I’m excited!

Caroline and Bobby just gave me the nod to head down to Hilton Head, S.C. next July and shoot their wedding. I’ll be arriving a couple of days beforehand to cover family get-togethers, get a lay of the land and be rested on the big day. And we’ll be doing a session or two with just the couple, probably before and after. As a Chicago wedding photojournalist I love working with the various local locations at my fingertips, and no place can beat the character here, but to be honest I love destination weddings and this one should be a load of fun.

I’ll be working in my normal photo journalistic wedding style, with an assistant, but we’ll also be adding an artistic twist via a small art album I’ll put together and deliver within two or three weeks of the wedding day. The images will be a combination of Polaroid artwork that’s fun and spontaneous, mixed with more traditional images that tie the story together. There will be a full traditional album sometime in the future, with this smaller one intended to be something fun and immediate.

There was a time when my wife/creative partner and I used Polaroid instant film creatively, for editorial and advertising work, with images in Polaroid’s permanent collection and on national tour. Now, not only is film on its last leg, but the Polaroid we used was extinct for some time and has come back to life but in a slightly different form. The new Polaroids I’ll be making are digital, using Photoshop tools, but represent the same look and feel, sense of movement and play that our earlier work did.

I made the Polaroid on this page using an image that Caroline sent me, and when I saw it there was no hesitation about how to put it to use.

 

 

Dusting off the old aesthetic and applying it in a new way, for a great couple and families in a beautiful locale is a perfect marriage for me!

 

 

 

 

Jim travels a lot for work, and far… say China far… yes that China, the one with the big wall… so needless to say, getting the planets aligned for an engagement session was a bit of a task, and didn’t happen until shortly before the big event.  But it was great in that there wasn’t a lot of time between the e-session and the wedding, so being in front of the camera and on my side, having a good feel for how Jim and Lisa were as subjects was fresh in my mind! And they’re great subjects, easy to be around, happy and truly in love. Can’t ask for more than that!

 

 

It was a really bright day, but the early fall colors were in full swing and Jim and Lisa’s color selection worked wonderfully.

Practicing for the first dance.

Jim and Lisa ended their first date with ice cream and talked for hours.

Jim’s Challenger is a close second, but second to be sure.