Fun Day in Chicago!

You guys, something is happening that I swear, I never thought I'd be able to say again. I am almost entirely caught up on everything, AND I've started updating my website, which I should be done with by the end of the week. Amazing!

I've had a little bit of time for fun pictures, both taking them and editing them (the trick is always to be able to do both), and I think I may actually try to open an etsy shop for photography prints (and, let's get serious, other little arts and crafts) in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

In the meantime, here are some fun shots from a day I spent in Chicago a few weeks ago (the day I did Kristin's headshots ... I got in a few sweet ones of Lake Michigan while I was with her also).

I hadn't really thought about such a huge lake freezing, but that wood is most definitely where water should be. And all that white stuff on the horizon? Ice. You know how I hate winter but it was all just so PRETTY! So I briefly forgive you, winter.

Loved this one even more. Love the colors, love the ice chunks, love those two gulls that almost blend into the background.

I am really into blurred out pictures of lights right now. I love how moody and abstract they get. This particular one was taken at the Chicago Brauhaus in Lincoln Square, which, as far as I can tell, is one of the most awesome restaurants in town. We actually went on St. Patty's Day weekend, but this place was so, SO German. Our waitress was an older German lady, the band was German (with sparkly vests!), people were coming in wearing lederhosen ... THE WORKS.

Basically, Billy put it best with the observation that it was like we were in an episode of the Simpsons. People were drinking out of boots, and I don't mean the cute little Texas Roadhouse-sized ones, I mean like Das Boot from the movie Beerfest. Some Irish dancers came in and did some clogging, they were playing the Chicken Dance (which Amy and I did in the waiting area), there were some kids dressed like Hummel figurines, and seriously, we looked over at one point and there was someone dressed as A SEA CAPTAIN. It was magnificent. And the crowd was so funny, too--there were a lot of people our age, but also a lot of super old people. The hit of the dance floor was an old dude that looked just like Mickey Rooney. I declare this place glorious and can't wait to go back.

And speaking of Billy, this is my cute boyfriend! He NEVER agrees to let me post pictures of him but he agreed to this one, and I'm glad because he looks awesome. We were on the train and he let me take his picture (he also never lets me take pictures of him in public--he's such a tyrant!), and I loooove how it turned out. Something about pictures on public transportation just works for me.

Anyway, I'll keep you all posted on the status of the website update, and if we can get a weekend out with rain, I'll keep the pictures coming! :)

Future Superstar Kristin's Headshots!

You guys, Kristin is like ... the coolest. Ever. And we met in the most entirely ridiculous way.

I subscribe to a couple of feeds on Craigslist that post creative jobs, so that I know when someone is looking for a photographer and I can get in touch with them. People on Craigslist can be kind of touchy if they feel like people aren't paying what the job is worth, and I totally get that, but I also try to keep in mind that different people have different needs and different budgets, and in general, I'm not one of those "reply posters".

Except for this one day.

Someone had posted some really rude post about how he needed headshots but how headshot photographers were too expensive, but he would buy someone lunch to do it. WHAT?!?! And the whole thing was just so snotty and rude that I couldn't handle it. So I uncharacteristically made a reply post and it's possible that I called him a turd. And by possible, I mean ... I totally did.

So anyway, Kristin sees this and sends me an e-mail and is like, "Yes, I totally agree, and I need some headshots, so what do you say?" And naturally, I was all over it. I told her later how amused I was that she responded to me in smackdown mode, and after I called some kid a turd, and she said that she could just tell that I meant business. Ha! I love this girl!

Plus, she's totally gorgeous and photogenic!

I was letting her flip through the pictures on my camera when we were in the car, and she stopped on this and was like, "THIS IS MY HEADSHOT." I was so excited! I love it when people are happy with their pictures and get something they're truly in loooove with.

I just think this is too cute and I love the headband. We went out to the beach near Rogers Park, and it was still cold so it was fairly deserted, which was awesome. The ice and snow on the lake just made a perfect backdrop. I was BEYOND thrilled to get to shoot at the lake, because I consider a nearby beach one of the great perks of moving here. :)

And a smiling shot! I can't remember if this one was taken at the beach or if we were at the Baha'i temple in Evanston, which has some cool gardens but is really just an amazingly impressive building. I had no idea that something like that existed, so in addition to a photoshoot, I felt like I got a little field trip too!

