Black and White Chicago Engagement Photos

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If you have visited here before, you know that The Chicago Sessions one of my favorite engagement photo sessions to do.  We walk around to various areas of the city and shoot street photography.  Everything is in color and then I take it into the digital darkroom and give it the vintage black and white treatment.  the idea is to have engagment photos that our cinematic in nature with a tribute to street photography of the 1960's.  It's very romantic and a big hit with all who sign up for the session.

Krystyne and Todd's recent trip to the windy city had my assistant and i following them as they strolled through the downtown area and occasionally posing them in front of various landmarks such as these skyscrapers with the American flag as a backdrop.

Since it was Fall, playing in the leaves in Millennium Park was definitely on the agenda.  We brought along a chalboard with the happy couple's wedding date written across it.  A perfect image for the Save the Date magnets they are getting with their Deluxe Wedding Package.

This almost there silhouette kiss is one of my favorites from the park as they were descending up the stairs and the roar of the city just around the corner.

We shot in the late afternoon, but with some camera trickery and the shadows of the tall buildings upon us, we got this night time engagement photo with the street lamps aglow.  

In a similar syle, the steamy kiss in the doorway of a downtown building will look great in the engagement book the couple will be displaying at their wedding reception.

I saw this crooked one way sign out of the corner of my eye and thought it would make a creative image to signify Krystyne's one way heart toward her man.

Krystyne asked for a shot of her ring with Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) in the background and we happily obliged.

Another image that will look great in their engagement album is this sunglass kiss photo.

We took a rest deep inside Millennium Park and it was a perfect time to break out the engement chalboard once again and to kick back on park benches for a while.

If I come across a row of bicycles like this on State Street, there is no doubt I'm going to use it as a prop and a way to show the fun and surpising time we always have doing engagement shoots in Chicago.  

These black and white Chicago engagement photos are meant to be timeless.  I want you to look back in 20 years and marvel at the beauty of the city and the wondrful time we spent on your engagement shoot. They will certainly be unique as friends and family peruse them during the holidays and they grab for the album off of your bookshelf.

 

Chicago Engagement Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at Kelly and Mat's Chicago Session Engagement.  We had a bright sunny day to contend with along with some winds and, oh yeah - a heavily secured NATO conference!!  Fortunately, this soon to be married couple ARE NOT wanted criminals and the shoot went off without a hitch.  :)

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If you have followed the Northwest Indiana wedding journal for a while, you know I'm a big fan of these Chicago Engagement packages.  You will also know that this Chicago Sessions package consist of color images transferred to black and white after the shoot and made to look like old film.  It's romantic and cinematic - think 1960's street photography.

I'm currently editing Kelly and Mat's images to give them all these looks.  The color versions will be available to them as well as the black and white images.  The photo book that comes with the package (great for display at the reception) consist of all the black and white images made into one beautiful story of the day.

We may take in the garden at Millennium Park (see above) or go with the street photography look of the couple perched up high with the tall buildings as a backdrop...

The windy city brings many different looks, sometimes all within a single block.  It's a teasure trove of photo opportunities for engagement photos.

Stay tuned for more Kelly and Mat engagement pictures as I ready them for viewing.  I will be taking Memorial Day off to rest up after a terrific wedding in Portage yesterday.  Have a great weekend!!

Engagement Pictures in Downtown Chicago

Today we have a sneak peek look at Aimee and Tim's Chicago Session engagement photos.  As is tradition with the Chicago Sessions package, my assistant and I met the couple at the East Chicago train station in Northwest Indiana for a romantic photo of the train arriving.  The commuters going to the city were kind enough to step out of the way so we could get an "alone" shot of Aimee and Tim on the platform embraced in a kiss.

Soon enough we were on the train, heading for downtown Chicago as I took candid shots on the moving train.

For this highly stylized engagement package, I shoot in color and then turn the images into black and white after the fact.  This enables me to offer both color and black and white versions.  The idea is to have vintage black and whites that look like old film and slides from classic street photography of the 1960's 1970's.  However, sometimes it's difficult to decide on some images.  The next shot with the State Street bridge in the background may be a better chopice in color to print large and hang on the soon to be married couple's wall.  I will let them decide...

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The city of Chicago has so many scenes for photograp[hy and one of favorites is to capture that street feel like this kiss with the Chicago Theater in the background...

We typically start at Randolph street and head toward the Chicago River and eventually make our way back to Millennium Park where we catch the train back.  A few minutes before we had to be back on our way to Northwest Indiana, just enough time for a piggy back ride beneath the fountains...

The Chicago cityscape always makes for a great backdrop.  Once again, color or black and white?  Mmmm....

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Many more images from Aimee and Tim's trek around Chicago for their engagement pictures.  Just a sneak peek for now.  Let's finish up with this close up shot on Michigan Avenue.