Chicago Wedding Vendors Unite // Thanks Tweet-Up!

I had the honor of being the official photographer at the Wedding Industry Cocktail Hour Tweet-Up hosted by the amazing Five Grain Events and bon moment! - Joan and Maureen, you gals are amazing!

Amazing Chicago Wedding Vendors

The event was held at Elate Restaurant in the Hotel Felix Chicago. It was the perfect setting for the event. The location and style of the restaurant was really inspiring. Thanks Elate!

Other sponsored wedding vendors were the talented Keiko of Keiko Studio. Her floral arrangements were amazing and very unique. I had never seen floral arrangements with pieces of lime before. Awesome stuff indeed.

Candice of cacao sweets & treats provided the delicious treats that we all enjoyed. I loved seeing her work, and tasting it too!

My many thanks to Joan and Maureen for making this event happen. I had a great time meeting with so many Chicago wedding vendors. I was also able to catch up with a few old friends. I look forward to the next meeting. Rock on!

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Elate At The Hotel Felix Chicago 111 West Huron Street Chicago, IL 60654-8706 (312) 202-9900

Divine Expressions Ministry // North Park Event Photography

I love the work of Joe McNally, specifically his work with professional dancers. I love how he captures the dancers' grace, elegance, and expressions. Dancers poses a control over their body that most of us just don't have any idea about, self totally included. I was honored to photograph Divine Expression Ministries graduation ceremony a few weeks back at the beautiful North Park College. I was very excited to work with DEM for many reasons, one being that I would be able to capture their dancers in action. I was also very encouraged by the type of organization DEM is and I appreciate what they are about. It was great being able to walk around and capture the tension and nervousness that comes with such an important event. All went very well and ended up being a lot of fun being there and meeting so many great people. The band they had performing that night was AMAZING!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the DEM graduation at North Park College:

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My many thanks to Wendy Matthews, DEM's HR & Admin extraordinaire. I hope to work with you all again!

The Set-Up

Nikon D700 - Shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Nikon SB-800 without dome diffuser

Tokina 12-24mm f/4

Rock On! info[at]ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Be ready for challenging shooting situations. Get your exposures down before the performances begin and get a good feel for the room you are about to shoot in. Knowing the best ISO, shutter speed, and f/stop combo before the action starts is huge.

Chicago Event Photography // Zombieland Movie Screening

I had a blast last night at the Chicago screening of Zombieland. I had seen a few previews of the movie and I was really pumped to go see it. So it was ON when my best friend David J. Fowlie (he writes for FanBoy Planet) told me he had scored a few screening passes from one of his favorite comic shops. YES!!! The overall atmosphere at the screening was amazing. It felt like a Halloween party, a pre-mature Halloween party, but a party nonetheless. My hats go off to all of the amazingly cool people that were out there with make-up and all - thanks for posing for me. You guys ROCKED and made the evening a memorable one! The movie was really good and Woody Harrelson was perfect as the lead character. You can read David's take on the evening on his blog.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of the night: [gallery columns="1" size="large" orderby="title"]

AMC Theatres River East 21 322 E Illinois St. Chicago, IL 60611 (888) 262-4386

Thanks guys & see you later! - Contact Me | Wedding Portfolio | Little Ones Portfolio | Older Ones Portfolio

NIPRA Pug Chug Hosted by Alpana Singh

I recently had the privilege to photograph the Norther Illinois Pug Rescue & Adoptions (NIPRA) Pug Chug event. What is this Pug Chug event you might be asking. It is a charity event where pug lovers, of which I am one, gather together, drink wine and raise money to help aid in the rescuing of pugs. I would try to explain exactly how they rescue pugs, but you can read more about that here. This was a very casual gathering at the very fun and cool Juicy Wine Co. The event was hosted by non other than host of Check Please! Alpana Singh! My wife and I are big fans of the show, so meeting her was really a treat. I am glad that this organization is doing something they are passionate about and are helping pugs along the way.

My many thanks to Jill and Alpana for making this happen. Thanks ladies, you ROCK!

Juicy Wine Co. 694 North Milwaukee Avenue Chicago, IL 60622 (312) 492-6620

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Thanks guys & see you later! - Contact Me | Wedding Portfolio | Little Ones Portfolio | Older Ones Portfolio