. I think I worked harder on this day than I ever have in my life, but the payoff was worth it, emotionally and creatively. I’m truly grateful for this experience and the opportunity I had to observe, to learn and to take gorgeous photographs. Wendy was amazing in giving me tips and feedback as went along and I feel so much more confident after only one wedding. I have another one coming up this weekend, and while I’m nervous, nervousness is definitely overshadowed by excitement. I’m also looking forward to correcting the one major mistake I made last time; whatever you do don’t wear a lined skirt!

13.1

On Sunday, I participated in and completed my first half marathon, the Rock and Rock Half Marathon in Chicago! I ran on behalf of PAWS Chicago and raised $670 towards their efforts to make Chicago a no kill city. They are a great organization and I just wish I could take all the dogs’ home with me whenever I visit there.

I’ve always loved running, but I honestly never thought I could complete a half and now that I have I think I am officially addicted to races and am seriously considering running a full. It was an amazing physical accomplishment, two days later and I’m still feeling strong, like an ancient warrior or something. My goal was to run the entire distance and I did, I finished in 2h15, 5 min slower than my goal time, but 5 min faster than I thought I would actually finish in! The race itself is almost a blur now in my memory; I remember the cheering and trying to take in my surroundings. My playlist was perfect, Mr. Blue Sky was number 3 on the list and got me into a great rhythm, beyond the fact that it started just as I was emerging from beneath an underpass and just as I heard the lyric, “The sun is shining in the sky…” the sun literally flared in my vision! My favorite sign on the track was, “You are all really good at exercise.” Eye of the Tiger came on just when I needed a boost the most, the surroundings were parking lots and vacant lots, a dreary long stretch, people were starting to slow or walk which made me want to as well. And that I think is my true achievement of the day, I was able to run the distance because I trained for it, but I was able to keep going because I kept strong mentally. Anytime I was feeling tired or wanted to walk I pushed myself forward, I think most of the race is a blur because I was really in my head, telling myself to stay comfortable, pace yourself, if you walk now it’s an hour left versus thirty minutes and how long do you really want to be out here. I’d tell myself “If you make it to mile ten, you can walk 1 min” But I’d get there and say “Well, now it’s just three miles left, you can run that” It was quite the dialogue I had going with myself. It felt good to push myself to do exactly what I knew I was capable of, it felt hard, but it felt doable. It felt so good to race down the final chute, concentrating on passing people one by one and then throwing my hands up to cross the finish line at 13.1 miles!

It felt great, but sad too – I signed up for this race almost six months ago and have had an incredible amount of support from friends and family along the way. I’ve been training since May and because of my training schedule I did runs in Seattle, Alaska, Canada, Texas and Virginia and saw each place from an entirely different prospective – as a runner.

Next up – a 12K Trail run in Palatine, IL Sat Aug 7th – and yes, I am crazy!  But I'm loving the bling, the t-shirts and the glory that come with racing!

Fruit Train

I have not really posted in awhile, I have been insanely busy, so busy that I feel like I'm missing the summer!  It's been amazing though, I've spent time with friends both old and new, traveled, had the opportunity to be a second shooter for the first time, trained for my first Half Marathon which I will complete this Sunday, and topping it all off I'm getting over a summer cold that my body decided was just the thing to slow my over scheduled self down.

So here's a little filler post about what might be one of the greatest stores ever, Daiso in Seattle.  It's basically a Dollar General Japanese style and it is fantastic!  An absolute treasure trove of some of the weirdest "I must own this right now and have it in my life" items ever, including the mat pictured above, a deterrent I assume for cats on the counter.  I am just enamored with the name and that picture of the poor little teary kitten, it's just so straightforward! 

My mom got really annoyed with my husband and I because we could not stop laughing at the notebooks they had for sale with little sayings on the front, something definitely is lost in translation.  If you are ever in Seattle you have to check this place out, you will not be sorry you did, and now I leave with this inspirational poem that graces the cover of my new idea notebook:

Fruit Train

Welcome to the country of the fruit

What do you see in the fruit?

It is a train that carries your dream

I truly hope you all have a train of fruit of your own that carries your dreams! :)

Flutterby

I have never seen a butterfly like this up close before, there were so many of them!  The secret is to plant Zinnias.  Someday I will have a garden of my own, I will plant zinnias, they will not die, and the butterflies will come!

Vive Le France!

I'm back baby!  After rest, lots of icing and some cross training I was able to get back into my training schedule and run the Bastille Day 5K as planned.  They moved the location from Greektown to Lincoln Park and it was a great course along the lakefront with some wonderful cooling rain for good measure. 

