Construction Company Portraits

I've been shooting interiors for this major construction company in the city. Yellow is a signature color for them so everyone was to be shot on yellow. For their purposes, they will crop in on these images, but they wanted them 3/4 length so they had room to play. Memos went out, everyone in the company was told, but with 100 men and women who work in construction, putting on a suit was no ordinary task. Many buttons couldn't be buttoned, and many came with their jeans and work boots underneath. They even still had their keys and tools attached to their pants. Too funny. I chose a few to represent the shoot. Unfortunately I don't have a pic of the room we were in. It was a workout room from the 70's, equipped with Jane Fonda's workout VHS collection. In between takes my assistants and I worked on our pecs and lats. Chester was one of the best dressed of the bunch. He has been the manager of their building for the last 60 years and jumped at the chance to have his portrait taken. Check out the cuffs, he looked like a sharp dressed man. Enjoy!!

The Twin Oakes

I got a gig shooting interiors for a local construction company(sweet), and had an assignment this September to shoot the interior of the Spertus Museum on Michigan Ave. It's an amazing new building, if you haven't seen it, and the architecture and design both inside and out is worthy of a visit. While I was on the roof I saw these guys, down below, and when I left the Spertus I had to find out what they were all about.
Well, twin brother, Ryan & Trevor, were drawing the exterior of the Spertus and the view down Michigan Ave. They do perspective tracings, focusing on a single vertical slip of paper at a time, tracing over the lines that already exist in the enviornment. It's an all day process, to do a strip or two, and an entire landscape is about a week. Unfortunately, I was swamped during this time and missed seeing their opening at the Spertus. Regardless, Trevor and Ryan Oakes are two people to be watched in this Art World, they may have well struck gold! Good luck boys and hope to see you in Chicago again very soon. Enjoy!

Tommy's 4th Birthday

Ah yes...another Mitchell family event. And, of course, it's at Pump It Up in Glenview. I have to get ahold of the owners, I've shot 8 parties there!!! I'm starting to get creative, more to keep me on my toes. Instead of shots where you see a small blurry person going down a huge slide I was trying to be there for the reaction shots, waiting until they get a little closer and capturing the end expression. And don't Sammy & Tommy look awesome in their matching Puma tracksuits...if I'd had known I would have worn mine. Enjoy the pics!!

Susan & Jason

I really enjoy shooting pregnant couples. The energy, the anticipation, being a part of this special time and documenting it, what's not to like? Aaaah...here...I like to shoot close to the actual birth of the child and that means often that the couple doesn't pick out the images they like until much later. After all, they are a little busy! Susan and Jason are busy with Amelia right now and I just couldn't wait any longer to share these images. I've know Susan for a long time and she looks so beautiful here. I know they say pregnant women glow but Susan could have lit up an entire city. Jason looks extactic. I haven't know him as well for as long but I don't think I'd ever seen this smile. Enjoy the pics!

Family Portrait-Outside

Through friends of mine I met this family who would all be in town for their mother's 60th birthday party. Her son and daughter in-law live in Minneapolis with their two kids and had just arrived from a long trip to Northbrook to then go out to this reserve in Libertyville for pictures. It was a rough session, the mother kept insisting to be shot in areas of extreme sunlight and shadows and I ended up chasing her all over this park. Just exhausting. But at the end of the day we hit some good positions and got some beautiful images. Whew! The two boys were a lot of fun.
Enjoy!

Sly & Jack Celebrate

Since my niece and nephew's birthdays are just a month apart and lets face it, who really remembers their first birthday, my brother and sister in-law held a joint celebration. The main event was a one woman act, music and puppet show, and of course, balloon animals. One of the little girls was hearing impaired and was very frightened of the puppets since she couldn't tell where the noise was coming from and what they were saying. Her big blue eyes you can see peeking just over her arm. Otherwise, smiles were big and everyone, in the end, had a wonderful time. Enjoy!