For these last two, we were in Kristin's apartment, which was like ready-made for some pictures. She had bright paint on the walls (which perfectly coordinated with the outfit, I thought) and north-facing windows. And the camera just loves her.

And finally, this one! Great angle, great light, great model! Kristin was telling me about the kinds of acting opportunities there are in Chicago ... there's theatre, of course, and also a good amount of film, but something I didn't know was that a lot of commercials are shot here. So I'm hoping I get to see her in a national commercial soon! Plus, I graciously offered to let her buy me a car when she hits it big. :)

Thanks again, Kristin, for being so much fun and for finding me in the most unconventional way!

Faith & Corey's Wedding

First wedding of the year, friends! And it's of friends! Oh, it all works out. :)

This is the first wedding I've shot for friends since my very first one (shout out to Matt & Kim!), and I was SO excited. I was also so nervous, but I really shouldn't have been. I had such a good time and the pictures came out so pretty, which of course always happens when you have good looking and/or fun people to shoot. (Faith and Corey were, of course, both.)

I love these guys so much and I can and probably will write a novel about it. We all went to high school together, although their relationship is a fairly recent development (in terms of when we all were in high school--ten year reunion on the horizon, baby!). Faith was like my long-lost soulmate. We went to school together for like a zillion years but only discovered each other pretty late in high school, maybe our junior or senior year? I feel like it was some combination of English and journalism classes that brought us together, but the details are fuzzy. We lost touch after high school but were reunited a year or so ago through the magic of Facebook, when we discovered that we were, at the time, working across the street from each other. Can you believe that? Life is so funny that way. So we got together and had a delicious lunch at Rock Bottom, which I am in love with.

Corey, on the other hand, was the drummer in my high school boyfriend's band. Even in hindsight, they were surprisingly awesome for a high school band, playing a lot of rock covers at high profile venues such as the homecoming dance, After Prom, and Mongan's (which means nothing to you if you're not from Plainfield). I spent my entire junior year in Corey's basement, and it was probably one of the greatest years of my entire life.


And with that, let's jump in, shall we?

This is the gorgeous Faith right after she'd gotten into her dress. I believe she was smiling at her daughter. And seriously, I love that moment when a bride gets into their dress and they feel all pretty and bridal. AND don't you love this dress? I thought it was so unusual--I hadn't seen anything like it and it's so pretty.

Everyone knows how I love the mascara pics.

How cute is this? That's Mackenzie (fingers crossed on the spelling/capitalization of that!), Faith's daughter and bridesmaid extraordinaire. I love this shot of them getting ready together. :)

And speaking of getting ready, here's the Mother of the Bride, fancying up the flower girl! (Fancying up: totally a legitimate phrase.)

These shoes are amazing! Faith loved them and went with purple shoes for her wedding, a decision that I am all for. And if you can't tell here, they have an ankle strap. Love!

Oh, just a beautiful bridal portrait for your viewing pleasure. We got lucky because Indianapolis actually doesn't get that much snow (ESPECIALLY when you talk to the girl who's been living in Chicago-ish all winter), and it snowed for their wedding! So it was all snow and trees and a little winter wonderland backdrop for their wedding. Someone commented that all we needed out there was a baby deer and it would be complete. Word!

Oh good lord, this is going down in history as probably my all-time favorite flower girl/ring bearer shot. The combined cuteness here is just STAGGERING.

Jeff! Jeff was the bassist in said high school band. He and Corey have been friends since they were small children and it was so fun to hang out with him and his family at the wedding. Here, I snuck into the men's restroom (don't worry, I called out first) and made Jeff give me his best James Bond impression. Not bad, I say!

The groom! He's pretty important, I'd say, and I bet you were itching to get a good look at him, right? Here he is getting his flower pinned on and listening to one of the kiddos. Me and Faith's sister (and bridesmaid extraordinaire) were looking through the pics before the wedding and not letting Faith see (because we're mean), and we were ooohing and aaahing over this one.