I always forget how much I love races until I'm at one, there is just such a feeling of excitement and anticipation, like, "Let's do this bitches, yeah!"  This year I was able to drag a friend along for the ride and induct her into the wonderful world of racing, and she liked it, didn't end up hating me and cursing my name.  Because it really is a great feeling,  running in a group of like minded individuals and really pushing yourself to see what you can do.  And there's bagels at the end.  Nothing tastes better than those bagels at the end of a race, unless it's the beer!  I went out intending to beat my time from last year and I was quite proud of myself -- I ran it in 27:41, knocking a full 1:11 seconds off last years time and I finished 812, which meant I was faster than 1,200 other people, which is pretty fricken cool :)

My half marathon is only 31/2 weeks away, but I'm ready, bring on the bagels!

.... And the Beer!

                                                          

Mr & Mrs Place!

                       

William and Katie met at The Library.  No, not the quiet building filled with books and well behaved people studying and learning, but a bar in downtown Ft Worth where Katie was enjoying a girls night out being generally charming and Will was after a cross country flight being generally drunk and obnoxious.

Boy approaches girl with pilot swagger and the now infamous pick up line, "I'm an apprentice of awesomeness".  Girl encourages boy by taking his number so he'll hang around and thus continue to entertain the girls who I don't think were laughing with him.  Boy insists he'll call the next day, at 5pm.  Girl tells Mom who scoffs that he'll actually call and a bet is made.  Boy does call, Mom loses bet and Girl agrees to coffee.  And the rest is history!

On Sunday June 27th Katie and Will tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony at The White Chapel in Hurst, TX.  It was a beautiful day in a gorgeous location decorated to the nines, but I don't think the bride and groom had eyes for anything but each other. 

It was an amazing wedding filled with cake, champagne, dancing, car decorating and a group of drunk military men reenacting the serenade scene from Top gun.

Congratulations to the happy couple, I am so glad I got to be a part of their special day, thrilled for my baby brother and grateful to have such a wonderful new sister in law who is the perfect match for him!

Sidelined

I recently got back into running after being away from it for almost twelve years, partly because I started to have all sorts of issues with my feet and knees.  When it comes to running, as much as I love it, I'm a mess!  I have plantar fascitis, flat feet, bad knees, but I love running and so I'm sticking with it.  I have been training for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon Aug 1st and am only 4 weeks out now and I'm starting to get worried.  On my 7 mile long run (longest distance ever for me!) 12 days ago I ended feeling amazing, physically and mentally!  After an hour though I couldn't walk and was laid up with immense pain the rest of the weekend.  After a week of rest, icing, and ibuprofen I ran an easy three miler with my brother (Hi Joe!) and ended up with the pain again!

I feel like the goldilocks of running shoes -- I had too little support and then too much.  I'm hoping my new shoes are just enough and will get me through the rest of this training and my goal of completing my first half marathon.  No matter what though, even if I have to walk, I'm going to finish it.  For the puppehs and kittehs!

PAWS Fundraising Page

The Hangover

I had the great opportunity to take a Detachable Flash class with Shane Morgan, a very successful commercial photographer in Chicago and just a great source of knowledge for things photographical and technological. In fact, I have him to blame for my new Mac Book Pro, but what a great decision that was!  I am a PC no more, I had no idea is was possible to feel anything but frustration and anger toward a computer.  I am a total Mac fangirl now, once you go Mac you never go back!  I am so glad I attended this class, despite my Saturday hangover, nothing a Starbucks breakfast sandwich and gallons of water couldn't fix!

The basis of the class was using the flash off camera by setting it up on a stand with an umbrella to bounce the light back evenly onto the subject from the side, rather than harshly straight on.  Brilliant, I am in love with this concept, especially since it involves the use of pocket wizards.  Pocket Wizards are this nifty lil device that you attach to the camera and the light and the "talk" to each other.  You click the shutter with the pocket wizard on your camera and the light goes off at the same time, so so cool.  Me likey, me wanty. 

I really felt like I learned so much in this class, not only about using a flash and all that comes with that, but about the business side as well.  I find it all fascinating and am eating it all up as I slowly ease myself into this and work on getting myself to a real jumping off point.  It felt fantastic to be able to ask questions and get answers, so often it seems that other photographers don't really want to give up their "secrets".  But come on, I am not a threat to this man's livelihood and I'm glad to have gotten a chance to pick the brain of someone with so much experience.

The culmination of the weekend was putting into practice everything that we'd learned.  We each chose a spot in the building and set up our own photo shoot.  There is an incredible rush at coming up with a concept, setting up the lighting and have it all turn out exactly as you'd pictured it in your head, it's an amazing feeling of "I did that!"  My location was the creepy old soda machine on the fourth floor, I used blue gel over the flash to make the light cooler (temperature wise and style wise) and had an amazing model (Thank you Alaina!).  I chose a lower perspective to get the dingy wood floor and the ladders in the background in for some interesting texture.  I was going for a rough night feel, a little edgy, a little gritty and slightly paparazzi-ish.  Lindsay Lohan, you are an inspiration to us all!  And voila, the results!

