Enjoy these beautiful images (good looking people didn’t hurt either!)!

~ Wen ~

The good news – we got some awesome romantic night shots. Here is a couple of sneak peeks!

Full post coming soon!

-Wen-

This is one of my favorite pictures of the year. Just the way Melinda is looking at the camera, and Ryan is looking away. I promise – this wasn’t a set up by me at all – all I did was ask them to sit at a particular spot (because I noticed the sun light was really pretty right there) and started photographing from a far – they just got into this “pose” on their own!

HOW MANY PHOTOS WILL I GET? WILL I GET ALL THE PHOTOS THAT YOU TOOK?

This can vary greatly depending on the number of hours of coverage, how many events are happening during the day, the number of in-formals you wanted, and whether there is a 2nd shooter. A standard 8 hour wedding can have anywhere from 400 to 700 UNIQUE images (if you include black & white copies of the same image, you’ll likely end up with 700-1,000 images). Longer coverage, additional wedding customs and formalities (e.g., sand ceremony, tea ceremony) will have more images. Some brides prefer not to have the photographer there while they are getting ready – this will reduce the number of images. Simpler/shorter ceremonies tend to have fewer images.
Plain and simple — you will not get all of the images that I took in my camera on that day. After your wedding, I filter, edit and process your images, throwing out redundant, out-of-focus and poorly composed images (yes, I GET poorly composed images too! No one is perfect!). Trust me when I say: you don’t want those images!

WHY DO YOU SAY “IN-FORMALS”? In my opinion, “formal” family and group photos taken during wedding days have received way too much bad rep for being boring, stale, fake and frustrating. I’m here to change that! As much as we all don’t like lining up and waiting for our names to be called and pictures taken, it is an important part of the wedding day – who knows when your favorite aunts or cousins will gather together again? And what could be a better time – everyone looks great, its a happy occasion, the venue is beautiful. One important difference – your experience with my formals is going to be casual, fun, and enjoyable. My formals are quick, lightly posed, and absolutely, positively, NO frozen, fake smiles. I often move around when taking group pictures, to get different backgrounds, and usually having a chat with you as you are settling into your position in the photo. Before you even get the chance to stay in position too long, I’m done! Its quick, friendly, easy and fun. Genuine smiles guaranteed! That’s why I call them in-formals!

HOW MANY HOURS OF PHOTOGRAPHY COVERAGE WOULD I NEED? Depends on when your ceremony and reception times are. A good guideline is to start photography at least 2 hours before the ceremony to cover getting ready photos, shoes, rings, decor, flowers and other little details (unless you’re not into these images; in that case, starting 30 minutes – 1 hour before ceremony will do). A good time for end time is 3 hours or more into the dinner. This is usually enough time to cover all the important events, such as cake cutting, toasts, first dances and other important items on the agenda for the night. This means that if you have a 3pm ceremony and 7pm dinner hour (or 6pm cocktail hour), ideal minimum photography coverage would be 1pm through 10pm. Time between the ceremony and reception is usually occupied with family and wedding party pictures, as well as portraits of just the two of you. If you are having a late ceremony, then plan to have these photos taken before the ceremony. In this case, you’ll want to start photography coverage 2 hours before when you need to be ready for photos. Whatever you do, try to set aside at least 1 hour for family photos, and another hour for wedding party and portraits.

Click here for more FAQ’s.

I hope this was helpful to you! Tomorrow, we have an announcement about our schedule during the month of February and March. If you’ve been communicating with me via email recently, you probably already have this information. Otherwise, please check back tomorrow!

Here’s what you can look for this year:
Monday: Marry Me? Mondays are all about engagement sessions, getting engaged, proposals, and of course, tons or engagement photos to go with it.

Travel on a Tuesday. I’m a photographer. I take lots of pictures when I travel, and believe me, I’ve traveled ALOT. In fact, Paul and I went on a little trip for our honeymoon, where we literally circled the globe over a period of about 5 weeks. But no one knows that. Because I never show people my pictures. It’s sad isn’t it, that the photographer herself has her photos stashed up in the drawer where they never see the light of day. Well, every Tuesday, I’ll be posting something from past travels.

