Sweetly Running Bank of America
Kristine & Jonathan have a pretty fun story! They are high school sweethearts and now they both work at Bank of America and are also into running. The real kind of running; the kind most of us look at as some kind of super hero power because they do it for hours and hours on end. This can only lead me →
Walking through Fire
Fire burns. Fire purifies. We all have to walk through fires in our lives at some point. We can choose to let trials burn us, or we can choose to let them purify us. In relationships we all have trials, and as I have gotten to know Carrie and Jamil a bit more, I have had the opportunity to see how they allow →
Chicago Cultural Center Wedding – Xue & Wen!
Xue & Wen were married on September 24, 2011 at the beautiful Chicago Cultural Center. The architecture of this building is so beautiful, I love shooting there! It was a rainy day, so we shot everything indoors! Congratulations to both of you! Thank you so much for choosing me to document your ceremony! Liesl Diesel
Dharna & Samir are Featured Wedding of the Day on Wedding Channel!
Dharna & Samir were married on May 29, 2010 and today they are featured on The Wedding Channel! Congrats to you both for one year of marriage and for being a featured wedding, what a gorgeous day!!! <3 you both! Liesl Diesel Click here for Dharna's Preparation photos Click Here for Samir's Baraat Click here for Dharna & Samir's Ceremony Click here for Dharna & Samir's Portrait
Garden Wedding Ceremony at The Weathervane
On April 1st, 2011 Nicole and Damien admitted they were fools for love at The Weathervane in Chapel Hill, NC! I loved the intimate garden setting for the ceremony, it gave is such a personal feel. I also enjoyed playing with the flaring light and bending vines!
Happy St. Valentine’s Day!
This past year has been a JAM PACKED year of non-stop love and I hope all of you are celebrating by expressing your love today! I want to thank all my clients from the past 12 months who hired me to record their love! St. Valentine was martyred for protesting a ban on marriage, and his stance on love and →
IGNITE!
Feel like you might need to Ignite before another jam-packed year of weddings and portraits? Looking for some personalized business and marketing advice? Wishing you could really push your artistic style in a way that sets you apart from every other camera-toting humanoid? Come Ignite with me! Be mentored, inspired, and energized by joining me for a kickass photographer's retreat in Northern Michigan this →
What’s on YOUR coffee table?
What is on your coffee table? Candles? Magazines? Empty soda cans? Soon Ripa & Viral will have a custom designed album on their coffee table from their baby shower this past October. If you have been wondering what to do with your wedding photos, check out my custom designed coffee table albums! My albums are designed to your taste, printed and bound in Italy, and →
Elmhurst Art Museum Wedding Portraits – Rachel & Tyler
Below are some of my favorite portraits from Rachel & Tyler's wedding on New Year's Eve, 2010! Special thanks to the Elmhurst Art Museum for providing this delicious backdrop for the wedding portraits!
Rachel’s Bridal Portrait
I think these photos speak for themselves. Head shots taken at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Wheaton, IL Full length shots taken at the Elmhurst Art Museum. Congratulations, Rachel! You are a truly beautiful person! <3 Liesl Diesel
Chicago Cultural Center Wedding
The final event! I had the crazy fun opportunity to work with Shahzeen & Prem for their engagement shoot, their Nikah and Nikah portrait session, the Mendi at Alhambra Palace Restaurant and finally the reception at the Chicago Cultural Center! Videography provided by Orange Wedding Films, JJ was great to work with and has uber skills with a camera! Make-up by Maliha Khan of →
Dazzling Preparation
DAZZLING preparation time for Prem & Shahzeen! I will post up more from their reception shortly! I know we go over this ALL THE TIME but I just have to remind all of you, once again, that I like sparkling things. Which is why I also love Shahzeen. Well, it's not the only reason I love her, but it certainly helps →
Fall in Love
A few of my favorite things? Fall Love Falling in Love LeRon & Gro Anita were visiting the US from Norway and asked me to photograph them while they were here. I split their session with part of the shoot near Market Commons, Myrtle Beach and the other part of the session was at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, SC. It was inspiring →
Holiday Print Deadline
I am SO happy because I remembered to order all my prints on time! The biggest problem with remembering is that I don't have the patience to wrap them and wait for Christmas to hang them up! I would post more photos but some of the prints are presents. ARGH!! I hate waiting to surprise people!!! Please remember my holiday print →
The Importance of Prints
The Importance of Prints Have you ever framed a photo just so that you could remember what fun you had at that moment and who you were with? With digital images, files on hard drives and CD's, too many people have turned their back on framing simple, seemingly insignificant photos. My challenge to you is to put your memories on your wall. →
Graffiti Love in Downtown Chicago!
Many of you are quite familiar with Shahzeen and Prem by now! I photographed their engagement session at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, their Nikah ceremony at the Downtown Islamic Center, traipsed around Chicago with them shooting some fun portrait sessions, and then later shot their reception, which you will see SOON! promise! To end our portrait session the day of their →
Say Less and Do More
Prem and Shahzeen were married on September 11 in the Downtown Islamic Center in Chicago, IL. Afterwards we went around the city to some locations that were meaningful to them in order to get some fun and playful portraits to commemmorate their Nikkah before the big celebration this coming weekend! Our fist stop was the Artists Cafe and then we →
Kristine & Jonathan Engaged!
I met up with Kristine and Jonathan at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL for their engagement session, and of course the weather man was completely on my side that evening! We started out with a view of the skyline. They will have their wedding reception at the Mid America Club, so they wanted some shots with that building in the →
Nikah Ceremony
Shahzeen & Prem had their Muslim Nikah wedding ceremony this past weekend, followed by a fun portrait shoot all around the city! I wanted to put up a preview of the Nikah, and will post up some portraits soon! The ceremony took place at the Downtown Islamic Center in Chicago, IL Keep an eye on my Fan Page for more updates! <3 Liesl Diesel
The Swamps of Editin
Before some of you begin to wonder if I've taken a permanent leave of absence from blogging . . . The answer is absolutely not! Just stuck in the mire swamps of editing and the delightful adventures of a traveling shooter! As usual I have been shooting all over the place and my blog always takes second place to delivering to →
Reflections on Portraits
This is part of a set that I shot for Rachel & Tyler's engagement session. As I was editing I realized I had taken a lot of reflection images, which of course let me to reflect :) I am constantly photographing people I have never even met and make great effort to understand who they are so that I can →
Justine & Michael ~ Romantics!
I met Justine & Michael a few weeks ago at their engagement session at Montrose Harbor and knew instantly that their wedding would be a lovely mixture of romanticism and playfulness! They prepared for the wedding at Bishop's Hall, a spacious bed and breakfast in Oak Park with beautiful manicured gardens. Then they had a traditional Greek promenade through the town →
Peter & Karena’s Riverwalk Wedding Portraits!
Karena & Peter were the first couple to ever marry at the Moser Carillon Tower! After the ceremony, when the weather permitted, we went for a jaunt around The River Walk in the heart of Naperville for a fun variety of portraits! You can see all my favorites here! <3 Liesl Diesel
Dharna & Samir’s Wedding Portrait
There are so many fun things about cultural weddings, and Hindu weddings are so exceptional. I think one of the most fun parts of being a Hindu bride is that you get two wedding outfits, and not just one! Dharna & Samir prepared for their weddings and met up for a quick portrait session in their first outfits before the ceremony, →
