ae photography » mini sessions

leslie | sneak peek | illinois boudoir photographer

ae photography — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:15:39 +0000

I had a great time shooting Leslie’s boudoir session about 2 weeks ago. Once again, I want to thank Rachel Streit for her amazing styling!

I want to give a shout out to pishposhes on Etsy for the use of the awesome headpiece. I absolutely LOVE it–along with everything else in that shop! I’m happy to say I will be creating a stash of some of these great items to have on hand for our sessions! So you will be free to use them as you wish if you book us! Check out her shop!

More to come from Leslie’s session along with a bunch from our Boudoir Event!

Keep those submissions coming for the “Cute Kiddos Contest”! We’ve really enjoyed seeing your adorable children : ) I will posting some of our kids soon, as promised! Now it’s off to take my little miss to dance class, and then we are headed out for a consult. Let the crazy busy season begin!

the cypress house

ae photography — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:54:10 +0000

In January I did a little side job, which was quite fun! Eric and I did a couple of product/shop shoots at the Cypress House in Rochelle, IL. After we finished up with those, I put together the shop’s new website–as if I didn’t have enough “projects” to do during that time, as it was! What can I say, I enjoy doing a lot of different things! I figured I should do a feature for The Cypress House on the blog so you all can get inspired by it’s loveliness and go check it out! Eric and I have our work scattered about in the shop and plans are in the works to have a more defined “wedding area” for consults with Krista (the shop’s owner) about wedding day arrangements, as well as us for photography! Inside the shop, you will also find Sha Sha’s–a clean & modern salon… also great for your wedding day needs! Not sure where “Sha Sha’s” got their name, but if it’s from the musician Ben Kweller, I now like them even more : )

The Cypress House

{a little info}

The Cypress House is first and foremost a full service florist & greenhouse. Inside you will find a coffee, tea & espresso bar, lovely home decor items, unique gifts, household products and a great variety of boutique items for yourself and for baby. It’s a neato place, and we love being displayed there. The end.

So take a look at the new site: www.cypresshouse.net and leave comments to let us know what you think! If you are interested in store and/or product shoots or would like us put together a photo shoot/website package for you, just give us a shout!

midmost | sneak peek | illinois band photographer

ae photography — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:12:32 +0000

Here is a quick frame from Eric’s session with the band Midmost a couple weeks ago.

Salvatore Cusumano

Caleb Foster

Caitlin Anastasia Prothero

Lawrence Gann

Jacob Anthony Koenig

another peek

ae photography — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:39:38 +0000

Just another quick boudoir peek for you : )

I wanted to do a full boudoir post today, but I just didn’t get the time. We have a senior session tomorrow and another boudoir session Sunday, both of which will be in our home–so it’s time to convert it from living space to studio space once again. These are the moments when I think having a real studio again might be worth it ; )

natural beauty

ae photography — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:00:37 +0000

There are so many routes to go when shooting boudoir. I feel like I hit a lot of them during the sessions, but the main style I wanted to go for was natural, raw beauty; shooting images that truly showed both the outer, as well as, inner beauty of the girls. In my opinion, that is what it’s all about. I feel this frame really captures the style I was going for. It is real and expressive, with the subject looking very relaxed and comfortable–and she and I had never met before this event! Not to mention, we are both shy girls ; )

There are plenty more photos of Dana, as well as, a dozen other ladies. All photos sets will be accompanied by a brief “interview” with that specific girl–just to give all of you who are considering a session but aren’t quite sure if you are comfortable with it or understand what it’s all about yet a bit more info. I, of course, can answer any and all questions you might have, but I’m sure hearing answers to questions you might have from girls who have already been in front of the camera and experienced “my type of boudoir shoots” first hand, might make you feel a little more comfortable about having a session done with me. I am planning on focusing more on boudoir shoots and, like I said before, will continue doing the “boudoir event” once a year. We will be launching a dedicated website in the near future : ) Please get in contact if you’re interested in having a session done or hosting a “mini boudoir event” for you and your friends (great for bachelorette parties ; ) ; ) ).

Many more shots to come…

Goodnight, everyone.

chris + natalie | engaged | chicago engagement photographer

ae photography — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:47:26 +0000

We’re finally getting back into the swing of things, and I’m excited to share some shots from Chris and Natalie’s engagement session from way back when : ) As you can tell–no winter coats… no snow… and there are still leaves on the trees. Yes, this was a fall engagement session! At least we got around to posting it. That’s what counts, right?

