I’m Thinking of a Challenge…
- February 29, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: announcement
tags:

interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

Pretty much everyone and their mother has a camera nowadays, by it a D3, an XT, a simple P&S, or even a camera phone. At a wedding, about 75% of the people there will have some sort of camera (no factual evidence for that statistic). And I think it’s a great thing. I feel like so many people, though, are not letting themselves really use this tool to get a deeper glimpse in the world around them, which is one of the things that I love about photography. As I walk down the street, I immediately see a massive picture with great details, be it signpost, a colored door, or a distant statue. And many times, as we walk through the day consumed with the concerns of ourselves, we walk right past the beauty that’s around us.

So I was thinking of possibly doing some sort of “Monthly Challenge” thing, basically in an effort for people to take more pictures and get creative; to experience the beauty and ‘reality’ of the world they live in and share it with the rest of us. There would be a simple topic/theme to cover, and then for the month you would go and ‘search’ for it., take LOADS of pictures, and e-mail them to me. I’ll combine them all and post the different perspective that we all have on the same idea. What do you think? Here’s an example scenario to show you want I mean…

Theme: Color
And people would submit (these images are from a free stock photo site):

It’d be very interesting to see how different people perceive the same direction. Even though we’re all looking at the ‘same thing’, we will all have different aspects of it that jump out at us. And recognizing the differences in people’s perceptions will inevitably open up our eyes. So…do you want to play?

This will only work if we have a decent number of people participating, so let me know (leave comments!) and if we get a good response I’ll post the first theme. Maybe I’ll even pick my favorite one (totally subjective :) ) and that person can win a special prize. So…let me know! Happy shooting people, open your eyes and keep it real…

[02.25.08] Monday Night Recap
- February 25, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: Formal Engagements, Modern Events, Personal, [MNR]
tags:

interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

• [Blogging] So I’ve only been posting MNRs recently, and I’m sorry! I’ve been spending a lot of time working on the business-side of things, but don’t worry…I’ll get back on track before you know it! Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see here…I’m always open to ideas!
• [Manoj&Jaime] Two weeks ago, I shot the engagement ceremony of Manoj and Jaime. Manoj is from Dallas and since the wedding is out in Texas, they had a ceremony up here in Chicago at the beautiful Abbington Banquets in Glen Ellyn. By request, their gallery is protected, so if you know them, you can contact them for the login and password. Thanks again, guys, for allowing me to take part in your special day! Here’s a little tease of details:






• [DanceCrew] Have you guys seen this show on MTV? I must say, my whole life I desired to have skills in the creative arts. I tried drawing, singing, acting, and even dancing in various capacities (…as well as graphic design, web design, and now photography…I think I finally found my creative talent!). These guys are just SICK! A small part of me wishes I didn’t ‘retire’ from dancing (of course…I’ve retired from like 100 things in my life, so maybe I’ll come out of retirement someday…doubtful). My votes are going for Kaba Modern and the JabbaWockeeZ…that’s straight talent.
• [Bulls] Finally a trade. I’m fine with getting rid of Big Ben, but I wish we didn’t have to drop Joe Smith. We’ll see Gooden plays out…in the weak East, we still have a chance for the playoffs…here’s to hoping.
• [GoldenBirthday] My (soon-to-be) brother-in-law is celebrating his golden birthday no Wednesday, so on Sunday we had a ‘surprise’ celebration for him: laser tag at Eskape and dinner at TGIFridays. I hadn’t gotten laser tagging in years (we’ve moved up to paint balling), but it was still fun. We played the old guys (21+) versus the young guys, and we crushed them both rounds! What can I say…we might be slower, but for now we’re still wiser with strategy :)

[02.18.08] Monday Night Recap
- February 18, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: Formal Engagements, Modern Events, Personal, [MNR]
tags:

interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

• [Slam Dunk] He was robbed last year, and I called it again for this year- Dwight Howard is a beast! When the man requests to raise the rim to 12 feet, you know there’s no contest. Did you see his superman dunk? It makes me wonder what the exact definition of a dunk is…anyone know?
• [AllStar] I missed the all star game, but even still, it is my favorite all star event of all the sports. Football players don’t really play because it’s the off-season and they fear getting hurt. Baseball isn’t as fast-paced during actual gameplay (though I still watch it). The NBA has both excitement, entertainment, and competition. What else could you ask for? (Hockey isn’t a sport, for those of you who were wondering…)
• [Engagement] I was busy Saturday morning with an engagement shoot Saturday morning…it was a blast shooting for Jaime and Manoj. Did I tell you I love my job? Although they stated the hate photographs, they are both very photogenic…I’ll post more about them later on this week.
• [AfterParty] It just so happened a couple friends of mine got engaged that morning as well, but I missed the ceremony do to the other engagement. I did make it out to their after party, and that was some fun times. It such a blessing to see two friends get together and chase God…I’m praying your ministry guys! I decided to take a few ‘ambient light’ [high ISO, low shutter, no flash] shots throughout the night (I was a bit tired after the morning), so here are a handful of the headshots and such:

• [KnightRider] Did anyone see the premiere of the new Knight Rider? I missed it, but heard some bad reviews? Anyone got any comments?
• [MyDadsBetter] I just got the tale end of “My Dads Better Than Your Dad,” a new show on NBC. Ummm…is this seriously the type of mentality that this next generation is being taught? I’m not a fan of the concept.
• [Canvas] My girlfriend came home this weekend, and I gave her this as a gift:

I love canvases! I’m going to get some bigger ones once we get our own place. I knew those years of Trading Spaces in college would be of benefit…I have a much better eye for design.

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