Wedded Wednesday. Of course. Wedding photographer. Wedding pictures are in order. ‘Nuff said.

Tell me….. Thursday. This will be dedicated to your questions, or questions I’ve received in the past. Every Thursday, I’ll post answers to one of these questions. I hope this will help clients – prospective or current – answer any question you have on your mind. Photographers are welcome to post questions as well. Everyone: feel free to post your questions in the comment section.

Friday is freeday. This means Friday is open. Open to anything. I might just post a picture of a cake that I recently baked, or a video of my kitty doing funny things, latest wedding finds..____(fill in the blanks)____. Anything.

So that’s it. Having a daily blogging schedule would also mean that my posts will be much shorter (if you follow my blog, you know I write. alot.), but it will have more variety, and hopefully more fun! If you’re reading this, please tell me! I can use the encouragement! Hahah!!

We did a thorough post about e-sessions recently, so for this post, I will show you a few more pictures from a recent Chicago engagement session – places we went, why we went there, and what we did.

Introducing: Tara and Jason (p.s. I just want to say, I can’t wait to blog their wedding. I cried at their wedding!)
E-session location: We spent most of the session at/around the Chicago Riverwalk. We finished up at the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago in Michigan Avenue, where Jason proposed to Tara!!

We parked at the Grand Hyatt, and walked to the Riverwalk. On our way there, I made them stand in the median of a road, right in front of a crosswalk, and started shooting away when the pedestrian lights turned green! Its not easy for first timers to immediately shoot in public with people all around them, but they took it very professionally! And it was an easy way to break the ice. Look at it this way, the session can only get easier from this point on!!

On the way down to the stairs that lead to the Riverwalk. I told them to go ahead of me and stop in the middle section of the stairs. And..MAKE OUT! while I shoot away right above them. Hahah!! Did I say this session was going to get easier from this point on? Just kidding. No really. It will be easier after this!

We got the Riverwalk. First things first – ICE CREAM! I told them to get some ice cream, enjoy it by the cute seating area. I shot away from far while they enjoyed their dessert.

At the Fourth Presbyterian Church, I pulled out my lights. Paul was in the background (hiding behind the wall) with a remote flash. I loved the effect of the light.

For this one, I had them stand on the sidewalk, with traffic zooming by in the background. I shot this with a low shutter speed (technical speak, sorry) to create the background effect in this shot (it was a bus that was driving by quite slowly)

Tomorrow: Travel on a Tuesday! Fun!! Please check back tomorrow!

- Wen -

An e-session is an engagement photo session. And no, it actually doesn’t have to be shot during you engagement, or anytime near when you got engaged. Quite counter-intuitive is you asked me. But my guess is that e-sessions started back when people still posted engagement announcements in the local newspaper. Some smaller town newspapers still do, actually, because I’ve actually received several requests in the last year.

These days, e-session is a whole other animal. I personally don’t think that e-sessions are the absolute essential in your wedding photography, but I do think that if you can, definitely do it. Because:

1. If you’re camera shy, it’s a first opportunity for you to experience what it will be like to have paparazzi surround you
   
2. You get to experience me at work, get used to some of my terminology when I give you instructions during the shoot, and well, get used to spending some time with me, because after all, I will be the one person who will be right next to you all day at your wedding
   
3. You get to use your photos in FUN ways to complement your wedding plans – guestbooks, wedding website, Save-The-Dates, invitations, table cards, thank you cards, slideshow, the list goes on. Personalize your wedding. Let your guests see the two of you together. You know what it’s like – many guests have only either met the groom or the bride but not both. You want your guests to get to know your new significant other.
   

