Beth & Fred Engagement

I absolutely adore Beth & Fred. Spending time with them is like sitting in on an "I Love Lucy" show - there's just so much comedy, sarcasm, and love in the air that I think I walked away from our engagement session with cheek cramps from laughing so much! They have a really cute home in Washington, DC (loooove the green wall and don't even get me started on all of the awesome furniture) which they share with their adorable dog, Ruckus.


To capture the city they love so much, we headed to the "Mall" where the main monuments and museums are all located. Washington, DC certainly gave Chicago a run for its money because this was definitely the windiest engagement session ever!! The wind was out of control! Thank goodness Beth had shorter hair or it could have been much worse! Beth & Fred were up for anything - so we hopped on the carousel for some fun & crazy shots!




Little did I know that my husband was taking video while we were on the carousel- so, you get to see a little "making of" video!! Normally going in circles makes me sick, so I can only watch the first part of this video without feeling queezy, but somehow when I was actually on the carousel it didn't affect me at all! I love that you can HEAR how strong the wind is in the audio on the movie! You can also see what a big chimper I am - HA!! Check out that harsh sun and dark shadow - talk about an exposure challenge!! Click play to see us in action. ;)


Beth & Fred told me that I could get crazy with color - so I did!


I think my absolute favorite place to be and photograph that day was the Lincoln Memorial. Aside from being sheltered from the wind and having beautiful directional light, there's a very calming sense of peace once you're in the monument. There were a TON of people there, yet there were times when it felt like I was completely alone with Lincoln. It really was an amazing experience. I can see why Fred picked this monument as the backdrop for his proposal to Beth - what a beautiful place to revisit over and over again.






Never being in DC before, I always thought that you'd be able to see the Capitol from anywhere but what I found was that the Washington Monument was actually much more visible around the city than the Capitol was. It seemed to be omnipresent.




I enjoy a beautiful and romantic silhouette as much as the next person, but that just didn't seem fitting for these two - not that they aren't romantic, but because their joy and laughter really characterize their bond much better. And how apropo that the background is red, white, and blue... yes, I'm cheesy and I love it! ;) I can't wait for the wedding day!!! I already know it's going to be soooo much fun!!!


I almost forgot - thank you sooo much for the delicious hamantashen and dinner!!!!

Faye & Brian Engagement

While I was in Chicago, I made a special trip to Navy Pier to meet Faye & Brian for their engagement session. Thank goodness for cell phones because even though we said we would meet in front of the Ferris Wheel, it was still impossible to find each other without our phones! Going into this, I knew what a tourist destination Navy Pier was, but I was still surprised with how crowded it was on a Wednesday night. Nothing really special going on, except their usual fireworks display later that evening. I loved the carnival-like atmosphere and thankfully all of the pier lights allowed me to continue shooting well after the sun had gone down without resorting to direct flash, and without attracting too much attention with a ton of gear. I LOVE the challenges of shooting in different locations, it really pushes me to be on top of my technique!



Faye & Brian did such an excellent job of relaxing with sooooo many people around. It can be tough to be really relaxed and focused on each other when there are a million people, or maybe even just two people walking by, but it's so worth it because of the amazing locations and scenes that you just can't get from shooting inside a studio. Like, that's the REAL Chicago skyline, not a backdrop, and that's a REAL Carousel, not just a prop.... and the fireworks... hello?! How many peole get fireworks in their engagement pictures?! (And how many photographers would even want to continue shooting after dark?) I have so many favorites from this session, here are just a few...













(I'll attach the slideshows once our internet thing gets worked out, so check back in a few days when the slideshow link will be added!)