Sneak Peak: A Family Portrait Session

In the midst of a busy wedding season, it is always fun to shoot family portrait session. This week I had a blast with this lovely family...two adorable kids, Max and Addy and their cute pup, Wrigs. Check out my favorites in this little sneak peak.

A Day at the Beach: A Children's Portrait Session

I always feel a little bittersweet at the end of the summer. I am excited for the fall colors and weather, but as a photographer I love the warmth and light of the sun. Last weekend I was in love because I got to do a little Children's Session out at Montrose Beach and one of my favorites City Parks, Cricket Hill. Here are a few favorites from the session!

Box Trolls and Hide-and-Seek at Palmer Square Park: A Children's Photo Session

A lazy summer morning is one of my favorite times to work. Palmer Square Park is right around the corner from my house. It is a unique little city park, with little bunny statues and whimsical trees that surround the entire area. In my mind, it really is the perfect location for a Children's Portrait Session. I had a blast capturing River as we played Hide-and-Seek and as he told me the story of the Box Trolls. They even showed up for a bit to play tag. Here are some favorites from the day.

Love,

E

Wedding: Eric + Juan

I often find myself on the verge of tears, tears of joy that is, when I am shooting. Love is so powerful, experiencing and feeling the love that a couple has for each other is one of the reasons I love being a wedding photographer. This past weekend at Eric and Juan's Wedding my emotions were truly at the highest. I was surrounded my so much love, not just by Eric and Juan, but by their family and friends as well. I felt truly blessed to be present for the day. Here is a little sneak peak from the day.

Wedding: Annie + Kim

I am so happy to finally share the photographs from Annie and Kim's Wedding! Not only is Annie my aunt, she is my godmother and we have always had a very special relationship. When she got engaged this past fall I never felt more happy for her. I think the key to happiness is laughter and that is what I remember  growing up as a child with her around. And when I first met Kim I saw that Annie and Kim shared that same sense of humor.  So here are some of my favorites from their wedding day.

With love and laughter,

E

An Engagement Session on the Lakefront

Had so many favorites from Amanda + Nick Engagement Session I had to share more! 

love,

E

Sneak Peak: Olive turns 3!

It is quite fitting I just saw the movie "The Little Princess" circa 1995. One of my favorite childhood films, where the main character Sara does not give up on her belief that All girls are princesses! It was one of those movies that I literally am sobbing throughout. A little embarrassing, especially since this was the first time I watched this movie with my fiance, Brad.

One of my favorite lines Sara expresses, All girls are [princesses]! Even if they live in tiny old attics, even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young, they're still princesses - all of us! 

Just a few days later, I was asked to photography little Olive's 3rd birthday party. It was a night to remember. And what better way to celebrate than a princess party! Some princesses you might recognize...wink, wink. But of course...

A L L  G I R L S  A R E  P R I N C E S S E S!

 So enjoy this S N E A K  P E A K of some of my favorites, share it with you friends and family and leave me some comments!

A Sneak Peak: Amanda + Nick's Engagement Session

Amanda met Nick when she was only 17 years. It was her first day working at a Garden Center and he was in charge of training her for the day. It was love at first sight and they have been together ever since...from going to college, adopting their adorable pup Addie, and moving to Chicago together. Their love is so sweet and I am so happy they shared it with me during their Engagement Shoot from last weekend. So enjoy this S N E A K  P E A K of some of my favorites, share it with you friends and family and leave me some comments!

with love,

E

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Sneak Peak: A pink shirt, a pretty Mama and her adorable little boy

This past week I had a blast hanging out with Ryker, an adorable toddler and his beautiful Mama. With Easter only a few short weeks away I was excited to shoot an Easter-inspired Photography Session. Here's a little sneak peak from their session:

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Inspiration Monday: My Sisters

I have been thinking a lot about the different people that inspire me. My sisters are a big one! They inspire me just about ever day, they are my best friends. Whenever I think about them a little part me gets warm and happy inside. So starting with today,  I have decided that I will post about the people that are my inspiration. And friends, I invite you to do the same and share with me with this idea in mind: WHO INSPIRES YOU!

Follow me on Instagram @elizabethjaneneurauter, as I begin.

Love,

E

2014: Wedding Highlights

Happy New Year. I can't believe it is already 2015 and we are in mid-January too! 2014 was an awesome year , so what better timing than to show off some of my wedding photography work from this past wedding season. I am excited for what is in stored for my company and in my non-professional life too!

Christmas and the Boys

I always try to sneak some shooting time with my nephews. Sometimes it happens just 5 minutes before we leave for my family's  Christmas Eve Party. Now that the Holi-daze have ended I am super pumped for 2015! So here a few to photos to jump start my blog for the year. Happy New Year Everyone! 

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Wedding: An Historical Estate

I have been dying to share some wedding from this past summer. Finally as the slow season has arrived, I finally have time put my work together.....A backyard, a historical home, a food truck and home-made sangria and margaritas. What is not to love? This was a love story I could not resist! As a photographer all the details and special hand-made touches were darling. All so PRETTY!

New Work: The Warriors

New Work:The Warriors

This past summer I began working on a new project which I have entitled, "The Warriors". A series which I am continuing to shoot using traditional film based cameras. As an artist I am taking a step back, thinking about the technical roots of art and photography. What makes one photographic image better or more beautiful? What make a photograph perfect, does exposure matter, does color correct matter. Is too much grain or an image that is backlit bad? Or perhaps an image a thrive on its own through its conceptual idea. As always my family has allowed me to photograph them.

