On Friday, April 17, 2009 Jenny Sepulveda and Helping Hands Forever hosted “A Night of Luxury” at the Bentley Gold Coast Dealership in Chicago to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Sponsors included Ryan Design, MaiChef Cuisine, Japonais, Chic Gems, Brynn Capella Limited Edition Handbags, Aniko Salon & Spa and Guaranteed Rate.

It was an incredible evening filled with lively music, great food, and amazing generosity.

I had the honor of photographing the event and rubbing elbows (literally) with some of the most exotic automobiles in the world.

The first time I photographed the boys was about a year and a half ago. Here is the blog post from that session: roperphoto.com/caron-ahman

It was fun to see them again, especially to see how much they’ve changed in that time. They looked the same only older. If that makes sense : )

Caron is just as energetic as ever, still loving those long lashes. Ahman is the quieter of the two by a long stretch, but knows how to turn it on when the camera is on him.

The first time around they were new to the talent business, and this time, after many jobs and auditions-they knew just what to do to get the best photos.

It is so awesome to watch these kids bloom and grow over the years. I am so proud of them!

We had a Blast photographing all the dogs (and a few humans) that showed up at Two Bostons in Naperville to have their picture taken with the Easter Bunny.

We’ll be sending out an email to all who were there with a link to the gallery or you can click HERE for direct access to the gallery.

Roper Photo is teaming up with Two Bostons in Naperville for a Pet Photo Promotion this month.

Now through Friday, April 16th, anyone whose total purchases at either of the Two Bostons locations reaches $100 or more will receive a FREE photo session and an 8 x 10 print.

Dates for the photo sessions are:

Downtown Naperville:
Friday, April 17th
Saturday April 18th

Springbrook (75th St and Route 59)
Sunday, April 26th
Monday, April 27th.

All you need to do is choose the time, date, and store that’s most convenient for you. Visit the stores for details.

As some of you may know by now, Roper Photo has been chosen for this year’s edition of “the Knot” Magazine’s “Best of Weddings”. Well, the issue is now available at the newsstands and we couldn’t be more thrilled or honored.

What sets this honor apart from others is that it’s not just our colleagues (or even The Knot Magazine) bestowing this award on us - the recognition comes from our brides and grooms who were thrilled with the level of service we brought to their wedding day and the quality of the images we captured. This is especially important to us since our goal with all of our clients is to exceed their expectations.

So, thanks to all of our brides and grooms who have given us the privilege to be a part of their big day and inspiring us to create some of our most memorable and heartfelt images.

Eric and Terri Roper

Last week we were in the Janie & Jack kids clothing store in The Bolingbrook Promenade.

For those not in the area-Bolingbrook is a suburb of Chicago. And if you haven’t visited a Janie & Jack store before, you must check them out. The clothes are gorgeous and very well made.

This was an in store promotion and we had 3 full days of photographing many, many kids from newborns to 6 years old.

As always, the 12-24 month olds are the most active, independant ones. We never really know if they will stand still or cooperate until they step onto the backdrop. I have a very fast trigger finger and can usually get some fabulous shots before they run off.

My heart always goes out to the parents as they always get much more stressed and tired than I do. LOL

Here are some of the images from the sessions.

Enjoy!

These two were married at the Church of Holy Apostles in McHenry Illinois, and had the reception in her parents backyard in a neighboring town.

To say the day was hot would be an understatement. Really. I think it was 90 by 8am. Which was the time I started photographing her getting ready at her parents house.

Even though it was hot, the day was fillled with love and laughter. In the late afternoon not too long after the party was over and the last of the guests had left, a thunderstorm came through town and a windstorm nearly destroyed the tent.

Thankfully no one was hurt and they maintained a good sense of humor about the storm.

We shot her senior portrait session in the LODO area of Denver, using alleys, a hotel lobby, Union Station and a parking garage for backgrounds.

Then for the last outfit we headed out to the warehouse district for something different and found the perfect color on the side of a building that matched her outfit. What a great ending for a wonderful session!

Every time I’ve done a shoot at Wild Oats it’s been such a great experience. In addition to everyone being so cooperative and professional, the staff at the stores always keep the property in pristine condition. This makes for a smooth photo shoot since not much time has to be spent on styling the “set” since it is in perfect conditon when I arrive, and more time left to concentrate on getting the shot.

The follow images were taken at their store in Boulder, Colorado for a cover story in “Refrigerated & Frozen Foods Retailer” Magazine. The story highlighted Wild Oates’ Healthy offerings in their refrigerated department.

The first few images are detail and general shots of the refrigerated section of the store and were for used in the magazine’s table of contents and as extra shots for the story. The next two were used to show a customer’s shopping experience. The last three were some of the various poses and angles I shot of the two featured subjects. The last image is how the magazine cover ended up looking (in case you didn’t get your copy of RFF Retailer).

This was a wedding that was steeped in Chinese culture and tradition. As an outsider it is always so amazing to witness and capture the many different customs from all over the globe.

While she was putting on the finishing touches at her parents house-Albert( who lives down the street) and his guys walked over with the pig. They had to beg and bribe the bridesmaids to get into the house. The women actually made out like bandits with the bribes received! It was a hoot to watch : )

Once inside there was a tea ceremony with her side of the family, and afterwards they walked down the street to see his side of the family.

We had some time beforehand for photos with a great view of Chicago. As you can see it was very stormy-those clouds were not enhanced in photoshop!

The ceremony and reception were held at the Riviera Country Club in Orland Park.

By the time the ceremony took place the storm clouds were replaced by sunshine and a clear sky.