The Chicago Marathon

This weekend was the Chicago Marathon and it was the HOTTEST marathon in the history of the race. They actually closed the Marathon half way through because the conditions were just too hot. It was even hot just watching the race, so I can't imagine what it was like to run today. I've done 2 Chicago marathons and I kind of got the itch today to do another one. Maybe I'll think about running it in 2008. For those of you who haven't run a marathon and are thinking about it, I highly recommend it. It's a great sense of accomplishment. If you think you can't run one, you're probably wrong. I hadn't run more than 3 miles in my life before I decided to run a marathon, so I'm living proof it can be done. Here are some of the pictures I took today of the race

Congratulations to everyone who ran in today's race!

Kristin and Ben

Here are some shots I took of Ben and Kristin on Saturday. They're getting married next weekend up in Crystal Lake and it should be a blast. I'm going up on Friday afternoon for the rehearsal dinner.













I've got a bunch of other pictures to post tonight from other events... so stay tuned for more...

A very special note to my friend Bob Glynn (and any other Notre Dame fans), but especially Bob

This weekend marked a historic event in college football history. Purdue (5-0) beat Notre Dame (0-5) to give them their worst opening record in the history of the school. Poor little Notre Dame… they’re probably not sure what if feels like to be 0-5. What should they do? How can you come back from a start like this? There’s simply no logical answer. Kind of funny the more you think about it. Now we all know that in the years to come, Notre Dame will come back with a decent, if not very strong football progam… history tells us that. In fact, they’ll probably beat Purdue numerous times over the next 10 years. And I’ll be the first to acknowledge that Purdue’s schedule strength this year has been shabby. Sure it’s easy to be 5-0 when you don’t face a nationally ranked opponent. But that’s not important. What is important is that on a beautiful September afternoon in 2007, Purdue beat up on Notre Dame to give them their 5th straight loss of the season… Notre Dame’s worst start in the 100+ year history of the football program. And man that feels good! And now would seem like a good time the sing the Purdue fight song…

To Your Call Once More We Rally;
Alma Mater Hear Our Praise;
Where The Wabash Spreads Its Valley;
Filled With Joy Our Voices Raise.
Form The Skies In Swelling Echoes
Come The Cheers That Tell The Tale
Of Your Vict'ries And Your Heroes,

Hail Purdue! We Sing All Hail!
Hail, Hail To Old Purdue!
All Hail To Our Old Gold And Black!
Hail, Hail To Old Purdue!
Our Friendship May She Never Lack.
Ever Grateful, Ever True,
Thus We Raise Our Song Anew
Of The Days We've Spent With You,
All Hail Our Own Purdue!



Go Boilers!

a sneak peek of my new branding...

Dinner was gooood...

Tonight I wanted to get outside because it was nice and warm, compared to it being in the 50's for part of the weekend. I walked up to Chicago Avenue to try a new mexican restaurant tonight. It's one of those hole in the wall places and it was really good. I love going out to eat mexican in my neighborhood because there are so many small, family run businesses. If you're ever near Chicago and Wood, try El Taco Veloz.

Carolyn and Steve go to Michigan for the Weekend

Carolyn and I got back from our trip to Michigan earlier this evening and I have a bunch of pictures to upload.



Here's a picture of us driving up on Saturday morning. (I know a little overkill... but when I was bored in the car the iphone came out to keep things interesting)




Here's Carolyn enjoying some cider and doughnuts and the cider mill which is down the street from Carolyn's house


Front entrance to the cider mill (did you know that Laura Bush visited the cider mill?...)



On Sunday we went to Greenfield Village. The best way to describe the village is that it's a museum like community that showcases a lot of the earlier work of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. The community is also filled with tons of replicas of other famous people houses, workshops, etc. You could actually go for a ride in an original Model T for $4.00. This is a picture of a replica of one of Thomas Edison's offices. He actually visited the offices in the early 1900s and recorded a message for all the visitors. It was pretty interesting to hear the message.



I saw this in Carolyn's garage and I had to take a picture of it. This is Carolyn's original tricycle that her parents have saved.

picture from airplane

I was in Orlando earlier this week and I snapped a picture from my iphone on the way into O'Hare. It's not the best picture, but it's kind of cool to capture the lights of the city.

It's Pizza Night

Carolyn and are taking it easy tonight so we ran out and got some pizza from Bacci. It was our first time there and the pizza slices were HUGE.... Seriously, these were the biggest slices of pizza I have ever scene. I had my iphone with me and I snapped some shots of Carolyn chowing down.

Hello iPhone

Guilty as charged... I finally did it. It hasn't even been more than a week since Apple reduced the price of the iphone, and earlier today I went to the Michigan Avenue store and bought one. It took me about 10 minutes to set everything up and activate it. Everything was really easy. I've been playing around with the phone for about 45 minutes so far.. and here is my professional assessment:

THIS IS THE COOLEST PHONE/IPOD EVER!

I am amazed at how easy the user interface is. It knows exactly how you think and anticipates every move you make. And the screen is awesome. I was a little skeptical about how good the screens always looked on the TV ads, but it really does look that good in person.

Well.. now it's time to go back and start setting up my contact lists and music.

If you're thinking about buying one, please go ahead and get one now. It's definitely worth it. I haven't been this excited about a new toy on a long, long time.

Usher's Wedding

Mike Colon, who is one of the photographers I follow, just shot Usher's wedding this past weekend

From Mike Colon's Blog...

