The Crew At Three Oaks

I had a great time managing the gang at Three Oaks this summer!

Working around so many young people, and those who are young at heart, made me feel like a kid again myself!

Thanks for putting up with me and my camera!

Hope to see many of you next year!

Emily & Dan

Had a great time photographing Emily and Dan last week.

The weather held  up nicely and we were able to create some beautiful shots outside at the country club.

Jason & Danielle Wedding May 22. 2010

We had a great time at the wedding in Iowa City!
The weather was perfect for the outdoor wedding and we even had a chance to run down on the field at Kinnick Stadium!
Jason and Danielle were a joy to work with and they had a ball with all their friends long into the night.
I've never seen a reception with so many people dancing the entire evening!
Best of luck to you both and I hope you enjoy the video!

Daniel & Amy

Congratulations to Dr. Daniel and Amy Berman on their August 15th wedding in Des Moines.

I met Daniel and Amy at a bridal show in Des Moines however, they live in Elmhurst, Il. It was more than convenient when I moved to the Chicago area and was able to shoot the engagement shots in their favorite local park!

Their wedding day was full of laughter in spite of the rain that kept us indoors for all the photos with the exception of the one displayed above. They were one of the most relaxed couples I have ever worked with on a wedding day, in fact I think I even caught Daniel taking a brief nap just before we started the formal photos!

The reception was held at the Temple for the Performing Arts and was a spectacular backdrop for the posh gala that evening. I really enjoyed photographing at that location. The dramatic lighting is very romantic. The lighting combined with the elegant stone pillars creates an almost etherial setting.

Daniel and Amy are currently enjoying their honeymoon in Greece.

Moving Pictures From a "Still" Camera

This video is one of my first using my new Canon SLR camera. It was fun playing around making this video clip taken in downtown Crystal Lake. I am excited to figure out how to incorporate the amazing HD video capabilities of this camera into my wedding photography!    

    This new camera has a whopping 21 megapixels and is the finest camera I have ever owned for wedding photography. As you can see from the video example, this camera performs excellently in low light which makes it perfect for shooting in dark churches.  I have photographed a few weddings with it this year and the quality is just astounding!

Last Engagement Shoot In Iowa

Josh and Tara met with me for a great day of shooting in Greenwood Park located behind the Art Center. I made the trip in from Chicago to photograph their engagement photos. I had been photographing couples at the park for a few years and this was to be my last photo shoot there. I was very fond of the park and all of its diversity as far as photography settings, from the stone pillers to the pond down the hill from the gardens. I will also miss teaching at the Art Center with its state-of-the-art projector system.

Josh and Tara were a great couple to photograph on my last shoot at the gardens. I am looking forward to shooting their wedding this September.

Glacial Park and Nippersink Creek

Darcy and I spent a recent saturday exploring Glacial Park that is rich in geological artifacts. One pleasant discovery while hiking there was the Nippersink Creek. This winding and intimate stream flows through Glacial Park and continues for about 12 miles to the south.  Darcy and I are planning a canoe trip on Nippersink Creek sometime in August.  We hope to camp along the creek at a camp site that is only accessible from a canoe.  

Glacial Park is a beautiful area with remnants from the last glacial period roughly 12,000 years ago.  The park has a peat bog created from the melting glacial ice as well as interesting ground swells known as "kames".  A kame is a ridge of silt and gravel that juts up from the surrounding flat terrain.  The kames were formed when the silt and gravel pushed along melting ice rivers, fell into fissures in the ice on which the river flowed.  The park is located only five miles from the Wisconsin border and the glacial ice didn't move much further south than Wisconsin.

It was a great hike through the park although the mosquitos were ravenous along the bog area and I think we lost a couple of pints of blood along the way.