Getting My Party On!
- April 27, 2009 -
This past weekend, my groomsmen took me up to Wisconsin for my bachelor party! My wedding is less than 4 months away, and though we’ve got taken care of, there’s still a good amount left to do and it was nice to take a break for a weekend with the guys. Even though the weather wasn’t that nice to us with scattered rains, we still had a great time.
Initial plans were to go boating, but the downpour slowed that down. After we got settled in our lodge, we wandered around to some indoor locations, and came upon Knuckleheads for some bowling. It was another bowling day where I DIDN’T break 200, but at least I didn’t have a sub-120 showing, right? Afterwards, we decided that it wasn’t raining hard enough to stop us from a little outdoor activities. So in the drizzle we went out for a little go-karting! The rain shut down 3 of the 4 tracks, but we were able to get two races in before they shut the last one down because of slick roads. On our way out to get lunch, the guys saw a mini-roller coaster that was still running (the big one shut down due to the rain). Now, I’m not a big roller-coaster guy…I hadn’t really ridden one in over 10 years, pre-high school. It’s something about the feeling that the bars don’t truly have me secured. I loved it when I was younger, but growing up I just got over it. But much to my protest, I was forced on this 30 second ride. It truly was such quite a rush (almost enjoyable/entertaining), except for my knees banging into the cart in front of me.
The ride ended with a steep drop…a little too steep I guess. Out from my pocket flew my wallet and iPhone! I was being whipped so much around that I didn’t even notice it happened! Getting off the cart was when I realized that it was missing. After searching the top level, we walked under the ride to try to find everything (it was safe…they shut down this ride after our ride too!) My roommate first spotted my wallet that had my credit cards thrown on the grass just under the drop – surprisingly everything was there (except maybe $20 in cash). We kept looking around a bit before my brother-in-law was able to spot my iPhone! Underneath the track, falling on some leaf-covered concrete, lay my precious phone. We jumped down and pulled it out- touchscreen worked, incoming/outgoing calls worked, camera worked, twitter/internet worked! Not only that, the glass was in perfect shape, except for a bit of dust that got underneath and 2 dead pixels! The back, however, ended up with quite a few battle scars. The following picture doesn’t quite do justice to the torture the phone went through, but next time you see me I’ll let you feel the deep ridges- looks like the trade-in value of this phone just went down a bit :/
After dinner and a quick stop at the casino (where I quickly lost another $20 on roulette), we headed back to the lodge for some 6-player monopoly. They showed me know mercy even though it was my bachelor party, and I got knocked out 5th in the 4 hour game, but it was definitely fun times! I love games where you can play for hours and its always a new experience. Computer/video games just don’t have that same effect.
Sunday morning, we got breakfast over at Paul Bunyan’s all-you-can-eat breakfast joint – great donuts, pancakes, and eggs. Surprisingly our stomachs just weren’t big enough, and only lasted two servings. Still a great meal that I recommend if you ever make your way out to the Dells area.
All in all, a great time off for me from the wedding planning as well as the shooting season. Though iI’m a bit under the weather, I’m starting to feel more refreshed, and getting ready to get back into editing and shooting. Look out people, I’m back! :)
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natemathai | 
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Beautiful Day
- April 23, 2009 -
1.) We are FINALLY seeing nice weather here in Chicago (though we had a little ‘snow’ scare on Tuesday). I’m loving it! If only I’d stop sneezing so much (the fiancee says it’s allergies…I still don’t believe her though…)
2.) Why the heck do I never get clouds like this when I got a shoot!? It was a beautiful sight, though, I must say. Here’s to a beautiful future!
Remember when you were younger (erm…last week?) and you would just sit outside, lie on your back and watch clouds, and see different things? Those were some good times, and I feel like we don’t do things like that enough. So for you stuck behind a computer and can’t go do that right now, what figures/characters/stories do you see in these clouds? Love to hear your interpretations.
