Modern Photographers » Film

Rachel and Chris: Salvage One- Chicago Wedding Photography

Modern Photographers — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:57:56 +0000

I can’t believe it took me so long to blog this wedding. Perhaps it is because there were so many beautiful images to choose from! Either way, I am so excited to share this Salvage One wedding with you all! Rachel and Chris’s wedding was one of the weddings I was really looking forward to last year. I probably spent more time checking the weather for that weekend than they did, lol! It turned out to be a gorgeous 4th of July weekend in Chicago and I couldn’t imagine a better location for their wedding.

Rachel and Chris worked so hard planning all the details for their wedding day. From the location, the flowers from Asrai Gardens, to the desserts that each of their family member made and brought in for the dessert table, and the gorgeous cake by Tipsy Cake. It was truly an awe-inspiring day!

Rachel and Chris, you are such a wonderful couple and I am so honored to know you. I cannot wait to work with you both again!

I was also very honored to have this wedding posted on Style Me Pretty, you can see the blog post here.

Beauty: Martiza + Milian of Bride Style Beauty

Florist: Elizabeth Cronin of Asrai Garden Florist

Catering: Kitty Koster of The Hearty Boys

DJ: Erica Schwanke of Toast and Jam

Day of Coordination: Amy Stockbridge of KKR Studio

Wedding Ceremony + Reception Venue: Salvage One

Cocktail Hour Mariachi: Edgar Garcia / Ceremony Music: Kyle Sowash

Prep Hotel: Hotel Burnham

Wedding Cake: Naomi Levine of Tipsy Cake

Sweets: Family

Bride’s Shoes: Calvin Klein

Wedding Dress: Novia D’Art

HUGE thanks for my assistant Kelsey and my 2nd shooter Kelly Sweet for being with me that weekend. You guys rocked it!!

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Saying goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012!

Modern Photographers — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:30:02 +0000

Over the last few days I have been gathering images together for this 2011 year end blog post. Looking back through all these pictures, I realized what a busy year it really was for me! I traveled all over the world, I met some remarkable people, made some new friends, mended ties with some old friends, achieved quite a few major goals, had a new website built, lived through two hurricanes, gained one more nephew, photographed some amazing weddings, dealt with some very difficult business situations, learned a lot of lessons and finished the year off with a huge smile! Here is a little walk down my 2011 memory lane….

The year began with photographing an unbelievable New Years Day wedding in Chicago..Followed by a trip to Sedona to photograph a Trash the Dress session for 2 photographers (have I mentioned how much I love photographing photographers?)!!

From Jenny and Kumanan in New Zealand to Heather and Ryan in Grand Rapids, it was a whirlwind wedding year! I traveled to California, Sydney Australia, New Zealand, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina (where we encountered Hurricane Irene), New York again, Mexico (where we also encountered Hurricane Jova), Seattle, and Arizona…Whew, talk about frequent flier miles!

In between the weddings, I was also busy working on some personal projects like “Over the Soup”..more on that later.. as well as fashion shoots, one of which I photographed while rowing a kayak, and workshops! My work was published in Style Me Pretty (where I was asked to join their Little Black Book), Wedding Chicks, Lemon and Lavender, and Professional Photographer Magazine!

So with all that said, sit back and enjoy the pictures! It was truly a magical year and I am so grateful to all my clients, friends and family. I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!

To all the remarkable vendors that made my job so easy, thank you, you make me look good!

I want to send a special thanks to the following vendors…you are all so special to me, thank you for everything!!

Jenn at Modern Day Floral

Lauren, Tara and Lori at LOLA Events

Julie Strating

Erin Brown

Natasha Olhman Styling

Rhi at Hey Gorgeous Events

Jodi with In Any Event and Gwyneth Paige Letter Press

The girls at Salvage One

Style Me Pretty

Wedding Chicks

Lindsey from Peggy Notebaret Nature Museum

Snippet and Ink

Grace at The Amway Grand

Asrai Garden

And many, many more that I may have missed!

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Benjamin

Modern Photographers — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:32:56 +0000

As my business has grown through the years, I have started to do fewer and fewer newborn sessions. Not because I don’t like to do them, but it’s not what I am best at. I spent a few hours with Brian, Jenny and Benjamin and looking back through their images I have found a new love for these sessions. The photojournalistic feel I get from looking through these pictures makes me remember why I got into photography to begin with. I have always loved fine art, but photojournalism is what got me hooked on photography many, many years ago. Being able to capture these emotions and first moments on film is what makes me love my job even more!