I admit that I put this picture in for purely sentimental reasons, but seriously, I love it when friendships can last throughout the years, and Jeff and Corey both look so happy here, and I'm excited that I'm on the other side of the camera. It's like we're having a happy, old friends moment, and it's like ... if growing up I'd pictured how Corey's wedding day would be, I think this would've been it. Happy.

Mackenzie is totally an up and coming photographer--she was snapping away all evening!

OMG, that is the best face ever as he sees her coming down the aisle. I love it! And also, that's Chad, Corey's brother and best man. He was a senior when I was a freshman, so he was like cool and scary, and by the time I was at their house all the time, Chad was off at college. So we weren't as tight, but we also have become friends through the magic of facebook, and here's what I know--he's very nice, very funny, and loves some soccer. Also, funny sidenote, Chad and Corey's dad is some sort of real estate developer (I can never keep it all straight) and my parents actually live on Chad Ct., named after this guy right here. Corey Ln. is just around the corner. Pretty awesome, huh?

I think I'm going to have to declare this one my favorite. It's perfect.

And look at this! I love the cute scrunching of Faith's shoulders, and how Corey has an extra hand holding her arm because just holding hands wasn't enough. Seriously, these two are making me die of cuteness right now. I am SO excited that they found each other.

Can't you just feel the happiness radiating out of this photo?

All I'm saying is, THANK GOD this thing was not an actual part of the wedding. It was just a doll or something (I can't imagine that it has any real use, although I also can't imagine why anyone would want something this horrifying sitting around for show) that sat on a shelf in the pro shop. It is SO CREEPY. I swear, it looks like a real life nightmare. So, of course, I took a picture of it to share with all of you fine folks. I think for me, possibly the creepiest thing about it is its uncanny resemblance to Dustin Hoffman.

Cute cute cute cute cute! (By the way, I know I use that word a lot but I feel like there's no reasonable substitute for it. So if I want to communicate cuteness, I have one option and one option only.)

Alright, so I know the focus is soft here but who cares? It's such a great entrance. Seriously, the joy at this wedding was just so present it was almost physical. I want to go back and do this wedding again because it was just so happy. And because I got two pieces of cake. (I almost never get cake at weddings, one of the job hazards.)

This was taken during Chad's toast, which was probably one of the best Best Man toasts I've heard.

The first dance ... I believe they were trying to convince Mackenzie to come and join them, but she wasn't having it.

I don't usually love pictures of backs, but this one, I totally do. I think it says it all.

The father of the bride dance ... I was really into the composition of this one.

And finally ... a double fisting pic! New year, same love for people with two drinks at a time. :)


And there you have it! That was so fun, such a good wedding and fun to go back through and look at again. :) The gallery is up on my Instaproofs site. Congratulations, lovebirds!

Nene's Birthday Party!

So a couple weeks ago, I went out to take pictures at Nene's birthday party. She just turned four and she's so cute--her grandmother (who hired me for the party) is my former boss, and Nene occasionally would come into the office, like on holidays and stuff, and she liked me because I had the most fun stuff in my desk, AND it was on the bottom drawer, right where she could help herself. I mean, we're talking a tea pot (SO cute, it's totally picture-worthy so I should get on that) AND the most incredible Chinese food menu you have ever seen in your life, and I am SO not exaggerating. It is MAGICAL. Fortunately, Nene agreed and now we're BFF.

So I was ultra-thrilled to go to her birthday party, which was at Pump It Up in Elmhurst. I can't post a lot of pictures from it because I didn't get parental permission and I wouldn't feel right about it otherwise, but trust me when I say, these people know how to throw a party for kids. I totally recommend it--they run it like a well-oiled machine. There's no downtime, the kids are free to be loud and run around, and then they go to a room for pizza, cake, and then home for a nap. Because after using that much energy, they do get a little grumpy right at the end--it's perfectly timed. So with that in mind ...

