Everyday Life - Lockdown Style Family Photo Session

This lockdown life has been good for me in terms of photography and getting creative! Since I’m not able to get close to people physically when I’m photographing these days, it’s harder to pose and give direction. Especially when really small children are involved. SO… I’ve been documenting more lifestyle/real-life and going back to the roots of what made me fall in love with portrait photography!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy taking a nice family photo with everyone looking at the camera. That’s what parents want, usually, and I also appreciate those types of photos with my own family as well. But, what makes my heart soar the most is when I take a bit of a fly-on-the-wall approach. When people forget that I’m even there, that’s when I make some of my most favorite photos I ever take. They show genuine emotions & reactions. They’re not “too posed” or stiff. People let their guards down. They’re too busy just being themselves and not worrying about how they might look on camera. Typically, this is pretty easy to do with kids in general because they aren’t as self-conscious about how they look and their attention spans are shorter so they forget I’m there quicker! ;)

If you’re photographing your own kids at home these days, try this approach instead of asking them to smile! They’ll appreciate it and you’ll hopefully love those in-the-moment photos even more. Time goes by so quickly, let’s document real moments in real life.

Stay safe, friends.

I Went Back to Film! Want to See Some Side-By-Side Comparisons?

Last summer I bought a film camera. The first I’ve had since I sold my original film camera 15 years ago. When I sold mine, after everything I was doing was digital, I never had a clue that I’d go back to film. But upon seeing this camera, there was an urge to get back into it. When I was in school for photography, my class was the very last class to learn film before they tore the darkroom down. Everything was leading toward digital and the space made room for more available studio shooting space. But it was a sad moment when that happened. Excitement toward digital but also a sombering moment that an art was dying.

During this pandemic, when all I’ve had is time, I found two incredibly ancient rolls of film. One black & white, one color. I have no idea how old they were, or if they would even turn out but I put them in the camera and I went for photo walks. That’s all I could do for the past few months… walk. But taking my cameras out on walks was more therapeutic than I thought it would be. Both digital and film had given me a way to see things I’m normally too busy to stop and really appreciate. I’d gotten in the habit of only bringing my camera out if I had a session or had something to shoot at home for a client. I wasn’t shooting anything for me, for fun, anymore so this was a perfect opportunity to get my creative juices flowing again. All I did was photograph whatever inspired me, and places I found beauty.

Below are just a few of the scans I got back from the developed rolls. Surprisingly, they all developed well! I took the B&W roll to a local lab here in Chicago called PrintLab and sent the color off to the FindLab per recommendation of a friend. I was very happy with both services.

While I’m only using my film camera for personal passion projects right now, someday I’ll think about incorporating them into client sessions. I’m way out of practice with film, though, so I need to develop my craft before that can happen. I expect too much out of myself for client sessions and can’t be held back by fumbling with a camera!

Much love, all. I hope you’re hanging in there!

My film baby.

Can You Tell Which is Film and Which is Digital?!

Film

Digital

Digital

Film

Digital

Film

Digital

Film - Still getting used to the focusing of this old camera!

Film

12 Years Ago I Photographed My First Wedding!

May 17th is a date that will always be incredibly special to me. May 17th, 2008, 12 years ago today, I (begrudgingly!) photographed my very first wedding and started my journey into portrait photography.

Begrudgingly?

Yes! I was on a photographic journey that involved things that didn’t speak; flowers, sunsets, nature, etc. But then a coworker hounded me for MONTHS to photograph his wedding and I turned him down for months. Fast forward to a few weeks before the wedding and he’s still hounding me with no other photographer lined up. I reluctantly agreed. I had no experience, I had no desire to photograph weddings. I took photos of plants, nature and landscapes, for goodness sake! For fun. That was all! People were too complicated, especially high-pressure weddings. I wanted no part! At least that’s what I told myself. I mentioned all of this to him. He still persisted. I caved because I couldn’t bear them not having any photos of their day. I showed up to photograph that wedding, sweating the whole day because I had NO idea what I was doing. Seriously, no idea. Zilch. Zero. Nada. But something happened that magical day. I fell in love. With portrait photography. With weddings. With documenting people, and the big moments in their lives. That day kicked off my career and brought me to where I’m at today.

Shane knew that I had wanted to be a photographer for years, and I think he knew that I needed to be pushed in order to take a chance on myself.

While my journey into documenting people’s lives may not have started in a conventional way and I pushed the idea away for years, I know now that it was purely my fear (of both failing and succeeding) that kept me from pursuing my dream. But he and Victoria saw something that I was too scared to see, and took a chance on me. Yes, I made mistakes that day and I cringe when looking back at my work from the beginning. And yes, I have made many more mistakes along the way but I’ve come a long way, baby! I’ll keep making mistakes. We all do. You can’t grow without making and learning from your mistakes, and it’s all part of the journey.

Happy Anniversary Shane & Victoria!

See my first wedding and my last wedding (2019) below.

I’ve always been all about the details!

For the first time in my career, I’m extremely relieved that I did not have any weddings booked for 2020. My heart goes out to all couples, as well as my fellow photographer friends and all vendors, trying to navigate this stormy season of life right now in what was supposed to be the happiest times of your lives. I’m thinking of you - we’ll all get through this stronger, together.