Random Chi-Town

You know, I've gotten to take so many fun pictures this year that I actually had forgotten to edit and post these until the other night when Amy reminded me about them. We ran around having a totally boss (my new fave word) time in the city before doing Phil and Mary Ann's totally hot engagement shoot, and can I just say again that it's been sort of nice to have a lazy summer? I'm looking forward to my busy August coming up, but this has been really fun, just doing all kinds of fun stuff and taking pictures. I like it!

I rode the train into the city, which I still really love doing. I guess it's still novel, or maybe I just really like the train. I hate driving, and I like being able to do something else while I travel, like read or play with the internet on my phone (phoneternet, as me and Billy like to call it), or space out. Plus, the craziest crazies I've seen in this city ride the Metra, so that's always a good time. I won't say I never get annoyed (ask me about my annoying train stories sometime, I promise at least one that you'll love), but I even kind of like getting annoyed because it makes such a funny story later. Kind of the story of my life, actually. :)

It always kind of boggles my mind, getting off the train, how many people there are. There are people as far as you can see, which this picture doesn't really do justice, but I liked it anyway. I like the "The Future Is Here" sign, and the kids under it, and the Jonah Hill-lookin' dude, and just kind of the busy-ness of it all (as opposed to "the business", which is not the word I'm going for--creative spelling is my friend).

This was so interesting, and weird. It was hot as a mofo that day, and I feel like you can sometimes more easily identify the genuinely crazy homeless people by how bundled up they are in the summer. Anyway, I just took a quick picture of her and she didn't see me, and I didn't really see her face. But I was so fascinated by what a good painter she was. I just wonder what the story is here ... I have no idea but the possibilities are endless.

We made our way over to Navy Pier and part of the reason was because I wanted to take pictures of the rides. I liked this one. And I really want to go on these someday. And also at Holiday World, which I'm going to in a couple weeks. Yay! I love that place. Anyway, Navy Pier was awesome that day because everyone was down at the Taste of Chicago, so it was super uncrowded and pleasant. Also, I didn't take pictures at the time because I didn't know if I could (I now think you can), but there is also a really huge stained glass museum inside that is VERY cool. And free. I totally recommend it to anyone. It's got a great Tiffany collection and some windows taken from houses in the Chicago area. Super awesome, and props to Amy for introducing me to it.

I love birds. I don't really know why, I just think they're really pretty and at one point, Billy was pointing out how many t-shirts I had with birds on them. You know how t-shirts are, they come and go, so I don't know if I still have that many bird ones, but I'm always on the lookout because the bird shirts, they are awesome. But anyway, I loved this little bird and this little picture--I thought the colors were really pretty and I was down with the composition, and it made me happy. And that's the whole point of pictures!

Hahahaha! This totally cracks me up. This sea gull was ridiculous. It kept walking around squawking and it sounded like a baby crying, and of course it wasn't afraid of people, so it let me take like a zillion shots of it until I finally got one of it facing me with its mouth wide open. So now that I have it, I'm thinking about putting a caption on it (a la http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ or http://www.failblog.org/, two of my favorite websites) and turning it into an internet meme. So far, my favorite idea is "O no you di'n't", but I am currently accepting other submissions. Ideas, anyone?

This was just a random shot from some bridge, but I liked it. I've got a secret craft project on the way involving my pictures (probably in the fall/winter when I'm more homebound and cabin-fevery), and I think this might lend itself to that. I guess you'll find out later, right?!?!

Now, I really love this picture and I love all the boats. Boats, trains, old cars ... maybe I'm just into transportation as a subject, but anyway, that is SO not the point I was setting out to make. I cleaned this picture all up so you can't see it, but this is the picture that made me realize that my sensor was FILTHY. It had dust and fuzzies and crap all over it. I mean, it's not a HUGE deal and you can still Photoshop it out (which I did, and on Phil and Mary Ann's pictures too), but it's just one more step and more time that you take doing something tedious instead of focusing on the actual photo. So the next weekend, I took it down to Indianapolis and had them clean it at Robert's. You guys, I cannot give this place enough love and I know there are occasionally newbies or hobbyists who read my blog, and so if you don't already know, I recommend them for everything. I've bought most of my equipment from them, gotten stuff cleaned there ($35, EASILY worth it), rented equipment, asked questions, taken a lighting class ... this place is BOMB. And if you're noticing little dots showing up on your pictures in the same place every time, regardless of which lens you're using, you could probably use a sensor cleaning too. It makes a huge difference.

