Allison x Kyle Get Married

I was honored to shoot my friends wedding in Big Bend, WI on this hot summer day. Allison and Kyle had their ceremony at his parents house in their backyard under a tent and the fun ended back in Milwaukee. 

Following Allison around the entire day was so fun. Seeing all of the range of emotions from her getting ready with all of her bridesmaids, getting there, the big ceremony, and then of course the dancing at the reception.

There's something special about shooting moments like this. I always end up learning a lot about myself and how I executed things. It's precious being apart of their family and their friends for a few days. Really, it's such a humble experience and makes me appreciate what I've done for them. 

Misc Thoughts

  1. Definitely over-prepared for the wedding day. Rather be over than under-prepared to be honest. 

  2. I was backing up all of my photos mid-shooting throughout the entire day. Thank god I had my computer with me and my external to back up every card every so often. Just 6D things with one SD card slot.  

  3. I think I'm going to try to shoot with just 85mm and a 35mm next time. 50mm is nice but I want to try something new out for next time around.

  4. I forgot to eat dinner. Thanks to my friends (& coworkers), they reminded me to sit and eat. Such an important thing that I easily missed because I was so honed in capturing photos of everyone. 

  5. The reception / dancing photos were my favorite. Everyone was having such a good time and the music was hella good. Look at them below!

  6. Was told “You’re like the most well dressed photographer I’d ever seen.” This was totally out of the blue from a guests and I got so red and couldn’t stop smiling, haha.


Wedding Dress: Suite Bridal / Wedding planner: Casey Moglia (Save The Date MKE) / Venue: South Second / Florals: Sweven Floral / DJ: Kyle Woods 

ALLISON & KYLE SNEAK PEEK


kyllison_sneakpeek-6.jpg

It was a hot day and I loved every moment throughout the day following Allison & Kyle for their special day. From the night before with friends & family to the big day, here's a sneak peek of Kyllison wedding.

Still a lot to go through and can't wait to share more.

LOCATION: Big Bend & Milwaukee, WI
VENUE: South Second
PLANNING: Save The Date
FLORAL: Sweven 
DRESS: Suite Bridal

SWITZERLAND


About 6-7 weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to do something crazy & incredible at the same time. Seriously. I was asked to travel abroad to Switzerland for work. I was like "What? Wait, where am I going again?" Had to ask a few times so it registered, haha.

When I was asked to go, I had a day or so to sit on it but I accepted within 10 minutes. Didn't really think about it that much. I had nothing major going on. What I mean by that is that I had no commitments, no travel booked, and was planning on enjoying the summer here in Chicago. 

I never been to Europe. I never been to Switzerland. I was ambitious about doing more work. This opportunity just landed in front of my face out nowhere and I'm glad it did. Once in a lifetime thing for sure.

I came in thinking I was ready and I was totally wrong. Thankfully there was someone constantly by my side and I'm really happy about her being there. Her name is Maria and she's...

A WEIRDO!

Just kidding, haha. She's honestly really super sweet.

I didn't really know her prior to the trip but those 4 weeks, we really got to know each other, how we worked, etc. She's a very "Type A" person and I'm a mixture of "A/B" but more B driven. It was a good balance of both worlds and on certain scenarios, we would help each other out. I would always come at a different angle on anything and everything. It just worked out. But for real though, damn I learned a lot from her. 

On the flipside of things, she had to deal with my wild personality, haha. Whenever we had long days, I would always tell her my shitty jokes and just say or send her the most random things at any given time. She probably hates me for sure, haha.

Anyways, we got to travel to so many places like Geneva, Bern, Zurich, Kandersteg, Interlaken, and more. Every weekend was booked with travel and train rides. 

Would I do it again? Hell yeah, I would. By far the most challenging learning experience and best thing that happened to me this year.