The cost of an engagement session is typically included in your wedding photography package. If not, just ask. It NEVER hurts to ask. Unless you’re with a big chain photography company, chances are, it will cost you very little more, or if you’re lucky, your photographer might even throw it in for you. For me personally, I really enjoy e-sessions, when the couple enjoys it. This is why, I include it as a complimentary option. If you want it, we’ll do it. If you don’t want it, then we won’t. It’s that simple. Over the years, I have met couples who simply do. not. want. an engagement session. In that case, doing an e-session might actually hurt your relationship with your photographer, and create unnecessary stress, on top of all the other stresses of wedding planning. Yes, they’ll loose out on all the benefits that I listed above, but I respect and trust that they are happier people without those things, so we’ll keep it that way.

So let me introduce Teresa and Wilson. They did their e-session June – it was a nice, comfortable Spring-Summer afternoon. Perfect timing for an e-session!

First, I ask them if there is a special place they’d like to shoot, and whether they have plans to use the images for anything in the wedding (e.g., if they q
want to make a Save-The-Date with their images, I will plan the shoot/poses accordingly, and may even bring a few props). This is also when I toy with them the idea of having a themed shoot.

Then, the question that I get 100% of the time: What to wear????!! And my 411 to everyone is…

Dress up, dress nice, dress comfortably. Be cute, be fun, but DON’T LET YOUR CLOTHES DISTRACT, which means:
~NO to all black or all white (the little black dress is an exception!). All white attracts more attention than the people in the photos. All black makes you look like a blob of black
~NO to distracting patterns (plaids, stripes) and logos (imagine “Aeropostale” in every photo!)
~DO wear neutrals, jewel tones, pastels, but feel free to add a pop of color to reflect your personality. Just don’t let your clothes be louder than you
~DO wear comfy shoes (especially in the city) and bring an extra pair of flats if you want
~You don’t have to match each other in terms of colors. But do dress to complement each other in terms of “dressiness” (e.g., a cute black dress does not go with shorts and sandals)
~ DO dress appropriately for the weather, even if that short skirt is cute in the snow – you’re gonna regret it later.
~ DO accessorize
~ MUST leave the big handbag behind! The last thing you want is photos of you holding a big bag.
~ MOST importantly, bring your happy mood! =)

And then, the next most popular question – “what poses do you suggest?” Uh..no. It’s 2011, and we don’t do poses anymore. Poses – is not my thing. But I will give you some guidance on what to do and how to interact with each other, that will make for good photos. I will tell you places to stand, sit, “hang out,”..etc. and, I give you “things” to do while you’re “hanging out”. Not poses.

So back to Teresa and Wilson. They took full advantage of making the session THEIR OWN. Teresa took us to Pilsen, the neighborhood where she grew up. The area was also full of murals that carried alot of meaning for Wilson, who’s a professor in Sociology and American Studies. This was perfect backdrop that represented BOTH their personalities!

See the images and captions for more details on what we did during the shoot and the story behind each image!!

Jen — if you’re reading this, make sure to get to the bottom of the post for a sneak peek of you on your wedding day.

THE MEETING: One day three years ago, I was slaving away at home to make my brother’s wedding programs using my trusty ink jet printer and manual paper trimmer, until my cousin totally made fun of me and pleaded that I get them done at a local print/copy store which she claimed would save me hours of work! So I headed to the local OfficeMax store and was told that I had to work with the store manager to fix my file because I used an outdated software to create it. It took us at least an hour fixing the formatting of the document. The store manager? Was Jesse.

The document finally went into print and cut, and I quickly noticed Jesse’s very meticulous style and was very pleased with his work! I decided then that Jesse would be my go-to guy for all my print jobs from now on! So with the new-found amazingness that is OfficeMax, I continued to frequent the store for other projects, being sure to talk to Jesse each time. We started chit-chatting about random stuff, and so a casual friendship began (or so I thought!).

THE DATE: One day that summer, I went back to OfficeMax aka Jesse to make copies for my tutoring job. As usual we got talking, but this time, he mentioned some free Zanie’s Comedy Club tickets and asked if I would go with him and his friends. “ahem”….

