Hair salon website featuring Heidi’s photos….

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

homepage of Salon Sanjoy

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photo of the day

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Photo of the day – Newborn baby and mom

newborn baby and mother

newborn baby and mother

 

Photo of the Day- Wedding couple under the Hancock Building Chicago

bride and groom under the Hancock building

bride and groom under the Hancock building

 

Maternity photo shoot before and after….their photos/my photos

I often ask for photos of  a couple before a maternity photography shoot to get an idea of who they are, how they interact together, how they  look on camera, their heights, hair color, style etc. I think it’s really fascinating to go back and look at the photos they sent me after the shoot is completed and I’ve worked with them and gotten to know them on a new level. It’s eye opening and magical almost to see  how couples transform in my studio. Their personalities and physical beauty is revealed after doing a shoot and a whole new couple emerges from the photos. After a recent shoot I went back and looked at the photos my client sent me before the shoot and with their permission I am sharing both the before and after with you here with……

BEFORE- THEIR PHOTOS

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AFTER- MY PHOTOS

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chicago wedding photographs at theWit

I have just finished editing a wedding I shot at theWit. What a fantastic place to get married!  Spacious and scenic rooms with gorgeous views of the Chicago Cityscape from every angle. Fantastic architecture serving as a gateway to Lake Michigan on the East side, the Chicago Theater on the South, the Chicago river, bridges, and Marina City on the North…everywhere you look you are reminded of what a stunning city Chicago is to look at and live in.  We started way high up where Lisa was getting her hair done…..

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bride to be getting hair done

bride to be getting hair done

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view from the room

She sees her bouquet for the first time….it was stunning! Her’s was a cascade bouquet made up of white orchids.

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This bouquet practically needed its own limo…

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I took some still life shots while Lisa got her hair done…

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The rings reflecting their urban Chicago surroundings….

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LisaMich-92Lisa with her dress on looking fantastic with a hint of theWit’s trademark color shining through…The rooms are flooded with light, this is the place a photographer dreams of….

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Lisa’s dress was stunning and dramatic for photos, I loved it!

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Leaving the room to get married!

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waiting for the limo in the lobby of the Wit and then getting into the limo….I love this shot because it really says The Wit without actually saying it….

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Michigan Avenue bridge with the Tribune building in back. I can’t thank these uniformed men enough for walking into the picture at just the right time!  They really just make the shots!

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Bride and groom stopping traffic on Wacker Avenue…Chicago has so many awesome spots for wedding photographs….

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The wedding ceremony and the reception were all at the Wit. A ballroom on the 3rd floor of the Wit was used for the ceremony and reception and the rooftop deck was used for cocktail hour. The room was done beautifully and the views of the city were fantastic. The windows of the room faced North and West looking at Marina City, Wacker Drive, and State St. The city views gave  a great backdrop for this quintessential urban wedding….

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Bridal party moving to the rooftop deck of the Wit. A totally stunning space for cocktails….

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From the rooftop everyone moved back downstairs where the room was transformed into a fuschia themed  reception….

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Website photographs for Salon Sanjoy hair salon…studio shoot #2

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.

 

Maternity photography watercolor print triptych

3watercolorprintsJust in from a recent studio pregnancy / maternity photography photo shoot are three gorgeous watercolor prints, 8.5″ x 11″. These are extremely special black and white photographs printed on a thick textured watercolor paper.

detail of the texture inherent in Hahnemuhle William Turner watercolor photographic prints

detail of the texture in Hahnemuhle William Turner watercolor photographic prints

As you can see here the paper is very thick and textured. These are not ordinary prints printed..but pieces of custom art that require great expertise in the printing, handling, and framing. Black and white photos are exceptional with this type of print process because the blacks are so rich and matte.

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This is a more dramatic view of the texture of the paper. Depending on where and how you hang the photographs, the texture is more or less visible.

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This is a detail from one of the above photographs which shows the texture in more detail…….

 

Maternity Newborn photography… end results

Sometimes it takes a long time to complete the Maternity/newborn combo photo shoot that I offer  but by the time it’s finished it is always totally satisfying and it results in some really great pieces.  The process is long because after doing the Maternity portion of the photo shoot usually the baby is born before we ever can decide upon photos. Lots of chaos ensues with a new baby and all of a sudden there is no time to think about the photos. Many times 3-6 months pass before we get around to shooting the baby. However,  seeing the baby that I photographed before his/her birth is always pretty amazing.  I love working on the final photographic pieces because after so much work and effort on everyone’s part everyone finally gets to see results. It is worth all the wait. So much diligence and attention to detail is put into my shoots that it is a reward to create the final pieces after the shoots. Below are some final pieces created for some great clients who hired me to photograph their pregnancy and their newborn baby. They were great to work with and open to creating some great things to display in their house. The maternity photography collage was printed on canvas and the baby collage is a traditional matted collage created with 8ply board with 9 -5″x5″ window cuts. Traditional matte prints are used for the photos. We had a great collaboration and we all had a great time coming up with these enduring pieces of art.

20x24 Maternity photography canvas collage

20x24 Maternity photography canvas collage

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Newborn portion of photo shoot:

Newborn photo collage -traditional mattboard collage

Newborn photo collage -traditional mattboard collage

11x14 canvas wrap

11x14 canvas wrap

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Photograph of a young White Sox Fan

Young White Sox Fan gearing up for the season

Young White Sox Fan gearing up for the season