Archive for the '[MNR]' Category

[2009.10.12] Monday Night Recap
- October 12, 2009 -

• [The Office] HILARIOUS!  The 1-hour wedding episode this past Thursday was absolutely hilarious.  The JK Wedding Dance topped it all off at the end too!  I’m very impressed with the consistency of the show, as well as how they stay current with what’s going on.
• [Fall TV] My current line-up right now (that I catch up on Hulu) is Modern Family, Glee, and The Office.  If I’ve got some free time, that I’m working in Lie To Me and Community, but I’m not currently sold on those two yet.  The wife has a whole different line-up: Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, and Desperate Housewives.  Lucky for me, She also enjoys Modern Family and The Office, so we at least get 2 shows that we watch together.  :)  If you could pare down this list, though, what shows would you cut out?  Or what shows are we missing out on?
• [My Best Friend's Wedding] Well, it was more my wife’s best friend, but this past weekend we celebrated the wedding of our close college friends, Ekta and Digesh, at the Waterfold in Elmhurst, IL.  My wife and I were the first two in our group of friends to get married 2 months ago (wow, it’s been 2 months already?!), and these two were the 2nd.  Come next year, we’ll have another 2 couples joining us as well!  Goodness we’re getting old.  But I digress.
  I got to attend this wedding as a guest, which was great because I was able to really get to learn and understand many of the details of the Hindu wedding ceremony from a different view.  It’s so fascinating to see all the different rituals and traditions that take part in it – one reason why I love cultural ceremonies!  My wife was there from the beginning with the ‘mehndi‘ on Thursday night, then I got to attend the ‘garba‘ on Friday followed by the full day of the ceremony and reception on Saturday.  I started Saturday at the ‘jaan’ on the groom’s side, where he is brought in by horse to the hall.  The whole time the ‘dhol‘ players keep rhythm while everyone is dancing away- such a celebration!  When they reach the hall, the bride’s elders are there to receive him.  Again, its an amazing wedding where the entire community takes part.  Here are a few pics taken with my trusty G10 during the ‘jaan’ and a look at the ‘mandap‘ from the ceremony (in need of a mandap?  let me know, my friend’s the guy who put this one together).  I’m definitely looking forward to actually having the honor to shoot more of these traditional ceremonies in the near future :)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• [Fantasy Football] We’re finishing up week 5 in my FF league, and I’m currently in third overall (though that will drop barring an amazing performance by Ronnie Brown on MNF…im losing by 40 points).  Like last year, before each week I post my predictions for who will win each matchup.  Going into this weekend’s games, I was an amazing 14-4 on my picks, but this week I might be 1-5 to bring things closer to even.  I had a rough week with a bunch of studs on a bye, but I’m fine with getting the L out of the way now and finishing strong moving forward.
• [iamsecond] I stumbled upon this site over a year ago, and it was such an inspiration.  From a creative standpoint, the entire concept and cinematography grabbed me and pulled me in.  Even deeper though, the stories and testimonies of all these people ring as a constant reminder to me.  It’s good for me to go back there every now and then and just get reminded of what my purpose is and where my strength came from, and what my position truly is.  I was listening to Pete Briscoe‘s story and one line he said that jumped at me was “it’s exhausting having to succeed.“  His focus and drive was simply to succeed and be the best, and wore himself out.  How many of us have that drive to be the “best”…but for what?  I need to daily remind myself that my desires need to be driven by purpose, and constantly accept and cling to my role as “second”.
• [The Blender] For those who followed me for awhile, you probably remember I was doing a little video blogging earlier in the year, and it sort of went on hold for a bit as the madness of my own wedding started to take over and such.  But I’m still planning on putting more out there every now and then.  If you guys have any topics you want my view point on (photography, sports, life, religion, marriage, etc.) let me know!  I’d love to put out info that you people actually care about :)

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]
blender, ceremony, chicago, cinematography, fantasy football, hindu, iamsecond, jaan, mandap, photography, video, wedding

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[2009.09.14] Monday Night Recap
- September 14, 2009 -

• [Da Bears] Wow, that was a rough one.  Cutler threw 4 picks (3 of which looked like he thought he was supposed to throw to Green Bay), Forte couldn’t really get anywhere, and to top it all of, Urlacher is out for the season.  But I won’t jump off the bandwagon just yet.   If there was an upside though, I’m pretty impressed with the speed of Johnny Knox.  And Devin Hester looks like a much better receiver than he did a year ago (though he still runs sideline to sideline on kick returns instead of end-zone to end-zone).
• [Fantasy] Seriously had a rough first week for my fantasy squad.  Every single player underperformed which basically lost it for me.  Here are some issues that I ran into:

1. Bernard Berrian has been out with a hamstring injury, so he has not practiced with Favre yet- he scored 0 points.
2. The Ravens D got me a total of 3 points…seriously?!
3. Adam Vinatieri didn’t even attempt a FG
4. it also didn’t help that I was going up against MJD, Tom Brady, and the Giants D the way they performed this weekend.

• [Budgeting] I’ve been using Mint.com for my personal money management for a few years now, and news just got out the Intuit bought it.  I’m still not sure how things will change yet- I’m not too fond of the Quicken online version, but their desktop software is great, so hopefully it blends beautifully.
• [Glee] The first season of Glee is FINALLY starting up.  For those who never heard of it, it pretty just follows high school students as they try to resurrect their Glee club, and they have some amazing cover songs already.  Definitely got it added to my hulu queue.  For the record, I’ve never been in any choirs or vocal groups (outside of the church choir that didn’t cut anyone when I was trying out, and an acappella group that I helped start), but this definitely made me wish I could sing iwth others again.  Oh well!
• [Kanye] Seriously?  The man puts out hits like none other, but his VMA stunt was a bit immature, if you ask me (yet on point with what we’ve seen from Kanye in the past).
• [Picture] You want one?  Check yesterday’s post from the weekend wedding!  :)

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]
chicago wedding photographers

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[2009.09.07] Monday Night Recap
- September 7, 2009 -

• [Labor Day] Happy Labor Day!  Did you know the holiday originated in Canada out of labor disputes?  Wikipedia has all the info! :)
• [Grill Off] Today I had a Labor Day lunch at my sister’s place, which was more than just a lunch.  We held a special grill-off between my brother-in-law, brother-in-law’s brother, and my dad.  Their job was to make burgers- starting with just ground beef, they seasoned and and designed their dishes as if they were competing a Top Chef.  The real joy: myself and my other brother-in-law were the judges!  Our burgers were specially made and plated, as they were going to be judged based on 3 criteria: Presentation, Taste, and Originality.  When all was said and done, my brother-in-law came away the big winner.  Looking forward to judging more of these events in the future. :)





• [Wedding Pics] Remember how 3 weeks ago I got married?  And last week I posted images from the honeymoon in Jamaica?  Well, it just keeps getting better because Kenny Kim just gave us our images this weekend!  I mean, seriously!?!  He is the man!  Big ups to Kenny, David Lai, and Abbie Carter for working with us and getting us some great images from the day- we are more than satisfied!  He’s posted a few on his blog and on facebook, so be sure to check it out!  You can see a slideshow of the images here, as well.
• [1frame] So I decided to start with another little personal project right now.  I call it “1frame“.  On my blog, in my galleries, up on facebook, I show so many images to tell the story of a day.  But to challenge myself and my creativity, I asked myself- ‘if I was limited to one frame and a few words, would I still be able to tell a good story?’  And that is what my goal is with “1frame”.  I want to continue telling a compelling story, but with fewer words and just one image.  So if you’d like to follow along on this little personal project, head over to my 1frame site: http://1frame.natemathai.com/ .

