Newly Updated Slideshows
I’ve revamped and updated my slideshows page which you can view here, or on the right now =) Enjoy.
Linda & Paul | Engagement
Kat & Rob | Charlottesville, VA
Maria & Dmitry | Dominican Republic
Cathy & Leo | Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Engagement: Sara & Steve (My Sister!) – Part II
It is with mucho mucho fanfare that I worked with my sister and her fiance again. This time, Sara and Steve chose to shoot at the Garfield Park Conservatory:
Congratulations Sara =)
-Kuya
Engagement: Tiffany & Sebastian
Tiffany and Sebastian met through co-workers and friends, hanging out at bars and drinking.
What made this different though is that while everyone would be happy just chatting away with casual smalltalk and conversation, Tiffany & Sebastian would have serious conversations in the corner of the bar. Nothing was off topic. From Politics to Religion, the conversations they would have were not the usual barfare
Things blossomed on their own from there =).
It was incredible working with Tiffany and Sebastian. They were so incredibly patient while I ran around and worked like a fool to set up my shots =) Thank you guys so much!
Locations:
Chicago’s Shore
Gear:
Onto the images:
We went first to the Harold Washington Library’s Winter Garden:
While shooting, Tiffany randomly found a Post-It note with the words “Smile: =)” on them.
We put it to good use:
Since we were at a library after all, we decided to make use of the books also =D:
Along with that we did some fun things with the rest of the library:
Finishing up with the Library, we then went to the Chicago Cultural Center:
And finally to the shoreline in Chicago that could show a skyline at night =)
Congratulations again you guys!!! I can’t wait for the wedding in September!!!
TGIF: Request Day
“The Proposal.”
This is for Emma who requested an image of Millennium Park’s Cloudgate, better known as “The Bean” to Chicago locals.
This is from the same shoot as “Nothing Else Matters.”
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5
For those of you that want me to photograph something for them please leave a comment below!!!
=)
Wedding: Jeanie & Richard – Galleria Marchetti | Chicago IL
Jeanie & Richard without a doubt are the two chillest, down to earth people I ever met. Jeanie is unflappable in the face of pressure (especially crazy Chicago traffic) and Richard’s family are awesome.
Therefore I was thoroughly excited when I got to photograph their wedding this past October 10th.
Some details:
Venue: The Galleria Marchetti
Hair: Christina Rascon
2nd Shooter: Sam from Samantha Photography.
Thank you so much for second shooting Sam! You were awesome this wedding with the kickbutt formals and pj shots!
Onto the slideshow:
Some of my favorite images of the day:
- Awesome shoes no?
- I loved the details and arrangements =)
- My favorite action image. EVER.
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Image of The Moment Monday: “Nothing Else Matters.”
“Nothing Else Matters.“
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR
Another old image of mine, I was pretty nervous about this one as I believe it was my first engagement session. I totally did not know what I was doing back then nor did I know what to do with the couple.
One thing I eventually learned is that personally for me, the magic happens when you let the couple interact with each other and have fun with the shoot. After talking with this couple for a while, they eventually relaxed and started joking around, having fun.
I was still in the same situation however; I wasn’t sure about what I was going to do for the shoot. The couple was standing there waiting for me to tell them what to do.
And I was on the verge of a meltdown.
To give myself more time, I told them to hold each other’s hands while walking away from me.
Saying a quick prayer to the big guy up above for inspiration, I put the camera to my eye and hoped the shot would turn out.
And this is what I saw in the lcd.
=D
Image of The Moment Monday: Throwback
I took this shot about 1 year ago in Lake Michigan.
Working in the South Side of Chicago, I hired a friend to model for me and decided to try something different -
A Trash The Dress at Night.
It took almost 10 tries to get it right as it was pitch black and my D3 wasn’t focusing all that well in pure dark, but the final shot was definitely worth the time spent and preparation =D
Engagement: Sara & Steve (My Sister!)
This past Sunday, my sister, her fiancé and I went out to the countryside -Sugar Grove, Illinois to shoot their engagement session.
I was nervous the entire time.
It’s one thing if you’re with a client when you’ve only just met them and they know you professionally…but it’s a different ballgame altogether when it’s someone that you’ve known all your life.
Someone whose shoe laces you purposely tied together cus you knew she couldn’t untie them. Someone that you’d say “EWWWWW” to when you were 8, she was 5 and your mom and dad would ask you to kiss her on the cheek for the camera.
In the end however, things worked out well and I got several sweet photos of Sara & Steve that I liked. I brought a Canon 5D Mark I and 3 lenses:
Here are my favorites and some stories behind them:
It's so subtle. It's Ninja.
Take 1: Steve was doing the sexy dance behind me while she was trying to get this right.
Take 2.
The Silly Gooses. (I know...I just don't like how Geese sounds...)
I think out of all the pictures, this one best describes Sara & Steve
The forest colors were incredible!
Then it started raining….
Fortunately it stopped and we managed to keep on shooting!
Congratulations again Sara & Steve =) I can’t wait for the wedding!
Love, Kuya
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Image of The Moment Monday: “Tease”
“Tease”
It was with much fanfare that my sister and her fiancé asked me to photograph their engagement session.
I couldn’t have been more excited =D
However…as I’m not completely done with the images just yet, I’ll have to give you a teaser:
Happy Monday and a wonderful rest of the week!!!
Fall Trash The Dress: Bolingbrook, IL
For once, a shoot in my home turf =) Very often it’s me that goes to my clients/subjects, not them that comes to my home town. To clear things up, I live in the suburbs of Chicago, not too far away from the big city, but far enough that I’ve made a few wishes to live closer…
For once though I got to drive less than 5 minutes to photograph a shoot! =D
Several photographers got together in my home town of Bolingbrook to photograph 4 models in a cornfield and later on Green Valley Forest Preserve:
- Melissa Diep Photography : Much props to her!!!! She set up and ran an incredible shoot.
- Steven Ryne Photography
- Samuel Barr
- Patricia R. Epps
- Tracy Lynn Deiss
- Benjie Urbina
- Jonathan Robson
As you can see there were a serious amount of photographers. And those are the ones I got the information from!
For this shoot I brought along a Canon 5d Mark I and only 2 lenses: A 50mm f/1.2, and 85mm f/1.2.
These are the images I captured:
Melanie I swear is Vanessa Williams' lost twin sister....
Yee. Haw.
Stolen Moments.
Escape.
Awesome. Boots.
Valerie has an awesome profile. Totally loved working with her!!!
Valerie rocked the shoot in the field!
After we shot in the field, we then headed to Green Valley Forest Preserve – a beautiful park with an incredibly huge hill that gave u a clear view over 40 miles:
Michelle was awesome! She naturally knew what to do when posing!
She also has a beautiful smile!
Totally natural light used here from the sun in the late afternoon. I never used any artificial light.
What I loved about Valerie here was her incredible profile.
She could totally model for Abercrombie.
I like this as it seems to actually be a wedding moment.
This one also seems like it could be an original wedding moment.
As we were leaving, I saw this! =D
Let me know what you guys think! And Happy Friday!!!!
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