I noticed some hesitation…after which he said that I could bring a friend. Not 10 seconds later, he asked me “…so, do you know who you’re going to bring?”

To buy some time, I looked at him and said, “Yeah sure, just give me two tickets and we’ll meet you there.”

“Oh, the tickets are at my house and the show is tomorrow night, so just meet me and my friend Ed there at 7 PM.” OK…Jesse…

Jeese seemed pretty innocent, so I met him at the comedy club with my friend Sue that evening. To my surprise, Jesse gave me a long stem red rose! Aw how sweet! He also came with his friend Jasmine, who we now know was a friend’s wife, but initially I thought that was strange, Jesse and 3 girls. When I asked about his friend Ed, apparently, he had bailed. hmm.. OK!

Well, enough said that was our first date, and the rest is history! Still to this day, we laugh at the fact that on our first date, it was Jesse and 3 ladies!!

And just for you guys – Jen and Jesse, here is a little sneaky-peek of your pics from last weekend!! Look how beautiful you are!!

Here is an example of a personalize photo website. An optional fun feature — if you are a facebook junkie (I, unfortunately am one of those), this site can also be embedded onto your facebook wall or a tab on your facebook profile, allowing you to view the entire site (including playing galleries and slideshows) directly from within facebook, and to tag your facebook friends who appear in your photos.

I love that I am able to offer this at no additional cost to all my clients who book a Collection. This is THE way to share your wedding photos — a regular photo gallery just won’t do it for me!

Lynn and Sung, if you’re reading this, I just want to tell you, that you were NOT difficult at all. So, no, you don’t get the “Most Difficult People To Shoot” prize!

It’s really about being comfortable with each other, even if you’re really uncomfortable with the camera. The crazy-camera-totting me may be following your every step, but that’s easily forgotten once you get into the groove of things. A little bit of awkwardness at the start is very typical for everyone. But with my stay-back, laid-back, shoot-from-afar style, people tend to just ignore me after the first 20 minutes or so, and instead, focus on each other. THAT’S when I start shooting.

I’m a fan of the cupid. There’s a cupid in every relationship — be it a co-worker, a family member, a waitress, a book, or even a cab driver. The cupid in Lynn and Sung’s story was Sung’s sister, who was determined to set them up.

Lynn called it the “set up,” while Sung called it the “con job.”

It all started one evening while planning for her Halloween party, when Lynn decided to ignore Sung’s sister’s phone call, knowing that she was going to bug her about introducing Sung to Lynn at the party. By missing this call, Lynn never heard the end of it for the entire week after that. Out of guilt, Lynn decided to finally let her set up a meeting with Sung over dinner and a movie, having been promised that it was going to be “totally casual, its soo not going to be a date!”.

Of course, once the non-date evening started, Sung’s sister felt conveniently tired, and proceeded to excuse herself to go home early, leaving Lynn and Sung to spend the rest of the night alone.

“But we were ok with that anyway, because we liked each other even from the start,” Lynn said shyly with a smile as Sung rubbed her arms and held her close to keep her warm as the temperature dropped with the setting sun.

Years later, Lynn was telling this story to a friend, when Sung exclaimed, “What Halloween party??” The “con job,” as they now call it, is that his sister never invited him to the Halloween party. The guilt trip that Lynn got for the entire week after the missed call was just a con job to get Lynn to agree to a date with Sung!

And, my friends, they lived happily ever after. The end.

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Then he saw her.

Robert described that moment to me: “…and then, Noly walked out of the cab, dressed all in black, and alofasu’n I started gett’n the pitter-pat…….right here….” he said as he patted his palm on his chest. “…she took my breath away.”

“He reached out, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into Hangge Uppe,” Noly said, with her oh-so-cute Spanish accent.

Needless to say, they hit it off, and “technically” had their first date that night! “And then I snuck a kiss at the end of the night,” Noly gave me a little wink as he told me that.