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Weddings, [MNR]
chicago wedding photographers

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I’m Back!
- September 1, 2009 -

• [Vacation Complete] As most of you know, I got married this past August 15th, and so I took a break from photography for the month of August to give my attention to that.  I did take care of a few e-mails here and there, but that was about it.  I must say, it felt great to just let go of it all for 1 month, but I’m so excited to jump back in!  I start shooting again this coming weekend, and still have some shoots to edit/post and albums to design.  So clients, I’m back and ready to go!  I also finally have internet at my new place, so I’ll be much better at responding to inquiries and e-mails now, so keep ‘em coming. :)  I skipped a Monday Night Recap for the past few weeks, but this will be a long “Tuesday Morning Recap” instead.
• [Wedding] The wedding was great, but definitely flew by.  Massive amounts of props to Kenny Kim and his team for covering the event- he was up at around 4am with an early start at my wife’s place since we had a morning wedding, then pushed straight through the afternoon reception.  We’re so excited to see the images that he was able to capture that day, but now it’s just a waiting game.  He did post a quick teaser for us the day after the wedding, so here’s a pic of my beautiful bride during the ceremony:

  

  My wife told my I was not allowed to have my iPhone on me throughout the wedding, so once we were waiting at the church I gave it to my best man.  Prior to that, though, I was on twitter and fb all morning :)  Kenny actually tortured me a bit by twitpic’ing Nithya at her house, but specifically told me not to click the link- took a lot of self-control but I avoided it.
  We had a guest list of about 700 people, and to our surprise there were little to no issues!  Double props go to all our friends who coordinated the ceremony and reception without a hitch- we’ve been getting great feedback with how everything went that day, and it truly was because of all the help we got.  Thanks guys!  (you all know who you are)

• [Honeymoon] After a few days of family obligations and attempting to get settled, we headed out to Sandals in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We got there right when tropical storm Bill left, so the first evening was a little dreary/cloudy, but everyday after that was beautiful!  We had a few cons with this location:  (1) being about 15 minutes from the airport, throughout the day you hear the planes taking off right over the resort- totally a mood killer when you’re trying to relax on the beach.  (2) a lot of the resort was constantly under construction; a main pool was never open, workers were always painting/cleaning different areas- just didn’t feel “finished”.  (3)  The room/beach was smaller than what we expected [but still great].  The internet just made it look so much bigger!  (4)  Some of the restaurants had meals on their menus that weren’t available.  Kind of a sad.
  Outside of those small things, it was great.  The service was amazing, we had our room cleaned like 3 times a day, the food was satisfying, beaches were nice, activities were a blast…what more could you ask for?!  The two main excursions we did were zip lining and riding the dune buggies through Jamaica. Both were amazing experiences. We also went tubing and (attempted) kayaking in the ocean. If you want more details on it, hit me up! Here’s a short glimpse at some of the images we captured from our 5 days there.  You can see more on my facebook page (personal, not fan page). Oh, and all images are taken on my new Canon G10- definitely my new favorite piece of gear!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  They also had a live cultural show every night, and this one group blew us away! They were steel drums group, and they just played pop covers songs throughout the night. They had so much energy and were amazing, I was surprised with how many songs they did! Here’s a video of them doing Rhianna’s Disturbia on the steel drums…a bit long, but they start dancing at the end…

• [Getting Settled] Since coming back, we’ve been in a constant state of ‘getting settled’.  Many errands to run, a lot of details to set up at the condo, and responsibilities of meals with relatives now that we are married are taking up our time a lot, so things have been very busy.  In total, we’ve got almost all the major things we need taken care of to finally have a comfortable place to live.  The main thing now is I need to get an office desk and a comfortable office table- that’s the one unfinished room.  So if you are still thinking of getting us a wedding gift, something along those lines would be great! :)
• [Internet] One of the toughest things for us was not having internet at our place immediately.  It was one of those tasks that never got accomplished pre-wedding, so it was delayed until after the honeymoon.  After thinking long and hard, we decided that we would only get internet service, as my wife isn’t much of a TV watcher to begin with.  It was a tough call for me, as there some staple shows for me (sports on ESPN, CSN, TNT, America’s Best Dance Crew, Lie To Me…) that I won’t be able to catch anymore, but I figured I’d give it a shot.  Instead, I’ve set up a boxee/hulu/mediacenter box connected to the TV, so we’ll see how this works out.
• [Repurposing] First, I took a really old HP desktop (late 90′s) I had, completely wiped it clean, then just put an OS on it and connected my printer/scanner to it in the office.  I set this one up as a print server so we can run any print jobs through it from wherever we are at (my wife appreciates it).  I also set up a network drive for all scan jobs so they are available on all computers.  Little things like this make life so much more efficient.
  Then I took my old Vaio desktop (early 00′s), put Hulu and Boxee on it, and connected it to my TV.  I still have quite a few files/folders on there I need to backup, but this will soon become our media center.  I need to transfer all our audio files to it, and then it will be the hub for all audio/video.  If I start hosting clients over, I’ll have a direct link for client images for easy viewing on the big screen as well!  The hulu/boxee setup allows us to now catch up on cable shows, just a day or so after it airs.  This definitely will make not having cable internet easier.  So far, so good.  The only main issue now, is that I only get live sports on CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN, FOX…I get most bears games, but now only a handful of Cubs/Bulls games.  And no more World Series of Poker.  I digress, I think I’ll be able can handle it.
  Oh, I also brought along my old NES.  That’s right, the original Nintendo Entertainment System.  I went vintage with my entertainment.  I need to buy another controller and maybe pick up a few games here and there, but you can never get enough of the classics!
• [ABDC] Last night, the wife and I caught up on America’s Best Dance Crew (through MTV.com, as it’s not on Hulu).  I haven’t been as vocal about this season as in years past for 2 reasons: (1) I was too busy with wedding planning/marriage/honeymoon that I never really had time and (2) the crews this year are terrible.  Terrible might be a gross overstatement, but compared to the last 3 seasons, none of these crews jump out at me as being extremely creative and on point.  The two that I like the most are Rhythm City and Massive Monkees- but again, I haven’t been blown away by them.  Hopefully in future episodes, these crews will step up their game.
• [Fantasy Football] It’s that time of the year again!  This past Thursday, my friends held our Fantasy Football draft- 12 teams, 1 winner. I didn’t fair too well last year, but I’m feeling better about my squad now, as I was actually able to be at the draft.  What do you think of my current squad?
  QB:  Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Mark Sanchez
  RB:  Pierre Thomas, Ronnie Brown, Tim Hightower, Leon Washington
  WR: Calvin Johnson, Bernard Berrian, Chris Chambers, Justin Gage, Jabar Gaffney
  TE:  Visanthe Shiancoe
  K: Adam Vinatieri
  Def:  Baltimore Ravens
• [Cici's] Ever heard of Cici’s Pizza?  They do $4.99 pizza buffet- all you can eat pizza, pasta, salad, soup, dessert.  Drinks are an additional $1.79.  They just opened one up about 10 minutes from my place, so I dragged my wife with me to stand in line for the grand opening!  we got there about 30 minutes early, and the line was already huge (first 100 people got a free lunch buffet once a month for a year).  I started to lose heart but we did stay in line until the end…

  
  
  

  And for a $5 buffet, it’s good food!  I’ll definitely be there once a month (not sure if the wife likes it as much as I do, though…)

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Weddings, Personal, [MNR]
chicago wedding photographers, Personal

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[2009.08.03] Monday Night Recap
- August 3, 2009 -

• [Wedding Planning] Yep, that’s pretty much where all my time has gone.  I have nothing else to write about, so sorry if you were expecting more :) It’s less than 2 weeks away, though, before I’ll officially be considered a “husband”. Doesn’t that sound crazy?!?!
• [Still Editing] Though I’m done with shooting until after the wedding, I’m still working hard to get past shoots edited and posted.  Don’t think I forgot about you all! :)  So here’s another tease of the last two shoots that I’ve been working on…they should *hopefully* be hitting the blog soon:

{Alphy + Sony : Wedding}



{Rolly + Ben : E-Session}

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 Weddings, [MNR]

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[2009.07.27] Monday Night Recap
- July 27, 2009 -

• [Texas Hold 'Em] I used to be a big Hold ‘Em person in college, and still occasionally watch the tournaments on ESPN every now and then.  It seems to be a new craze among my friends recently, though, so I’ve played a few times again which has re-sparked the interest.  Because of this, I jumped on the Hold ‘Em facebook app, which hasn’t been treating me too well.  I don’t play too often, but the first day I quickly jumped to the 100k group, and quickly lost it afterward.  So the good news is I have a PRO title…the bad news is I currently have under 15k.
• [Purity Code] If you’ve been my facebook friend for awhile, you probably noticed my profile pic at some point was this:

  

  We’ve been holding a series for the high school/college kids at my church called the “Purity Code”, based around creating biblical relationships and fostering personal and relational purity of the body/mind/heart/eyes/etc.  It’s been a very great series, and we had the wrap-up this past friday, where I spoke!  I basically covered topics about how you know when you’re ready to be in a relationship, and characteristics to look for when choosing a mate.  Attending the CFC Dating/Courtship series for 5 years sure helped me out there :)  It might seem surprising (or might not), but this was the first serious ‘public speaking’ opportunity I’ve had (outside of sharing my testimony).  Though the feedback I’ve received was positive (I think people are just being encouraging, which is great! :)), I’m still not sure whether I’ll chase more speaking opportunities.  Only time will tell, we’ll see what happens!

