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Midwest Photo Summit

Last weekend was the Illinois Press Photographer Associations Midwest Photo Summit. The yearly gathering is an excuse to get together with lots of fellow shutterbugs, talk some shop, eat, drink and get inspired all over again.
I was only able to make it Friday and Saturday, but had the opportunity to hear talks from James Gregg, Mona Reeder and Sol Neelman. All amazing photographers from around the country that I respect immensely.
Friday was the judging for the annual photo contest and I am incredibly honored to say that I placed third in the Photographer of the Year competition behind the Chicago Tribune's Scott Strazzante and Will DeShazer.
To see the full results check out the IPPA website at HERE.


A huge congrats to Scott, Will and the rest of the winners this weekend.

Here's to next year...

A walk in the Streets

I've been backed up a little bit so these have been sitting around for awhile.
I shot my first Blackhawks game at the end of March (post coming) and got down there waaaaay to early because of my excitement. With the time I had to kill I wandered the loop for a bit.



Music for the Masses

"People actually seem to enjoy it," said Alexander Rios of Naperville while taking a break from playing his guitar under the Washington street bridge in Downtown Naperville on Thursday, April 12, 2012.
Rios, a graduate of Naperville Central, is originally from California, but has lived in Naperville for the past 13 years.
"I used to play down here with my band in high school," Rios said.
No longer in the band, Rios continues to play downtown for his own enjoyment when he is not writing or recording.
Rios said he gets a lot more compliments than he does complaints, "usually its just from teenagers calling me names, but you can't take that to heart," he said with a laugh.


Holi Fest Naperville

While the Festival of Colors wasn't as hoppin' as I was hopin' it was still a great time.
I wasn't assigned to shoot it for the paper and it felt good just to go out and shoot.


Jason and Meghan

So last year I never really posted much of my wedding work and looking back there is a huge stockpile of stuff and I'm wishing I would have shared some along the way. My goal for this year is to share a few of my favorites from every wedding I shoot. I will kick things of with these two lovely folks:

I spent yesterday with Jason and Meghan in the South suburbs. We were a bit pressed for time while doing their portraits but thanks to the well decorated landscape we came away with a few that we really liked.
They were an absolute blast to work with and while Jason told me he was nervous to be standing in front of every one, he sure was at home on the dance floor...more of those to come.
Congrats guys!

This is one of my favorites from the day.


Chi-Town Showdown

I had a great time meandering the streets of the loop with some fell photo friends on Monday afternoon.











Even managed to grab a few shots between bar stops...
 


Kylie

If you have followed this blog for any length of time then you have seen Kylie before.
I spent a lot of time with Kylie and her mother Nicole during my first few months at the Beacon-News as we worked on a story about Kylie battling a rare form of cancer in her brain and spinal cord.
An update just over a year ago now showed she was doing great in her recovery, but unfortunately they could not remove everything and the tumor grew back.
This weekend, after 2 years and 6 months of battling, Kylie finally gave in.
My heart and thoughts go out to her parents Nicole and Dustin. They had a truly amazing daughter that made a lasting impact on not only myself but everyone around her.