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natemathai | filed under: PersonalIn Between
- April 22, 2009 -
For the past few months, my home church has been having renovations done on our building, and so we have been holding services at Life Community Church. It’s been a blessing in and of itself to have such an opportunity, but even more doors have been opened recently. Last weekend, Life Community hosted an “In Between” service on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, with the focus being on living life between brokenness and redemption. A few of the kids from my church put on a praise dance during the event as well. It was an awesome night of reflection.
The first performance was by a singer named LE Taylor, who had an amazing testimony to share.
After her, was the rap group ALERT who definitely got the people moving.
During the service, a group went up and shared about the “Invisible Children.” It was crazy to hear about all that has/had been going on on the other side of the world. I definitely recommend you guys to check out the site and videos to learn more.
Then came the dance by the kids from my church. Awesome work guys!
Another plug was given for Coffee Ambassadors, which is a “business as mission” concept dedicated to impact coffee producers and consumers economically, socially, spiritually, and environmentally. You can currently order their coffee beans online, and they are looking into having some standing coffee shops in the area soon.
Again, it was a great time for me to spend time reflecting on my life, and how we’re living in between brokenness and redemption- it’s Friday…but Sunday’s coming!
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Young + John : Proposal (Chicago, IL)
- April 21, 2009 -
Yep, we did it again!
The elaborate setup started with a night out for Young with friends to go to dinner downtown. Since they were going to get dressed up anyway, they decided to head out to Millennium Park beforehand to just take a few fun pictures. Now, John lives out in Tennessee, so there would be no reason to suspect that he would be anywhere nearby.
Except for 1. On his drive up to Chicago, he stopped by their old college campus and attended the Good Friday service. Well a friend noticed him there, and e-mailed Young that night “Happy Easter. John is here.” Confused by it all, Young talked to John and asked why he was out in Champaign, to which he denied, and they brushed it off as the friend just being crazy. :) CRISIS AVERTED!
I met up with John and a few friends to discuss the plans shortly before Young was to arrive. While we were getting settled I spotted a few photogs I knew from U of I shooting an e-session, David Lai and Alex Roy – everyone was out to shoot today!
When you put in a lot of planning in an event like a proposal, your nerves start to get the best of you. One of the bigger worries is making sure everyone is where they need to be at the right – and here John is managing everyone’s whereabouts.
Before Young arrived, her friends got a sneak peak of the bling – I think they approved!
The joy of this proposal was that Young did not know what I looked like, so I was able to just walk around like a random photographer taking shots of the city. So she went around taking pictures, and when I thought she spotted me I did this…
When in reality, I was making sure I had an eye on her at all times…
John patiently waited and prepared until he got the sign…
I LOVE this! I gave him the heads up that she was in ‘the spot’, so here he is peaking out, ready to make his move…
Before the actual proposal, they shared a quiet moment in prayer…
She said YES!
Afterward, the friends admired the ring as it was now on her finger. :)
Congratulations Young and John! It was my pleasure to capture this beautiful moment in your lives, and I wish you all the best!
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Modern ProposalsAlphy + Sony : E-Session (teaser)
- April 20, 2009 -
This past Saturday, I spent the day with Alphy and Sony shooting their formal engagement ceremony during the day followed by their e-session. It was such a fun day from start to finish, and we were blessed with beautiful weather in Chicago finally! Here’s a little tease from their e-session that afternoon.
I’m looking forward to posting their full set soon enough, so get ready for that!
Still To Come:
- Young & John’s Proposal
- Life Community Church’s In-Between Service
- Jaimy & Sijin’s Engagement Ceremony
- Alphy & Sony’s Engagement Ceremony/E-Session
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
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Jaimy + Sijin : Engagement (Des Plaines, IL)
- April 18, 2009 -
Last night I shot the engagement ceremony of Jaimy and Sijin, so here’s a little tease for you:
For the record, its a couple of Sijin’s groomsmen, and they specifically said “let’s take a jumping shot where we’re pointing down at ‘nate mathai photography’!” They got some serious air, too! Their idea, all I did was snap the picture. (this is currently my desktop background too :))
Oh…I guess I’ll give an additional image that includes the engaged couple…
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Madelyn’s First Birthday
- April 17, 2009 -
How quickly these kids grow up! A little over a week ago, my second niece celebrated her first birthday, and all of her friends (ie. the children of her parents friends) were there to celebrate with her! :) Being only a year old, there’s not too many games and activities that you can do with the child, plus she gets tired early/fast, so this wasn’t one of those parties that went into the wee hours of the morning. Even still, it was a blast! I think the total kids outnumbered the adults (18 and over) about 2 to 1 so it was a bit louder than I’m used to, but it seemed all the kids had fun running around while the parents were able to catch up.
