1.  Whew, it’s been a long week or so!  Sorry if my replies are delayed from my normal amount of time, we’ve been down 5-7 people on any given day at my day job and just didn’t have the time to do what I needed to get done!

2.  Followed by the start of the finishing of our basement!  We got the framing up, hopefully we’ll get electrical done soon but who knows that all depends on ComEd and if they give us an answer any day soon…

3.  I just ate a cookie, it was delicious, it was from Qdoba.  If you do catering, check them out!  They do a whole set up, it’s awesome!!

4.  Still working on the photobooth thing…waiting for software to be just right

5.  I love the rain.  Though it’s not really great for taking photos, definitely like the rain for rain’s sake.  I like the way it smells, I like the way it cleans my car.

6.  I have some engagement pictures to post…possibly this evening (I was going to put this in french but totally forgot how to say this evening, my brain is not functioning properly right now)

7.  Boudoir marathon dates for June and July will be announced at the end of this week…suburbs and city dates

8.  I love spring!!  Maybe that’s why I got married in the spring   Woot! (yep, I just wooted.)

9.  We may be rescuing a puppy/dog!  We’re looking for one around 50lbs as an adult, under 1.5 years, preferably house broken and female!  I’m excited!  As much as I want a puppy puppy, I know that’s probably not in the cards!  So a young dog will do!

10.  that’s all I got.  New sample albums should be in within the next few weeks!!!  I have a flushmount and some other cover options!

Kar

Mel and Joe are some of mine and my husbands good friends from college!  We’ve known them both for over 7 years (holy crap!!, david and joe are at 8 years!!)  Where did the time go?  Well, they’re getting married next June, I offered to take some engagement pictures for them and we spent the day at our alma mater!  Now I do have a BA but not in photography, is it bad that I really went to college as a selfish knowledge type thing instead of in pursuit of my career?  I mean I even had a “fun major” which was political science.  Yeah, I’m odd.

Ok, ok, enough about me.  I have many stories about these two that I won’t post about on the blog but only mention my favorite of all time: manhole cover.  That’s it!  You get nothing else!  But everyone who knows Joe, knows what I’m talking about   Onto the pictures!!

Ok, I had to include this one.  Me and Mel thought this was a bad idea, Joe and David thought it was a good idea, I thought I’d document

My hubby and Joe in front of the wrestling wall.  Oh yeah, David’s up there for over 100 wins in college, I believe it’s 101!  (for you non-wrestlers, that’s a good thing!)

Hope you enjoyed them!!!  We need to hang out again soon!

Kar

Tis the season for engagement pictures and I’m often asked some advice on what to do and where to go, so here’s some tips!

1. Clothing: wear what you are comfortable in and what you want your pictures to look like. Are you really casual? Then jeans and a nice shirt will do. Do you want them more dressy? I suggest a nice casual dress or skirt and at least a button down shirt for guys.

2. More on clothing: I suggest not to wear anything with big logos, you don’t want to look like an advertisement! Try to wear complementary items but not too matchy matchy, so you don’t both have to wear black polo shirts Try and bring out your personality with your clothing. Large prints aren’t always good on both people, but if everything else is pretty simple, go for the print! You can always bring a change of clothing or email what you’re thinking so I can help you decide. If one person is wearing a big print, the other needs to wear something solid.

3. Clothing for the boys: I suggest either a polo shirt or a button down shirt or a sweater (depending on the season, you could layer these items!). They look sharp whether you’re wearing jeans or dress pants. I highly suggest nice shoes for the boys, usually casual dress, in some cases tennis shoes work but I’m just generalizing for your benefit!

4. Clothing for girls: beware too much cleavage! I know the pains but just make sure the goods aren’t out like you’re hitting up the clubs later, you’ll probably be giving these pictures as gifts or on save the dates and you don’t want your mom commenting on it (or worse, your mother in law!). Wear something you’re comfortable in like I said before, your engagement pictures are not a time to decide to try a new trendy fashion statement. Make those statements with jewelry instead.

5. Shoes: wear something comfortable, we’ll be walking anywhere from 1-3 miles during your engagement session! If you want to wear heels in your pictures, make sure they’re comfortable or bring an extra change of shoes that are easy to get on and off (flip flops, slides, ballet slipper type shoes). You have time to slip them off and on before I set up the shots

6. Make up: Even if you don’t wear makeup, wear a little for your shoot. I suggest these key items: mascara (it’s a little pricey at around $18 a bottle but Too Faced has awesome mascara!! and it lasts a long time!), lip gloss with a small tint (do this to define your lips and not have them blend with your face, doesn’t have to be bold, just subtle!), and finally blush (give those cheeks a small amount of red! Unless it’s going to be cold out when we do this, then you get it naturally!). Ideally, you want your make up a touch darker than what you wear day to day, but not over the top for engagement pictures (boudoir is a different story!).