Amy spotted this funny little tug boat called The Commissioner, which we thought was too cute for words. It got a call and left to go pick someone up while we were watching, so we got to watch it go, too. What do you call it when boats go? I always just call it sailing, but that probably only applies to sailboats ... right? You guys, I swear I'm not dumb, but I grew up in a landlocked state, okay? Give a girl a break.

LOCKERS! Can you believe it? I love lockers, and if I could have one right now I totally would. And then I'd shove a nerd into it! (Kidding--everyone knows nerds are my fave, AND that it takes one to know one.) But seriously, lockers remind me of high school, Saved by the Bell, and every awesome John Hughes movie ever made. In fact, given my love for numbers 2 and 3 on that list, it really is a wonder that I never slammed a locker door shut and ran away crying. How awesome would THAT have been?



Okay, up next, Billy's parents visited last weekend and we did some totally fun stuff, which I will keep you in suspense about for now, but I got a couple of really good pictures that I think you'll be excited with me about. People get ready (one love)! (Bob Marley shout out, what!)

The Drive-In ... Take One.

Okay, I'm just going to super disclaimer the heck out of this post because I DO use my blog to show my work to potential clients. This isn't the usual--there's a couple of "weird" pics on here because I was feeling like I needed a creative outlet last night so I busted these out to work on them. If you're a first time blog visitor (hi!) and want to see the hottest hotness on the face of the planet, skip down to the next post and you won't be disappointed, I PROMISE.

End of disclaimer!

Alright, so everyone knows how much I love the drive-in, and so far, the Tibbs Drive-In in Indianapolis is BY FAR the greatest one in the universe. They have four screens, you can watch three movies, they have a great variety, the food is awesome and CHEAP, and we can bring Flash. So I decided when we were in Indy that I would take some pictures when we went. (By the way, we saw Public Enemies and Year One, both of which get a resounding "meh" from me.) But I don't know, I just never really got that into it so I didn't take that many, and the place REALLY cleared out after the second movie, which was when I started taking some, so it just wasn't really doing it for me. Plus, I seriously needed to break out my tripod to get the kind of clear, properly exposed pictures that I was going for. So, next time!

But this time, I still ended up with some I was pretty into, much to my surprise. They're not all "normal" by a long shot, but I liked them anyway and everything doesn't have to be perfect all the time. Life's not like that and neither is photography, and I can embrace it.

These are the poles that you park at (or, if you're Flash, these are the poles that you sniff and pee on). The radios would've been on there years ago, but the audio comes through your car radio for as long as I've been going, and sure, the ripped out wiring may not be the prettiest thing in the world, but I think it adds a certain je ne se quois (or however you spell that).

Interestingly, this ended up being my favorite picture of the bunch. I feel like it really says something about the drive-in, although I don't know what--maybe something about the crowd, or about how long it's been around, maybe it's in the gravel, I don't know, but whatever it is seems appropriate and I could see this on my wall.

I think that the graffiti on the wall is a new thing this year, or at least I don't remember it from last year, but I thought it was nice that it at least said the name of the drive-in in readable letters. The only graffiti that I really can't handle is tagging. Seems like a waste of paint.

I'm not sure what the "Indianapolis will miss you" is all about, since as far as I know, the Tibbs isn't closing. There was nothing on the internet (the be-all, end-all of information), and besides, they just bought a new sign and who would do that if they were that hard up for money? So I'm pretty sure we're safe.

I BELIEVE that this is some light coming through the fence slats on my way out, and I was surprised by how much I liked this. There's not much to it, but I'm always such a "more is more" type of person that minimalism is pretty novel to me. :)

This is a shot of the new sign on the way out, and it was DARK. I lightened it way up in RAW, but it came out with this weird, grainy, sort of otherworldly look and I kind of loved it. And this one probably more than any of the other ones made me more determined to bust out the tripod next time. I love the drive-in and I need more pictures of it.