Here are some of her friends (or soon to be friends)…
All her friends got these cute cupcakes:
While she had her very own ‘smash cake’:
The joy of the smash cake is that it’s pretty much her first official time getting sweets (not counting the times her father sneaks frosting and such in her mouth). You place the cake in front of her, and let her go wild. Initially, she’s not too sure what to do. But once she gets started, it becomes more fun. (Towards the end, she thought it was some sort of lotion and starting rubbing it all over her arms…it was then that smash cake time ended.)
Gotta love it!
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Aby + Shaina : A Proposal (Arlington Heights, IL)
- April 16, 2009 -
I had known Aby pretty much my entire life, but we only got close near the end of our senior year of high school – the decision of choosing a place of higher learning started conversation. We both attended the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, were roommates starting our sophomore year, had the same group of friends, served in ministry together – pretty much watched each other grow up. And it was great to hear that he had found the love of his life in Shaina, friends from the same home church. And I know say it every time, but I love hearing about relationships that grew out of a friendship – those are the best!
I took a couple pics of the ring for Aby, so that he’ll have something tangible after the whole proposal :)
They are going to be having a formal engagement ceremony in June, so they wanted to take a couple quick pictures for their save the date cards – at least that was the story Shaina heard. Little did she know that, while they were ‘waiting for me to show up’, Aby would pop the big question!
I got to Lake Arlington and got into my position to avoid being seen (its rough when the girl knows who you are!). Here’s a look at my view while I waited (massive props to Jaimy and Sijin for getting me some Starbucks, as this was immediately after their e-session):
I got a text from Aby when they arrived, and then the sniping began.
Their close family/friends were there hiding out to be the first to congratulate the newly engaged couple!
As promised, we did a quick photoshoot to give them some save-the-date images to work with. I think this first set really pictures their relationship:
Shaina’s sister and her college roommate supposedly had a “picture with them sitting on a rock” that she requested…might not be the same one, but it’s a nice “picture with a rock” right? (might just be my preference, but I’d make this a 20×30 canvas to hang in a hallway)
LOVE IT!
Their wedding will be in the summer of 2010, so we’ll be having a ‘fuller’ e-session later this summer, so definitely keep an eye out for that!
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Couples Lifestyle Sessions, Modern ProposalsIn Between (teaser)
- April 13, 2009 -
After the beautiful proposal on Saturday, I quickly hurried back to the suburbs to make it to the “In Between Service” hosted by the Life Community Church in Des Plaines. The kids from my church were performing a dance alongside a slew of other awesome performances and presentations. I’ll have a more in depth write-up of the blessed event, but for now here’s a teaser of the lead vocalist of the rap group ALERT:
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Modern EventsYoung + John : A Proposal (teaser)
- April 13, 2009 -
Yep. We’ve done it again! This past weekend, John popped the big question to Young at Millenium Park in Downtown Chicago, and she said yes! Here’s your tease: (I LOVE her reaction when she saw the ring :))
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Modern ProposalsIt’s Friday…
- April 11, 2009 -
This excerpt from a message by Tony Campolo is one that always challenges and entertains me everytime I hear it. But it truly gives me hope in the future. Right now we’re living in Friday…living in pain, brokenness, and among a fallen generation. But our hope is in the future- Sunday’s coming, the time of ressurection and redemption. It’s a perfect time for that reminder. Check out the short audio clip here: Sunday’s Coming.
Have a blessed Easter Weekend!