7. Accessories are your friend: maybe that’s a bright shirt under your black shirt (Jason and Traycie did that for his shirt to give it a little more umfph!), or with some funky color shoes with simple black or brown tops, or even some chunky jewelry that you want to wear to spice it up. Your accessories are probably going to be the thing that may make your outfit a little more special, try on your outfits and look in the mirror to see if you need something more, if you’re questioning it, you’re probably right But remember you can always EMAIL ME for advice

8. How this is going to work: I may set up some shots for you that are nice and pretty standard things that I do, there will be other times that I’ll tell you just to have fun or do something crazy. I welcome ANY crazy idea that you have and may have more for you than you think! Just relax, I try and make this pretty enjoyable (and most of the people say it’s painless!). I’m fun, you’re fun, this will be fun. Don’t worry if you think it’s something dorky or silly, I’m so down for it as a self-proclaimed dork. And I only break the law sometimes if you want to jump in a fountain.

9. RELAX. I’m there to make sure that you get good pictures, you don’t have to worry about that, just smile and laugh during your session to get feeling natural, at first it’s a bit tough, I know, but we’ll get there! Just don’t worry about the shots, that’s my job

10. And lastly, some things that are always welcomed: shots you like (can be brought up at the session), props (always fun!), clothing changes (as long as there’s a bathroom it’s fine with me!), any questions you have, location advice (I’m happy to pick if you’re willing to drive anywhere!).

And finally, please call if you’re running behind! I’m usually there early and just hoping everything is fine, but after 15 minutes I get a bit weary (I’m a worrier about it!). I completely understand if traffic is bad or parking is an issue! I deal with it daily so I’m not going to hold it against you at all!

So that’s it for today’s 10 on tuesday, hope this was more informative for you!!

Until next time, I have some engagement pictures to show off! (told you it was the season!)

Kar

So on Sunday I had another engagement session!  And let me tell you it was pretty fun!  The weather turned out beautifully and Sarika and Manish were just fun in general!  And did I mention pretty photogenic?  Because they are.  Here’s just a few of my favorites, I don’t want to talk about how many I have just yet!    And can you believe that these were taken in Chicago in MARCH?  Pretty amazing right?

So Manish really liked to jump, they had a blast really, I think they had more fun than I did!

And if you think this is a ham moment, just keep scrolling…

Look at that skipping air!  And she was in heels no less!

Love this one

So there’s their session!  They were a really fun couple and I can’t wait to photograph their wedding in May!  There will be lots of fun stuff following that!!

hope you enjoyed!

Kar

Ok, so this is a version of 10 on Tuesdays, but instead of numbers you may get some bullet points!  I don’t know how wordy you want this to be, but we’ll go for it!

BIG NEWS – Take a look at www.karaschultz.com today and you’ll see a giant difference!  The features of this new layout are….

• GIANT pictures, no really, that’s 1500 pixels wide!  If you have a widescreen, you’ll be in love!
• NO MORE AUTO MUSIC, I still have to load music in case you want to listen, but this way, you can browse anywhere with your sound up and not give it away (hello everyone else who’s at work too!)
• Additional galleries.  I’ve separated them so if you want to see my style more closely to different parts, you can!
• I’m adding on an album manufacturer, so people can switch to the new version which has awesome cameos and great leather or you can stick with the old.  I’m getting 3 various samples ready to be ordered!
• I’m thinking about making Package B with 7 hours and upgrading the album to a 10×10, any thoughts??  And current clients with Package B, if you want to switch, just drop me an email!
• OH and soon, I’ll be offering a photobooth option, still working on some of the details, but when it’s a go, I’ll let you know!  (and you can easily add it onto packages for $200-400!)

Ok, that’s really it, except for the fact of THIS:

All three of my babies:

Forgive the pictures, they were taken with a measly point and shoot

Ok, wordy wednesdays are almost done.  Follow me on Twitter if you haven’t yet (karaschultz) and also look for some changes to the layout of the blog coming soon!

And finally, are you on facebook?  If you are, come be a fan of mine, I’ll be putting some session photos up and the like!  Click here!

Ok, that’s it for today!  Tomorrow, another awesome engagement session!!

I’m postponing 10 on Tuesday until Wednesday this week, instead, you get engagement pictures!  Tis the season!

On Saturday, I was down at Montrose Harbor with Traycie and Jason!  We walked and then drove around   It was a gorgeous day out and not a cloud in the sky!  It seems to be that way these next coming weeks, dare I say spring has begun to arrive??

We started out in the peace garden that doesn’t exist. Seriously, you can’t find it on a map anywhere!