Eric and I really had a great time with these two. We had shot a wedding the day before, we we kind of bummed it and wore our hoodies and moccasins to help ease the aches from the previous day. It felt nice to walk around the city in cozy clothes and just have fun shooting. Chris and Natalie are such a great couple, and we could tell in just the short amount of time we were with them; they are perfect for each other. I’m pretty sure she said they meet in college–both “geeks” as she called it, butI would just say incredibly smart…. and I’m jealous : ) Not only are they fun to be around and extremely intelligent, they are quite artistic. I saw some walls they painted in their house through some Facebook photos and–whoa! They were incredible. I want Natalie to come paint my walls like that!

Love these two! Can’t wait to post them on our new “lifestyle sessions” website (coming soon, when we don’t have a million other things to work on ; ) )

(The building in shot above was actually the public restrooms. Find beauty in everything, people.)

emma | senior session | dekalb, illinois

ae photography — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:21:14 +0000

To start off our weekly “session posts”, I have selected the lovely Emma. Like I said back in her teaser, she is a young photographer–obviously graduating from high school this year. She is very talented–so talented, in fact, that we might have her help us out occasionally : ) Sometimes we need a third shooter or an assistant. We look forward to having her help us out!

I found it quite hard to narrow her session post down to a reasonable number of images. We just had so much fun. She knew exactly how to “pose” and completely understood our crazy shooting ideas/locations. It was wonderful.

Of course it was hard for me to pick a favorite, but I do believe this is the one. I love so many, but this one… : ) Perfection to me.

That being said, I have a new idea/suggestion… well, more of a demand, really. With all of these daily posts, I would love to hear your favorite/s from each one. I am extremely interested in the style of photos that really stand out to our followers. So…. if you could quickly take a second and leave a comment with your favorite photo each time I do a photo post… that would be just fantastic!

Emma and I talked a little beforehand about different ideas we might want to try, and I brought up balloons. We had never used balloons up until then–so here are our first shots with the new “prop” idea…

Let me tell you, those things got twisted, tangled…. one popped, one blew away… strings fell off. Needless to say, balloons are something we won’t be using too often : )

So all of those photos, aside from the first (my favorite), were taken from the first day of shooting. We did two days; one day of fields, barns, rural stuff and one day of downtown, buildings, etc. Sometimes we are able to hit all of these locations in one day… but we wanted “golden hour”, plus she had school and it was getting dark quickly. So, we decided to go for the two day shoot. I’m glad we did. We got such a great variety. The next set is from the second day:

I do believe that was the longest post in the history of our blog. I hope you enjoyed it : ) Now it’s time for me to get back to editing and working on our upcoming events. January is a super busy month… and here we thought it was going to slow down after December! I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s favorite/s ; ) ; )

“glamour shots” {ae style}

ae photography — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:28:59 +0000

I planned and organized an invitation only Boudoir Event for January 10, 2010. We are planning on launching a new boudoir/fashion portrait website at some point in 2010, and I was trying to come up with the best way to get a bunch of new material for the site in a short amount of time. We had a handful of bookings for the event, but I had to cancel it due to the Chicago hotel idea not working out as planned. I just noticed about 10 minutes ago that we are booked for a promotional event all day that day. It would have been my loss (no clients are involved) if I had missed it! Thank goodness things happened the way the did!

I decided I would just postpone it and focus on other things… but, as I sit here, I’m feeling a little disappointed. I was really looking forward to the event–something new + different… a style of photography I really love shooting. I love “fashion/model” photography. While editing my butt off today, I have been thinking of a way to open the event back up again. I will have to change the date, of course. The new one will not be invite-only and will not be labeled as “boudoir”–I know that can scare people!

Our “boudoir” does not have to be ask risque as people assume all boudoir is. It’s about getting all fancied up (or down–whatever works for you). It’s about getting some beautiful shots of yourself to give your guy as a surprise gift. The Boudoir Event was meant for a Valentine’s gift for 2010 for the special man in your life. Think pajama bottoms + a tank top…. boxers + a t-shirt…. cozy, cute and beautiful. I’m thinking a range between Sear catalog sleepwear and Maxim magazine. You choose where you want to be. Haha. Eric is not involved what-so-ever… just me!

