February - March 2006
On the left...The wedding of Lisa D'Agostino and Jason Anderson was held in Arlington Heights on Saturday, February 18, 2006. The bride was stunning and everyone seemed to be having a great time getting together for this important moment in Lisa and Jason's lives.
Like every wedding, I was honored to be selected as their wedding photographer, and I always love working in a nice atmosphere like the one provided by the Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church. Linda Shirley is the wedding co-ordinator there and she always does a fine job organizing the event at the church.
Lisa and Jason chose my 4 hour services, and although I wasn't present at their reception I'm sure having great candids of the ceremony, and wonderful portraits of family, bridal party and the couple will be well worth having used my long experienced, professional services for the most important part of their special day.
NEW ITEM....To
see the Anderson's
Virtual
wedding album,
with sound...
Click Here!!
Sports Thoughts....The winter Olympics have been going on for a few days and so far and I must report that I haven't watched a single minute of it. Too much politics, too many commercials, and like most sports, the athletes are no longer role models for anything more than bad attitudes it seems. Society babies them way too much and countries use the athletes as pawns.
Major League Baseball has begun spring training and already it's reported that the Cubs look typically sick with Mark Prior acting like he's got physical problems once again. Maybe 70 wins will be all we can expect from this team that certainly seems jinxed/hexed for eternity.
I am a Cub fan, although I must admit the SOX were awesome in 2005, winning all but one game in the post season, and losing that one game by a mere one run. The Sox rule, no doubt, that debate is over, but Wrigley is still the prettier park and one that brings back memories of when I was a kid and when the athletes were just regular people. Maybe I'll go to one game in 2006.
On the left and just below.....In case you haven't surfed far enough into my site, here is my buddy, Loretta. She's really smart and knows the English language really well.
Loretta is in love with a neighbor's dog, down at the end of the block, the Boomer, and everytime we go for a car ride Loretta can't wait to go past Boomer's house, where she barks like crazy and Boomer goes nuts too. Maybe I'll sneak a picture of Boomer in here one of these days, but Boomer's mommy and daddy aren't really friendly and they basically do not like the barking both dogs do when we walk or drive by the Boomer house.
On the left....I just love creating fabulous, proof-book covers, and I can do similar work when adding a little glitter to an album as well.
On the left are some images my associate, Robert Sojka, took at a recent wedding, and I had some fun putting together a nice cover image for their soon to be printed proof book.
I was already dedicated for that day showing my samples at a bridal, party planning showcase at the Lincolnshire Marriott, but Robert filled in with some great images of Lisa and Jeff on their special day.
On Both Sides.....is
Cindy, a previous customer having hired me to photograph her engagement
portrait and her wedding, and now this enjoyable February assignment,
photographing her for the Mrs. Illinois contest program, where Cindy will
be competing locally to move on for the ultimate goal of Mrs. America.
I chose the photograph on the right and she chose the photograph on the left.
Maybe it's the difference between the way a man sees a woman and the way a female sees herself. Cindy chose the image on the left. I also completed the program page design, adding the sponsor logos and throwing in some drop shadows. Good Luck Cindy!
With the release of the April issue of American Turf Monthly, I have now had the last four covers of the magazine, all four covers in 2006, as illustrated to the left. All total, since 1993, I have had my images grace the cover of American Turf Monthly 79 times.
The top left image shows the German bred horse, Shirocco, winning the 2005, Breeders' Cup Turf. The image was taken at Belmont Park in New York City, in October of 2005.
The top right is an image of Gary Stevens, just after his retirement from racing as a Hall of Fame jockey. The image was taken at Santa Anita Park in the Los Angeles area.
The bottom left image illustrates racing action from Fairmount Park, in Collinsville, IL. near St. Louis.
The bottom right image illustrates Jerry Bailey, just after his retirement as a Hall of Fame jockey. Bailey is pictured as his horse recieved a bed of flowers after winning the 2005 Kentucky Oaks with Summerly.
I am really looking forward to photographing the
2006, Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby.
I might do a virtual album of that weekend's, colorful and exciting visual
experience, so drop by in late May or early June to see that entertaining
item!
At the bottom of this paragraph are links to a couple of albums that are still in the design process. The Virtual Album Showcase software allows the customer to preview their album on-line. Then the customer can suggest the changes to be made, the album reworked, re-previewed on this same link, all without them ever leaving their home. While I wait to hear back from these customers about any potential changes, you can take a look at the initial design of these two albums and imagine your album (from any type of event) being done using this wonderful method of presentation....
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For those of you that thought it would still be that interesting to be all the way at the end of this page, thank you, and I hope these two images will be as worthy.
A recent trip to St. Louis allowed for a vist to Fairmount Park and resulted in this photograph that now graces the Fairmount Park racing program for 2006.
On the right is a poster designed from images I took at last October's Breeders' Cup. I just completed and printed this composite and it will soon be prominently placed on a wall in my house....yes!