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Jaimy + Sijin: E-Session (Part I)
- April 8, 2009 -
You guys might remember Jaimy and Sijin from the New Year’s Eve proposal earlier this year. They are going to be having a formal engagement ceremony soon, and so we recently set out to have a mini-session to get some images for their save-the-date cards in time for it. We’ll be shooting the second part of their e-session later this summer as they’ll be getting married early 2010, so definitely keep an eye out for more to come!
I’ll do a bit more commentary when I post the second session so you get to know these two a bit better (I’ve known them for most of my life!), but for now, I’ll just let the images do the talking with a few of my faves. We headed out to Elmhurst College where Jaimy went to school to get these awesome shots. Enjoy!
Decided to have a little multi-exposure fun with this…what do you think?
Shortly after entering a stairwell, a nice security guard came in and told us the building was closed. Luckily it was “open” long enough for us to get a couple shots :)
Gotta give some props to Jaimy for spotting this building as we were leaving Elmhurst. I really think they’ve done this before…
We ended off with a quick trip to a lake- the dock had a gate, but that didn’t stop Jaimy and Sijin. This next one could have been my favorite…
…if we didn’t get this one! BALLER!
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natemathai | filed under: Couples Lifestyle Sessions, Modern PortraitsCongratulations UNC and amoney71
- April 7, 2009 -
Last night a I got together with a few friends to watch the NCAA championship match between Michigan State and North Carolina. I was obviously cheering one MSU for two reasons:
(1) Big Ten Love
(2) 2005. UNC defeated ILL during our miraculous tournament run. I will never let that go.
Well, all the wishing and hoping and praying in the world couldn’t stop MSU from getting owned- UNC just played solid basketball start to finish, and MSU did not. So with that, congrats UNC.
In addition, mad props go out to amoney71 who won the 2009 Nate Mathai Photography NCAA Tournament Challenge. 1 of 5 contenders picking UNC to take it all, he won by 30 points overall. (I, on the other hand, finished in a respectable 17th. Bah!) It’s nice when your bracket has this much green in it:
So as promised, amoney71 will be receiving the title of “Baller of the Year” and an iTunes gift card. Thanks everyone for playing!
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
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Turkey Run
- April 6, 2009 -
This past weekend I made my ‘final’ U of I trip before my fiancee graduates. Generally, I try to make it an extended 4-5 day type trip so that I have time to catch up with old friends and such, but scheduling didn’t work this time. Even, still I was able to see familiar faces for at least a short amount of time, which was great.
Outside of the usual meals, movies, church events, and such, we decided to take a trip out to Marshall, Indiana. Why you ask? For TURKEY RUN! I had gone there a few years back with my church small group, and its a beautiful hiking trail out in the middle of nowhere. It was a great time just to get away. Sandwiched between rain on Thursday/Friday and a snow on Sunday, we were blessed with beautiful weather for our trip on Saturday!
Now, as most of you know I’m no landscape photographer or anything like that…but I still got to take pics!
The start of our journey -> it took us forever to find this path again!
A quick pic of us in one of the valleys.
This was kind of crazy- how does a tree this huge get uprooted? It’s amazing to see so many massive trees completely upended.
Halfway through I decided to just use my macro for the remainder of the trail (the rest of the pics are all shot with the macro). It was probably around this time when my fiancee lost the map. We walked for about 3 miles to start, and figured it’d be fine not to have a map, we’ll just keep following the trail and return home soon. In addition to the beautiful scenery, I was enjoyed some of their signage as well!
Now, there are about 10 different trails that intersect each other at various points, with only 2 or 3 that lead back to the campgrounds. So not having a map in the middle of one of the ‘hardest’ trails is not that great of an idea (especially after a 2 hour trek already). Though beautiful scenery, this wasn’t just your average hike through the woods trails, either. Following the rain in the previous days, the streams were flowing which led to hiking through valleys of water, climb rocks and ladders, and traverse our way across fallen trees, branches and rocks. Definitely a great workout, though! What started out as a maybe a 3 mile trip for us turned into a 5 hour, 8 mile hike before we finally found our way back to our campgrounds. Every now and then we saw signposts like the following – definitely didn’t give us encouragement that we were going in the right direction :)
(Yep, we did cross that stream, and many others.)
