The Way We Click BLOG

Becca and Jon are two of the most awesome people I’ve had the opportunity to meet here in Chicago, so it was no surprise that when they asked me to shoot a local Chicago engagement session  I jumped at the chance! Their wedding will be in Napa, specifically in the gorgeous town of Yountville, but they wanted some Chicago flare to their engagement session to reflect both sides of their style. We brainstormed some ideas, and they showed up with the cutest chalkboards and hand painted signs, as well as their adorable Pup Taz as props! We ran all over Chicago, but focused on the South Pond area of the Lincoln Park Zoo which has an incredible view of the Chicago skyline, as well as one of the most fun architectural spots to photograph anywhere in town. We then headed south to one of my new favorite spots to get a little more of the country feeling to complement their Napa nuptuals. With one of the more windy afternoons to contend with, Becca was a great sport and had to change her hairstyle more than once to keep it out of both of their faces! Overall however, the most important part always shined through, and their love for one another was easy to capture. Thank you for an amazing day, and special thanks to Taz for being such an amazing model!

Spending the day with Anjali & Udai is nothing short of a pleasure. Sweet, fun, sentimental and completely in love, I felt really connected to the two of them immediately and was really looking forward to shooting them. We started their downtown and River North engagement session at the place where they met. Martini Park bar is no longer open, but the sign was still there so it was a great place to get a sentimental shot of the two of them at the place where it all began. We covered some serious ground in the hour and a half we wandered around, from the bridges, to the wonderful river access walkways, and a fun house like mirror where we just had to get a shot of us all. All in all a perfect day with a perfect couple.

So I’m completely open about the fact that I have a love affair with my hairstylist. No seriously… I obsess… because somehow Irene at Salon Blonde always seems to know exactly what I want, event when I can’t articulate my way out of a paper bag! I always leave there feeling effortlessly fierce, so when the ladies over there asked me to do some awesome funky hair fashion shots for their upcoming mid-summer makeover event I jumped at the chance. Here are a few of my choice favorites from the shoot… and a few of my favorite styles too! Seriously ladies (and gentlemen) if you need anything at all in the way of hair, makeup or styling, you would do yourselves a huge favor by stopping by and meeting all my favorite people!

At the end of August I had a crazy whirlwind trip to the east coast to shoot a gorgeous wedding in Philadelphia (more on that soon!), visit with my best friend in New Jersey for her birthday, and do a portrait session with the amazing Falk Family! Nicole and Randy are the epitome of the cool laid back alternative couple. They work for NECA which is a toy company responsible for some of the most crazy and awesome toys and collectibles out there! I knew they would be really fun and easy to shoot so we opted for a really relaxed wander around the neighborhood to capture all of the fun little things. We managed to catch a perfect day in Hoboken right on the river, and spend the afternoon wandering around with their beautiful baby girl Penelope! Pea is SO cute, and I got to see her discover grass which was really fun, work her walking technique, and show off her amazing flexibility when she stuck her entire foot in her mouth. Gotta love those little moments!

From the very start of my friendship with Kira, I knew she was a super strong person with the biggest heart you would ever meet, and this was when we were 7 and 9 (respectively)! I have known Kira my entire life, and when she finally told me that her and Dave were FINALLY getting married, after what seemed like a decade, but was maybe more like 3 years shy… I was ecstatic! I knew that I had to do this event for them no matter what… and even though Alex and I were leaving California on a crazy schedule I just had to make some time for an impromptu engagement session when we were up in Tahoe for 2 days. The weather was not exactly cooperating, but I suppose that’s life living in the mountains, and I found the stormy skies gave me such inspiration and made for an even more delicious backdrop for the two of them to run around with their puppy Mieko. Kira and Dave are explorers at heart so finding some fun stuff to them to climb on was not a problem and we just barely fit everything in before the rain came.  Keep an eye out for Alex and my cameo… we’re such hams too! Such an awesome memory for me… and such great shots of my pretend sister. <3

Last week I got a chance to go hang out with Jesse, Justin, and Riley MacLaurin. They are the most gorgeous family… and since Riley was turning 2 we figured it was a great time to get some pics of her being her silly little self. Riley has SO much personality and I ended up just running around playing with her in the yard for almost 2 hours! We rounded things up by playing in Rileys room for a little bit, and then jumping on Mom and Dad’s bed…. SO funny to watch them all jumping around! Thanks so much to you three for the awesome welcome… and the chocolate marshmallow egg, YUM! Here are a few of my favorites, and couldn’t resist throwing one in there of Jesse and Justin cuddling up at the end. I think they deserved it!

After Theresa, Jonathan and I met across the street from where we did their engagement session, I knew that our styles and personalities would meld together perfectly. Their wedding day was so much more than that I could have expected, and its such a rare and wonderful thing to see two people who are as perfectly matched as they are. They allowed me a big block of time to get some gorgeous portraits so this post is a bit portrait heavy, but I just couldn’t bear to edit it down any more! My favorite part of the day was definitely the ride to the ceremony with Theresa. I got to hear all about how they met and listen to her stories of how they ended up together. As good as that was though, I will say that the bacon wrapped dates at Phlight where the reception was held were definitely a runner up! From their first sight, to the Rolls Royce Limo ride, to their deeply emotional ceremony, the day was simplistic and stylish in every way. I even had to sneak into a photo with the two of them near the end of the evening!

So after struggling to narrow down the tons of gorgeous images that came out of Jesse and Kates day after session, I finally managed to choose my favorites. Kate has an easy, natural way of emoting with her eyes in every image, something that really excites me and reminds me of working with actual models. Jesse also had a laid back but intense feeling to him in all of the images that I was really loving when we were shooting. We were fortunate enough to have The Gorgeous Hotel Se‘ in Downtown San Diego was the backdrop for these stylish images, and the decor seemed to fit perfectly with their old Hollywood glamour style. Thank you both again so much for bringing your absolute best, your patience, and your stellar sense of style!

Jesse and Kate were the kind of couple that I knew would bring their personalities completely through to their wedding day. The venue, the historic Twin Oaks House & Gardens was the perfect setting for their style and made for a really warm, inviting event. They were the first couple I’ve ever had who cut their cake with a sword, had an electronic drum box expert as their reception entertainment, and played a late night game of Cornhole in their wedding gear! Thanks for such an entertaining day and stay tuned for the rest of their fashion forward portraits from their day after session as well!

I love when I show up to shoot a couple and I leave the location in their hands. Its something of a challenge to show up to a place you have never been, and find visuals that are fun, interesting, and make for a good backdrop for the couple themselves. I am SO fortunate to have awesome artist clients who give me locations like this farmers market in the Sherman Heights neighborhood of San Diego to work with! The building is full of random booths, eateries, fruit stands, some kids who lent us their new puppy for a couple shots,  and a bunch of empty space which I had a field day playing around in. We ended up back at their house which was also appropriately stylish and fun to work with and lent itself to some very personal imagery that reflects their personalities perfectly. Here are a few of my favorites from the day.