Here are some highlights of the trip and misc thoughts:

  1. The "Coop" closes at 7pm almost everyday and it was crazy difficult to go grocery shopping. 
  2. Trains (SSB) are hella better than Amtrak. Costs more and way more efficient.
  3. Sunday Funday exists. Retail stores and restaurants are opened so everyone is out and about enjoying themselves.
  4. Everything is ridiculously expensive. The prices for food, clothes, etc were insane.
  5. Hiked "Harder Kulm" (1,321m) in skinny jeans and converses. Definitely a dumb idea but I had intentions of taking the cable car up but nope, did it under 2hr's when they said it usually takes 2.5hr. TAKE THAT INTERLAKEN.

  6. Beer is so much lighter. No wonder why Europeans can drink more. I still prefer American IPA's though, the best.

  7. Maria and I would get a new chocolate bar and then get dinner together everyday after work. Pizza was our default go-to if there wasn't anything interesting to eat. 

  8. Out of all the places we visited, Montreaux was my favorite. The whole vibe, people, food, and lake front style of living was amazing.

  9. Finding bars that was to our aesthetic was extremely hard. We did find one near my apt called "Scandale" and it felt like home/Chicago. Thank god.

  10. Maria, if you're reading this. Your gift is coming in the mail right now. Thank you for everything and dealing with my nonsense. 


All of the photo's I took are posted on the Travel section and you can view them here: Switzerland

TRAVEL | New Orleans, LA


I started a new chapter in my life recently and I'm pretty happy about what's going on lately. Solo traveled (sort of) to New Orleans, LA for the first time and experienced that side of the south. Long story short, I had so much fun and I ate & drank a lot.

Here are some highlights of the trip and misc thoughts:

  1. New Orleans "open drinking policy" blew my mind away. It's completely normal to take your drink from the bar and walk down the street.
  2. Some of the best full bodied southern food I've ever eaten. 
  3. Ended up going to a Friendsgiving with 40 other random strangers having the best time together.
  4. Pass the Pigs is probably the best time killer/group game to do virtually anywhere. Going to start bringing it everywhere I go
  5. Weather was gorgeous when I was there (70F~) but got lit up by mosquito's. That was not fun. 
  6. Took more video footage than photo's (see video above!)
  7. The jazz was more dancey and poppier which I like a lot.
  8. Ate and drank more than I should've but that's pretty normal down there, right?
  9. Happy to catch up with an old childhood friend, hang out with her fiance, and making other new friends.
  10. Chambong'ed too many rounds of champagne and bought friends their first porron to self pour wine into your mouth (they never done it before).

I made a video montage of my trip. It's nothing too special. You'll notice there's more drinking footage and my face cringing after doing a few founds of Chambong's. 

WEST COAST | CALIFORNIA - PART 2


The other week I went back to the west coast to visit my friends in sunny California. I normally plan places to go eat, see, and do but since I've already been here, I didn't plan anything at all. I just wanted to spend time with everyone doing absolutely whatever we wanted. No itinerary. It worked out perfectly. Everyone had their things they had to do and schedules conflicted but when all of our schedules aligned in random spurts, it was the best. I caught up with friends, made new one's, and will be coming back again. 

Here are some highlights of the trip and misc thoughts:

  1. My friend Tara is pregnant! So happy for her.
  2. I really don't like Los Angeles that much at all. After being around the nice spots - Malibu, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Ojai, etc. LA is so superficial and not my scene. 
  3. Slept behind a room hidden behind a bookshelf. It felt like a secret hidden room like you see on TV or the movies. 
  4. Never seen an orange, lime, lemon tree in my life (only in green houses) and I picked my first orange, ever. It was so good.
  5. Ojai Rancho Inn was such cool spot. Reminded me of Ace Hotel Palm Springs.
  6. Drank so much kombucha and it's really good. We specifically used it to make mimosa's and then I eventually made a beer mimosa.
  7. Watched a ton of sports which I rarely do. Lot's of football. Give me a beer or five and I'll hang around while you watch. 
  8. Ojai Valley Inn & Spa is absolutely gorgeous. From the interiors, decor, operations, food, vibe, etc was amazing. I pretty much love Ojai.
  9. Forgot how "cold" it got there at night. So used to the humidity here that night there was freezing for them. To me, I felt perfectly fine in t-shirt while they were in sweaters.
  10. I'll be traveling again soon. Creating a new Off the Record city guide, video's, and new exciting stuff to share in the future.