• [Last Shoot] I posted earlier today a teaser from my Saturday e-session with Rolly and Ben.  This was the last official shoot I’ve had scheduled before my upcoming wedding, which is a bit bittersweet.  Definitely going to miss shooting but I love having the time as there is so much to do before the wedding!  I’ll still be culling/editing for another week or so trying to get some sessions complete before I take a bit of a leave for my wedding, so still keep an eye out for that.  It’ll be over before you know it!
• [Jen + Jon] Though Saturday was my last ‘official’ shoot pre-wedding, I got to second shoot with my friend Kenny Nakai on Sunday for the wedding of Jen and Jon.  There will be much more to see from this wedding on his blog later, but here’s a quick tease from what I saw:

  

• [The Ugly Truth] Today was a ‘date’ day for my fiancee and I, as it’s the day before her BAR exam.  (CRAZY FACT:  The BAR exam is 2 days long, from 8-5 both days with a 1-hour lunch.  Who does that!??!)  My goal was to keep her semi-sane today as well as get her to relax, so we did dinner and a movie.  We watched “The Ugly Truth”, which had its moments of humor, but I was unimpressed.  I’ve seen better, and I think it was hyped up too much for me.
• [Cubbies] WOO HOO!  Since the all-star break, my cubbies have slowly started making their move, and now sit atop the NL Central in first place!  Believe It!  And an extra joy is they just won in 13 innings today 5-1 by an Alfonso Soriano GRAND SLAM!  (and yes, I did wait until the end of the game to post this just to include it)

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[2009.07.20] Monday Night Recap
- July 20, 2009 -

• [Cubbies] After destroying the Nationals to start the second half of the season (woo hoo!) we got a quick dose of reality getting hurt bad by the Phillies today.  I’m looking on the bright side though – we’re #2 in the Central and ready to make our move!  Let’s Go Cubs!
• [To Catch A Predator] Have you guys seen these shows on Nightline?  On MSNBC they’ve been showing these series from the Nigerian scam artists to men soliciting minors via internet chat rooms.  And though its disgusting to see these stories, at the same time I keep getting entertained watching these men wait in a living room expecting to see a 14 year old girl walk out, and then Chris Hansen comes through and just starts talking to them.  And they all sit there and have a pretty lengthy conversation too!
• [25] It happened.  This past friday I reached the ripe old age of 25.  It’s crazy!  I mean, everyone thought I was old before, but now I’m actually 25.  And in less than a month I’ll be known as a husband!  What is this world coming to!?  Thanks again for all the phone calls/voicemails/text/email/facebook/twitter messages- I definitely felt the love!
• [Birthday Dinner] Even though my fiancee is taking the BAR exam in a week and a half (keep up the prayers!) she still made time to take me out to dinner on Saturday evening.  It was a great time for both of us to take a break from the madness of everything, and just relax and enjoy a meal and dessert.  We won’t have too many moments like this before the wedding, so we’re definitely soaking it up.
• [Birthdays/Anniversaries] In addition to my birthday a few days back, my family has quite a few celebrations going on in the month of July.  My parents’ wedding anniversary and my sister’s wedding anniversary was on July 14th, her in-laws anniversary on the 15th, my brother-in-law’s birthday on the 22nd, my other sister’s anniversary on July 26th, and her birthday on the 30th.  That’s part of the reason why we scheduled my wedding for August :)  To celebrate, the extended fam went out to Buca di Beppo for some good Italian dining.  As an added bonus, my niece made me a birthday book!  After reading it there, she also suggested I read it before I go to sleep. And read it to other people too.  Consider this you being read to :)

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR], announcement

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[2009.07.13] Monday Night Recap
- July 13, 2009 -

• [ManTrip] Earlier today, I posted about ManTrip *beta* so you’ll probably want to check that out.  There are pretty pictures in that one, too :)
• [Nintendo] As a midday break last week, I broke out the old Nintendo system I had- yep, the classic version.  I played the original Super Mario Bros., too, and had a blast!  The one downside was that I know all the cheats and stuff, so it literally took me less than 15 minutes to finish the game.  Seriously, though, they don’t make games like this anymore.  These youngn’s with the PS3s and Wii’s have no clue what true gaming is.
• [Mario Kart] My sophomore year of college, I spent a lot time playing Mario Kart for N64 (and was pretty good, if I do say so myself).  It’s been awhile though, and this past weekend I was at a friend’s place after ManTrip and played the Wii version- I wasn’t as good.  But it was still as entertaining as before.
• [Home Run Derby] We’ve reached the halfway point in the MLB season, which means its time for the All Star Game and the Home Run Derby.  I was watching the first round of the derby today, and I don’t know whether it was because of the participants or location, but it definitely did not have a great “All Star” feel to it.  Nothing spectacular, which left me a bit disappointed.  (congrats to Prince Fielder, by the fielder).
• [Furniture Delivery] About a month away  from the wedding, and there’s still so much to do!  We’re starting the ‘settling’ process in our new place now, and are getting the first shipment of furniture delivered between 11 and 2 tomorrow.  Woo hoo!  Luckily, I have plenty of cleaning to do there so I don’t mind having to wait a 3 hour time frame.  But seriously?  I would much rather use a service that quoted me a 1-hour time frame and might be off by a half hour or so.  But I think I might be asking too much.  (This also is my dislike for UPS and FedEx…give me a delivery time!)  My office is currently a blank canvas, too, so if you have any suggestions on how to set it up, I’m all ears.
• [BAR Exam] As most of you know, my fiancee is studying for the BAR exam, which she is taking in about 2 weeks (yep, 2 weeks before the wedding- she’s crazy!)  She’s reaching the home stretch and has been doing an amazing job studying and staying focused – much better than I would do, that’s for sure.  If any of you are the praying type, be sure to throw up a few for her.  (At least pray for her sanity up through the wedding :))
• [A Picture] Right…a picture.  You didn’t have enough from the ManTrip post?  Fine- here’s one that didn’t make the cut from the trip post.  (It’s me…proof that I was there)

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[2009.07.06] Monday Night Recap
- July 6, 2009 -

