Tag Archives: chicago engagement photographer

 

There’s nothing more special than waking up at the crack of dawn and heading downtown to watch a beautiful couple share their love. And if that’s not special enough on it’s own, doing it at sunrise makes it even sweeter!

 

We started off Lauren and Steve’s sunrise engagement session at one of my all-time favorite engagement photo locations in Chicago — North Avenue Beach. With the shoreline, the concrete breakwalls, and the incredible Chicago skyline view, this spot is pretty hard to beat.

 

 

Loving the mugs with Lauren (to be) and Steve’s last name! Cheers to Mr. and Mrs. Koveck!!

 

 

They don’t call it the windy city for nothing.  🙂

 

 

That VIEW though…. 😯

 

 

One small detail that we failed to realize until the night before, was that we had unintentionally scheduled our shoot on the same day as the Chicago Marathon. If this were something we were aware of ahead of time, we likely would have tried to avoid this date at all costs, as road closures and traffic congestion can be a real hassle surrounding the race. But with winter closing in, and everyone’s crazy work schedules, we decided it would be best to push through, see what craziness we run into, and make it work!

 

Thankfully, we lucked out big time with North Avenue Beach, as there wasn’t but one or two other cars in the parking lot, and not a soul in sight on the beach. Wrapping up at North Avenue Beach, our next destination was set for Lincoln Park Zoo.  Steve queued up the Uber, and off we went.

 

This is where things got interesting.

 

To make a long story short, what should have started with a simple 15 minute walk from North Avenue Beach over to Lincoln Park Zoo, turned into a 60+ minute Uber tour around the city. It seemed like every conceivable route was blocked by the Chicago Marathon, and there was no end in sight. Eventually, we made the executive decision to head right back where we started, hopped out of the Uber, and walked our happy booties to over to the Zoo.

 

All in all, we shared a good laugh, and we all held in good spirits. We made it to Lincoln Park Zoo and the show went on!

 

 

Are Lauren and Steve seriously not the cutest couple ever? That’s right, Steve…I just called you cute.

 

 

Another huge shout-out to Lauren and Steve — Thank you two so much for putting up with all the shenanigans we ran into on your shoot! You guys were amazing, and I can’t wait for your big day!!

 

Interested in booking YOUR engagement shoot? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat!!

 

 

By Matt Bigelow

 

Engagement sessions can mean more than just spending time with a photographer and getting your photos taken. Planning our location and theme choices off of your interests as a couple, most engagement sessions become a time of reflection, revisiting moments that you’ve shared in the past, exploring one another’s personalities, and even being introduced to new places they never knew existed. In all those moments of reminiscing and recollection, we quickly arrive at a place of comfort and laughter, making our job of capturing those moments of laughter a breeze.

 

For our first location with Jessica and Doug, we stopped at a place called Milton Olive Park — a beautiful parkway along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Even after living in Chicago for quite some time now, Milton Olive Park happened to be a new hidden gem for Jessica and Doug. This is a couple that’s always on the lookout for new places to explore and spend quite time together, so it was a pleasure having the opportunity to share this fun little spot with them! A little pep-talk during our walk and a little help of direction and they became comfortable in no time!

 

 

Milton Olive Park definitely offers one of my favorite skyline engagement locations in the city.

 

 

After warming up and setting the mood for the rest of the evening, we packed up and took a quick trip up to North Avenue Beach where we could relax in the sand and get a few beautiful shots right as the sun began to set.

 

 

Seriously couldn’t have asked for a more perfect evening.

 

 

Jessica brought along a blanket that she wanted to use, which turned out to be a perfect chance for them to get even more cozy and snuggled in the sand.

 

 

For our final location of the evening, Jessica and Doug decided to dress things up a bit and head down to the Chicago Theater on State Street.

 

 

Ready to plan YOUR engagement session? Head over to our CONTACT page and drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you!

 

 

By Matt Bigelow

 

As a wedding photographer, there’s a very standard order of events that I am accustomed to being a part of when it comes to the celebration of a couple’s wedding.  By the time most couples arrive to us to chat about their wedding photography, the bride-to-be is sporting a shiny new engagement ring, wedding venues are chosen, and they’re on their way, off and running. At this point, there are typically two focal points: the engagement session, which helps celebrate their new chapter in life together (here are a few reasons for considering an engagement session!) and, of course, the wedding.

 

While this is the vast majority of what we see, there are of course always exceptions to the rule.  On occasion, we are approached by couples that are planning their wedding, but have yet to officially become engaged.  This is where a unique and wonderful opportunity unfolds.  An opportunity to peek into and document one of the most special moments in the couple’s lives up to this point, one that most will never have the opportunity to witness.  This is, of course, the proposal.

 

By the time that Faith and Tyler dropped by our home to chat about and book their wedding with us, they were quite ahead of the game.  They had already chosen their wedding venue, dates, and all sorts of other wedding details.  The only thing that was missing at this point, was the engagement ring!  Of course, this far into planning, Faith (and Tyler) knew that it was only a matter of time.  Instead of letting that be a spoiler for her surprise, I think she rather enjoyed the suspense.  After all, anticipation is half the fun, right?

 

After booking, we all began discussing engagement session ideas.  In an attempt to keep the surprise, Tyler and I had our own communications on the side as well, secretly planning the surprise proposal.  Tyler knew he wanted to propose on the first day of fall, as this is Faith’s favorite day of the year.  This is a perfect time of year in my book, too, as fall engagement photos are always a huge hit.  Perfect weather and beautiful colors…what’s not to love?  From here, it was just a matter of location.  Faith and Tyler love downtown Chicago, and are also big into art, so Tyler decided that the People’s Gas Education Pavilion at the Lincoln Park Zoo would be an awesome choice.  The Pavilion is a beautiful work of art that offers a gorgeous view of the downtown Chicago skyline.  As if this wasn’t enough, Lincoln Park Zoo has endless amounts of beautiful settings that make for great engagement photo (and proposal!) backdrop.  And while we didn’t stop this time, Cafe Brauer is a great spot for a bit to eat while you’re there, too!

 

Anywho…on with it, right?

 

This was a particularly fun challenge for me.  I felt a little bit like a spy, creeping up on Faith and Tyler from the bushes.  Through contact with Tyler via text messaging, we were able to coordinate our locations and keep each other up-to-date on each other’s whereabouts.  I was able to grab a park bench near Cafe Brauer and wait for Tyler’s signal that they were on the bridge, heading for the People’s Gas Education Pavilion.

 

GO TIME!

 

Once they were in position, Tyler had cued me on in the order of events.  He was to show her a video on his phone, drawing her attention, which allowed me to snap away.  After the video, he was to drop to a knee and do the deed!

 

 

Close call…hide, shoot a few “flowers” and pretend I’m not spying….

 

 

Video time….and there it goes!

 

 

She said YES!!!  😀

 

 

Absolutely gorgeous engagement ring.  Very unique and personalized.  LOVE.

 

 

What a cool cat…

 

 

These two had such great personalities…truly an honor and pleasure working with them!

 

 

Photo-bomb!

 

 

Want to chat with us about capturing YOUR proposal and engagement photos?  Head over to the CONTACT page and drop us a line!  We’d love to chat with you!

 

 

By Matt Bigelow