Naperville Wedding | Chicago Wedding Photographer | Destination Wedding Photography » Photographer http://corlisgrayphotography.com Christian, Father, Photographer :) Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:53:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Itty Bitties of ’09 http://corlisgrayphotography.com/babies/itty-bitties-of-09/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/babies/itty-bitties-of-09/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:53:24 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=321 It was a warm and breezy day. The sun was shining, the air was sweet with the aromas of spring. I couldn’t help but pack up my gear and head to the Riverwalk. As I strolled along the DuPage River, under antique wooden bridges reminiscent of days long past, I couldn’t help but notice that spring was in the air. Not in the sense that birds were chirping and the trees were a bloom, while those things were very present. More so, there were literally hundreds of baby bumps of all different shapes and sizes adhering to glowing mommies enjoying the first signs of natures yearly rebirth.

This got me thinking of all of the wonderful little ones, which I lovingly refer to as itty bitties, I had the privilege of capturing in ’09. So I compiled a few of my favorites, kind of a “year in review” of sorts. I hope you enjoy it :D

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/babies/itty-bitties-of-09/feed/ 1 Audrey & Mark :: Wedding http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/audrey-mark-wedding/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/audrey-mark-wedding/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:36:36 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=246 When it comes to beautiful ceremonies, this one takes the cake!  This beautiful wedding began at in Utica, .  The ceremony and this exquisite church was located near LaSalle, .  Finally, the reception took place at Oak Ridge Golf Club in , .  As a wedding I get the opportunity to travel to a lot of wonderful locations all over .  These are some of the best when it comes to rustic beauty!

The natural light coming through the stained glass in this church was simply amazing.  It allowed me to shoot without a flash and capture all of the shadow and light detail.  What I love about this photograph is stunning shimmer of the gold wall.

Shooting from the organ/choir loft here gave me a different perspective and allowed me to capture more of the detail of this beautiful wall.

The shallow depth of field in this image draws your attention to the emotion in Audrey and Marks faces without losing the beauty of the background.

Here the architectural detail of the balcony adds to the drama of this high fashion group shot.

Getting down low and using the low sun to silhouette

Thank you guys for the wonderful time!  We had a great time taking the golf carts for a ride and freezing our butts off LOL.

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/audrey-mark-wedding/feed/ 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 Wonderlicious Woods :: Ben & Emily http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/wonderlicious-woods-ben-emily/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/wonderlicious-woods-ben-emily/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:58:57 +0000 Corlis Gray http://blog.corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=93 I couldn’t tell you where this location was exactly.  Our initial meeting place was going to be Gebhard Woods in , , but when I arrived there the park was closed! Oh no! As usual I showed up about an hour early, so I started driving around frantically looking for another location.  Ben and Emily had expressed to me that they wanted a nature “theme” for their engagement session.  So I immediately thought back country roads, which aren’t in short supply in .  I came across this parking area in the middle of nowhere that looked as though there were hiking trails.  I took a quick stroll and surveyed the area.  This was it!  A quick call to the happy couple and some, albeit, hazy directions and we were all set.  Ben and Emily were great sports and we ended up getting some wonderful shots.

It was a beautiful day with some beautiful people.  Thanks for all the fun you guys!

-Corlis :: Contact Me!

Morris, IL | Destination Wedding Photography | Chicago | Naperville | Wedding Photographer

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/wonderlicious-woods-ben-emily/feed/ 0 The piano man and the monkey watcher. :: Ben & Abigail http://corlisgrayphotography.com/personal/the-piano-man-and-the-monkey-watcher/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/personal/the-piano-man-and-the-monkey-watcher/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:39:12 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/blog/?p=3 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 , 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 engagement session shot at Starved Rock State Park in Utica,


Thank you Abby and Ben for the great time we had!

Your Friend,

Corlis – Contact me!

Destination Wedding Photography | Chicago | Naperville | Wedding Photographer

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/personal/the-piano-man-and-the-monkey-watcher/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 , 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 , .  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 Joe & Ashley :: Wedding http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/joe-ashley-wedding/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/joe-ashley-wedding/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:45:24 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=256 This beautiful wedding took place in small town , .  About an hour southwest of .  As you’ll see, we found a hidden treasure of this old rundown building.  While traveling to Gebhard Woods, a small community park, I got a little lost, lol, and found this great place.  It really contrasted the elegance of the wedding attire.  Here’s a small sample of this truly gorgeous wedding.