I don't know what I'm going to take pictures of next! I have some down time before my next wedding, and then things will get a little crazy (in the good way!), but it would be nice to get in some fun stuff before that. I'm sure I'll think of something and keep you posted! :)

Phil & Mary Ann in Chicago!

By far, the hardest thing about blogging is narrowing down the pictures. And when you have Phil and Mary Ann looking like freaking supermodels in every picture, they are certainly not making it any easier. But it's a good problem to have, and even Chicago showed up to grace us with its gorgeousness. Can I get a woo?

Billy had class the day I did this shoot, so I went into town by myself and hung out with Amy all day, taking pictures and wandering around. We seriously walked like a zillion miles, but that is totally irrelevant to this post. I'm just really impressed with myself. Anyway, Amy stayed with me during the shoot as my assistant, and you know? She was amazing at it. She carried my bags, held onto shoes and purses and earrings, kept us hydrated, and made hilarious jokes. And she had the best assistant skill of all--she was totally attentive. Amy, I would hire you again any time, and I think we're an awesome team. :)

Now, on with the hotness, shall we?!?!

Obviously, if you're going to be doing engagement pictures in Chicago and you're meeting at the Bean, you've gotta take pictures with it! There are always tons of people around it, but it relatively cleared out for a few seconds so we could get this shot. And again, I know it's not for everyone, but the red tone was totally my favorite. And I love her shoes.

And since we were already at Millennium Park ... ! I don't have any idea what this little area is called but if you live around here, you probably recognize it. It's where the stage is, and there are always people lounging on the lawn and playing frisbee and soccer and so forth. And you know, when Amy and I were on our marathon walk that day, I kept thinking about how many people there were just lounging around, and how European I felt the whole thing was. I wanted to take a lounging picture and here it is, and thanks to my gorgeous subjects (doesn't THAT sound royal?), it's even better than I had imagined.

From Millennium Park, we hopped in a taxi over to the museum campus(es?) near the Shedd and the Field Museum. This was all Phil and Mary Ann's idea, and it was a great one. We hopped out of the cab and saw this weird little round sculpture that you could get in and had a little fun with that. And you know what? I'm just going to say it. I love these two people's faces. It might sound weird, but I do and I don't care who knows it.

This is SO CUTE. I love it.

This is Phil's supermodel picture. Easy. And don't get me wrong, Mary Ann looks amazing here too, but Phil is like Mr. GQ. Mary Ann claims that he's always striking poses, and all I can say is, keep it up! Their wedding pictures are going to be outrageously gorgeous and I can't even wait.

I loved this so much, because it was such a genuine moment. And Mary Ann has the cutest smile in the world. And also, this was one of my favorite Amy moments, because what they're looking at/laughing at is her getting all girly and crazy in the background. We're just going along, and I'm snapping pictures and Phil and Mary Ann are chatting and looking hot, and all of a sudden, I hear this excited voice in the background going, "TWEAK HIS CHIN AGAIN! THAT WAS SO CUTE!" And it was so funny and for me, surprising. Billy is, obviously, not a girl, and Jessie, who is my go-to alternate assistant is pretty quiet (though hilarious), so having some crazy girl behind me squealing like we were watching The Notebook was hysterical and refreshing and fun. Plus, it was kind of fun for me that Phil and Mary Ann got to experience one of my closest friends in the world and the insanity that she brings.

But, like all good professionals, they got right back into romance mode. I've realized that I really like face touching, and I think it's very romantic and intimate. I've had people slap me on the butt and not given it a second thought, and if that same person had touched my face it would've been completely weird, and so I think it's kind of special. As a sidenote, when Flash gets up on Billy and tries to lick the inside of his mouth, he sometimes puts his paw all tender and lovingly on Billy's face, making it extra funny.

WOW, there was a lot of weirdness in that last paragraph. But life in general and my life in particular is full of weird, so I'm going to let it stand.

A lot of times when I'm doing sessions with people, I'll stop in the middle and take random shots. I've learned to just embrace this and not feel awkward about it, because it just means that the creative juices are flowing and everything is looking extra beautiful, and that means the shoot is going well. Plus, these are things that were also going on at that moment, which I think is cool. This is a shot toward Navy Pier from the museum campus, not long before dark, and I love the boats and bird.

