One Down, Two To Go

My father was lucky enough to have 3 girls, and on December 9th my big sister had a reception for her wedding (only 2 more weddings to go Dad!).  I was honored to be able to take the photos for her and her new husband.  It was a very small, intimate reception with the ceremony the day before, so most of the photos are portraits in downtown Naperville.  These are some of my favorites ...

It was very family oriented day.  I took the photos and our little sister did the flowers.

My sisters and I.  I am the one who looks like she doesn't belong ...

"I Dreamed a Dream"

For years I dreamt and hoped (like most girls) that I would find someone that I could spend my life with.  My knight in shining armor came into my life about a year and a half ago ... he is my dream =)

As amazing as Steve is, I also wanted to try another photo for this week.  In 7th grade I didn't make the cheerleading team, then in 8th I made it but my coach did NOT like me and acted like I was the worst person in the entire world.  In high school I cheered competitively and was really successful, and then in college I was captain of my cheer team, so it was kind of another dream.  The foreground is a pom with my uniform top.

Sara + Travis

So that "friend" (mentioned previously) that asked me to take some engagement photos for her is my very best friend Sara.  She and her sweetie, Travis, have been together for 9 years ( !!! crazy, I know).  I get the privilege of being her maid of honor (beyond excited) in May when they tie the knot, and I'm sure you'll see photos from that day.  But for now, here are a couple of my favorite from actually the second time we took some photos.

"Made With Love"

I was really racking my brain all week about what to do for a "made with love" theme that wasn't super obvious - like actually making something (ex cookies, or craft, ect.) and not super predictable.  I workout a lot and personally love it, so I finally decided to incorporate that kind of love.  I really like what I came up with ... and the sweat truly was "made with love".

Week One

Let's be honest, if I were to say that I were going to participate in one of those projects where you have to take a photo each day based on a specific theme or idea, either I would quit after 4.5 days OR a majority of my photos would be taken at the gym, my home or my office.  Sooooo, to avoid quitting (because I hate quitting anything) and to keep my photos creative and original (which is obviously the point) I am going to participate in a weekly challenge project.  The Project 52 is the link at the bottom of my page =)  

I am super excited about this and here is the first photo.  This week's theme is "Resolutions." Steve (the previously mentioned greatest boyfriend ever) and I decided to start swimming on top of our regular workout schedule at CrossFit and it happened to come at the beginning of the year, so this is as close to a "resolution" as I will get.

New Beginnings

I've always loved taking pictures and a few months ago a friend asked me to take some engagement photos for her because she wanted them but didn't want to have to spend a ton of money to have them professionally taken.  After some hesitation and warning her that "I'm not a professional" we set out and played around for a couple hours.

I raced home and edited all 250 of the images in about 24 hours.  I was a giddy 6 year old waiting the next couple days out before I showed her the photos.  After the longest couple days, we met up and .... She loved them!  She started to give me a hard time about when I was going to open a company and take photographs as a profession.

Since then I have borrowed as many friend's children and taken photos whenever I can.  I got an amazing new camera (thanks to the world's most amazing boyfriend - I'm only slightly bias), and now I'm ready to start getting as much experience as I possibly can.   This is will be my outlet for the photos I take from now on.