"This is a story I have to tell because it's so unbelievable! I got a call at 2:30am PST on Saturday Morning (9/1/07) and was on a plane at 6am. As I sat in first class on a Delta flight to Atlanta, I couldn't help but lean over and whisper to the sleepy fellow next to me, "I'm shooting Usher's wedding today." It was obvious that he could care less, but that didn't stop me from telling the guy in the seat in front of me next."

Click here to see the rest of the story.

Carolyn's friend Ginger came in today from New York and we just got back from picking her up at the airport. She brought us the best surprise. If any of you have ever been to the restaurant Serendipity in New York, then you probably tried a Frozen Hot Chocolate. If you haven't, it's a combination of a chocolate shake and frosty. And you usually have to spoon it in since it's so thick. Here's a little history about the restaurant which I got from The New York First Company's website

The most famous dessert in New York is served at a place that is part general store and part restaurant, soda fountain and coffeehouse. It's Serendipity 3, nestled in the heart of the Upper East Side, founded in 1954 by Stephen Bruce and his two partners, Calvin Holt and Preston "Patch" Caradine (the Serendipity 3).

Those three naughty boys invented Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, a secret-recipe, icy-chocolate confection served in an enormous fishbowl-shaped goblet, garnished with a mound of fresh whipped cream and shaved chocolate, and accompanied by a mixing spoon and two straws. This frosty, velvety-smooth creation is made from no fewer than 14 kinds of chocolate and exotic cocoas, ground into a rich slush.

Serendipity has been on the cutting edge of food, fashion and fun for over 50 years. Return to childhood as soon as you step inside. The restaurant entrance is a General Store filled with toys, candy, and a dozen different take-home sets of world famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, so you can give the makings of this unbelievable drink as a treasured gift, or keep it all to yourself. Each set includes everything you need to re-create the chilly bowl of magnificence at home: Just empty the instant mix into a blender, add milk and lots of ice, and whirr until frozen.

the new iPods are here...

The media event is over and most of the rumors are true, with the exception of the new version of the iphone. The iphone price dropped by $200 which makes it pretty attractive. Here's a picture of the new lineup of iPods

Carolyn - this is now officially on the top of my birthday wishlist.

Apple Media Event

It’s going to be another big day for Apple as they are holding a “special media event” around noon. Rumor has it that they will announce an upgraded iPod nano with more storage and a display screen. There’s also talk of a new nano iphone. I’m really interested in the nano iphone… if they do come out with one, this could be at the top of my birthday wishlist. I’ve been wanting an iPhone, but wanted to wait until they come out with a second generation version.

Sabrina and Brendan

I'm a little behind this week since I was out of town on Monday and Tuesday in Orlando. Here are some pictures from Sabrina and Brendan's engagement shoot from this past weekend. Hope everyone has a long and wonderful weekend! I'll be staying in Chicago hanging out.

Who's coming to my website?

I am always amazed at the number of people who come to my website from different parts of the world. Here's a snapshot of some of the countries that made the list. It's also funny to see that when I go in a trip (like to South Africa) I will tell people that I'm a photographer, and then they'll go ahead and google me, and then find my website and my blog.

If you're reading this post and you're from outside the u.s., go ahead and leave a comment below and say hi.

Steve.

Video From Krueger National Park

I found this video on YouTube which was shot at Krueger national park South Africa, which is where I went on my honeymoon. It's about an 8 minute video of an unbelievable sequence of events that mostly involve a pride of lions and a herd of water buffalo. You have to watch the whole video since there are couple twists to the video. It instantly took me back to being on safari. I got this from Heather and Bob's blog

Enjoy

Michelle and Justin

I've finally got the slideshow up from this weekend! On Thursday, Justin and Michelle got married on Justin's fathers boat in Dusable Harbor, which is just south of Navy Pier. It has great views of the skyline and is very, very quiet. The weather was cool on Thursday, which was great because it had been in the 90's for way too long. Anyway... it was a great ceremony held on the back of the boat. This was my first wedding in Dusable Harbor so it was exciting to photograph a new place.

On Saturday, Michelle and Justin had their reception at the Signature Room in a privae room on the 95th floor. We got really lucky with the clouds because it cleared up just as the party started. It's really a great place for a party since you can't help but look at the views all night long. Michelle and Justin did a great job picking out all the details of the wedding. I included a bunch of detail shots to give you an idea of what the decorations looked like.

Thank you for everyone who made this two day event so fun. I had a really fun time capturing all of the memories. I hope you enjoy slideshow! I've also posted some of my favorite pictures below.















||| CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW |||

Karen and Chris

This past weekend I photographed Karen and Chris' wedding which was at Holy Name Cathedral. Before and after the ceremony we were at the top floor of the Allerton for getting ready shots and the reception. The first thing that struck me about Karen and Chris, other than the fact that they are both over achievers (they both just finished taking the bar a couple weeks ago) is that they are so incredibly thoughtful and nice. Throughout our entire time working together, they were so gracious and welcoming. They always made sure that I got what I needed and were so polite. They were also flexible on doing some shots that were a little "out there" which is always great!. Which leads me my favorite shot from this wedding and from the entire summer so far.

It's important to note that Karen and Chris live a couple blocks from the Allerton, so the building has become a staple in their everyday life. So I wanted to think of a way to incorporate the top of the building in a unique way. It turns out the fire escape was open on the top floor, so we actually got to go outside and get some great shots of Michigan Avenue. For some of the shots, I stood right next to Karen, but for the other ones, I went to the other side of the tower and shot across the atrium with a telephoto lense. My favorite shots is of Karen's dad who is taking a picture of her. Here are some of my favorite shots.







||| CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW |||



Karen and Chris - Thank you for being so much fun to work with over the past week. You're wedding was so nice and was a perfect snapshot of everything a wedding in downtown Chicago should be.