THE ORDER | Mario Tricoci's Make Me A Model 2016 Fashion Show


A couple Friday's ago I had the opportunity to shoot The Order's A/W 2016 walk down the runway at Mario Tricoci's Make Me A Model Fashion Show and it was killer. I worked my way battling against other photographers to get in the middle of the photo pit to get these shot's. 

To Factor Chosen Models: way to slay the runway with her stuff!
To Nicole: thank you! Can't wait to work with you again!

Keep a lookout for The Order's S/S 2017 on her website and her instagram page. I'm pretty sure there's going to be all kinds of dark sexy satin and lace. 

I will call it now, she will go big soon at this rate. 

TRAVEL | Nashville, TN


Imogene + Willie

Pinewood Social 

Pinewood Social

Mas Taco's Por Favor 

Mas Taco's Por Favor

Hattie B's 1/2 bird hot

Imogene + Willie exterior

Barista Parlor

Two Son's shopping

Two Son's exterior

Two Sons interiors

Two Sons interior

Barista Parlor 

Coffee

Barista Parlor interiors

Barista Parlor parking lot

Kristina Murray

Rosewell

I never really talk about personal things that much but just wanted to say thing's have been looking up lately. Thing's are just falling into place out of nowhere and I'm pretty happy about what's going on. 

Anyways, I had to change things up a bit. I went down south to Nashville, Tennessee!

Why? Well, Nashville is literally an hour away from Chicago flying (didn't even get served a beverage), food scene is small but they're all gems, drink scene is super nutty, and my friend Mixon (we used to work together many years ago) lives there. 

What enticed me to here was that my friend Mixon offered me her place to stay instead of spending money on an airbnb. I was like "hell yeah, I'll come to Nashville." Saved me a TON of money. Since I stayed at her and boyfriend's place, I didn't want to drag them around everywhere with me. I came into this trip with a loose itinerary all listed out on foursquare and had that mentality of "I (/ we) need to hit up this spot before the day ends." At the same time, they loosely planned the must go-to places a local would do on fly around my schedule. Pretty much just did things on the fly which is honestly the way it should be when traveling. 

I had a good time down there and currently planning my next trip. Maybe a few more domestic trips or get out of the country for a bit. Not sure yet. I'm pretty stoked about what's ahead of me. 

Here are some highlights of the trip and misc thoughts:

  1. Nashville is a very small city with a lot of character. East Nashville is definitely up my alley in scene - restaurants, drinking, shops, cafe's, etc.
  2. Totally avoided Broadway entirely during my trip. It's just a nutty drinking party scene that reminded me of Wrigleyville but with bachelorette parties galore and more drunk people. I have to be in the mood to be in this kind of scene and drinking pace (which is rare). 
  3. It was HOT & HUMID. Ridiculously humid. Just constantly sweating...standing, doing nothing, even while under the shade. I don't get it. 
  4. Coffee shops in Nashville are hella cool. They're bigger, more open space, less cluttered than what I typically see here in Chicago. People are there to meet, drink coffee, converse, and then leave. No laptop squatter's. 
  5. Hattie B's Nashville Hot Chicken is seriously AMAZING. All of the ab workouts I've been working on for the past 6 months disappeared in like 15 minutes. It was hot but not making me sweaty hot like other local's said. I look at fired chicken on a whole new level now. 
  6. Mixon has this adorable kitty named Roswell who I cuddled with whenever I got a chance. Everytime I see her coming out to the living room or sun bathe on her spot, I would just pick her up and hold onto her for awhile. Not sure if the kitty hates me but I don't care, I love her. 
  7. Introduced "Mr Robot" (USA) and "Stranger Things" (Netflix) TV series to Mixon and her boyfriend. Hope they keep up with it because they're really good shows.
  8. Learned there's a huge difference from "bro country" and "real country". I don't listen to country at all but got exposed to it my entire trip. Even went to a show to see country music. Got to admit, it's pretty cool.
  9. Drank everything local and brewed in Nashville. Definitely drank a ton of IPA's and whiskey. 
  10. Nashville is a city I would definitely visit again. You can do a lot in a couple days. The vibe is relaxing during the day and a night it's entirely a different city. 