Untamed Wilderness

It has been forever since I've posted anything and this one won't be too long.  We just got back from an Alaskan Cruise that truly was the trip of a lifetime!  The weather was perfect and we got some far off glimpses of bald eagles and whales and some close up glimpses of Alaskan Huskie pups. 

I have never seen such amazing scenery, it didn't look real, it was truly another world.  I had a great time with my family and have great memories standing on my parents balcony tossing lenses back and forth with my sister taking photo after photo.  I can't wait to go back someday!

Industrial Revolution

I am very into the "beauty in unexpected places" aspect of photography.  Particularly when it comes to rusty metal, interesting hardware, abandoned doors etc.  I'm so glad that Spring has finally come to Chicago because it means more frequent walks with Thomas and Oz.  We get a little workout and so does my Nikon.  I find that since photography has become a bigger slice in the pie that is my life, I am far more observant.  I see details that I might not have, and tend to see everything in terms of what kind of photograph would that make.  Although that has it's downsides, it's not healthy to live life solely through a viewfinder, it does have it's rewards.  When you can walk down a hidden alley and see the beauty in a series of twisty pipes, that is pretty cool.  Even better if it inspires others to pay more attention to the hidden beauty around them.

I'm the King of the World

So, I am officially working on starting a photography brand -- I wanted to have a clear foundation in place to go from, and yes it is named after my dog. If being inspired by your dog is good enough for Indiana Jones, it's good enough for me! Let's all take a moment to picture Harrison Ford cracking that whip...yum! Oz is just a huge source of constant amusement to me and my husband and I wanted to immortalize him a little bit. I'm sure kids will come later but right now he definitely owns that role.
That and the role of King of Everything! Oz cannot conceive of a world that does not revolve around him and his comfort. Hence his little adventure last week. Thomas let him off his leash after a walk to run up the back stairs to the apartment and he stopped at our neighbors door which was open to take advantage of the Spring breeze, stepped inside, sniffed the cat and just trotted on in like he owned the place, checking everything out, and being a general pain when Thomas tried to call him to come out of there! Like, "Hang on, I'm checking out my new spot!" Oz, if you still had balls, they would be made of brass my friend!

Dancer in the Dark

I was fortunate enough to be invited by DeAwna, a friend of mine and very talented photographer to take part in a photoshoot she was setting up in the studio.  She, myself and the equally talented Alaina were able to photograph the amazing Lauren, a Dancer and Pilates Instructor.  Lauren had already been there for hours when I arrived but she was tireless and fearless, up for anything (even dancing with a rubber chicken!) and had great creative instincts.  It was great to be in a room with two other photographers, able to play off each others ideas, offer suggestions and see how someone else worked.  To simply observe was a learning experience in and of itself.  I am glad I got to shoot though, once I started watching my fingers were just itching to get their hands on a camera and start clicking away!  There is something truly satisfying about shooting in a studio with the lights preset, there is nothing to worry about except the composition of the shot.  You are able to truly focus on the subject and what you want the photograph to look like.  I do need to trust myself more, and be confident in my choices and clear about what I'm looking for. For the most part though --  too easy, drill sargeant, too easy!

Neighborhood Pride

I love the neighborhood I live in! We've thought of moving, but we just can't tear ourselves away -- especially being practically right on the lake. There is nothing to beat living by the water, I don't think I ever could. The only thing we were lacking was a convenient Dog Park. Well thanks to a 49th Ward vote on funding for neighborhood projects we are going to get one. It's just one more thing to make this neighborhood great and it feels really good to have voted and to see it succeed. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here and hopefully we'll have the park by next year, I know Oz hopes so too!

Storytime

I took these photos all in a row and I love how they unintentionally tell a little story, it makes me smile every time I look at these photos in sequence. That is the point anyway right, to tell a story through photos, to bring out emotions and preserve memories, to show things as they were, as you saw them in that moment. My current emotional state however, can best be described as burnt out! I think I've been starting to stress out about taking photos and I'm forgetting to enjoy it. So no more worries, and to modify a quote from my favorite TV Show, "Whatever happens, happens!" Back to having fun for me!

Imz gunna eatz u!

What?

Only kiddin, Imz gunna lickz u!

Robots Invade Chicago!

A few months ago I started seeing these random robots appear in various crosswalks in Downtown Chicago. I thought it must be road workers screwing around or warnings of an impending robot attack, but after doing a little digging it seems there is an anonymous artist called "Stikman" behind all this and so far he has made his mark on LA and DC as well. I just think they are so cool and every time I spot a new one I feel like I've discovered a little hidden treasure in this already awesome city. So, keep an eye out, robots could be headed to your city next!