Naperville Wedding | Chicago Wedding Photographer | Destination Wedding Photography » illinois http://corlisgrayphotography.com Christian, Father, Photographer :) Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:53:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Ian & Laci :: Wedding http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/ian-laci-wedding/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/ian-laci-wedding/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:36:51 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=265 This amazing wedding took place at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL.  Just about an hour and a half southwest of .  Starved Rock has to be one of my favorite places for a wedding getaway.  The lodge is beautiful and the scenery is second to none.  This wedding was no exception.  I have to say, Laci and Ian are, what I like to refer to as, “beautiful people”.  We all wish we were as good looking as these two.  At least I do, lol.  It was virtually impossible for me to take a bad picture of them.  To top it all off, they were genuinely just good hearted people which made my job just that much easier.  For this , this is as good as it gets.

I probably looked pretty silly from other people’s perspectives, but laying on the floor and adding a slight camera tilt, gave this shot a little edginess.

Here the shallow depth of field draws your attention to the groom gazing at his soon to be wife.

I love the very editorial look of this photograph.  The punchy colors ad to the drama of this photo.  Just a small note, this was NOT posed.  I just captured a really stunning moment of Laci gazing out the window of the trolley, just soaking in the days events.

Here the shallow depth of field and the sharpness of Laci really brings out her eyes.  They are almost mesmerizing.  It doesn’t hurt that she’s done some modeling either.  LOL.

In this image I placed a flash behind Laci and Ian as they were dancing to capture a silhouette of them dancing while using another flash to give a slight fill light.  With the long shutter speed I could grab some of the ambient light surrounding them and in the background.  I think it’s a wonderfully romantic image.

Ian and Laci, you are truly two very wonderful people, and I wish you all the best.  Your wedding was almost as rockin’ as you! :D

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/ian-laci-wedding/feed/ 0 CG & CD & Me :: James & Marcie http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/cg-cd-me-james-marcie/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/cg-cd-me-james-marcie/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:31:56 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=119 Here is the classic story of two highschool sweethearts  dating for 10 years then finally taking the plunge.  Ok, so maybe that’s not so classic, but it’s a nice story anyways. :)   I could tell it was worth the wait by the way I kept catching these to gazing at each other like it was still puppy love.  They hadn’t let the years dwindle the fire that still burned uncontrolled within then.  It was very romantic.  The wedding and reception took place at CD & Me in , .

We had a great time partying with you guys!  Thank you so much for letting us spend your special day with you.

-Corlis :: Contact Me!

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/cg-cd-me-james-marcie/feed/ 0 Ben & Abigail :: Wedding http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/ben-abigail-wedding/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/ben-abigail-wedding/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:36:44 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=216 Ben is a VERY talented pianist in .  Abigail studies monkeys in Africa.  When I put it that way you might assume these two couldn’t be more different, but you’d be wrong.  Being that Ben is a musician, and his name isn’t P-Diddy or John Mayer, he isn’t exactly making billions.  Abigail is, what I consider to be a genius of sorts, holding something like 1,000,000 degrees in anthropology, so she’ll be paying off school bills until her grand-kids have grand-kids.  They don’t have all the money in the world.  What they do have in excess is LOVE.  Not just any kind of love.  Hot pink, Hollywood, roman candle, kinda love.  I thought I knew what love was until I met these two.

So being that they have more school loans than the U.S. deficit, but all the love in the world (literally).  God was smiling on them one day and led them to me.  I just so happen to do 3 pro bono per year for couples in exactly their predicament.  After reading the most heart warming email from Abby, I decided to meet with them.

We met in a little coffee shop in Morris, called Brewed Awakenings.  From there we sat over a couple hot cups of joe and got to know each other.  The rest is history.

Here is their wedding shot in Seneca, .  Just a couple hours outside of .

The shallow depth of field and the grainyness of this image really add an artistic feel to this image that I love.

There is nothing better than capturing the true happiness and excitement of a bride.

Ben and Abbi, I just can’t say enough great things about you guys.  You are two very wonderful people and I wish you all the best throughout your lives.

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/ben-abigail-wedding/feed/ 0 Chicago Botanical Gardens :: Chris & Jeanette http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/chicago-botanical-gardens-chris-jeanette/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/chicago-botanical-gardens-chris-jeanette/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:09:17 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=392 | | Destination

When it comes to happy smiling people, these two take the cake!  Chris and Jeanette have no trouble finding something to smile about.  We had a wonderful time exploring the Botanical Gardens.  I especially love the fact they didn’t have a problem getting a little dirty and going off the beaten path.  Although the day began a bit wet with ominous clouds overhead, God saw fit to open up the sky just for us, and we had a beautiful shoot.  Here’s a little peek :D

Thanks Chris and Jeanette for the really great time and all the laughs!

-Corlis

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/chicago-botanical-gardens-chris-jeanette/feed/ 1 Jonathan & Jamie :: Engagement http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/jonathan-jamie-engagement/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/jonathan-jamie-engagement/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 05:15:22 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=274 If you’ve visited my site before, or if you know me on a personal level, then you know I spend A LOT of time out at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, .  I just love it there.  Engagement sessions, , and even just hiking and being silent in God’s creation.  So this day was no exception, Jonathan and Jamie live in Ottawa, and wanted my suggestion as to where they should have their engagement session.  Since Ottawa is very close to Starved Rock, that’s immediately where my mind went.  This may sound contradicting, but to give the images from their session a fresher look i  gave many of the images a vintage treatment.  Here is a small sample.

I separated Jonathan and Jamie and shot with a wide angle lens to show the immenseness of this canyon.  The vintage processing really gives this photograph an aged appearance and brings out the contrast detail of the waterfall.

Here the sun is acting as a hair light intensifying the dimension and the separation from the background.

Here the shallow depth of field diminishes the distractions of the background and brings your attention to the beautiful couple.

I love this natural pose.  It really shows a true interaction between Jamie and Jonathan.  No fake smiles here.

I used a lot of negative space in this photograph to accentuate the towering trees and show how vast this forest really was.

This canopy of evergreens was just too beautiful to pass up with the sun setting behind them.  The long shadows add to the drama along with Jamie and Jonathan being silhouetted with a halo of light around them.

Thank you Jonathan and Jamie for spending the day with me in such a beautiful place just getting to know each other.  It was great to share a walk in such a beautiful place with some great conversation.

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/jonathan-jamie-engagement/feed/ 2 Love, looovveeee, looooovvvveeeee, is a beautiful thing :: Zack & Amanda http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/love-looovveeee-looooovvvveeeee-is-a-beautiful-thing-zack-amanda/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/love-looovveeee-looooovvvveeeee-is-a-beautiful-thing-zack-amanda/#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:49:29 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=338 | Wedding | Photography

Zack and Amanda’s wedding took place at the beautiful St. Josephs Church in Manhattan, . From there we headed to an all to familiar place, the ! You might remember it from a previous post of mine “What the heck is an Oberwortmann” LOL. Zack and Amanda are just good people. With pure hearts and a taste for country living. Here’s a little taste of their amazing and FUN FUN FUN wedding! :)

P.S. The blog title is from a Phil Vassar song “love is a beautiful thing”…I just love that song…lol.

Corlis Gray Photography

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