This is gorgeous, cute Nene with her princess birthday cake (and princess shirt--I think she may like princesses). I know, I know, it's a little soft but it was dark, so shut up, and I just want you to see how happy she looks, until ...

HA! OMG, this cracked me up SO SO SO much. I love the look of outrage and the pointing of the finger. Hilarious! She was so distraught because someone helped blow out her candles. It was okay, of course--it's easy to distract a four-year-old at a birthday party, especially when cake is about to be cut. But I just thought this picture was such a riot that I had to share.

Seriously, y'all, this was SO much fun. I had no choice but to get into the bouncy toys to take pictures since the nets were too thick to shoot through. So I got to bounce around a little bit too, like a big old 28-year-old kiddo! It was the best. :)

What I Got

Do you guys remember when I said I had some extras from Morgan's pictures that I wanted to post separately? Well, here they are!

Everything about this screams "Indiana Summer" to me. I'm in love.

And then I saw this, and I thought ... man, those two shots pair well together. And then I decided that I really need to do a summer in Indiana series this year when I go home to visit. I don't know what'll be on the list, but I'm guessing corn will be non-optional.

I think this is a good time to catch everyone up on what life is like my photography world, since I can say without hesitation that it's going to be much different than last year. The economy has hit everyone hard and photography is a luxury market. Combine that with me moving to a new market, and I am going to be doing much, much less wedding work this year.

That is actually really okay with me. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the weddings I did last year, and I had a spectacular time doing them and will take whatever comes my way, but there are bright sides too. I'm excited to have weekends back, all to myself to be completely selfish with, to explore a new city (with my camera hanging around my sweaty neck!), to bust my tent out of my trunk and go camping, to ride my bike to infinity and beyond, and to have time to sit on my balcony and paint, which I haven't gotten to do in so long that I've almost forgotten what it's like to inhale paint fumes for a couple hours. (You'd never know that I haven't been around fumes from reading this blog though, now would you?)

Of course, that said, I also thought things would be much, much slower, and that's not happening at all, which is awesome. I've still got a couple weddings, some headshots, a few family portraits, and some seniors either coming up or in the works, and I expect that when the weather gets a little nicer, things may pick up there too. And, as I have been talking about for the past year, I am just about to do a MAJOR website update. It's been such a long time coming, and so necessary. I am going to "pimp it out", as the kids say.

I'm also going to try to spend more time, especially this summer, on art photography. In a selfish way, I want fun stuff for my walls. In a more productive way, my good friend Erin, who is more marvelous than you can imagine, has been encouraging me to open an etsy shop and sell art prints, and that's something I think I'd like to do. Over the last couple years, I've had some fun images that don't necessarily fall into a category and I think it would be fun to share them.

So that's sort of where things are at right now, and I'm sure that everyone knows how plans go. Still, you have to have them and I think that the best thing you can do is point yourself in a direction and start out that way, and then just go with the flow and see where it takes you.

So, there's my philosophical take on life and goals, I suppose, and the preview of what's going on and where the year is headed. I'm excited about it, and I think it's going to be a good one.

Morgan's Quasi-Senior Pictures

So I took these pictures like a million years ago (in August), and I call them quasi-senior pics because Morgan was actually entering her junior year at the time (and now she's in the full swing of it, and also, my junior year was awesome, possibly my favorite of high school, so hopefully hers is going well too). I looooove doing portraits and wanted to do more seniors in high school, but I just don't know that many teenage girls these days. Thankfully, my mom hangs out with Morgan's mom (because our brothers played football together, and this is how relationships form in the midwest, as I am well aware--around sports), and they agreed to let me guinea pig on them. And yes, I just used "guinea pig" as a verb.

So anyway, one of the things I was wanting to do (and would maybe like to do a little more of) was Morgan, who is like a multi-sport athlete which is SO far out of my comprehension, because hello, I am easily the biggest klutz on this earth, and did I tell you about how I fell down at Friday the 13th (the movie) on Friday the 13th (the day), and wound up with the cutest little heart-shaped bruise right on my kneecap? And what was I talking about? Oh, right, Morgan, the athelete. I wanted to get some pictures of her being sporty but in girly clothes, so we did this basketball in a dress stuff, and it came out awesome. Plus, I think it really helped loosen her up, because playing basketball in a dress is just kind of funny.

