A few photos from a recent wedding…. the father lifting the veil in a photo caught my eye. No flash was used in this photo. Many churches have flash restrictions and though I don’t believe this particular one did, the available lighting was lovely and I got this shot without flash. The second photograph is at the Intercontinental Hotel which as a Chicago wedding venue, it has some great spots for photos of the bride and groom including a modern art galery on site, and a comtemporary lobby.
“i’ve been so excited to see the photos, thank you sooo much for all your hard work on our wedding day. we had a blast and i’m glad we can now remember more of the moments through our photos. we love the pics. there’s so many that are truly amazing and totally capture the feeling behind the day. they were well worth the wait. i love a lot of the details shots of the flowers, the wine bottles, the table settings, the people signing the guestbook, the tiny flowers on the cake, etc. the outdoor shots after the wedding turned out fabulous! there’s nothing we appreciate more about living in the city is when we’re downtown and see all the city lights and the skyline and know that we live here…truly beautiful and those shots are my favorites!”
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learn about photography:
bokeh happens when a photo is taken under certain lens conditions and creates certain aesthetic qualities in out of focus backgrounds. the reason i do this is to limit distractions and emphasize the important subject in a photograph. the two lenses i use that produce a nice amount of bokeh are my canon 85mm f/1.2 and my canon 35mm f/1.4. to the average consumer, these lenses are pricey, but you can get a similar effect with a 50mm f/1.8. both canon and nikon offer these little lenses commonly known as nifty fifties (or shifty fifties!) for around $85 dollars. its hands-down the number one starter lens for anyone picking up a digital SLR. if you happen to get a DSLR camera for the holidays, promptly toss the kit lens in the bin and pick yourself up a faster lens. fun fact: i won’t date anyone who uses a kit lens, and if need be, i will go buy a 50mm f/1.8. i still have my nifty fifty and have no plans on getting rid of it!
what about film? i love film. i have more film cameras than i do digital. film is cozy and familiar. i learned photography using film. i used a camera for five years that didn’t even take a battery. if you have a film camera tinkering around, i strongly recommend picking it up and reading up on some photography 101. when you shoot digital, you will have a better grasp on understanding manual photography. when i shoot film, i shoot less. it forces me to shoot for quality versus shooting for quantity. for me, its a needed exercise and good discipline for reminding myself to shoot for quality. the film cameras i use are medium format and take medium format film which means i get between 12 and 15 shots on one roll. its expensive, tedious, and rewarding all at the same time. when i was hired to do resort photography recently in jamaica, i took along one of my film cameras, my hasselblad 503cx. though the V-system cameras have been produced since WWII, my camera might be about 25 years old. old, but not ancient. i like the simplicity of it. during that particular architectural shoot, while i waited for the clouds to make way for sun, i sat down to clean my camera and lens. the employees of the resort watched as i took the camera apart in three easy steps. i took the film holder off, i removed the viewfinder, and finally removed the lens. “so basically its just a box?” one onlooker said? yes!
p.s. if i don’t update the blog before christmas, happy holidays! i worked on this wedding until the wee hours and plan to get through as many weddings as possible in the next few days!
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!
ceremony & reception site: ZED 451
florist: dilly lily
officiant: bruce otto of spirited weddings
wedding gown designer: kelly neuls designs
dj: nate from style matters
hairstylist: angela from lather
stationer: papeterie store
