Denis is running to be a member of the school board in High School district 230. There are seven members of the board and three are up for election this year. He came to me to get a professional headshot for the purpose of trying to get elected to this position. He was so positive and uplifting during the shoot that getting a great shot was practically guaranteed. I photographed a few different background types so that he would have photos for all of the marketing pieces he needs for his campaign…website, brochure, and flyer. His smile was 100% natural and seemingly limitless. He is hopeful, motivated and giving and, at 24, already working to make contributions to his school district.  Naturally, he would make a great addition….Good luck Denis!

Below are the pages from a 20 page 8″x8″ maternity/newborn photo album. I shot both the pregnancy and the newborn baby and the resulting book is going to be an awesome culmination of the mothers style and attitude, my interpretation of that style, and the baby’s newborn-ness!  It’s a totally unique piece that will be passed on to Sydney when she’s older.

cover photo

opening page

last page

back cover

Here is a link to a great blog post about getting all the digital files from a photo shoot….

I love this series of photographs of a great couple who are parents and grandparents. It was shot outside in a park outside and the greenery provided a great backdrop. Often times when a couple becomes grandparents for the firs time all of the focus, naturally, is on the new baby. We all rush to photograph and focus on the newborn baby and in the process forget to photograph the parents and grandparents in one of the greatest time periods of their life. The photos of everything but the baby fall by the wayside. What could be a better time to photograph your parents and grandparents than now? I love these photos because they are fun fresh and colorful and put a little spin on an ordinary photo session. I like seeing their happiness with each other and with this stage of life. I think these are special photographs that will be treasured by so many members of the family for a long time…

photo collage of grandparents. photo by heidi brady of HJB photo

I have posted two blog entries featuring photos taken from the Salon Sanjoy photo shoots and finally the website has gone live. I am thrilled about how the photos look and absolutely love how the designer, Christopher Morast, has presented them. Christopher is a San Francisco based web designer who is a dream to work with.  His design for the salon is fantastic and the respect he has for photography and its importance for this site is obvious. The photos really become powerful when seen in the context of his design. Check out the salon site for more Salon Sanjoy

homepage of Salon Sanjoy

This is the second photo shoot for Salon Sanjoy, a new hair salon in Lakeview…3348 North Paulina Street. The photographs were taken for the Salon’s new website which will launch within 1 month. The salon is already open with Sanjoy doing innovative hair cuts and color as you can see in the photos.  The photographs will be featured on the home page of the website and in an online gallery and reflect some of the diversity of clients in Chicago.  The make up artist for the shoot was Nika Vaughan  http://www.nikavaughan.com/  and the styling was done by the staff at Salon Sanjoy.

If you are about to enter into a wedding photography contract and have no idea if your contract is sound and want to get advice about it, contact me through the Live Person website…

http://www.liveperson.com/hjb/

I am now offering expert wedding contract advice via the Live Person expert consulting site. You can make sure you are up to date on all the wedding photography industry lingo, have an expert review your potential photographer’s work and give advice and tips about things that might be missing in your contract or in their offerings. The process of finding a wedding photographer can be daunting with so many photographers offering so many different packages, albums, and contracts that the whole thing can put you in overload.  For example, who will actually make your wedding album? Is it made with templates or designed by a 3rd party? Who is the actually photographer who will show up on your wedding day….is it the same person whose work you saw and loved or does the studio say they can send anyone?  How many pages come in your album and how much are additional pages? Have you seen an entire wedding shot by your potential wedding photographer? How large are the digital files that come with your package? Will the digital files be converted into black and white for you or will they come only in color? Contact me on the live person site if you want help sorting through all of the details and  and are in need of insightful tips.  Don’t get caught in a wedding photography contract that doesn’t suit you…sort it out before it is too late.

HJB Photo, Heidi Brady, gives wedding photography contract advice on the Live Person expert consulting site

The Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness hosted a Breakfast with the Mayor last week to outline the year’s progress, unveil a new board of directors, award the Honorable Abner Mikva with a “partner in change” award, and unveil a new brochure that was created with a grant from the Taproot Foundation. I photographed the event for the Alliance and was part of the Taproot team which created the brochure. The brochure is part of renewed efforts to raise awareness about Chicago’s plan to end homelessness and The Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness is at the forefront of creating that plan.
http://www.thechicagoalliance.org/

Cover of Alliance brochure. photo by heidi brady

inside spread of alliance brochure. photo by heidi brady

Randall Doubet King giving the introduction to the breakfast

Nancy Radner, CEO of The Chicago Alliance, thanks Mayor Daley for keeping homelessness a priority and for taking part of the proceeds from the Parking meters and directing them specifically to the Plan to End Homelessness and the homeless system ( to the tune of $4.2M)…

Mayor Daley thanking Nancy Radner and the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness for all of their efforts to end homelessness in Chicago.

Abner Mikva walking up to receive the “Partner of Change”  Award for his impressive record of service in Chicago

Nancy Radner and Abner Mikva

Keith Richardson, a formerly homeless man who is still on a 10 year waiting list for permanent housing,  gave his perspective of the homelessness story…..

Keith’s story is also featured in the Alliance’s new brochure. His speech was inspiring and received a large ovation.