Cassal di Caelkriss

Matt and I recently had the opportunity to work at College Church in Wheaton with Alicia and Alex.  Although the church was a little restricting, it was a highly rewarding day.

Alicia had been a friend of ours at church several years back, and we met up recently at a mutual friend’s wedding reception.  When I learned that Alicia was getting married, knowing how artistic and perfectionist (like me) the family was, I was immediately hoping to shoot the wedding.  I was genuinely excited about this one from day one.

We were supposed to meet Alex at the rehearsal the day before the wedding, but God had something else in mind.  On the way to Wheaton, our car broke down and we ended up being stranded at a Walgreen’s for almost three hours.  So, we missed the rehearsal, but that didn’t really discourage us.  We met everyone Saturday morning, and despite forecasts of rain, it turned out to be a bright and beautiful day.

Thanks, guys, for being such an easy couple to photograph!  Here are some of my favorites of the day.

Last week, I had the opportunity to do a shoot with Erica. We were scheduled to be in the studio at 2pm, but along the way we ran into some snags that put us almost an hour off schedule. Fortunately, we still had enough time in the studio and we head out to downtown Elmhurst to do some outdoor shots.

I was really happy with some of the results. The rough start had me a bit off beat in the beginning, but after things got moving along, I think we clicked into a good rhythm. Once we hit downtown and found some spots, things really fell into place. The sun was providing some great golden back lighting, and I used my Fong diffuser on my Speedlight for flash fill.  For anyone looking to do flash photography, I’d highly recommend investing in a Gary Fong Lightsphere.  It doesn’t look the most dignified, but after you see the results, you really won’t care what it looks like.

Erica was really great to work with.  She was very easygoing, and we had a really fun and relaxed session.  Here are a few picks from the shoot.

January 2009

I had an awesome session with Sam.  He’s a friend of mine from college, and he’s a really great singer/songwriter.  He’s putting out his second album pretty soon, and when he asked me to shoot photos for the cover, I jumped at the opportunity.

We did the session at a beautiful mansion in Roselle.  The place was quite literally like a castle.  From the stonework to the tapestries to the studded, solid hardwood doors, the house has utterly decked out.

Not only did I have the advantage of having an amazing set wherever I turned, I had amazing assistants.  Kelly, another friend from college and close friend of Sam, and her cousin, Amy, an ad model from New York, came along to help direct the session.  We talked a lot, we laughed a lot, and we learned a lot.  Amy’s input, as a professional model, was invaluable.

We had a total blast, and I think we captured some great images.  Here are a few of my favorites.