• [Wedding RSVPs] Wedding planning is definitely in full swing (obviously), and the deadline for our ‘friends and family’ to respond is July 9th.  Here are some stats for you guys:  including our relatives in India, our invited guest list is 1095 people, with 446 invitations sent out.  We currently received 184 rsvp’s, meaning there are still a little over 200 invitations still left to be sent back to us within the next 3 days (supposedly).  Any guesses on how many people we’ll actually need to call in a week to see if they’re coming?
• [Furniture] When I was an undergrad at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, all the apartments came fully furnished.  That was the life.  It was a bit of shock for me to get used to the idea of getting our own place, and THEN having to furnish it as well.  But I digress.  This past weekend, the fiancee and I went furniture shopping, and ended up at the RoomPlace.  I know there’s commission on these sales for them, but seriously, they are vultures!  The first time we went, the salesperson literally stood 15 feet away from us at all times just watching us, and every 5-10 minutes would come in and give us some info about furniture options.  Personally, I like to have a little time to think about things, so this definitely was not conducive for me.  We left their empty handed, but filled with ideas.  We went to another store location the next day, where after a bit of time, we finalized the purchases for our bedroom, dining room, and living room.  Everything went smoothly up until the time the salesman added $1,000 worth of warranties mattress pads.  We then spent another 45 minutes convincing them to take it off- definitely not a way I would want to spend 45 minutes on a Sunday afternoon.  In the end though, we ordered our furniture, and are making strides to starting our lives together post-marriage.
• [Fireworks] Here’s a sad fact: I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area, am going to be 25 years old soon, and have never been to the Taste of Chicago nor the Naperville Ribfest.  This year was no different.  HOWEVER, after the furniture shopping on Saturday, my fiancee and I went to a local firework show, which is still quite entertaining.  It amazes me to see hundreds of people just standing around staring at sparks flying in the sky- and I have to admit I too was doing the same thing.  I’m still not sure if I truly celebrated the independence of this nation or if I celebrated loud explosions and bright lights.
• [MSL] This Sunday was the start of the 3rd season of the Men’s Summer Basketball League that my home church hosts, and the first one I didn’t participate in.  With the busy-ness of shoots and wedding prep, I wasn’t able to commit to the 4 weekends this year, but I heard it was a great turnout with great games.  (Interesting note: It took only 5 days for us to reach maximum capacity for the league this year!  We definitely need to find some funds to get a bigger gym in order to get more people involved)  If you guys are in the area on Sundays in July, definitely come check out the competition!
• [Birthdays] In my group of college friends, it somehow has worked out that majority of us share a birthday-ish with another member of the group, so we generally do dual-celebrations throughout the year.  July is my month, with my friend’s birthday on the 13th and mine on the 17th.  We went out and got chinese food at Mee Mah’s in Chicago, and then just hung out and caught up on what’s going on in everyone’s life.  Since we only are able to get together every other month or so, we normally end off with each person just updating on their lives- great way to reconnect with everyone.  It’s crazy that the next time we meet up like this, I’ll be married!
• [Cubbies] Where the heck has the baseball season gone?!  I’ve barely watched any games this year, and it’s almost the all-star break.  But lately, my Cubbies have been turning things around, finally getting some production from D.Lee, and Ramirez just got off the DL.  That’s all great news, and I’m looking forward to the second half of the season.
• [A Picture?] Obviously, you guys really only care about the images here, so it’d be rude of me not to post anything with this post.  Here’s a few that I don’t think you’ve seen before.  Last year in preparation for my sister’s wedding, we had to clean out our basement where I stumbled upon quite a few treasures (some of which are still down in storage)- the evolution of land lines, an old record player, numerous bibles, my old sports card collections, and even newspapers I collected.  Enjoy!

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[06.22.09] Monday Night Recap
- June 23, 2009 -

I’m back!  So it seems people were actually interested in my life and read the monday night recaps (some with great anticipation, it seems), so I’m going to try and bring it back.  And it was a nice weekend to do so.  Let’s see…

• [Arrested Development] So ever since the Office ended it’s season, I’ve been needing another show to watch while I edit and such.  My college roommate suggested Arrested Development, and since all episodes were on Hulu, I decided to give it a try.  I must say- HILARIOUS!  In a different way.  A lot of the humor is in the narration, the do a lot of recaps of the previous episodes, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.  I just recently got into the 3rd season (which I believe is the last one before it got taken off the air), so I’m trying to space it out a bit.  Anyone got other show recommendations for me, preferably where all seasons are available to watch online?
• [GSL] After setting up the men’s summer basketball league a couple years back, we finally had it running well enough to try our hand at a new league.  With much love to the girls who help us out each year, we were able to set up a girls summer volleyball league with HUGE success.  We had over 70 participants in the inaugural season, and there was quite the competition!  I only had my camera the first two weeks, so here’s a glimpse of the early days of the league.  (Big ups to the “mary’s” for taking home the title of the first ever Girls Summer League Champs!)






• [Car Trouble] I seem to have had a little mishap this past weekend.  After shooting the church formals at the wedding, I headed out to head over to the groom’s place when I saw this:

  

  So sad.  It’s not the nicest car, but it’s still my car. (tear)  In other news, My civic just passed the 100,000 mile mark!  Outside of some minor dents and dings, this thing has been very faithful over the past 8 years.  We’ll see if I can push it another 100,000! (wish me luck :))

• [Losing Things] I don’t know why, but I seemed to have misplaced a bunch of stuff at this past wedding, too!  I’m missing a StoFen for one of my flashes, the screws for my light stands, as well as my macbook pro power cord.  I guess it’s just bad luck.
• [Taco Bell] If you’ve followed my tweets from last night, you probably heard of some madness from Taco Bell (the one located on 9631 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL).  Now, I think I’ll do a ‘blender’ about customer service using this as a case study, but for now here’s the gist of the madness-After the girls’ summer league, a couple of the guys went out to taco bell to grab a quick meal.  We got in at 10:50, with the dining area closing at 11pm.  We asked if were able to eat quickly and go, but they said no (no big deal, we understand).  One friend was playing the charity-donation game where you drop a coin in a machine to win like a free taco or something.  He won, manager came over to verify, and we’re good.  He drops another coin in, and then another friend plays and wins again.  They say that only one win per person, per day.  We told them it was two different people, and then they started to argue about it, not wanting to make another taco for us.  At this time, we said to look at the security tape because then they’ll know we’re not lying (we just want the truth!), which might have gotten them a bit annoyed, but they finally allowed us to get it.  My friend went from the counter to the fountain drinks, where he believes he put down his wallet/phone, and then went back to the counter with only his wallet.  We got the food and went to eat outside on our cars.
  As soon as he got to the car, he realized he didn’t have his phone, so he went back in to look for it.  The employees were of no help, not offering any suggestions or whatnot.  We asked again to see the security camera to at least verify that he did have the phone in there at some point (as they said the camera only points at the register).  One employee went to the back, came out a few minutes later and told us he saw nothing on the cameras.  At this point we felt that they quite possibly had some knowledge of it, so we called the cops to at least file a report.  They called their manager who then showed up from her house, and asked us to stay outside until the cops came.  She was upset at us for trying to blame her employees of stealing, when we wanted to see the security tape.  The police officers came and just recorded both stories, asked to the security tapes, to which the manager said they don’t have access to rewind the tapes- only the corporate supervisor can do that.  (Ummm…does that mean the first guy lied to us?)  So that pretty much ended any hope.
  We continued to wait outside and try to do our own detective work in tracking the phone.  Through contacting AT&T, checking phone logs and such, we were able to semi-track the location of the phone to a mile radius, as well as know who has been contacted by it.  To this point, we still haven’t found it, but we’re slowly making progress.  A quick 30 minute dinner at Taco Bell turned into a 3-hour ordeal.  Of which a lot of stress could have been avoided, I think, with good customer service on the part of the Taco Bell employees.  Like I said, I’ll probably do a video about my views on the whole CS issue, as I think it warrants an interesting discussion.
• [Cubbies] OK, so I haven’t been following them as much as I would like, specifically because of the great playoff runs by the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks this year.  Also, we have been playing terribly.  But recently we’ve pulled out some great wins (a few come-from-behind ones), which is getting me excited again.  Go, Cubs, Go!!!
• [Wisconsin Dells] This weekend I’ll be heading out with my family and my sister’s in-laws to the Dells for a little vacation, and I’m looking forward to the break!  One guarantee- I will not be riding any roller coasters there.

Hope that kept you entertained :)  I know its a little past midnight, but hey, it’s back, right?!  As always, if you have anything you’d like me to comment about, let me know!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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Monday Night Recap?
- March 9, 2009 -

OK, so I feel like it’s been FOREVER since I last posted, and for that I’m truly sorry!  Things have been quite busy lately, and it’s going to get even more hectic, but that’s no excuse.  Don’t worry, I’ll get back on track with all of this.  But while I’m here, I figured I’d give a bit of an update of what’s been going on.

