sometimes weather isn’t always behaving – it hasn’t been for a good portion of october it seems. the wedding i posted yesterday was during remnants of a hurricane, but with rain aside there is always a way to get gorgeous photos. it seems like we’ve had some pretty raw weather that just won’t quit, so yesterday’s engagement shoot couple came up with a great location for an indoor location. i had a lot of fun with lauren and anthony exploring a relatively empty tourist area since there were very little crowds. some locations we explored and shot in were: a locker room, a childrens museum, an indoor shopping area, and the wedding venue known as crystal gardens at navy pier.
during their engagement shoot, abigail and sam told me about their wedding planning and were excited about having hired a professional lighting design team for their stan mansion wedding. they transformed a space that was a true blank canvas by choosing purple lighting that created an atmosphere for their wedding that guests commented about all night.
i photographed abigail getting ready at her home, and on the wall i noticed a painting by jamie haynes! i immediately recognized she had a connection to my favorite city: new orleans. abigail’s mother lives in new orleans’ garden district and we chatted a bit about second line parades. abigail didn’t grow up in NOLA otherwise i probably would have photographed another bride and groom in new orleans. abigal and sam headed to logan square for a planned meeting where they would have a documented “first look,” followed by some fun photos before the ceremony. after we finished creative photos in the park, sam went to stan mansion and made sure every detail was set perfectly, and gave a thumbs up to begin the ceremony. i wanted to make sure as much purple light was visible in their wedding photos as possible so i used my one of my favorite lenses for most of the night, that enables me to shoot without use of flash. whenever possible, i try to shoot without flash, or with low flash, so that the natural colors, shadows, and true look is preserved. i want my clients to have photos that accurately document their wedding from the little details, to the atmosphere of the room.
i had the opportunity to photograph dora and diego before their wedding for an engagement shoot. they had an atypical wedding and put a lot of thought into the unique details. her good friend happened to be a costume designer and created a wedding dress that was exactly what dora wanted. she enlisted angela from lather to come up with a vintage pinup hairstyle for her wedding day. they wed on a rooftop in the presence of their friends and family and invited their friends inside zed 451 for a private reception where guests visited bountiful harvest tables full of so much food and then had churrasco – a variety of meats brought to each table, served on skewers. the newlyweds had their first dance to madness’ song “it must be love.” the bride said that “the wedding certificate that our guests signed is inspired by a traditional quaker practice. when quakers marry those who are attending the meeting sign a marriage certificate as witnesses to the promises that the couple made before God. ours served as a way to include friends and family in our ceremony and it was also used in lieu of a guest book.”
a review from the bride:
“when heather and i were discussing the final time line for my wedding i had very few things scheduled and not too many “must have” photos to tell her about… when i first looked at our photos i realized that she had managed to capture exactly what i had wanted. we had a smaller wedding so every guest was someone important to us. heather and her assistant were able to capture so many fantastic candid photos of our loved ones. it’s like we now have portraits of all the special people in our lives! she managed to get some gorgeous shots under some challenging lighting conditions and she put a lot of time above and beyond our contract into adjusting the contrast of those photos. i feel really fortunate to have found heather! she’s talented, dedicated, professional and easy to communicate with!
this off-the-boat wedding was off the charts! diana’s family is from colombia, and her husband antonio’s family is from italy – they traveled far to witness a couple who had been dating for over ten years finally come together in marriage. i photographed diana and her bridesmaids getting ready at her mother’s quant home right by the ocean. her sister surprised her with the arrival of a shiny white antique bentley. because diana allocated time for some creative wedding photography before her ceremony, we headed over to the ocean for some fun photos. during the ceremony i could see a lot of people holding back tears. along with their bridal party, diana and antonio made made an unforgettable entrance into their reception.
Venue Six10 at Spertus | Chicago Wedding. I met with Shawn & Tamar for an engagement photography session in downtown Chicago, and ever since I had a chance to work with them and tour their gorgeous venue, I have been looking forward to shooting their wedding. Tamar works for the Intercontinental Hotels Group and got ready for today’s wedding at the Intercontinental hotel on Michigan Avenue. Shawn and Tamar chose to have their “first look” in the lobby before heading down the street to get married.
