Wedding photos at W Hotel - Lakeshore Chicago

A couple weeks ago I was in downtown Chicago at the W Hotel - Lakeshore shooting a wedding in the Altitude room overlooking Lake Michigan. The weather was perfect and the W Hotel was an amazing venue for a wedding reception.

Following are a few photos from throughout the wedding day. The bride and groom started the day at the W Hotel with prep in individual suites before heading to the Holy Family Church for the wedding ceremony. On the way back to the W we stopped at North Avenue Beach for a few quick portraits. North Avenue beach is a great location for wedding photos in Chicago because it's close to down town and it's easy on and off from Lakeshore Drive. If you've got a wedding on the north side of Chicago it's a great alternative to driving to the museum campus where most other wedding parties go for skyline photos.


After a few quick portraits it was back to the W Hotel - Lakeshore for cocktails and the reception in the Altitude room. The details were amazing and the view was spectacular!


Every Saturday Navy Pier has fireworks, and they made for a spectacular show during dinner, this is the view from the wedding reception at the W hotel.

We wrapped up the night with a quick shot of the bride and groom in the bathroom. Yes that is correct, this is the womans bathroom in the Altitude room. If the W Hotel puts this much attention to detail and style into their bathroom it's no wonder they can create such an unforgettable wedding experience for brides and grooms!

Another beautiful Chicago Wedding

Joe and Gloria tied the knot on July 26, 2008 in downtown Chicago. After the ceremony we did this amazing portrait shoot under an overpass near their church in Chicago. For those of you who are planning a wedding, you'll definitely want to consider setting aside some time for a quick photo walk like this! It's a great opportunity to have fun, relax, and capture some unique wedding pictures on your wedding day. Don't limit your photo walk to a park either, as you can see from these photos, you can get beautiful wedding pictures just about anywhere!













This last shot was taken outside the Meridian Banquet Hall in Rolling Meadows, IL. We snuck out towards the end of their reception to get a quick closing shot for the day and found this spot behind an abandoned restaurant next door. Joe and Gloria were so much fun to work with and their willingness to try something different for their wedding portraits really made for some incredible wedding pictures! To see the rest of their Chicago wedding photos visit, www.benpancoast.com.

Engagement Photos in Saint Joseph Mi

Kim, Ernie, and I spent some quality time hanging out in Saint Joseph Michigan by cool brick walls, walking along the beach, talking about wedding pictures, and oh yeah we took some engagement photos too! As I'm sure you can tell by the pictures these two are a lot of fun to work with!! I can't wait for their wedding in Southwest Michigan this September!












To view a selection of more recent Engagement photos on the Beach in Southwest Michigan please visit my new blog!

Engagement Session in Saint Joseph Mi

Kirk & Carolyn spent an hour running from the rain and hiding from the cold, during their engagement session in Sain Joseph Michigan. Luckily for them their wedding isn't until August 16th, so I'm sure it'll be quite a bit warmer! Watch out for their wedding photos later this summer!

No wedding day blues in Cincinnati Ohio!

There were no wedding day blues for this couple in Columbus OH. Perfect weather a cool location and fun ideas made us oblivious to the time and we ended up being a bit late to the reception but no one seemed to mind! The couple had an amazing time shooting all sorts of wedding pictures in front of this cool blue wall! Canon 5D 24-70mm F4 ISO400 1/2000th sec.

Preparing for a Wedding in Southwest Michigan

It's a Friday afternoon and I've got a wedding to shoot tomorrow. It's my wifes friends wedding here in Southwest Michigan and it should be a lot of fun. I actually love shooting friends weddings because I feel like people are even more comfortable with me than they might be around another photographer and that allows me to capture even more wonderful moments!

Here's my checklist of things I need to do the day before a shoot:
- Charge Batteries
- Clean camera sensors
- Print Directions (mapquest) I just got a GPS last week but want a back up!
- Pick up pants/shirt from cleaners
- Format CF cards
- Review schedule and notes for the wedding
- Look at cool pictures for inspiration