OFF THE RECORD: Portland, OR


Over Memorial Day I traveled to Pacific Northwest of Portland, OR. I never been there, so I got on a plane and left for a long weekend getaway for some solo travel. During my time there, I got to experience such fine foods from so many amazing restaurants, drank some incredible coffee and beer, hiked and saw what the Gorge was all about, and see what Portland was all about.

As a solo traveler, I've been diving into the unknown and getting out of my comfort zone. It's been hella daunting and exhilarating at the same time. I've been holding tight to my personal inspiration/motto to travel -  

"One new domestic, one new international"

every year and I got to go to some sweet places I've never been to. It then dawned on me that I could be doing something good about this than just sharing photos that I took.

My side project is to use my photography to make city/insider guides to the places I visit. Since every destination is always new, it naturally forces me to research and gather notes mentally and physically what to expect. On top of that, I love to eat, drink, explore the unknown, mingle with strangers, go on random excursions, make new friends, and everything else. It just made sense for me to develop my own take of city guides. Not just lists and short one liners, I'm talking about the places I've been too, why I went there, and what I thought about it, etc. Then listing out recommendations to other places in that domain (food, coffee, drink, etc). 

I had trouble thinking about the name for it but it popped in my head while I was out at an event zoning out. 

Off the Record

Off the Record: (insert city name) series would deliver more of my raw unfiltered voice of every domain - food, drink, coffee, touristy, pub trans, and misc things that stood out. Like talking in chat apps or on email, going off the record means things are said 100% undocumented. Well, I'm going to keep it documented. This could stand out from other guides because, when a reader (like you) know's nothing about that destination, this will put them you on the driver seat soaking in the authenticity of the city of how I absorbed it along with the photos I took because I've literally been there, done all of that.

Just a fun thing I wanted to do complementing my photography. This is my first guide of the series and I hope you guys enjoy it.

Click above on the photo for the guide or here.

REFLECTIONS | It's been one year


It's been one year when I picked up my camera and started my career as a photographer. 

Before I get into this post, I wanted to share some back story to this. Something significant happened in my life a little over a year ago and when it was over, I've rekindled myself back to square one. That nerdy quirky side of me is still ever so present and the other side of me, the creative side picked back up again.

I'll be completely honest with you, I get pretty bored a lot. I don't just mean by that I'm uninspired and be lazy all day doing nothing with myself. What I mean is that I really get tired of something and move onto the next big thing. But those things I've done doesn't just fade away, they're still ever so present. There's a science behind it and it's quite fascinating. Really cool article if you're interested reading about it. For anyone who know's me, you should know what I'm talking about. For those who don't, I'm constantly on the move and hunt for something new to do and want to excel at it all while having fun with it. In this case, right now, photography.

Ok, back to my intro sentence, "...it's been on year" yup, I mean it. I never went to school for photography, no way. I went to school for computer science and I became a developer. Pretty much a code monkey day and night. You're probably like "Wait, what?" I bought a DSLR because I've always wanted one and then I started to research online about everything about photography, ground up. You'd be surprised how much free knowledge is just sitting out there on the internet. It's ridiculous. I taught myself the basics and I started to go out and shoot photos.