The ceremony and reception were held nearby at the Venue Six10 at Spertus with a kosher dinner catered by Wolfgang Puck. With so many reflective angular surfaces, it is such a fun space to shoot in. Architecture aficionados (and green conscious brides!) can see some in-depth images of this sustainable building by visiting Architects’ Krueck + Sexton website.
hezzie and sam live in san francisco and got married in chicago. i had not met them before their wedding date. they had their wedding yesterday, getting ready at the conrad hotel over magnificent views of michicago ave, followed by the ceremony and reception at gallery 1028 in chicago. the gallery space is on goose island, and was my first “island” wedding shoot in chicago. gallery 1028 is one of chicago’s newer wedding spaces and is getting a lot of buzz. owned by calihan catering, the gallery is a huge space with tall ceilings, exposed brick and beams, with a true raw loft space. the gallery is very dark inside and provides the perfect ambience for a modern, contemporary wedding. there is plenty of parking too. gallery 1028 could be a challenge to shoot in since there is very little “white” space for a photographer to bounce a flash off. with the right lenses and extra flashes, the night was a success.
nicole fitzpatrick, the coordinator for the venue and calihan catering was friendly and on top of things. she recently got back from maternity leave and has hit the ground running. i am excited for more fun weddings at gallery 1028 in the future.
as many of my blog readers know, i have shot many weddings around the country. the DJ at last night’s event was by far the best DJ i have ever had the opportunity to work alongside. if you ever have the chance to hire zebo from style matters, you won’t be let down. he is a club DJ and spinning vinyl, and is able to blend songs together seamlessly and had generations of family on the dance floor all night with fun remixes of classic hits. he definitely knew how to read the crowd and had a great selection of indie, old school hip hop, and typical run-of-the-mill wedding requests.
From the client via Yelp Chicago Photographer wedding reviews:
“Heather photographed our September 2009 wedding at Gallery 1028 in Chicago, and she did an amazing job. We wanted artistic photos that would retell the story of our wedding day, and that’s exactly what we got. Heather was professional, creative, and super easy to work with. Our photos are nothing short of stunning, and we are so glad we hired her!”
i am proud to have been selected as the wedding photographer for liza and nia’s wedding, and to be from massachusettts – the first state to allow gay marriage.
michelle and tom are one of the nicest couples i have ever worked with. they had a fabulous friday wedding. their ceremony was at saint athanasius church, which restricted the use of flash photography. i was able to conquer that obstacle by using the right lenses and i love the natural lights and shadows that are visible when flash is not used. challenges like this often create the most wonderful, emotional images. thank you michelle and tom for allowing me to document your special day!
update august 26, 2009, from the bride michelle:
“Picking your wedding photographer is so important — and Heather made that decision easy. Heather is not only a very talented photographer who knows her craft expertly, she was also able to capture our wedding day without intruding into it. Heather knew which parts of the day were especially good for “Kodak moments,” offered suggestions when appropriate, and was very easy and relaxed to work with. All while being very professional. My husband and I are camera shy, but Heather made us feel comfortable and has produced pictures that we can’t stop looking at! We couldn’t be more happy with Heather and our pictures!”
i have photographed many jewish weddings and many christian/jewish “combo” weddings. this particular wedding brought together a catholic bride and jewish groom. it is always interesting to see friends and familiy being introduced to new traditions, especially the horah.
update august 24, 2009, the bride jill writes:
“Heather photographed our wedding in July, and we were really happy with the results. Her photographs truly captured the day, from makeup application to dancing. In looking for a photographer, we wanted someone who would document everything beautifully, but we didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg. We were also looking for a little style and creativity; we didn’t want just stuffy posed shots. Heather and her assistant were the perfect choice for us. Their style is modern, fun, creative, but they also do the group shots that you want.
Since we received the link to the online gallery, we’ve been getting rave reviews of the photos from family and friends. My uncle, in particular, was really impressed. He emailed me: “Without question those are the best pictures of a wedding I have ever seen. Incredible job.” One of my friends thought the photos looked like those you’d find in a magazine. It was the perfect ending to our wedding experience to get such amazing photos to reflect our day.
We were also really happy with our communication with Heather prior to the wedding. Since we live on the west coast, we were unable to meet with her before the big day. She tended to be super fast at replying to our emails, though, which comforted us and made us more confident that we were being listened to and were being taken care of.”
i had a ton of fun shooting sara and andy’s beach wedding. during their ceremony (and of course during the important moments) the rain began to fall. it soon cleared up and we took a few photos along the water before making our way to the reception venue. as i am working on editing a ton of weddings, here are just a few teasers followed by a link to some more photographs.