This one, again, was just so sincere. I don't know what they were laughing at by this point because we were all just having such a good time, and I love that. I'll say it again: I cannot wait for their wedding. It is going to be awesome.

Phil and Mary Ann, by now, you both know that I think that you're completely beautiful, and this picture is no exception. But I have to take a moment to say something to someone else.

Dear Chicago Skyline,

Now that I know where to find you, you are mine. I own you. You are magnificent and I will be back for more.

Love, Sarah

Seriously, I was working on these pictures and I kept thinking that they couldn't get any more amazing, and they just did--over and over. Beautiful.

I loved this too. Wow. We were walking over to a little beach near the museums, and this ledge was the perfect height. Also, I think this may be the stop where Amy delcared that "this will be the picture they screen print on a pillow". I might be messing that up a little bit, but not by much. And all I'm saying is, if you think I'M crazy ...

We did make it to the beach, and this was one of the many cute pictures of the happy couple, but get ready, because my favorite one of the entire session is next.

Are you ready?

Okay, deep breath ...

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! There are no words.

Whew! Have we all recovered? Okay then!

It started to rain and it was getting late, but we found a bus really close by and as Amy pointed out (because she is one of my biggest fans), I do sort of LOVE pictures on public transportation! And I really liked this one, including the pole running through the middle of it. And the black and white just really suited the mood.

And let me tell you, I don't think you can see it on their faces here, but we were all SO happy to be sitting down. Phil and Mary Ann were troopers--Mary Ann in her high heels and Phil with a hole in his shoe, and we did do an awful lot of walking. They probably would've gone on as long as my slave-driving ways kept up, but it did eventually get dark and rainy enough that we were forced to call it a night. And it's probably a good thing--I was totally that kid who would read under the covers with a flashlight way past my bedtime, and it carries over into my photography sometimes. :)

BUT ...

We didn't call it before this awesomeness happened!

I love this shot. Billy was watching me process this one and he didn't love the color, but I like it. It WAS really yellow, and cooling it off makes it look less "nighttime", which I wanted. There's a black and white version too, but this one was my fave.

And you know, getting this shot took some doing. The rain was really starting up at that point, and people were scrambling to get under any cover that they could. We were under one of those sidewalk walkway things that they build up during construction projects, right near a corner. So every time the light changed, a flood of people came through, and we'd have to squish up and make ourselves tiny to let them through, and then frantically assume the position again to snap a few frames.

But this was PERFECT. Amy told me when she saw this one in the camera that it was totally worth getting in the way of pedestrians to get it, and that's high praise from her, since she is very high strung and that's the kind of thing that might stress her out. But I am really used to being in the way, and also to being patient with crowds, because it's just one of the hazards of shooting in public, and I think totally worth it--I wouldn't trade it in for a Wal-Mart portrait studio ever. :)

These are two amazing people, beautiful and fun and funny and interesting, and I am SO excited that I got to spend time with them and that there's more to come! Show the comment love, y'all!

My First Taste of Chicago

So I don't make that many personal appearances on my own blog, but are you ready for me to unleash the hotness?

Me and Billy, looking gorgeous before Taste of Chicago. Amy took this picture while we waited on the train, and I think she did a BITCHIN job. She insists that it's because of me bossing her around (which, you know, is kind of my M.O.), but even how she framed the pic is awesome. It's TOTALLY getting printed and going into a frame.

Anyway, this was our first year going to the Taste and we were totally prepared for the worst in terms of crowds and so forth, but it was really great. Word is, the city took a lot of lessons that they learned from the Obama rally and applied them here, and I thought the whole thing was really awesome--very open and even though there were a ton of people, it didn't feel crowded at all.

I made it my personal mission to take a picture of all the food that I ate so that I could blog about it. Bear in mind, I used my point and shoot, which is awesome for detecting faces but gets confused about ... not faces. At least it does on whatever setting I have it on right now. So some of the pictures are pretty fuzzy, but you'll get the general idea. Ready? Let's eat.