Also, there were two outtakes from this shoot that I want to post separately, maybe tomorrow, and one of them was from the basketball time, so keep that in mind.

Two things here, the first of which being that I love taking pictures of people on swings. It's a little challenging, actually, because of the movement, but it always comes out awesome. Secondly, I want you to look at this picture and think I'm hilarious, but the truth is, Morgan was cracking herself up here. Whenever her face would start to freeze, I'd say something to that effect and so she'd make a crazy face (which I have several outtakes of) and that would make her laugh again for real. Made my job real easy!

Now, I just think this is the hottest picture ever. I want to put it in a magazine or on a Billboard or something. Also, pause here to discuss where we're at (because what fun is it doing senior pictures of someone who goes to your alma mater if you can't reminisce a little about high school?)--this is Hummel Park, where I spent untold hours of my life growing up, especially as a teenager, because in Plainfield, like many towns like it, everything closes early and you don't want to go home because your parents will be there, and UGH, parents, so you end up doing things like knowing all the waitresses at Steak 'n' Shake, wandering aimlessly around Wal-Mart, or when it's nice, hanging out at Hummel Park, sitting on the hood of your car, or testing out the range of remote-controlled electronic fart devices. Hey, I'm not necessarily proud of it, but it's my life.

This one wasn't preceded by a funny face, so I may actually be that funny after all! (Oh, come on--you KNOW I think I am.) :)

A nice, pretty face shot with the gorgeous summer glow ... Summer! Come back to me!

Okay, now I can't remember what I said (possibly for the best), but this one WAS all me. Toot toot! There goes my own horn again!

Oh, you guys, I love these, and I mean looooooove. For those of you familiar with Plainfield, we were in the weeds out by the Thornton's gas station on 267. Morgan's mom, Tammy, was with us for the entire shoot and sometimes when I make people do things like stand in weeds, moms get a little nervous. Tammy, however, did not bat an eyelash, which was awesome. Also, Tammy had the most righteous bruise on her leg you have ever seen, and take it from someone who lives in a constant state of bruising due to aforementioned uncoordinatedness. I asked her what it was from and it was from sliding into a base during a softball game. Dude, I have never and I am thinking WILL never slide into a base EVER, so I'm extra impressed that one of my mom's friends did. That is beyond awesome.

This picture makes my life. I LOVE it, and I love the slightly grainy look and how sort of 70's it came out.

And one last one because I was so enamored with that set. Also, fun story, when Morgan and I were standing in the weeds (because yes, I did too, and in shorts, no less--although I did make use of the Deep Woods Off that I carry in my car all summer long), we heard the absolutely unmistakable sounds of a mouse, and it had to be like RIGHT THERE. Morgan got a look on her face that I can only describe as horrified-amused, but she managed to stick it out for a few more frames (and I'm really glad she did, the pics were great). You can believe that every time there was a rustle though, she jumped. :)

For our next adventure, we headed to Franklin Park, which is where I watched more baseball games than you can shake a stick at. I swear, I spent more hours watching Little League baseball in the summers than I spent in my own house. Well, and by "watching Little League", I of course mean escaping to play at the playground, complaining to my mom about how hot it was, being embarassed when I saw cute boys my own age at their games, and counting out change to buy Fun Dips and watered down cokes. Oh, good times. I just got a little nostalgic.

Anyway, Morgan knew about this rock, which just looks like a big old rock from the other side, which is how you approach it, but on the back side is some sweet Plainfield graffiti, and I swear, if I could go back and do my senior pictures again, I would be ALL OVER this. I'm so excited that she thought of it.

And because graffiti does often call for black and white, there ya go!

Oh my gosh you guys, I had so much fun doing this shoot. It was such a good time and I thought the pictures came out spectacularly. I put them up in a gallery at http://sarahbrownphotography.instaproofs.com/. As with all my seniors, there is a password on it, and it's Morgan's last name, which should be easy if you know her, so go check those out. And you know how we love comments around here, so don't be shy!