When I got my first professional gig, it was from my friend Brittany for Brooklyn Boulders. She asked me to shoot photos for them and signed a contract. It was kind of a big deal for me. I was like "Whoa, this is serious stuff." I recall editing my first photo set and looking back on it, it was so terrible! From the colors, white balance, clarity of it, etc was all off, all of it! Today, I laugh at myself because looking back on it, I really sucked. But you know what? I really developed deep understanding of post-processing and everything that went along with it on every photo I took. 

Looking back on it all now, I met some amazing people along the way from the first time I shot photos to today. They saw something in me and my photography, giving me a chance to do something good with it. Whether it be it was for them directly for business or just a fun photo shoot, I felt honored to be shooting it. To the people who I've worked with and everyone I've shot photos for, thank you, you've made my year very special. More photos to come. If I could, I would slam a beer with you as a thanks but we can always do that later!

I'm going to keep doing what I do because I just don't specialize in one or two domains of photography. Fuck that, I want to do it all. 

TRAVEL | San Francisco


One new international, one new domestic. My travel for 2015 is done.

Every year from now, I will be going to a new city/place within the states and then one internationally by myself. As for 2016, haven't even thought about where to go yet since I always travel at the end of the year at the weirdest times. So far it's worked in my favor since it's always off season travel. 

Anyways, solo travel is the best. What I mean is that there's nothing holding you back from doing what you want to do. You can absolutely do whatever you want at your own speed and be selfish in the best way possible because there's there's no one else with you holding you back. Every trip I got lost, I spent too much money, ate more food than usual, met random strangers who are now my friends, and then coming back home with memories of the good and bad times of it all.

San Francisco was my new domestic and for the days I was there, I had such a good time. Even though I didn't get to do my major culinary experience, I ran around with my good friend Alyse who I met many years ago back at school. The funny thing is that when we met up again, we connected so seamlessly. It felt really good to be around her in a city I had  minimal knowledge about. I basically ran around with her every night getting lost and enjoying ourselves at bars, dinners with friends. This honestly explains why I didn't take so many photos. Simply just enjoying the time out with her and everyone else. Thank you Alyse (+ James).

Here are some thoughts and highlights of the trip:

  1. San Fran is one hell of a pretty city. It's filled with beautiful people and they're all SO NICE, almost too nice. It's just stupid expensive on all areas from food, drink, and LIVING.
  2. My list was filled with trendy bars and restaurants. They all didn't open till 4:30/5/or 6PM! Alyse told me everyone likes to be outside on the west coast (which makes sense) and that's why things don't open earlier. 
  3. Zeitgeist was the best beer garden in the city. The guys looked like they were from 'Sons of Anarchy' but they were so nice to me giving me free beer and talking about whatever life story they wanted with the other bar people.
  4. Hot Toddy's were abundant when I was roaming my culinary list. It was kind of chilly but it was warm for me. Mmm Hot Toddy's.
  5. The most I spent on a brunch by myself was $72 including tip. Was it worth it? Yes. Does my wallet hate me? HELL YES. Thank you Foreign Cinema
  6. I swear, everyone uses Uber more than Lyft in SF. I'm a Lyft fan to be honest but everyone took those methods of transportation everywhere.
  7. Met up with my old coworker Tina and her husband at Brass Tacks - also met the bartender and a few others around me before I headed off to Oakland. This is one of those spots that is cozy enough which a cool social vibe. 
  8. SantaCon happened the same weekend I was there and it was a complete shit show. 
  9. My friend Tracy was there the same weekend I was there doing a photo shoot and it was good to meet up with her. I met her back in June when I went to Los Angeles/Malibu/Ventura/Santa Barbara.
  10. Alyse made my SF weekend perfect. From the east coast, now living in the west coast. I'm glad she hasn't changed a single bit. Thank you for everything and I'll be coming back soon. 