I had so many things lined up that all came together so wonderfully, I would hate to just flush the opportunity away! I will be so much fun for anyone who does join me for the new “event”! I have changed the packages a bit, so here is what you would be getting:

*professional hair + makeup

*snacks + beverages while you prep and hang out

*NEW!* amazing, amazing, amazing selection of handmade boudoir items, lingerie, cozy sleepwear, and some fun + funky clothing. Over a dozen designers have signed up to send in their items for you to use so far! If you would like links to view some of the wonderful pieces that you will be able to play dress up with, just send me an email! :)

*lovely handmade accessories–also from independent designers (hairpieces, headpieces, etc.)

*30 minutes of shoot time with yours truly

*pre-session online consult with ashley to discuss the style/s you like most + share some favorite found images you like the look of!

*private online gallery to view an order prints!

Here is the NEW part: There will be no sitting fee! Horray! The last event had a $499 fee.

I’m guessing those of you who signed up are pretty excited now! This is what is changing:

***All of your edited images will be available in your Online Gallery. From there, you can order an album for your guy, your favorite prints, a giant poster for your living room (hahaha)–there will a bunch of options for you. You can also order the Photo Disc with release rights or rights to individual images of your choice! So basically, you book your time slot, show up and get pampered + lovely, have a fun session with me + get an online gallery all for free. If, in the end, you decide you don’t want to order any of the photos–that’s fine with me. I just want this event to HAPPEN!! Email me if you would like to attend. I know many ladies wanted to attend the other event, but money was too tight at the moment (trust me, I know the feeling) — so I’m thinking this is a great opportunity for everyone! You will still have time to create an awesome Valentine’s Day gift for your guy! The location is not set quite yet, but it will be in the area (it may very well be in my home studio!) Help us create the most stunning new website ever! We want you!!

Sunday, January 31st 2010.

12pm-7pm (it may go longer, if needed)

Schedule your 60 minutes (half hour for prep, half hour of shooting)

I am assuming this is going to fill fast since it is free and all –but I’m putting an end date to the sign-up.

December 31st, 2009. Can’t wait to work with you guys!!

ona | maternity | part two

ae photography — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:00:14 +0000

An update on the health situation: I got 1/3 of the problem taken care of. I have been trying to work as much as possible–during the short amount of time the painkillers actually work! We are trying to get a couple galleries posted to each gallery that is currently being posted to within the next few days. We will then take a short “holiday break” so we can spend some much needed time with our kiddos during their Christmas Vacation. All galleries that are currently being posted to should wrap up by the end of January we are hoping! Remaining galleries will receive dates right after we return from our short break. January-April is strictly “editing season” for us. No other work will be done, so your images will be going up a lot faster!

Here are a few more sweet shots form Ona’s session!

Ona had us take some shots with her sister. They are both such gorgeous women!! I love these sweet, natural moments of the two of them.

Some more of Peter + Ona:

And now, our version of ”American Gothic (with child)”

Haha, I love it.

ona | illinois maternity portrait photographer

ae photography — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:28:10 +0000

Eric and I photographed Ona’s maternity session awhile ago and are just now getting a chance to post a preview of it on the blog. I’m not through with the editing, and I know there are many more lovely ones that I’ll be wanting to share… but here is a selection from what we have so far!

We have done maternity sessions before, but I do believe this will be the first one actually posted on the blog! I love shooting things we don’t get to do very often, because we are so busy with weddings (which we also love, of course!) It’s so fun and special to do maternity photos. I could photograph them every day.

Ona has got to be one of the sweetest women we have ever worked with. She and her husband, Peter, live in Costa Rica and scheduled us for a session when they came to Illinois to visit Peter’s family. We actually photographed the entire session in Peter’s home. You never know what you’re going to get when you head off to shoot a strictly “in-home” session at a place you have never been to before, but we totally lucked out. All of the rooms were painted the perfect shades that we love to make our photos pop. They had some great outdoor spots, as well. Just goes to show you–you can find perfection anywhere you go… you just have to look! And then of course, Ona is gorgeous. So–our job was a piece of cake, and we had so much fun!

They had another family member who was pregnant, as well–so she jumped in to take a few shots with Ona! Did you notice the “post-it belly” shot with all of the names they were considering? ”Lemon” if it was a girl….!!! That is adorable… I love it : ) But, they are having a boy and chose the name Oliver. I love that name, as well. Eric and I had it on our name list with all three kiddos.

Peter and Ona–we wish you the best of luck with your little one. Being a parent is the most wonderful thing you can experience : ) I hope we can do some baby/family portraits next time you visit!

Keep an eye out for another set of photos form their session!