My construction friend Brett

I usually photograph Brett's home rehab projects after he is done, this time I got the idea to shoot Brett in a home at the start of the rehab process. Brett has a great eye for detail, but he is also very comfortable in the middle of a major mess.

Groom in Kilt

It says a lot about a guy what he decides to wear on his wedding day. Some guys wear tennis shoes, John(the groom above) showed up in a kilt. John definitely had great presence in his kilt. I thought he looked great.

CaSandra and Carl

We drove past the Baraboo bluffs to meet CaSandra, who does healing work at her house. I could not tell were she was from, but Carl had a great New York accent. I really liked a shot I made of CaSandra alone, but the shot of them together was filled with too much joy not to post.
CaSandra's website

Two little Grandmothers

I make a funny sound that causes kids to laugh and dogs to perk up their ears. I wanted to help these two grandmothers smile but they did not speak English, so I made my funny sound. Every time I made my sound the grandma on the left cracked up.

Wisconsin boy with chicken

I was shooting a portrait of Jacob and his family and pets.
Before I shot the family I took a quick shot of him with his chicken.
Its pretty hard to beat a photo of a boy and his chicken.

1940's Inspired Bride

I shot this portrait of this bride this year,
but she and her groom were tuned into a 40's look.
I think she pulled off that era well.

Dr Evermore, Wisconsin sculptor

Dr Evermore has been creating scrap metal sculpture on this site
since 1983. The sculpture behind him is the largest
scrap metal sculpture in the world called the Forevertron.
This shot is from our portrait series from the Sauk Prairie region in WI.

Goth girl and little brother.

Some people at weddings catch my eye more than others.
This girl was one of those people, but the shot was not complete
until I put her younger brother with her.

Mickey WW II pilot

Mickey was a pilot in China during WW II. I met him at his condo, which had a few photos of him in China during the war. I asked him what he had from the war that he could hold. He showed me this flag that was sewn into his leather flight jacket with writing in Chinese about who he was if he crashed. Mickey never piloted a plane after the war, but I like to think that this
photos shows how he felt about that special time in his life.

What I'm thinking about my blog.

Upon the suggestion of my studio manager, Jamie, I have decided to create a blog with some of my images and what I think about capturing these images. One type of image I will include are location photos of people in places. These are people that I know and found interesting or people Jamie or her family knows. The locations are pretty much in Chicago IL, Oak Park IL or Prairie du Sac WI.

I go to these people and shoot them in their locations wearing the clothing they selected. Most of these people I don't know and need to get to know them in about 30 min. The photo shows what kind of person they are and what kind of rapport we have developed.

The other kind of photo I will show are portraits of people who come to weddings that are hosted in my studio and the bride and groom hired me to shoot portraits of anyone who comes to the wedding. This business developed 9 years ago when I cleaned out my studio and put up a website for other photographers to rent my space by the day. Not many photographers called but a lot of future brides got in touch with me. After turning the first few down, I gave in and this business started. The portraits I make on the night of a wedding could never be duplicated at any other time. Weddings in my studio are magic and the magic shows in the photos.

I hope you will enjoy the images that I post and some of the thoughts I have about these shots.


Steve