FAVORITES LIST

  1. BRUNCH: Foreign Cinema
  2. BRUNCH (runner up): Bar Tartine
  3. DINNER: The Progress
  4. DINNER (running up): Tacolicious
  5. BAR: Zeigeist 
  6. BAR (runner up): Brass Tacks
  7. CAFÉ: Ritual Coffee Roasters
  8. CAFÉ (runner up): Four Barrel Coffee

WEST ELM | Manny the Frenchie x ASPCA


I recently got the opportunity to work with a pretty well known upscale furniture and home decor store recently - you guys know about West Elm, right? As you (probably) can tell, that came along with the most popular frenchie out there - Manny The Frenchie. I spent a couple hours hanging with their owners and this cute little guy for holidays photos promoting West Elm & the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). For every photo that was taken with the hashtag #westelmxaspca, West Elm donated $1 to the ASPCA. 

I had such a fun time getting to know the owners and work with Manny for this photo shoot. I took so many photos, I have an entire library of Manny being cute around the Christmas tree and his ornaments. Keep a look out on my Instagram for an outtake post.

Thank you West Elm, Manny, and their owners!

TRAVEL | Montréal


I want to write so much about my trip but I hope the pictures can show you everything (at least a good chunk of it) that I've done in Montréal. Ever since I got back, everyone has been asking "why did you choose Montréal?" like as if I was crazy. Honestly, it was a risk deciding my vacation on "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" but between Portland, Oregon OR Austin, Texas OR Montréal, Québec I'm so glad it landed on the city I wanted to go to the most. Life is precious, do things you never think you would be doing and it could be the best thing you've done.

Now that I'm back on the grind of things, looking back at my trip I really had such a good time. I came in knowing absolutely zero people and came home with a lot of new friends from various industries and personalities. I loved the city so much I've decided I'll be coming back next year.

Here some thoughts and highlights of the trip:

  1. Every day was a new adventure. No one with me. By myself. Being super selfish about everything in the the most enjoyable way possible doing absolutely whatever I wanted.
  2. I barely did any touristy things but had an extensive list of nitty gritty things locals would do. Some locals saw my list and were amazed by how much I've done in 5 days which some haven't even done in a years time. 
  3. Montréal people are just as nice as Chicagoans. All friendly and welcoming. So attractive too.
  4. Food and drinks are way more exotic, fresh, and so unique compared to Chicago. The cuisine all over was so different. Didn't even see a single burger or fries anywhere. It's safe to say in Chicago we've mastered the gastropub cuisine and I'm in love with more fresh foods and seafood.
  5. My Airbnb host was so great, they came up to say hello and see how my trip was and even put me on a guest list to a DJ to see during my stay. Would definitely stay there again. 
  6. (imo) Fashion is way ahead of Chicago. More personal preference but every woman I've met and saw had an unique sense of style. Just a different look & feel of what I'm used to. All were simple and comfortable. 
  7. Kept a log of thoughts in my notepad to recall my entire vacation like food I ate, drinks I've drank, and names of people I've met. This struck some bar conversations which lead me to these side adventures. No idea what was ahead of me and just taking it as it came.
  8. Transportation is just as efficient as Chicago but I won't lie, they one up metro and bus times at much more of a consistent rate. Something always came within minutes. All the time.
  9. Met so many people, exchanged business cards and contacts, and some nights just spontaneously went on another side adventure within my own adventure. It always ended up with a lot of eating/drinking and waking up with a terrible bloated belly and a massive hangover.
  10. Montréal is absolutely a beautiful city inside and out. Canada is our neighbor and it's a mere 2 hours flight from Chicago. It's the closest European look & feel you'll get within the states.

FAVORITES LIST

Thank you all (everyone in Montréal) for making my first solo trip a good memorable one. 

TRAVEL | Montréal (preview)


Last Thursday I went to Montréal for the first time, ever. This was my first solo trip out of the country knowing absolutely no one, barely anything about the city, and what the hell I was doing. I did have one thing in mind and it was to take everything as it came and go along with it. That single piece of advice to myself lead me into the wildest adventures.