The first thing I went for was the cornbread with honey chili butter from Blue Bayou, which is a restaurant that I have eaten at a couple of times, but I've never seen this on the menu. Well, and the last time I was there, I had had two beers, which everyone knows will do me in, and I was yelling at Amy for not just letting me eat at Taco Bell. So I may not have been looking at the menu that closely. But everything we've had there is good, especially Amy's nachos, which I just started eating right off her plate.



These are the sweet potato hashbrowns from a restaurant called, appropriately, Hashbrowns. I was really excited about these, but they ended up being my least favorite food of the day. Which isn't to say they were BAD, I totally ate them, but they just weren't awesome. I was hoping for crispy and they were not, although the onions in there did kind of add something. But ultimately, the texture was just weird and they were cut like spaghetti. I don't know. Not awesome.



OMG, though, these were incredible. INCREDIBLE. What you see here is a taste portion (so littler and cheaper), minus one potsticker that I already ate--GREAT deal, and you know I love a bargain. They were from Star of Siam, and they were chicken potstickers, which I hadn't had before. Seriously, I need to go to this restaurant. They actually tasted like chicken! I hate when chicken is questionable, and it has resulted in me dismissing more than one Asian restaurant. This was perfect, and so spicy. Great texture ... my mouth is watering again thinking about it. It was TOTALLY messy though, and I spilled a bunch of the sauce right down my boob and arm almost immediately. Completely worth it. They had little sinks set up so when I was done, I wet down some paper towels and gave myself a bath in a park. Mission accomplished, delicious food discovered.



WHAT?!?! My food experience really picked up after those hashbrowns. This is a southern fried tilapia fillet from Polo Cafe & Catering. I am in LOVE with fried tilapia, and it's actually kind of difficult to find--everyone seems to just grill it. So when I saw this on the menu, I knew it would be my "big" thing. And it was incredible. The cornmeal batter was so good, and it was so crunchy, not greasy at all, and this is the point where I realized that all the good food is on the south side. You know I'll be heading over to this one next time the fried tilapia craving hits, but thankfully, this satisfied me for a little while at least.



Alright, so just ignore the crisp, clear strangers in the background and focus on the blurry babe closest to you. This was from Garrett Popcorn, and was probably the thing I was most excited about during the entire day. I made sure to save room for it since their stand was at the very end. What is it, you say? It's a POPCORNSICLE. Glorious.

They take their popcorn, make it into a ball on a stick, and dip it in liquid nitrogen before handing it off to you, so it's smoking (like dry ice, not like cigarettes) when you get it. I think it's supposed to be the popcorn and cheese mix (my fave), but the one I got was all carmel corn, I believe. But it was super delicious and so cool--it's kind of hard to describe, but it was just like popcorn, but really cold. The texture wasn't any different though, was the cool part. I'm pretty sure they're selling them in their stores right now too, so I recommend checking it out if only for the experience.

Okay, after the popcornsicle, I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures of the rest of my food, so this one is from http://chicago.timeout.com/. It's a picture of the Original Rainbow Cone, which is also apparently a south side institution. I just got a taste portion of this too, all the flavors in a cup, because I wasn't sure I'd like it. But we'd seen it on Food Network, and since trying food that we see on TV is something that we can kind of uniquely do in Chicago, I went for it. And you know, it was really, really good.

The flavors are layered in a really specific order, which is (top to bottom): orange sherbet, pistachio, palmer, strawberry, and chocolate. As a rule, the only one of these ice cream flavors that I ever eat given the choice is orange sherbet, but they went so well together, and the sherbet tasted great with everything, and the chocolate really anchored it all together. I was super impressed.

And finally, I had like three more tickets to use, so I got some fries from Chicago Joe's. I couldn't find a picture online so I went with one of the sign (from www.yourareacode.com), but do you know what they actually reminded me of? You Ball Staters will appreciate this--they reminded me of the seasoned fries in the dorms, those ones that are really thick and crispy with some seasoning on them? Good lord, I loved those fries. I'm actually considering moving back into the dorms right now, just thinking about them. But yeah, they were like that, really thick and crunchy outside with an inside so squishy it could barely be called a solid. I sort of wish I'd gone with these alongside the tilapia and finished off with the rainbow cone taste, but these were still really great, and this place is really close to Amy if I ever want to recreate the experience. Sweet!

