I was reminded again last night how unbelievably lucky I am to be doing what I do. Renmar and Suzie’s wedding is in just a few days and they met me downtown for a quick e-session. We had such a great time!

 They were up for anything! Even at the very beginning of the shoot!

Suzie, you are beautiful. Did I mention that?

Such a gorgeous couple!

They have so much fun together!

Can’t wait for your wedding this weekend!! And thanks to my special assistant (and sister of the groom!) Renelle

Liezl and Joe have been together ever since I could remember them in high school. Yes, it’s been that long! They’ve been good friends of ours for awhile now and I’m so happy to see them finally tying the knot. We had a fun downtown shoot with lots of beautiful light and these two were simply radiant together. 

 Congratulations you two love birds! Justin and I wish you all the best life has to offer!

I had a major problem picking my favorites. I’m not kidding. There are LOTS of photos to look at so sit back and enjoy Without further ado… here they are.

Joe told me he was “smizing” – as in smiling with your eyes. As in – he watches Tyra Banks and picks up her lingo

Laughter helps.  You can tell by the way she looks at him slyly then scrunches her nose up and erupts in laughter that there is no one else on this earth that would be the perfect match for her than RJ. If you closed your eyes and just listened to their banter you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling if you tried!

There is a reason this session meant so much to me. RJ is basically my little brother. He and Rowena have been together since we were all in college at DePaul and I had just met Justin.  RJ even spent a summer crashing at my parents place while we were all still in school and spent a ton of time hanging with the other love of my life, Rolo   It has been wonderful watching RJ grow up (even though he is truly a kid at heart!).

From the moment they came by our place last Saturday until they left after dinner, I could feel how much RJ loves her and it made me so happy. He and Rowena have a light-heartedness to their relationship that I’ve always admired and I know that they will be there for each other through the good and the bad.

I was honored that they asked me to take their engagement photos and Justin and I are even more honored that we’ve been asked to play a role in their wedding next July. To sum it up, they are fabulous, and make me realize even more why I love what I do. RJ and Rowena, we love you and are soooo very happy for you! Congratulations!

RJ, in case you didn’t know. The beach is THAT way.

Rowena is just so pretty!

The classic RJ look:

Love this one:

Like I said, he’s my kid brother, which is why I get to post this. Seriously RJ, I am amazed. Did she really agree to marry you??

Yep. I guess she did.

Jaime and Dan met up with me today for an engagement session in University Village. The lighting today was nothing short of perfect, and they were having such a great time together! Can you feel the love, people? Here are some of my favorites:

Recently, people have been asking me when and how I got started with photography, and for advice as to how they can do the same. Truth is, I find it shocking that people have asked me. I am a newbie. In every sense of the word. I balance my full time day job, MBA school at night, and photography all at the same time. I have managed to get by because I absolutely and truly love each of these 3 things.

Just over a year ago, I had my very first paid session at the Cuneo Museum in Vernon Hills. I connected to Ira through Facebook – she was an old high school friend of mine and I found out she was engaged… Well, we got to talking and Ira and Mike were willing to give me a chance. To this day, I honestly don’t know the reason why! I had never shot any engagement portraits before, so I’m not sure what gave me the courage to say that I could do this, other than the fact that I loved photography and people. Nevertheless, they took a leap of faith in me, paid for the permit to shoot on the property, and were ready to work with me!

I was a ball of nervous energy the night before, trying to envision the types of poses we could try, praying that the lighting wouldn’t be too harsh, even googling “engagement photos” for ideas! I wonder sometimes how Justin puts up with me, because I am SURE I was asking him what he thought of this and that, and talking through any possible situations I might encounter. (Um, can you say, ANNOYING?) Anything that I could use to put my mind at ease. Well, the next day came, and I drove up to the property about an hour early to scope out the scene. I was a woman on a mission. I marched up and down that property, remembering the spots that I thought were the most colorful and had enough shade to make a flattering picture when the sun was out. I found 4 or 5 spots I wanted to try with them, and when they pulled up, I was ready.

As soon as we started, all the nervousness went away, and I just turned into a kid at a candy store, giddy with all the gorgeous scenery we had to work with, not to mention the unbelievable chemistry these two shared. I loved every moment of it.

So, here are my two cents, even though I am just a beginner. If you love what you do, I mean really love it, you will find yourself surrounded by the opportunities to succeed in it. Whatever you truly focus on is what you will succeed in. Sonia Choquette, a famous author and vibrational healer recently tweeted “What we think matters far less than what we love.” I couldn’t have said it any better than this.

And now, for the photos. Thank you Ira and Mike for believing in me!

What does a workaholic like me do in the middle of the night? Experiment with photos, apparently. As Justin has been sound asleep for the past hour and I have no one to reprimand me for staying up so late, I’m letting my addiction get the better of me. Did I mention these two are gorgeous?

I keep updating this post. It’s like an illness, really! But how stinkin’ cute are they?

I had a fabulous evening with Scott and Anna, who are getting married later this summer. I am so blown away by how in love these two truly are, and how ridiculously good looking they are to boot. It was a perfect downtown summer day and though I’m used to getting lots of Chicago shots with buildings and pavement – we were also able to head to the beach, where it suddenly seemed like we were in a tropical paradise. All in all it was a great evening for shooting, especially with this stunning pair! They were so easy going and obviously head over heels for each other. Congrats, you two! I can’t wait for the big day!!

Um, can you say drop dead gorgeous?

Anna used to model, can you tell?

Scott kept telling me that he looked bad next to Anna and that I should focus on her face most of the time… but I think he’s being too modest. I don’t know if I’m imagining things but is anyone else reminded of Daniel Craig on this next one?