How fun is this picture?!

Traycie and Jason met playing softball, apparently he didn’t talk to her for an entire year!  So we headed to the fields and took some pictures, it was really muddy otherwise I think we would’ve gotten some other fun ones!

Until next time, I have another engagement session to put up AND Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  This is my favorite holiday!!  (my married name is Schultz NOT my maiden!)

Kar

Whew, finally getting this post up!  It’s been a tough week for me regarding being ill but luckily Tracey and Brian were patient!  Because of that, they get a super long blog post!  Wahoo!

Let’s start with flowers, everybody loves flowers

There was some rice krispie treats

The boys were definitely a handful!  But they were a fun group that’s for sure!

Trying to sneak a peek!

Immediately following their first dance, they had a surprise dance mix!  Even had back up dancers!

There was a very fun and upbeat mother/son dance!  This was a family that definitely LOVED to dance!

The reception was at Lino’s in Rockford and they had a great upstairs that towards the end of the night we took some pictures!

Hope you enjoyed!

Kar

1.  this one may be a rough one, no pictures right now, but maybe tonight!!

2.  I have a sinus infection….

3…..coupled with an ear infection.

4.  2009 is kicking my health butt!!

5.  I’m on all sorts of antibiotics and stuff to make me feel better, it’s getting there but not 100% yet!!

6.  Tracey, if you’re reading this, I’m working on your post!!  It’s just slow goings and no one wants me to edit pictures while I’m not feeling great, it never turns out well!

7.  I’m hoping spring is right around the corner!!  But I’m not too hopeful :-/

8.  I like rain, it makes me happy, and I’d totally have it rain than have it snow!!!

9. one of my favorite quotes is “some people walk in the rain, others just get wet” – Roger Miller, I think it speaks a lot to life right?  Hand me some lemons!!  And some sugar, I’ll make some lemonade!

10.  Busy busy busy months coming up, any clients who wanted to schedule their engagement sessions in March/April/May contact me IMMEDIATELY for availability!

until next time (which is hopefully soon with Tracey and Brian’s sneak peek!)

Kar

Ok, so this is going to be a HUGE post, lots of pictures and possibly some stories along the way!  I’ve been friends with Kristen for some time now since she’s also in the wedding industry as a florist!  Let me tell you, she does AMAZING work!  And she’s very fun to work with and a good sense of humor!  And she’s totally harrassed me on Facebook to get these done ASAP.  And honestly, I was going to work on them anyway…enough talking?  Time for pictures?  What do you think this is?  A PHOTO blog?!

I took some more fine art type pictures of all the awesome flowers!  Prepare there will eventually be more!

Awesome decor, the room looked so great!  Linens came from The Chair Couture!

Sunflare, inside, over the cake table?!  Couldn’t have turned out more perfect!!

Funny story about the dress pictures:  While Meson Sabika is beautiful, there’s really no awesome place to hang the dress.  So what do I do?  Run to my car, grab a 3M command hook, move a table and plant that dress right up there!  No harm done to the wall and great pictures, win-win?  Sometimes you have to make things happen for yourself!

Everything was music themed!

Matt’s tall but I’m used to that because my husband is 6’6″!!  I think Matt was around 6’5″  and now that I put a number on it, Kristen will be sure to correct me

The lovely bride had her makeup done by Cynthia Sally!

So it was freezing out and they were both recovering from upper respiratory infections, so the grounds at Meson Sabika were not really in the plans!  We grabbed these in the few minutes before being announced and waiting for guests to leave the bar.

Just before being announced, I caught this and they didn’t even know   I’m a ninja.  (with a camera instead of a sword)

I caught Kristen crying during her own speech, it was touching and really funny at the same time!

Everyone danced all night long!  The DJ was great and really nice!  I can’t wait to work with him again (Don Kaminsky with XL-Entertainment), he really enjoys what he does!

I totally laid on the floor for this shot!  Everyone thought it was hilarious, I’m pretty sure I’ll do almost anything for the shot!  Some of my bpic clients have seen me almost fall off a bed or chair trying!   Floor, much safer.

Last shot of the night

Ok Kristen and Matt, you’ve got the LARGEST blog post, and let me tell you, it was hard to narrow it down!  Wish I could show you them all right now, but alas, you have to WAIT! 

Until next time!

Kar

(also, be on the lookout, new website design coming and new blog with twitter integration, follow me!  I’m karaschultz)

For today’s version, I got my friends to ask me questions to answer!! So here’s some:

1. Krystal -What has been your biggest splurge since you started photography?

I would say that my one thing that I didn’t really NEED was my fisheye lens but it’s so much fun that I just had to have it!! I really only get things that are necessary and not all the time fun, like quickbooks, what fun huh!?