Alright, so bottom line, I really enjoyed this. It was like going to a fair to eat food, only more gourmet and without the pretense of rides and animals and stuff. You are there to EAT, and we did, so mission accomplished. If the crowds are scaring you off, definitely don't let them--I hate huge crowds and wall-to-wall people, and this was totally manageable for me. Not even uncomfortable. And if you read on the internet that people get sick from the food at the taste ... I mean, I'm sure they do, but there's also a huge amount of people that go who don't get sick (me and my entire party included--that's five people, if you're keeping track), but you don't read about that because the internet is for complaining. :) Seriously, it was awesome. I totally want to go back, and at the very least, go visit some of the restaurants I tasted. Success all around!

Flash's First Trip to the Beach

So this past weekend, we took a trip to the beach and camping (and back to the beach!) for Amy's birthday, which was so fun, and me and Billy brought Flash along. He's never been in the water before (besides bathtime, which he hates), so we weren't sure how it was going to go. But I think he had a lot of fun, and we have some helpful ideas for next time.


It's really hard to take pictures at the beach, you know it? This may come as a shock to you, but the beach is so SANDY. I didn't want it getting into my camera, and I didn't want the camera bumping into my swimsuit and getting all wet. I didn't even bring it down to the beach until the second day we were there, because I just didn't want to mess with it, but then I realized it was Flashy's first beach trip and must be documented.

Y'all, we wore this dog OUT. The look you see here on his face is a much milder version of the "I hate you people and hope you die" look that he gave us all night Sunday. He did a LOT of walking in the sand and up the dunes, and we made him swim too, which he did pick right up but isn't naturally built for. The terriers aren't so much swimmers. But it was VERY hot out, and he liked laying right there in the surf where he could cool off his belly.

Flash later made friends with a little beagle/basset hound mix puppy who didn't want to get in the water. Her tie-out was close enough that she could, but she just wasn't into it. So Flash laid right down in the surf (we think to show off), and she started howling. He turned around to her, all Mr. Cool Guy, like, "What? I thought everyone did this. It's no big deal."

Here's the baby swimming and looking miserable. He was so cute though, and fast! And he got better and better at swimming, even though he always turned straight around and headed for the shore. Next time we bring him, we're going to make it a one day trip so he doesn't get so worn out, and we're going to get him a doggie life jacket. We think that'll make swimming easier and less scary/stressful for him.

That's a little bit of Amy that you see there holding his leash. Flashy LOVES Amy, and with totally good reason. She's like the best doggie aunt he could ever want, because she totally spoils him and takes him outside whenever we have sleepovers, and she plans activities for him in the city, and while we were on the beach, she rigged him a little tent out of a blanket, some bags, a kite (!), and some shoes so that he could get in the shade. She pointed out to him that he could dig in the sand, so he jumped right in and helped her out by digging himself a cool trench in the sand. It was all too cute for words.

And speaking of Flash, and digging, and sand ... You know, I told Flash before we left that this was going to be a fun weekend and he could get as dirty as he wanted, and he took me all the way up on it. This is my sandy puppy, and this is how he got that way:

Oh yeah, really get it worked in there, don't leave one inch of fur uncrusted! (Semi-related, we took Uncrustables with us in the cooler to the beach, and I have to say, they were the perfect beach food. No chance of anything spoiling and making you sick, and you can have PB&J without getting sand in it. There's my hot top of the day.)

And then there was this. Oh yes, that's my little terrier. I think we have some pictures of Flashy doing this exact thing in the snow, too. I believe it was Amy that called him a dog for all seasons, which made me chuckle. He seriously wanted to roll around in as much sand as possible, and he succeeded pretty admirably. He did this EVERY SINGLE TIME he got out of the water. And then he went and laid on our towels. Because that's just the kind of guy he is.

I don't know what it is, but I really like those red tone pictures. I know I might be alone on this, but different strokes, ya know, and it's totally my blog! Get your own! (Seriously, do, and then tell me about it so I can add it to my Google Reader.)