MacBook Pro
One of the main reasons why I’d been MIA: the logic board on my MBP fried.  At first I thought it was my hard drive that crashed, and was just going to replace it (lucky for my I backup).  Apple looked at it, though, and confirmed it was the logic board that was gone, so they got that replaced for me.  Took about a week to get my laptop back- I felt so alone during that time.  But it finally came home this past weekend, and I’m good to go!  Thanks for your concern.

ABDC
Since I haven’t been doing the MNR anymore, unless you follow me on twitter you didn’t get updated on my following of America’s Best Dance Crew!  Much respect to the top teams, but Quest Crew seriously was amazing.  There was a heated debate between friends about who deserved to win based on the entire season- Quest Crew or Beat Freaks.  My take:  Beat Freaks were amazing.  They had some great performances, EXCEPT for the last show, where both performances were unimpressive.  Quest Crew brought something new each week.  Some shows they were outperformed by Beat Freaks, but there wasn’t a single performance where they didn’t show up.  Based on creativity and consistency, the best team definitely won.

S.A.L.T.

Cornerstone Fellowship at the University of Illinois in Chicago held their second annual SALT Conference, and I was blessed to help cover part of the event for them again.  Now that I’ve got my laptop back I can start catching up on my editing again, and will get a full post up about soon.

Twitter

One thing that I have a serious problem with is design:  I am never satisfied and constantly try to design and re-design the heck out of things.  I’m already thinking of revamping this site again, and I’m surprised I’ve kept it like this for as long as I have.  One thing I decide to change up, which was a semi-quick one, was redesigning my twitter home page.  I realized that more and more people me check out my tweets who might not actually “know” me or follow my blog like the three of you, so I re-designed it a bit to give a bit more info and ways to connect with me.  So go to my page and check it out! (and follow me if you’re on twitter…you’ll definitely get updates much faster than just reading the blog :))

Wedding Website

This was the other big design undertaking that I took.  Last fall I built my wedding website, and I was semi-pleased with it, but definitely not satisfied.  About 6 months have gone by since it went live, and I felt I needed to completely overhaul it.  We wanted to make it more fun for people to come to the site and bring people back more often.  And since I’m already a blogging fiend, I think you already how I redesigned it. :)  Once again, big ups to Kenny Kim for his e-session pics that are scattered throughout the site.  Head over to our new and improved wedding website (http://www.nateandnithya.com/) and let me know what you think!  (Don’t forget to sign the guestbook (multiple times if you’d like :)), and if there’s anything you’d like me to blog about over there, let me know!)

NCAA Tournament
It’s that time of the year again!  This is one of my favorite sporting events of all time because you seriously do not know what’s going to happen next.  My beloved Illinois is definitely in the tourney again, and it’s only a question of what seed they get (looking for a good showing in the Big Ten tourney this week to help them out).  all 65 teams will be announced this weekend, and then the fun begins!  I’ve set up a pool over on ESPN so you can go and get setup right now, but you’ll only be able to make your bracket after Selection Sunday.  I’ll get another post up when it opens up to remind everyone, but head over there right now to create your logins and stuff (and tell your friends too…the more the merrier!).

Group Name: NMP Tourney Challenge

Also, to sweeten the deal a bit, winner of the tourney will get a $10 iTunes gift card!  (If I win, I’ll wait patiently for one of you to send me a gift card :))  If that’s not reason to get involved, I don’t know what is!  So again, let people know and get ready for the madness we all love, starting this weekend!

Alright, that should hold you guys over for a bit longer, right? ;)

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, Modern Weddings, Personal, [MNR]

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[12.01.08] Monday Night Recap
- December 1, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] November is complete, so get your submissions in for last month’s challenge.  I’ll post the last one of the year later this week!
• [Mumbai Attacks] It’s been all over the news, but in the last week there were some crazy attacks that occured in Mumbai, India, at major tourist locations.  Although my family is primarily out of southern India, my churches missions team was currently up north, and they were about 1 hour away from the major attacks.  They were actually scheduled to return home the following day, and luckily were able to make it home safely.  I ask for continued prayer, though, for all those in India, as well as for the remaining members of our missions team who will be coming home later this week.
• [A Model] So a friend of mine seems like he’s interested in doing some modeling and asked me to take some pictures for him.  He caught me a bit off guard when I showed up, saying he was specifically looking into hand-modeling…but who am I to judge?  So what do you think, does he have what it takes?  ;)





• [Family Thanksgiving] On Thanksgiving, I had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister’s place.  They kill two birds with one stone by having both sides of the family over, which is nice.  My job was making the punch (of which I did a mighty fine job in, I must say)…and later got blindsided by having to do the dishes.  Ah well, I think I did a mighty fine job with that as well.  Here’s a couple pics of my youngest niece celebrating her first Thanksgiving – she still seems very surprised about everything:




• [Black Friday] It’s turned into an annual tradition (this is year 2) going out for Black Friday.  I wasn’t too interested in picking much up so it wasn’t too big of an event.  We hit up TigerDirect (I waited outside for about 45 minutes as they did the smart of think of only letting in roughly 50 people at a time to avoid a mad rush and tramplings) to start everything out.  Surprisingly I technically didn’t buy anything for myself.  The picture below shows what I picked up (less a GPS system I got for my dad).  All these are actully for all of you!  It speeds up my processing time as well as gives me even more backup confidence with the precious images I take for you (pictured is a 4GB memory upgrade for my Macbook Pro, 1TB hard drive, and a casing for 2 internal hard drives).



• [Inlaws Thanksgiving] On Friday night, I made my way over to my fiancee’s place for the second Thanksgiving dinner.  Another great time of feasting, and I also helped set up their Christmas tree.  Here’s a little family picture of them.  Also, my soon-to-be brother-in-law just got a Canon XSi and here he is putting it to good use (…this is generally what events start to look like once parents get a dSLR…its AWESOME!)




• [Michelle and Suresh] On Saturday morning, I shot the engagement ceremony of Michelle and Suresh, who will be having their wedding next May.  Here’s a little teaser for you:



• [Turkey Bowl] My church held our first annual Turkey Bowl- a touch football game between the older and younger guys.  And as expected, us older guys won it 13-6.  I caught the extra point that put us up 7-6 in the first half, as well as helped hold down their offense (once I showed up, they were shut out the rest of the game).  Although it was touch, I did get my lip busted by getting hit in the face, and lack of stretching has caused some back pains, but its slowly getting better.  Ah well, it was worth the W.
• [506 Thanksgiving] After the morning festivities, my college friends got together for our seasonal dinners.  This was quite possibly the longest/latest we’ve hung out since we were actually in college, as I think I went to sleep around 3am (and my roommate lives like 5 minutes from my house).  As always, it’s a great time for us to just catch up with what’s going on in everyone’s lives, play some games, and definitely great food (as always).  It’s crazy how we’re all growing up and moving to different stages in our lives…my how things have and will continue to change, but it’s always great re-connecting.  Also, a week ago I helped redecorate/rearrange my roommates place, and we finished it off by framing a couple of my Chicago pics for his wall…don’t you just love framed art!?







• [Bears] We started out well, not letting AP run all over us.  Then we got stopped with a drive inside the 3 yard line on four straight plays, and then gave up a 99-yard TD pass to former Bear Bernard Berrian.  And that was the last we heard of the Bears offense in that game.  We’ve dropped our standing atop the NFC North and have a tougher road to finish the season than the Vikings, but I still think we can make a playoff run.  Here’s to hoping…
• [Fantasy] This will be my last update, as my season our officially over (I finished with a win though!)  I end off the leage in a sad 9th place.  It’s been a great season- what you all have missed out on, though (for those who have been following) is the message board- it’s been quite fun talking trash week in and week out.  I also had been doing weekly predictions of our matchups since about Week 8, and I’ve been above .500 so far.  All in all it’s been a fun- playoffs start next week for those remaining, and we’ll see how it all plays out.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[11.24.08] Monday Night Recap
- November 24, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] Just a reminder that there’s about 1 week left in this month’s photo challenge so get your images in!
• [Guys Night Out] Last Friday, my fiance went to Phoenix to visit her sister, which meant time for a Guys Night Out!  It started with a couple of us getting a dinner at La Tasca in Arlington Heights, a tapas restaurants.  Afterward, we headed over to Pinstripes in Barrington for some good old bocce ball!  I went and played bocce a week earlier for the first time, which got us hooked to come back again.  It’s a pretty fun/relaxing game.  Well after that for an hour, we ended the night with a little Quantum of Solace.  I was never a huge Bond guy, but it was a pretty decent movie.  I was getting very tired though as it’s seriously been awhile since I watched a midnight movie.  All in all, an entertaining night with the guys.  Here’s a couple pics from our bocce game:









• [Zachariah Family] On Saturday morning I headed out for an early morning mini-session.  They wanted to get a couple ‘formal’ pics taken for Christmas cards, so we did a quick session in the morning and will be doing a full portrait session with them a little bit late.  Here’s a quick teaser of the kids:



• [Ecumenical BBall Tournament] In Chicago, there are quite a few Indian churches in the area, and every now and then we try to set up various types of meetings and events to bring the churches together, and this Saturday there was a 1-day basketball tournament, with each church setting up their own team.  I swung by for a bit after the session as a bunch of my church friends were playing (as well as a bunch of regulars from Summer League) to check it out.  If anyone knows the outcome fill me in as I left pretty early, but here’s a couple images from the start of it all…















• [Bears] Finally, an easy victory.  Our defense was finally able to get pressure on the QB with a couple sacks and pulled off some picks as well.  The downside:  Hester still doesn’t know how to return kicks (and hasn’t made it up on offense either).  I still believe he’ll return at least 1 punt or kickoff for a TD before year end.
• [Fantasy] Even though I’m already knocked out of the playoffs, my role this week was to play the spoiler.  Sadly, it didn’t happen.  Now I’ve got one last game next week to save my pride and keep from being the worst player in the league.  This always happens when I play fantasy sports.  Ah well, here’s to next year.
• [Norwegian Recycling] I’ll finish it off with an awesome mashup that I found.  This guy goes by the name Norwegian Recycling and does an amazing job with mashups of a lot of pop/rock/rap songs.  It brings me back to my slideshow days…I never mixed like this though.  Enjoy this one:

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[11.17.08] Monday Night Recap
- November 17, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] Just a reminder that we’re a little over halfway through November’s challenge, and the weather (at least here) is changing drastically into winter so be sure to get your “Fall” pictures taken!
• [NavJeevan] The NavJeevan Centre is an organization in India that my church is connected with, which helps children of women who are in the Red Light District.  For the past few years, we’ve been able to send a team out every year for a few weeks to serve out there, build relationships with the kids, and things like that.  This past Friday, most of the team members took off for two weeks, which include my sister and brother-in-law.  In total, its a team of 8 that will be out there spanning 4 weeks.  Keep them in your prayers, for both physical and spiritual protection.
• [Winter] I’m not sure what the true definition is for the change in seasons, but this is how I know:





• [Bears] For the first time Lovie’s career as head coach, we lost to the Packers…and it was to Aaron Rodgers too!  It was an extremely sad game to watch.  Our defense got owned, and our offense played like…our offense.  Not a good combo.  If we don’t make changes fast it’s going to be a fast fall from the top.
• [Fantasy] It’s official…I’m knocked out of playoff contention.  I had some poor management yet again with my RBs, but even if I picked the best lineup and my opponent made the worst choice, I’d have still lost – it was just one of those weeks.  All well, it was a fun 11 weeks so far, and for the last two I’ll just play the role of spoiler.
• [Snuggies] For some reason, I seem to be stumbling across a bunch of infomercials as I flip through channels.  And the latest one that scared me was for “Snuggies“…I seriously thought it was some sort of cult-ish outfit when I watched.  Would anyone of you guys wear this?  Or more importantly, do any of you already have it?  (And if so, please disregard the “cult-ish” statement :) )  The big question:  Have you purchased anything off an infomercial, and did it live up to the hype?
• [MammothMen] So a little while back a group of 6 awesome photographer friends got together for a week away for Snowboarding and fun times in Mammoth, and its become a regular occurence now.  They have now doubled in size, and are on version3 of their trip, which is being fully documented on their blog.  So if you’re looking for an overload of awesomeness, be sure to keep up with them.  If Indians enjoyed cold weather sports, I would so be looking for my own set of Mammoth Men.  But alas, we do not…but is anyone looking to just get away for some fully documented fun times!?!?!  Let me know!
• [Wish List] Christmas is right around the corner, so I guess its time to start thinking about what I’d like to get (that’s reasonably priced and not photo-related).  Any suggestions?  What was your favorite Christmas gift and why?  What are you looking forward to getting this year?  Help a brother out!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[11.10.08] Monday Night Recap
- November 10, 2008 -

• [Presidential Election] Unless you were stuck under a rock for a week, you probably heard that Illinois senator Barack Obama won the recent presidential election in a landslide (based on the electoral college system).  At the last election, I remember staying up until 5am following the polls because it was just so tight!  This one was decided by around 9pm.  It’s really only just the beginning – Bush is still in office for a little bit longer, and then we’ve got 4 years.  Don’t expect everything to be spun around overnight, but here’s to hope and change!
• [The Office] It’s finally getting back on track!  The first few episodes were funny, but not to the same extent as previous seasons, but its starting to pick up again.  Loved the halloween episode.  I love looking forward to Thursdays…
• [Black Friday] It’s coming.  Are you guys ready?  Care to share your plans?  Last year I was up around 4am to wait outside Best Buy, and I think we’ll be starting around the same time again this year.  What are you guys looking to pick up this year?  Let me know if you know of any amazing deals too!
• [Bears] I almost get an ulcer every game.  Going in I wasn’t really expecting a win.  But then they tease me by playing just good enough to give me hope, but just bad enough to lose the game.  It’s surprising that we’re still #1 in the NFC North…I’ll take what I can get.
• [Fantasy] This was quite possibly my worst managed week of the year, and probably knocked me out of playoff contention (I’m clinging to a thread over these next 3 weeks).  I left 50 points on my bench between two running backs and a wide receiver (the running backs I started barely got me 5 points total).  BLASTED!
• [Nieces] You probably remember Izzy from the family session I did a short while ago.  While her mother and my sister took a weekend escape of sorts and left the fathers to babysit, so I went over to hang out on Saturday.  I got there just in time for their dinner…pizza and green beans.  They had a contest to see who would eat the green beans the fastest too!  I love how kids can make a competition out of anything.  I wonder when we grow out of that.  Enjoy the pics…








• [Coming to an end?] As we close off the year, I’m pretty impressed with myself, as I have been keeping the MNR going for over a year now (That’s a lot of Mondays!).  I’m thinking it’ll be coming to an end soon though.  The good thing, though, is it’ll hopefully get me blogging more regularly as I’ll spread out the topics throughout the week (hopefully).  Also, I got some interesting stuff that I’m *hoping* to get up and running soon too, that will most likely keep you all entertained.  (Again, if there’s anything you’d like to see/hear about, feel free to leave it in the comments)

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[11.03.08] Monday Night Recap
- November 4, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] For those who haven’t done it yet, I’ll give a bit more time to get your submissions in from last month’s challenge (self-portrait).  I’ve just posted the November challenge, and here’s the image to get your thinking:



• [Fantasy Basketball] In the middle of last week I realized I joined a fantasy basketball league with some kids from my alma mater, and I finished the first week with a 6-4.  I also realized why I don’t do fantasy basketball or baseball anymore – it requires way too much time!  Unlike football where it’s a once a week thing, these sports have games pretty much everyday.  It’s still fun, but I realized I don’t have time like I used to to keep up with it…but we’ll see how it goes!
• [World Series] Yeah, I didn’t care that much either.  But for those who do care enough but didn’t hear anything…the Phillies won.  Woo.
• [Chicago Sports] The Bears have the best record in the NFC.  Do we think they’re Superbowl winners?  Nope.  The Bulls have started out pretty strong.  Are we expecting them to go deep in the playoffs?  Not Really.  Why?  In recent years, Chicago teams have now been consistently good during the regular season (see: Cubs 2007-2008, White Sox 2005-2008, Bears 2003-2007…) yet haven’t been able to finish.  So I guess we’re a bit spoiled with consistency and now need  big finish.  So which team will do it first?
• [Bears] We pulled out the win, yet it was really sad.  Detroit hasn’t won a game all season, yet were up 23-13 in the 3rd.  Adding insult to injury:  Orton is hurt, Mike Brown is hurt, Vasher is hurt, Hester has forgotten how to return kicks.  Next week will be a huge game though…Grossman’s first full game back, going up against the undefeated Titans.  Should be fun! (or very depressing)
• [Fantasy] 1.32 Points.  That’s all I needed.  If I knee McGahee wasn’t playing I would have played Pittman, which would have done it.  Or if Leftwhich would have thrown a 15 yard pass to Washington at any time during the 4th quarter, I would have won.  But no…this is depressing…
• [Vote] you’ve got a few hours to learn about the candidates to figure out who you agree with the most.  Then for those who didn’t vote early, go out and vote tomorrow. And then we’ll see what the next 4 years look like…
• [Should I go?] Downtown Chicago is going to be buzzin’ and crowded like none other.  Should I schlep my gear and try to see how close I can get to Grant Park during Obama’s party, or save myself the time, worry, and pain and just watch the polls with some friends?