The cross process look and extreme sharpness of this image give it a very editorial feel.

I love the smooth tones and contrast of this image.  This old iron stairway gives it a really grunge/urban feel even though it was shot in a small rural town.

The shallow depth of feel gives this image a artsy feel.  While the fast shutter speed freezes the tiny candy hearts in mid air to really add to the detail in this action shot.

Here the vintage process applied to the image gives a really dramatic feel to another very urban feeling image.

In this image I wanted to give the impression of a high fashion magazine style image.  The contrast and bright colors really make it pop.

Another vintage treatment with a GQ style pose really makes this image stand out.

Thanks Joe and Ashley for not letting the weather dampen your spirits.  You were truly great sports.  We gad a great time and hope you love your pictures as much as we do. :D

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/joe-ashley-wedding/feed/ 0 Chase & Karen :: Wedding http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/chase-karen-wedding/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/chase-karen-wedding/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:10:01 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=282 Chase and Karen had a beautiful destination .  Unfortunately I wasn’t invited :( LOL, but I did get the opportunity to photograph their reception when they returned.  The reception took place at Grizzly Jack’s Grand Bear Resort in Utica, .  At first I was a little apprehensive about what the quality of their might be since this is more of a family getaway facility with and carnival rides.  But I have to admit, the banquet hall was stunning!  It was really well decorated with beautiful lighting and a superb staff.  Not only that, with a “carnival” near by it was rediculously fun!  hopping on rides with a is more fun than you might think :D .  Here’s a little taste.

I caught these two love birds having a quiet moment outside of the banquet hall.  I love the direction lighting falling on the couple and the tonality it adds to the picture.

I thought this cool ambiant light the DJ had set up along the wall really made the cake pop.  A little camera tilt gave the image a little more flair.

This silky black and white image beautifully captures Karen and Chase happily gazing at each other during their first dance as husband and wife.

I know this seems out of place but I just couldn’t resist.  At Grand Bear they had this cute baby leopard.  Check out the bling this cat is rockin’!

The lovely couple riding this awesome carousel at the amusement park.

And last but not least, who can resist a quick kiss in front of the swing buggy?!  It’s like blinky light heaven! LOL.

A special thanks to Chase and Karen for the amazing time we had at your beautiful reception.  And an extra extra special thanks to the wonderful staff at Grand Bear Resort.

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/wedding/chase-karen-wedding/feed/ 0 Not Just Another Walk in the Park :: Tim & Madison http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/not-just-another-walk-in-the-park/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/not-just-another-walk-in-the-park/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:37:10 +0000 Corlis Gray http://blog.corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=57 It was about 11 am.  I started packing up my camera bag with all the essentials…you know…camera’s, lenses, flashes, cards.  I headed out for a quick brunch and ran some errands.

Sounds like a normal day as a .  I headed out at about 2 to scout the area where I’d be shooting Tim and Madison’s engagement session.  Little did I know I’d be driving around for the next 2 hours back and forth past the very place I needed to be.  LOL.  Nobody’s perfect right?  Good thing I left 2 hours early.

Enter Gebhard Woods in , .  A pleasant little treasure trove of green foliage and manicured lawns.  We had a great time hiking and getting a little dirty to get some great shots :)

Thanks to Tim and Madison for the great time :)

-Corlis :: Contact me!

Gebhard Woods Morris, IL | Destination Wedding Photography | Chicago | Naperville | Wedding Photographer

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]]> http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/not-just-another-walk-in-the-park/feed/ 0 Starved Rock :: Joe & Ashely http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/starved-rock-joe-ashely/ http://corlisgrayphotography.com/engagement/starved-rock-joe-ashely/#comments Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:57:19 +0000 Corlis Gray http://corlisgrayphotography.com/?p=173 Joe and Ash were a wonderfully fun couple to work with.  They had expressed to me that they wanted their engagement session pictures at in Utica, .  I was happy to oblige since I LOVE THAT PLACE!  They were such good sports when I had them laying on the ground and crawling through the poison ivy (eek), and especially when I got us a little lost on one of the trails and we ended up walking the entire perimeter of the park.  Sorry guys!  We had a great time non the less.

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ashley&joe-42_wedding_photographyThanks again guys for being so fun to work with.  I can’t wait until the wedding!!!

-Corlis :: Contact Me!

Naperville | Wedding Photographer |Destination Wedding Photography | Chicago

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