Azeam & Zoha | Engagement

This year, I've done a good job of keeping up with my editing work, but at the same time had a little bit of a rough go with posting my latest work in a timely manner. I can't believe this session happened all the way back in the middle of February. The day before this shoot was actually the day when I had ruined my old camera by falling into the lake during my morning photo adventure. As a result, the day leading up to this shoot was stressful since I didn't have much time to figure out my camera situation. Luckily, everything turned out alright thanks in part to Zoha for picking a great location and having quite a few ideas of poses for this photo session.

Agnes & Luke | Engagement

Back in early February, I did the engagement photos for my cousin, Agnes, and her fiancé, Luke. A weekend in early February worked best for us since Luke was in town that weekend. In planning, it took us a little while to settle on location and at first the plan was to have the shoot mainly outdoors. I was very happy when Agnes told me that they had reserved some time at the Lincoln Park Conservatory and also the Lincoln Park Zoo's South Pond Pavilion. Both these locations provided backdrops for nice backdrops that were very different from one another. We also ended up talking a few photos along the shore with some of the last bits of daylight.  

February 2018

The month of March has a little over a week left and yet I'm just now getting to making my monthly blog post for the month of February. During the month of February, I was unable to keep true to my goal of having at least one photo shoot a week. However, I did have a couple engagement photo sessions during the month of February so I wasn't completely dormant. I am hoping to finally post photos from those sessions when I find time. I also finished off the month by doing photography for Wake Up with Waukegan over at Bonnie Brook Golf Course. 

One of the most exciting changes that came with the month of February was new photography gear. In recent years, I have decided to allocate my money towards photography education programs and new lenses. Going into 2018, I was planning on finally investing in getting a new camera body since the Nikon D80 I owned was not a full frame camera and pretty outdated. Despite the limitations of my Nikon D80, I was doing my usual routine of procrastinating on purchase a new camera. I really did end up putting off purchasing a new camera for as long as I could. 

My need for a new camera would suddenly change on the morning of February 15th. That morning I decided that Waukegan Harbor seemed like a good location to do my photography. I thought the ice formations over on the south side of the harbor might make for some cool shots so decided to wander along the rocks a bit. I was a little torn between staying safe on the rocks or risking it and getting closer to the ice. In fact, I even added to my story on Snapchat pondering such a question. I eventually decided to take my chances on the ice and fell into the lake with my camera in hand. I quickly got out of the lake after my impromptu polar bear plunge, just not quick enough to save my camera. 

As I was walking back to my car after my dip in the lake, my main concern was having a camera for the engagement session the next day. I guess you can say that the universe gave me the push I needed to finally get a new camera. I ended up spending most my day looking at the available options for full-frame Nikon cameras and debating which one to get. Ultimately, I decided that at this moment the best camera for me is the Nikon D610 and have been happy with that decision so far. 

Also during February, I found time to get out and have some fun in my spare time. I ended up going to the Aragon Ballroom for a few Friday night shows. The headliners for the shows I went to were Gramatik, Ganja White Night, and Excision. Of the three shows I attended, I would have to say my favorite had to Excision since his music is so heavy and visuals are always so amazing. February also marked the first time in quite awhile that I attended ArtWauk since my schedule finally allowed it and I didn't have any work on display in any of the galleries.