But this one was my "Hello, lover!" pic. You guys, I love the beach. And Lake Michigan isn't an ocean, but for living in the midwest, it's a really close, really good substitute. The water is a little cold, but the sand is pretty soft and the sun shines and it's nice. We couldn't go to one of the busier beaches because we had Flash and dogs aren't allowed there, but they do have areas where you can bring your dog and this is one of them. We actually discovered this little beach last year and it was truly a treasure of a find, completely free with parking and a bathroom, and almost deserted. It was busier this time around, but the weather has been so atrocious that I think we've all had cabin fever and everyone hit the beach at once.

And this is the view from the other side. I loved the foggy day and how it got misty as you got further away on either side, but I also sort of LOVE the smokestacks here. I think it adds a certain something, don't you?



I'm in love with summer. It's major.

Faux Vintage

You have never met a person more excited for the weekend than this girl, and this is an extra awesome weekend coming up because it's Amy's birthday and to celebrate the occasion, we're going camping at Indiana Dunes State Park! It's supposed to be really nice on Saturday and Sunday, and I can't wait to take pictures. We can't go to the main beach because Flash will be with us, but we did find a really outstanding quieter beach just a few miles away last year that we'll be returning to. I'm thinking about sneaking off to the main beach for a few crowd snapshots, but we'll see how motivated I actually feel after playing in the water and baking in the sun for a couple hours.

Meanwhile, I guess this is just a pretty major week for posting, but I had a couple fun shots laying around and I thought I'd share. Plus, it's Friday, no one wants to work and maybe you're here on my blog killing time, so we'll also have a little story time too. Eh?

I actually took this picture while I was shooting Kylie, because it really jumped out and grabbed me. I realized the other day when I was hanging out with Amy that it reminded me of something, and that is the infamous duck shirt.

When I was in college, I lived down the hall in the dorms from some girls who were super fun but also got into some shenanigans here and there. One night, they got a little on the drunk side (and by that I mean totally hammered) and stole this shirt off of someone's clothesline. It was one of those old school looking nature shirts with a couple of ducks in a marsh, sleeveless, and it looked like someone had modified it to make it more form fitting. While I didn't (and don't) approve of stealing clothing off someone's clothesline, there was no denying its awesomeness. The girls couldn't remember where they were when they took it, so there was also no giving it back. Just to be clear on that point.

So one day, I took my trash down to the trash room and there on top of the pile was the duck shirt. There was no way, NO WAY, I was letting this thing become garbage. I salvaged it and gave it a good home where it could be properly loved and worn.

Fast forward a couple years and I'm living in Indy and Amy is undoubtedly at my house looking for something fun to wear, most likely during Best Summer Ever, since we had all kinds of fun things to get dressed for that year, and she pulled out the duck shirt. It looked magnificent on her and I hadn't worn it in a couple years, so I told her to keep it. Because honestly, that seems to me at this point like the spirit of the duck shirt. Its happiness is meant to be shared.

So anyway, she came out wearing it again last weekend and I was so excited, and then I remembered this picture. Is there a point to this story? Not really. But it happened, and that's probably as valid a reason as any for sharing it with you. :)

I am more than a little in love with this picture, and at first glance you'd think it reminded me of my friends Lynn and Andy, which it does, but mostly, I just think this picture looks like friendship. And I didn't notice when I first wrote that last sentence, but the orange one even says "Buddy" on it, so that even more illustrates my point.

And this last one is a picture I took last weekend at RibFest up near Amy's house in Wrigleyville/Lakeview. I realized at this point that all my favorite pictures of things I take just out and about lately have a sweet vintagey feel. And who doesn't love vintage, by the way? I'm a very "more is more" kind of girl, and I like kitsch and retro and "charming". I always ooooh and aaaah at the appropriate places for modern design, clean lines, and minimalism, but in my heart, I'd always rather have a giant hot dog wrapped in an American flag and squirting itself with condiments sitting in my living room. Which may actually tell you all you need to know about me.

The other thing I really like about this picture is that it reminds me of the drive-in, which as we all know, I am in love with. Every drive-in I've ever been to has that old snack bar video with the hot dog doing flips and then jumping into the bun and I LOVE it. And if you need a reference point, it's playing behind Danny Zuko in Grease when he's singing that Oh Sandy song. I even have it as a piece of flair on my Facebook, so you know it's serious.

Alright, that does it for Photo Fun Day Friday! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Future Horror Movie Superstar Michael!