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[10.27.08] Monday Night Recap
- October 27, 2008 -

• [W] I went to watch “W” with a couple of my college roommates last week.  It was a very interesting portrayal of our current government leaders, basically exaggerating various characteristics of their past or present.  I don’t believe that it’s in any way an truly accurate look at the reality of the leaders, although I don’t believe that was the original intent.  From a creative standpoint, the movie was pretty well-made, although there were a handful of scenes that I didn’t think were necessary to the story, and there was also no correlation with the flashbacks (and I constantly was looking for a correlation).  All in all, though, I think its an interesting movie overall and worth the watch.
• [U of I] This past weekend I made a trip out to the University of Illinois, which is always fun.  It was slightly different than normal, as there were about 20 friends not from the school who were visiting because of another friend’s birthday.  Although I had every intent to take some pics, I barely took out my camera, and when I did I didn’t shoot much.  So not going to be that much of a photo documentary as before.  But now a recap:
  • [Ballin'] One of my joys is being able to ball with the college guys when I get a chance.  50 degree weather, but we played some outdoor ball on Saturday.  Unlike last time (when I ate a steak dinner before some midnight ball), I actually played decent.  Fun times, indeed.
  • [Birthday] My friend celebrated her ‘supposed’ 21st birthday on Friday (I still think she’s like 12…), and she had quite the celebration.  Like I said, there were about 20 visitors who came as surises for her, at multiple times of the day for 3 different surprises.  We got together at Houlihan’s for some dinner, and this is pretty much all the pictures I took this weekend (all shot with my 17-35):

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • [E-Session] The main reason for this visit, though, was because my fiance and I were taking the second half of our e-session with Kenny Kim.  You can be sure I’ll be linking to the images when he posts them, but for now you can check out our wedding website (work in progress), and here’s one of my faves from our first session a few months back that we turned into our save the dates:

  

  • [Quarantine] Sunday night my fiance and I went to go watch Quarantine, which is surprising because (1) it was her turn to pick the movie and (2) she always picks romantic comedies.  Sadly, she wanted to watch ‘Nights of Rodanthe’ but it was no longer in theaters, so she settled for this.  It was a decent film overall.  I’m not a fan of unrealistic movies (for scary movies), and this one had a more realistic flavor to it, which made it work.
  • [Quality Time] My past few ‘encounters’ with my fiance have been a bit rough with various other responsibilities and events going on, but this weekend we had an extended time together which was great! We were able to just spend some quality time together, as well as make some progress on wedding planning and such. All in all, I couldn’t ask for a better weekend with the soon to be Mrs…less than 10 months away!
  • [Gas Prices] When I left to head out to U of I on Friday, the cheapest gas price I found was around 3.09. This is what I filled up with when I left (felt so liberating) {sorry, the iPhone takes pictures sideways…}



• [Fantasy] I done and done it again.  Another breakout game provides another W, and helps me jump another 3 places into 7th overall…people are starting to get scared!

EDIT

• [Photo Challenge] About 1 week left to get your self-portraits in…help me connect a name with a face!
• [Winter Weather] Today I woke up and had to scrape ice off my windshield…I’m not ready for this.  Need to go invest in some gloves, hats and scarves soon…

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[10.20.08] Monday Night Recap
- October 20, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] Just a reminder there’s about a week or so left in this month’s challenge… (which means I need to start figuring out the next one…oh geez…)
• [Dancing] Much of this past week was filled with dance practices for my friends’ wedding on Saturday.  I might of stated this before on this blog, but I dabbled in many arenas of the creative arts trying to find what I could excel at – dancing wasn’t one of them.  I ‘retired’ at the end of last year because it was too time consuming and my body couldn’t handle it anymore (I’m old), but made a comeback for this one wedding this year.  I think I’m retired again.  Anyways, there are a few different versions (of varying quality) floating around but here’s one for your entertainment (the guys are in the last two sections: “Board Meeting” and “PYT”)
• [Sunil and Theresa] All that was for the wedding of my friends’ Sunil and Theresa, who got married this past Saturday.  My friend Kenny Nakai was their photographer (along with David Lai), so I left my gear at home since I had plenty of other responsibilities to fulfill.  All in all, it was a fun time – definitely will be anxiously awaiting Kenny’s pics.  The video above is just a glimpse of all the went on – I feel like our community has turned wedding receptions into a local “America’s Best Dance Crew” crossed with “Star Search”! I believe in total this one had a drum off by the bride and groom, a slideshow, 3 choreographed dance routines [the set above only counts as 1], 5 speeches, and a partridge in a pear tree.
• [Bears] Bittersweet?  Scoring 48 points is nice, but giving up 41 is not.  Definitely not what were used to seeing with the Bears D…we were looking like the Broncos!  But a win is a win is a win, and I’ll take it.
• [Fantasy] It happened again – If I’m going to win, it’s because all my players perform.  I just need some consistency!  But I can’t complain, I jumped out of last place finally and am starting my push into a playoff run as we go through the second half of the season.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[10.06.08] Monday Night Recap
- October 6, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] Sorry peoples, I was fighting a semi-fever and unknown allergic reaction all last week…I promise I’ll get the next challenge up within the next day or so.
• [Cubs] It doesn’t upset me that the Cubs lost, per se.  Its one thing to just get outplayed by a better team.  But we didn’t play up to potential.  Nothing against the Dodgers, but they aren’t good enough to sweep us.  We just played like fools.  7 runs in the first game?  4 errors and 10 runs in game 2?  Soriano, Ramirez, Edmonds, Soto and DeRosa go 1 for 15 in game 3?  That’s just not right.  We’ve got the guys who can play, and I hate to chime the “There’s always next year” mantra, but it’s true.  We’re becoming a consistent force, now we just need to do something in the post season.
• [Revival] This past weekend, my home church hosted a Revival retreat, and we had Pastor Reggie Ramos of Immanuel Community Church as our guest speaker.  It was a very powerful weekend (personally as well as for our community) as Pastor Reggie challenged us every moment on the centrality of the gospel.  We’re looking forward to big things as we wind down 2008.
  Pastor Reggie is also a photo enthusiast, so he brought his gear on the last night and I had some fun shooting two bodies.  I must say, I do like the feel of it…

We put his daughter to work handing out pens with our welcoming team, while his eldest had some fun in our kids room…







Aurum and I used to be a part of CFC at U of I together, and he’s now an pastoral intern at Immanuel…It’s always great to reconnect…







Like I said, Pastor Reggie brought his gear, so I was messing around with some of his stuff. I took this shot with his 30 1.4…looks like I’ll be adding a few fast primes in my arsenal…












• [Abraham Family] On Saturday morning, I was out at Wheaton, Illinois to shoot some family portraits.  Here’s a teaser:



• [Bears] The Detroit-Chicago games used to be a big deal.  But now we’re 3-2 at the top of the NFC Central, while the Lions are 0-4 after getting rocked 34-7.  It was a fun game though, and we even got to see Grossman hand the ball off a couple of times to end the game.  Good thing we’re keeping him fresh.  :)  The Bears are making the transition from the dismal Cubs post-season slightly easier…
• [Allergies] So for a little over a week, I’d been fighting a daily allergic reaction to something, and it’s been impossible to set up an appointment with an allergist.  Luckily, my dosage of benedryl had gone down from like 4-5 a day to just one in the morning, and now for over 48 hours I haven’t broken out in hives or taken benedryl!  It’s the little things that make me happy.  I still need to find out what it was I was actually allergic too, but I’m glad I’ve gotten over it at least for the time being.
• [Fantasy] It’s really sad.  The guy I’m playing had 3 guys in his lineup on a bye week.  Easy win, right?  Not when nobody produces on your team.  I’ve ended the week with 65 points, and now my fate rests on the Vikings D getting torched tonight on MNF (he’s got their D).

