Fun new toy!

Val and I headed to Milwaukee yesterday afternoon for an engagement shoot with Kristine and Brian. I keep saying that it must be the last nice day before winter sets in, and yesterday was yet another last nice day before winter. Trees in many places have lost most of their color and leaves, but near Lake Michigan things are still in full fall bloom! We shot a little by the lake at a small park where they got engaged. The story goes that Brian and Kristine were skipping rocks and Brian gathered some rocks together and asked Kristine which one she wanted next. Of course one of those rocks was a fabulous engagement ring! Way to go Brian!
The lakefront and the Milwaukee Art Museum were great locations to shoot at, but one of the highlights for me was getting to use a new gadget called a Lensbaby, which is a super cool, "looks more like a toy than a lens" kind of thing. It attaches to the camera like any other lens, but you can bend it around to produce some really cool effects. It takes a little getting used to, but it's SO much fun! I don't actually own one yet, Ward at The Camera Company, where I teach photo classes, let me borrow it to shoot some sample images for them. It's definitely on the top of my Christmas list now!
Here are some samples of what it looks like. Have a great day!

The card shark at work ...

The surest sign of fall

Most people know it's really fall when the leaves start to turn colors, or maybe they start to feel a chill in the air, or maybe they get odd cravings for pumpkin pie. With me though, the surest sign of fall is portraits of my sister and her family. It's become an annual tradition of sorts, and I'm always happy to do it. It's always lots of fun - I love playing around with my neices and nephew. However it can be a challenge too - there's a saying about herding cats that comes to mind! Val and I are always exhuasted after a shoot with them, but we always have a good time too.
The thing I love about photographing them is that its mostly like I'm visitiing them and playing around with them like usual, only I have a big camera in my hand. They make all kinds of goofy faces for the camera, which I think is great but it drives my sister nuts!



Crazy hair Eliza on the swing!





Garrison loves to roll around in the grass.





Clara is just learning to sit up on her own ... and she likes to eat leaves.

Lots of Engagement Shoots Lately

'Tis the season ... for engagment portraits that is. With all the fall colors of the past month, we've been shooting lots of engagment portraits. I'm not finished editing through them all, but here's a few of my favorites from what I've finished so far.
Happy Wednesday!

Chicago engagement portraits

What a great day to spend on the Chicago lakefront! It was great
weather - probably one of the last few nice fall days before winter
sets in.
Val and I headed to Chicago for an engagement shoot with our friends
Paula and Nil, who are getting married in January. We shot some photos
and then had lunch at a little restaurant in Michigan Ave. What a nice
way to spend a Sunday!