I rarely did anything touristy but really dove deep into the rich food & drink scene and culture of the people here. Over my time in the city, I've met some of the most interesting, welcoming, and genuine people at restaurants/bars I happened to be at. From there, every local lead me to another local spot.

I'm still in the process of picking/choosing my edited photos. Once I'm done, I'll work a gallery to share with you all.

THE ORDER | NICOLE MARÉT


Last week I received an email in my inbox about a Chicago fashion show happening on Friday from Nicole Maret. The email was mentioned how there was a "Mario Make Me A Model" runway show/competition hosted by Mario Tricoci featuring  five Chicago designers showing 10 looks being worn by model finalists. One of those five designers is my lovely and dearest friend Nicole Maret of The Order.

I honestly never been to a fashion show in my life and made an impulse buy to go to this event. Bought my ticket not too long after I go into the office and waited till Friday evening to arrive so I can go to my first fashion event. Walking into Redmoon theatre, I could see a swarm of beautiful people in suits and dresses. Me on the other side of the spectrum - black boots, black skinny jeans, black collared shirt, denim jacket, and a backpack. I literally said to myself "Fuck." I didn't care at all because I was there to support her.

Throughout the event, I made the best of it in my own element in a sea of designers, creatives, and elegant people. Pulled my camera out of my bag and started taking photos of the models walking down the runway in her new "Paradigm" collection. I will admit, her work is stunningly beautiful. I'm a fan of black and it's all elegant in its unique way. Attractive really. You know what? I had a good time and I think I'm going to get myself into this stuff more, it was a different vibe than what I'm used to and they actually play good electronic music that I'm into. 

Here's my 5 in random order...

  1. Security stopped me outside the gate and show that I had a ticket. I guess it's since I came not dressed like everyone else. Every guy had a suit on. I had black boots, black skinny jeans, black collared shirt, denim jacket. Haha, oops?
  2. I snuck myself in the back photo area to get some of these shots. Lots of repeats I know but got what I got.
  3. I sat next the mother of the winner. She was so nice and glad I got some photos of her in the outfits and winning the competition.
  4. Didn't even see Nicole the entire night but saw her collection go down the runway. 10/10.
  5. I actually really liked the whole experience. Will definitely have to do it again sometime soon.

TIMEOUT CHICAGO | "Dating IRL"


July and August were by far the craziest time for my photography. I barely had a break because of all of the music festivals, events, and catching up with friends who I haven't seen in awhile. My wallet took a major dent as well so I knew I had to slow things down a bit. 

On August 3rd, a good friend of mine Lisa White (editor) pinged me on gchat and mentioned that I was featured on Time Out Chicago. I didn't know what it was at first since I was in meetings all day at work and when I had the chance to click on it, I was ecstatic to see my name on the list of "17 Best Chicago Instagram Accounts"! That moment, Lisa asked me to join the Time Out staff as a photographer. From there, everything took off.

Most of these images aren't on the magazine but here you have it, the ones that didn't make the cut and the ones that did make the cut.

W HOTEL | PLAYING CATCHUP


Doing a massive catch up since I've been incredibly busy working and having fun.

W Hotel (Lakeshore / City Center) curates fantastic events and I always have so much fun being involved in it shooting photos for them. Events including fashion designers, international / local talent, and pop up shops. I've met so many fantastic people through these events and I'm happy to take their photos catching the moment. Summer has been good so far and I know it's only gonna get better from here. Ok short and sweet, onto the next blog post.

Here are my top to bottom 5 on the pictures above:

  1. Gabriella Zwick and models wearing her swimwear. They were all so nice and really enjoying their time showing off the swimwear.
  2. JackLNDN was playing Lollapalooza after-party at the W City Center. He was real nice and happy to get his photo taken DJ'ing. Check out his music, especially this.
  3. I love catching employees / friends of the W Hotel in Chicago. Either smiling, posing, or simply being weird - all of it is great.
  4. Jenna Zielbauer of Casual Friday brought her apparel for Lollapalooza girls to buy and she brought her in her adorable daughter Maxi Monroe.
  5. I'm so behind on blogging all of these photos I've been taking!