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Sugar, spice and all things nice…

Modern Photographers — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:50:22 +0000

My sweet, sweet friend, Yazy, asked me to do some pictures of her and her lovely family as well as some maternity pictures of herself. She didn’t have maternity pictures done when she was pregnant with her first daughter so she wanted to capture this time in her life while she could! I don’t get to photograph photographers very often, especially photographers as good as Yazy..so needless to say I was really nervous when she asked me to do these. We did the whole session on film and it was one of the last nice days in October so we really lucked out! I am so in love with how these turned out and I am so happy I could create these images for Yazy and her family.

Yazy, you are an amazingly beautiful woman and I could not be happier for you. I cannot wait to meet your little girl! Thank you for allowing me to capture these memories for you, I will always treasure our time together!

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Ross + Sithan: Bay Pointe Wedding

Modern Photographers — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 17:55:10 +0000

I love this small intimate wedding that took place in September at Bay Pointe Inn. It was a hot hot day, but Ross and Sithan didn’t seem to be bothered at all. The love they have for each other was written all over their faces!

Even though is was only a 3 hour day for me, I felt like I had known this couple my whole life. So happy for the two of you! Thank you so much for allowing me to capture your day, it was absolutely gorgeous!

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And baby makes 3..

Modern Photographers — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:19:17 +0000

I am so excited to share these images with you..Our very good friends, Heidi and Fred, had their dreams come true when they welcomed a little baby boy Kellen into their lives. I am so honored to know them, they are already amazing parents and I couldn’t be happier for them!

Heidi and Fred, you have been such great friends to us and we are so happy for the two of you, congratulations! xoxo- Jen and Wally

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Featured in Professional Photographer Magazine

Modern Photographers — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:35:41 +0000

So I have been sitting on this for a while and now that the feature has come out I am excited to finally share the news with you! Yes, I know I should have posted this a while ago, but to be totally honest I was in such shock that I didn’t really know what to say. That and the fact that I was a traveling fool during the entire month of October

Anyway, long story short, I was approached back in August by the Director of Publications of Professional Photographer Magazine to submit some of my detail shots. I was so blown away by this. I didn’t think that they even knew who I was! So I sent them a pretty big selection of images and they chose 3 (which was WAY more than I had ever expected) to be in the October issue of their magazine! As a photographer, I try to set personal goals for myself and having my work published in a magazine that is respected and read by photographers all over the world was one of my many personal goals.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would see my hard work in a magazine that wasn’t actually wedding related!

Here are the spreads where you can see my images featured (all three are on the top). The cover image is not mine, but I wanted to show you what the issue looks like, so if you see it you will recognize that it was the issue I am referring to!
Many, many, many thanks to all my family, friends and amazing clients and vendors who have helped me achieve this goal. Look out Martha Stewart Weddings, I am sending stuff your way next!

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Jess+Brad – Patina Estate, San Ynez

Jen Rodriguez Photography — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:48:59 +0000

San Ynez wedding shoot, San Ynez

All photographs taken by Santa Barbara wedding photographer Jen Rodriguez

Earlier this month I had the great pleasure in participating in an amazing workshop held by Jen Huang a wonderful New York wedding photographer. It was 3 days of learning, listening, inspiring, and most importantly shooting! I shot the majority of the workshop using my film camera and I am so in love with the results. Isn’t film just beautiful!?!

Home Sweet Home

Modern Photographers — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:27:03 +0000

A few weeks ago I was out in Seattle and had the pleasure of staying with a very good friend of mine. As many of you know, Seattle is my home town and where I grew up.. For as long as I have known her, I have loved Angela’s sense of style and decor’. Her home has always been so warm and welcoming. When I purchased my first home, I looked for a place that made me feel the way I always felt when I was at Angela’s. During this visit I decided to take a few pictures of her cozy house along with her son, Mikey, who was born after I had already moved to Michigan. I hope you get the same sense of warmth and peacefulness from looking at these pictures as I do. She has certainly been a inspiration to me, and thanks to her decorating style, I now have some new winter projects to work on in my own home!

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Photographers…

Modern Photographers — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:16:17 +0000

Be inspired…continue to challenge yourself everyday. The more you do, the more you will see!

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