“And ever since, we’ve been together.”

Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | Follow Me on Twitter | Visit My Facebook Page! | View My Portfolio

Stasia is a Hematology/ Stem Cell Transplant nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Carrie is a Field Officer for Amnesty International.

Carrie completed the Chicago Half Marathan benefiting the AIDS Foundation.
Stasia completed the Chicago Triathlon benefiting for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Stasia was a Villanova University graduate ’07, and was a member of Delta Gamma, an international fraternity built upon the motto “Do Good.”
Carrie was a Villanova University graduate ’03 and returned for her Masters ’07. Also a member of Delta Gamma.

And then they met.
They became friends.
Then they hung out more and became more than friends.
They got engaged while skiing in New York in January 2010.

There is something very beautiful when two people with the same kind and giving spirit, who spend every day of their lives helping other people, find each other and decide to spend the rest of their lives together. Stasia and Carrie are incredibly in love, and it shows in these images. Congrats girls!

Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | View My Portfolio

I have a ton of choices when it comes to wedding albums for my clients, and I chose to go with KISS (KISS Wedding Books -www.kissweddingbooks.com), and only KISS. While I can make other types of wedding albums, I chose to offer these books in all my packages with albums. I believe in offering my clients the best that I can get my hands on, and something that is completely in line with my philosophy when it comes to photography — simple, beautiful, timeless. There are no bells and whistles on these books. Just the best leather, the softest cover, the most vibrant printing, the highest quality papers and production, the best customer service. Its a wedding album, and it should be the best album you own. And these albums, are very good at what they do.

Oh, and a little bonus — instead of a plain (and maybe even ugly) box, these babies come with a cute canvas bag!

You also have an option of ordering a little copy of your wedding album (aka. Little Kisses) so you can take it with you and …ah-hem, flaunt it around. Its also a great option for your mom or Aunt Selma.The only thing you need to think about – which of the seven colors do you want?

Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | View My Portfolio

Midwest weather is unpredictable this time of year. Today, 10/21, the temp outside is almost 70 degrees. The day of Laura & Andrew’s engagement session, which was about 3 weeks earlier, it was probably in the 40′s and grey and dreary. To add salt to my wound, it got bright and warmer the very next day. Why, mother nature? Why?

OK, so back to this cute couple. They’re both football fans..and you’ll figure that out once you look at their engagement photos — they came to the shoot with their favorite football team sweaters. And no, they’re not on the same team, which got them alot of attention from other fellow football fans..take a look at the pics, and you’ll know why =)

Places we visited:
Chicago Riverwalk (www.cityofchicago.org/riverwalk)
Navy Pier (www.navypier.com/)
McCormick Place (www.mccormickplace.com/)

Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | View My Portfolio

Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | View My Portfolio

To kick off the new blog, let me introduce — Traci and Charles! They wanted a guestbook made for their wedding, which will be held at the House on the Rock, WI, next month. So we went around downtown Madison last week to get some shots for the book. Congrats guys!

Where we went for this shoot
Downtown Madison streets
James Madison Park in Madison, WI
Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, WI

Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | View My Portfolio

Amy is GREAT in front of the camera. This girl is full of confidence and is just a joy to photograph. The moment I started shooting, she just strutted her stuff! I just LOVE a great model =)

Amy and Jim — see you guys next year at your wedding! I can’t wait!!

Places we went:
Tenney Park

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The primary purpose of this shoot was to get images for their wedding invitation, and hence many of the photos have lots of negative space to allow for text overlay. I’m pretty excited and can’t wait to see the final result!

Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | View My Portfolio

Amanda and Joe are getting married at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells on Memorial Day weekend and I’m super excited about it! The ceremony is going to be outdoors (YAY!), and the reception will be in one of their banquet halls. The Wilderness Resort have even assigned a planner for their event (how nice!). All I need to do now is figure out how to do the rain dance so that I can guarantee perfect weather that day! =)