Let me know what you think!

-E

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Sneak Peak: New Work

I am really excited to share some film work that I have been working on lately! So here is a sneak peak.

Styled Shoot: York Woods

Sometimes you just do a styled shoot...a few weeks ago my sister, Jennifer and I decided we would like to start shooting with each other. We had always talked about working together in some kind of creative aspect. As kids we literally use to do this same thing with random dresses we found in our mom's closet with a simple polaroid camera. Finally we the opportunity... a few hours in the middle of the week, a few props, dresses and a simple bouquet of flowers in the middle of DuPage County's York Woods. So check out our photos and let us know what you think! I'm excited to work to do more styled shoot and to of course work with my sister again. - E

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The Boys

I always have fun shooting photos of my nephews. It is pretty much always an impromptu photo shoot that usually includes me bribing my nephews in order to get them to stand still. They are pretty crazy...but they are the best. Here are some favorites from this year! [gallery type="slideshow" ids="920,922,921,919,918,914,915,916,917,912,911,910,909,908,903,904,905,906,907,902"]

Holiday Mini-Photo Sessions!

One of my favorite things about working for myself is that every day is different. One day I am Chicago working a wedding downtown the next day I'm up a rustic hill in New Hampshire setting up an engagement shoot. Now that I am home I can settle down for a little bit and what better time than to offer some Holiday Mini-Photo Sessions...

So I guys I am just saying...Call Me!

A Wuthering Heights Styled Shoot

Wuthering Heights is a novel that I have always been drawn back to as a reader. The dark, whimsical setting of the moors. The tragic love story of Heathcliff and Catherine. And the first and only published novel by Emily Brontë. A female voice, writer and artist that has always given me inspiration. To say the least, I was excited to be photographing a Wuthering Heights Styled Shoot for The NotWedding.

Working with a team of awesome vendors, together we planned our shoot. We began thinking about different ways to create an overall look and style that was inspired by Wuthering Heights. With the leadership of our event coordinator and designer, Adrienne Horty we found the perfect location for our shoot: Beech Hill Preserve in Rockport, ME. Together we climbed to the hilltop and found ourselves to the quaint Beech Nut, which resembles the isolated countryside of the moors, the setting of “Wuthering Heights”. We wanted our bride and groom to embody this theme as well.  And with help of our stylist and local bridal designer we styled our bride and groom in the fashion, clothing, hair, makeup and accessories that we considered romantic and whimsical, yet dramatic and unique.

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Bride and Groom: Megan and Christian Cronkite

Coordination & Design: The Refinery- Events & Marketing, Adrienne Horty, adrienne@refineryevents.com

Doves: White Doves of Maine, Marc Archambault  , www.whitedovesofmaine.com

Dresses: Andrea's Bridal

Hair & Makeup: Bei Capelli, Lisa Lacroix, lisa@beicapelli.com

Location: Beech Hill Preserve

Photographer: Me Photography, Elizabeth Neurauter, elizabethneurauter@gmail.com, mephotographychicago.com

Italy: A Cooking Class

Brad and I love cooking, whether together or for each other. I have always said that I would love to learn how to make hand-made pasta.Since we have not been taking a language course this time around, we thought it would be great to take a cooking class. Searching the internet I found a chef that was located in the quaint,old neighborhood of Trastevere. We weren't exactly sure what to expect. We were hoping for an interactive learning experience that was both hands-on and informative. We walked into our class and found ourselves surrounded by mostly American and Canadian tourists, which was bit funny at first because for the most part we have spent our time in Italy trying to communicate in Italian. But it ended up being quite relaxing to have a "day off". We walked into the class and we met Chef Andrea and all of our classmates. Shortly after we began our 4 hour journey of prepping, making and cooking a 5 course italian meal, which would include; Eggplant Parmesan, Homemade Chitarra Spaghetti Pasta with Pesto, Beef Scaloppine with mushrooms, Sautéed Flat Beans with Cherry Tomatoes, and Crostata di Ricotta e Marmellata di Pere e Noci. [gallery type="rectangular" ids="836,844,843,842,848,847,841,838"]

When we walked into the kitchen our teacher had all the fresh food spread out on the counter that we would be preparing our meals with for the day. He explained how he bought everything at the farmers market that very morning and chose the menu based on all the produce that was available that day. We made everything from hand that day including fresh hand made chitarra spaghetti. The first two hours were spent exclusively on prepping the food. We split up the work of cleaning and cutting every food. just looking at the food we were all in awe and it was hard to grasp that this would all be turned into a five course meal.

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Slowly we made it through all five courses. It was an interesting process because I am so use to cooking one dish at a time, however we seemed to cook every thing slowly all at once. Each person chose a "job" and we all worked together. From time to time Chef Andrea would stop to advise particular ways of preparing and cooking. For instance he explained when cooking with garlic it is not necessary to even chop the garlic, instead he suggested you first smash the garlic with the skin "on" and simply infuse the garlic in oil until it is brown. And the only time to completely chop garlic is when you use the garlic raw. By around 2 o'clock our meal was finally completed and we all sat down to enjoy our lunch together. Overall it was quite an interesting day and inspired Brad and I to keep cooking every day. If you are interested in any of this recipes, let me know and I will repost!

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-E