Though a bit longer than we expected, it definitely was a great trip! Next time we’ll probably make sure we save the map though, and maybe try out their canoe trips or horseback rides.
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natemathai | filed under: Personal No Comments | add a comment
Who Will Shoot Me… (Kenny Kim)
- April 3, 2009 -
This post is a bit long overdue (as you all found out through my proposal/e-session pics awhile ago), but it’s only fitting to top off my “Who Would Shoot Me” list with the one who will actually shoot my wedding. I only gave a small handful of names out of a vast majority of awesome photographers out there. Even still, I ultimately had to make a decision as to who would be the photographer for my wedding. There’s so much great talent everywhere, but we finally chose Kenny Kim (aka KennyKimDotCom).
A little background is that Kenny and I were both on campus at the same time at the University of Illinois during my undergrad, and he (unknowingly) played a huge role in my jump into photography. We both attended the same church there (Covenant Fellowship Church), and he pretty much just filled the role of the church photographer, covering all the different events. From my freshman year I stalked his blog, which definitely made me a lot more knowledgeable on who was who in the church. More so than just capturing the images, though, Kenny took it one step further in a way that I never really experienced before. His images themselves carried emotion. They told a story from start to finish. For events I attended, I relived it; and for those I wasn’t there for, I felt as if I was. He had an amazing gift of recognizing passion and emotion within people and situations, and being able to transfer that into a still moment in time. And from that, I was hooked.
This guy’s rise in the photographic industry was huge as well. With pretty much no fear or shame, he quickly got connected to some of the most talented photographers around, and within 2 years, has become a household name the world over – he’s such a social butterfly :) Seeing as how I had already known him before, it was pretty easy of a decision to pick him up when I did to shoot my wedding…it also helped that he was local :)
check out his work: site | blog
So that’s that. In about a few months, I will be a happily married man at the ripe old age of 25. Keep a lookout on Kenny’s blog when he posts our wedding pics after Agust 15th…I’ll definitely be linking to them too.
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
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Jenny Rose Handmade Originals
- April 2, 2009 -
Here’s a little shoutout for a friend of mine being creative (I love when people get creative!).
Jenny and I were on the campus of the University of Illinois (Urbana, Champaign) at the same time during my college career, and she served as a mentor/overseer for the Indian Christian Fellowship out there (where I served). She got married a few years back and has since moved out to the west coast in California and started creating some awesome “handmade originals“! Now, I’m not a big candle guy or anything like that, but these things look AWESOME! I’m seriously thinking of picking up some of her ‘Daring and Delicate Tea Cups’ for myself. Here’s a pic pulled from her facebook fan page.
Just wanted to get the word out there about these cool new candles out there. You can check out all her products and order her stuff at her Etsy page, and then go be a fan of her Facebook page.
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
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Bobby + Reeny : engagement ceremony
- April 1, 2009 -
After a break from shooting for a couple months, I got back into the swing of things with an engagement ceremony. But this wasn’t your average engagement- Bobby is my 2nd cousin, and we pretty much grew up together being the closest in age among the male cousins in the family. Reeny is from North Carolina, so the wedding is going to be held out there in September, so the family held a formal engagement ceremony here in Chicago for a bit of a pre-celebration. The engagement ceremony was held at beautiful Ashyana Banquets is Downers Grove, Illinois.
I love this shot! The lobby was quite busy as everything was getting set in the hall.
There’s always good food at Indian functions :)
The ceremonial handshake/hug between the fathers…
Bobby’s cousins sang a special song during the event as well…
I’ll end with this shot of my competition ;) These are actually my aunt/uncles bringing a bit of photo and video “fusion” to the event…I need to up my game!
be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.
natemathai | filed under: Formal Engagements, Modern Events, engagement No Comments | add a comment