Alright, you guys, you're gonna love this. I think it's pretty well-established how much I love, and I mean LOOOOOVE the horror movies. It's serious.

Michael here needed some headshots, so we planned a time to get together and that's when I started asking him what kind of acting he was wanting to do and he told me he wanted to get into HORROR MOVIES! How unbelievably cool is that? I am so for it, and you know I'll be all huddled up in my seat, breaking Billy's hand with one hand and pointing at the screen with the other, yelling, "I KNOW THAT GUY!" I'm so excited for that day.

I don't know if anyone believes in signs, but let me just tell you a couple things that may be interesting coincidences, or may be omens of success. First of all, his name is MICHAEL MYERS. Michael Myers, people! For those not into the whole horror movie thing, that's the scary dude in the Halloween movies.

Secondly, we did the first part of the shoot at a forest preserve, and we had the weirdest moment with this little blackbird hovering in the air and squawking at us. I've never seen anything like it in my life. I gave Billy an account of the story later, and as you know from the babies, when I do voiceovers, everyone gets a little ghetto, so it pretty much turned into a turf war between us and the bird. But I TOTALLY digress. The point is, it was all very Hitchcockian. More horror royalty! Good signs, I'm telling you people!

I got so wrapped up in horror nerding after that last pic that I didn't say much about it, but I think that it probably speaks for itself. This is obviously a variation of the same shot.



Michael has very pretty eyes, as I think you'll get a better view of in some of the coming pictures, and I loved the outdoorsy look. Not very scary, of course, but you have to have a wide range so that you can fool the heroine into thinking that you're a nice guy so that it's SUPER shocking when you turn on her with a chainsaw or whatever.

Also, fun common interest sidenote, Michael is the only person I know besides myself and Billy (who I basically forced) who watched Scream Queens on VH1. Man, I loved that show. I think it's time for the Scream Kings version, and I nominate Michael Myers.



Michael's super cute, super fun girlfriend Kim came along and kind of acted as my impromptu assistant--she ran after my bag when I forgot it, and she stood behind me entertaining Michael and making him feel good about himself.

And aren't they CUTE together? He is majorly giving her The Look. I can only hope that this doesn't end up in scary rubber masks and blood and guts! (I really hope I'm not taking this all too far and coming off like a complete weirdo who's making people uncomfortable. I just REALLY love horror movies and get REALLY excited about them, and I'm happy that someone else loves them too and I get to talk about it. So hopefully everyone is just enjoying it with me and not thinking I'm a sociopath.)



This picture is really interesting to me, actually. I shot Michael from a lower angle because he's thin enough to get away with it (usually shooting from below is unflattering, almost universally, in my opinion--you have to have a very strong jawline for it to work, at least in my experience). And even as I was taking it, I LOVED it, and I knew it was incredible. I joyously announced that it was The Hot, and Kim agreed, and I never chimped it, I was so sure. (Chimping, for those not in the nerdy photographer know, is looking at the picture on the back of your camera--monkey see, monkey do, if you will.) I totally should have, because they were really blown out. I played around with them and decided they MAY be salvageable in black and white, so I told Michael that and it ended up being one that he chose. I consider it a very beautiful photograph although with a bit of an experimental look, but I love how his eyes really jump off the page at you.



Speaking of, Michael did choose all of these photos from our shoot to use. I loved this lens flare pic, but I was a little surprised he chose it, and I don't even know why. I mean, who doesn't love some lens flare? I guess I thought maybe it was something that photographers like more than clients, but I am proven wrong! But anyway, his choice is my gift to anyone curious about how I got some lens flare (and it was my gift from the internet, so, you know, very rare, valuable, sentimental, etc.). Apparently, the trick is a smaller aperture. Awesome, right? And so easy. I tend to shoot with a pretty wide aperture, so this fact didn't really present itself to me, and I had to read it. Maybe someone out there is the same way, and now you know the secret to crazy lens flare. Woo!

I've been wooing an awful lot lately.

Thanks again, Michael, for choosing me to do your headshots, and to the beautiful Kim for all of her help! I hope to work with you again, and wish you a bright future of blood, guts, gore, monsters, ghosts, vampires, hopefully some 3-D, but no mummies, because those are lame. Break a leg!