WINCHESTER | ANNE OWEN #TASTETHEWIN


Last week I attended The Winchester's #tastethewin Tastemaker event featuring Anne Owen of Owen + Alchemy. Surprisingly, this was my first time here at the restaurant. My friend lives a block away and always raves about how she always goes here but I never step foot in there yet. Anyways, this event just happened to be going on and thought it would be perfect to go see what they're all about, meet new people, and get a chance to shoot some photos. As you can tell, I did end up taking some! 

#tastethewin is a series that features Chicago's very own and best from a variety of industries. Kicking the series off - Anne Owen of Owen + Alchemy in Logan Square. Owen + Alchemy is a modern juice apothecary in Chicago serving cold pressed juices, fresh nut milks and plant-based whole foods. With each person featured in the series, the host gets to choose their charity or organization of choice. In this case, Anne chose the Logan Square Farmers Market. Every featured drink purchased, some proceeds go to that charity or organization - pretty cool, right?

I met so many lovely new people and meeting the host herself. Anne was such a sweetheart and one of the bubbliest people I've met. Can't forget to mention the slew of other people I met throughout the night as well - designers, photographers, etc. Had such a wonderful time and look forward to the next event of the series!

Here are my 5...

  1. Anne is super sweet and has a cool sense of style. Told her I had the #21 for the first time ever and loved it. Never had Owen + Alchemy prior to the event. 
  2. First event shooting with my new Canon 35mm lens. Literally got it the same day.
  3. Could've ate an entire baguette with that spread (pic above). Mmm.
  4. Everyone kept looking at Anne's shoes (pic above). Killer shoes.
  5. My friend Brittany came along with me bringing all of her stuff. Sorry for making you bring all your stuff! So thank you!

WEST COAST | CALIFORNIA - DAY 3


Last of the three-part series of my West Coast | California trip.

On the last full day of my trip out west coast, we all jumped on a train and took off to Santa Barbara. It's a beautiful place and it was my second favorite spot of the entire trip. We spent the entire day roaming the town and did as much as could before our last train left. Looking back on it now - we climbed trees, aimlessly wandered into random shops, played with birds, flights of beer at the public market, and walked the entire main street of Santa Barbara. Even though we left in the evening, the remaining time we had at home was spent recuperating before the last night together. I needed a vacation like this and had so much fun. I'm very thankful for Tara and all of the new friends I've made. I will come back there again soon. Here are my top 10...

  1. Tara is afraid of birds (parrots specifically?) and the photo above was the first time she broke her fear and gave him a kiss. I mean, look at him, he's so happy.
  2. Forgot my camera battery at home and we had to rush back. We thought we missed the train but we pulled some insane "Indian Jones" like last minute moves to get on!
  3. We avoided paying for our train fares on our way to Santa Barbara saying our Amtrak phone apps aren't working. Pretty solid win.
  4. Learned so much about crystals from Tracy. Didn't know there was so much behind it all and you should all check out her stuff - it's amazing. Echoz Crystals.
  5. I took a nap on Tara and Ali's porch when we got back from Santa Barbara. God that was glorious.
  6. I think I took over 2,000 photos for the entire trip - went a bit crazy but so WORTH.
  7. We failed horribly trying to avoid paying for our train fares back leaving Santa Barbara. The dude from Amtrak was on the hunt for us when we tried changing trains. 
  8. Tracy took my credit card away from me since I kept paying for their drinks, haha.
  9. I said it before but you all should buy Our Kandles made by Tara & Ali. 100% soy wax and it smells amazing.
  10. I'm very thankful for Tara & Ali for being very so accommodating my stay there. Giving me your bed and then you doubled up with Ali, ice cream, food, drinks, and everything else.