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Portraits, [MNR]

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[09.29.08] Monday Night Recap
- September 29, 2008 -

• [Night?] OK, more of a midday recap, because I took the day off to fight a cold and odd 3+ day allergic reaction.  And because of it, you guys win with a bonus post later tonight!
• [Photo Challenge] A couple more days left for September’s Challenge.  I’ll try to get the October challenge up by the end of the week…we’ll see how I’m feeling.
• [Fogo de Chao] On Thursday I got lunch with a friend at Fogo de Chao in Chicago – my first time to a Brazilian Steakhouse.  I never was a huge steak person, but I must say I was satisfied.  In addition to the food, our attention was taken by a few rather large men sitting next to us, one who looked very much Brian Urlacher of the Bears.  Towards the end of lunch they got up to leave and my friend asked to get a picture with Brian, to which he responded “I’m his brother, Casey”.  Sure enough, Brian does have a younger brother named Casey who plays for the Chicago Rush.  I wonder how many times that happens to him…
• [U of I] I made the trip down to U of I with a couple friends this past weekend to visit my fiance.  An extremely busy weekend with so much madness and very little rest.  Here’s a sub-recap…

• [Allergies] 24 years of my life and never had a reaction to anything.  But somehow at the end of the drive to U of I, my upper-left lip started swelling up.  It wasn’t going down, so I took some benedryl.  It started going down, then my upper right and lower left lip started to swell, so I took more bendryl.  I continued taking benedryl which helped through Saturday.  I stopped at around 3ish, and when I woke up the next morning both my arms had mosquito bite-esque spots from my wrist up to my biceps.  So I took a few more bendryl which helped for awhile, but later Sunday it started flaring up again, this time my entire face and my back and sides.  Another night of Benedryl and now I’m doing better, but got red spots still.  I went to the doctor, who said it was some allergic reaction, and referred me to an allergist.  So now we’ll see when I get an appointment and find out what this madness is all about.
• [Mini-O's] My campus church (CFC) hosts a mini olympic event every year, which is a fun time of competition between all the different small groups of the church.  Here’s a tease, and I’ll post the rest later tonight:



• [Dinner and a Movie] My fiance and I left mini-o’s before the final competitions, and got to spend a little time together.  First up was Tropic Thunder.  My review-  highy unimpressed.  The previews and the first 10 minutes for funnier than the movie as a whole.  For dinner, we went to Jim Gould’s, where I continued my steak-eating.  Nice food, a bit pricey but definitely satisfying.
• [Midnight Ball] Well…it was more like 10pm, but I got a chance to play some ball with the guys out there.  Word of advice:  Never eat a steak dinner before playing ball with people who have never seen you play before – it doesn’t do well for their view of your skills.
• [CFC] A line from Pastor Min’s message on Sunday morning that caught my attention:
  • (is doing good and going to church enough?) “Christianity is not that superficial.”
• [Dead Battery] Yep.  After church, went to get lunch, then swung by the place I was staying, packed up the car, turned the key…nothing.  Completely dead.  We called a tow (through my friend’s AAA), who came by, and jump started the battery.  Now we just need to drive it to an Auto zone and check if the battery is fine.  Driving down the road, coming up a red light, brake…dead.  In the center lane.  Called our friends to come and give us  jump, before they get there the tow comes back with the girl shouting “Don’t worry, I’ll help you guys!”  She turned around, got out of the car, and gave us a head start in pushing my car to a nearby walmart.  We jumped it again in the parking lot, and drove it all the way to the car center just before it died.  Awesome.  We got there just before they were closing (becuse they were short staffed), and they were nice enough to do a quick battery replacement for me.  Luckily we found out about the battery before even getting on the highway…that would have been rough.

• [MLB] Everything is set for the playoffs!  With the Brewers win over the Cubs and the Mets loss, the Brewers picked up the wild card spot, meaning the Cubs are playing the Dodgers in the first round this week.  I’m excited!  Craziness in the AL, with the White Sox totally crumbling at the end of the season are still 1/2 a game back.  If they win their game today, they will be tied with the Twins and have a one game playoff to see who makes it in to October baseball.  Woo hoo!
• [Fantasy] It’s not a good sign when you’re kicker is the second highest scorer on your team.  I got rocked due to the bye week…I’ve got a lot of ground to make up in the next few weeks.  Wish me luck!

Alright, my head cold and the benedryl are taking its toll on me, so I think its time for a rest before I post my pics on Mini-O’s.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[08.09.22] Monday Night Recap
- September 23, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] A little over a week left in the challenge, so get ‘em in!
• [The Office] It’s back!  TV has been rather boring outside of sports lately, so I’m greatly excited about the 1-hour season premiere of The Office this Thursday.  I watched a couple episodes from last season over the past week to get hyped!  So, what shows are you guys looking forward to?  Anything I should get hooked on?
• [Cubbies] We CLINCHED!
• [Bears] I don’t want to talk about it.  We should be 3-0.
• [Fantasy] After an 0-2 start, I broke out with a killer week this time, having the top score in the league, and the 2nd highest overall!  My team is pretty stacked even though I don’t have all the high-profile big name players – my guys just produce.  I’m looking to take this thing from here on out!
• [Rest] Yep…finally a weekend of rest.  I like it.  Got to hang out with my nieces on Saturday, watch my Cubbies, and on Sunday I had church, Bears (I said I don’t want to talk about it), some dancing, and then spending time with my fiance.  These are nice breaks in a busy schedule.  Won’t have another one of those until December, I think.
• [Revival] My home church is hosting a revival retreat (themed “Refocus”), and I wanted to give you all a heads up!  It’s an amazing time to regain that energy and focus to push through the rest of the year and finish strong.  It’s open to anyone and everyone, so spread the word and make sure you’re there.  The retreat will be held from October 2nd-4th, and you can check the site for more details.
• [Pic] Ummm…a post without a pic?  That would just be rude.  I messed around with some off-camera lighting on Saturday with a self portrait (I need models…) of sorts…what do you think?  Head shots can be fun/interesting, don’t you think?

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[09.08.15] Monday Night Recap
- September 15, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] Already got a couple submissions so far, so keep ‘em coming!  About two weeks left in this month’s challenge.
• [Storms] Chicago got hit by a tropical storm over the weekend, and it was madness!  I pulled out of my house on Saturday morning to find my entire sub-division flooded (not too deep, though).  On the drive to the wedding there were so many road closures with flooding, and we actually saw a car with water up to the headlights!  And today, my normal 15-20 minute commute to the train turned into an hour in the morning, and an hour and a half on the way back!  Very upsetting.
  And to think while we all were concerned/complaining about this, down south Hurricane Ike was raging through.  It’s crazy to think of how powerful and uncontrollable the weather is.  It gets me thinking that regardless of how big and great we think we are, there is always something greater.  We are weak people.  Perspective is always good to have in life.
• [Persecution] Also on a serious note, there has been persecution going on in Orissa, India.  In recent weeks, Hindu zealots have burned churches and houses, killing many.  Even still, evangelists and missionaries are still there, some fleeing into forests for safety and protection.  More than anything, just lift up prayers for those enduring the pain and struggle.  We are so blessed with the freedom we have here.
• [2.1] Apple came out with the 2.1 update for the iPhone, which was supposed to fix many of the bugs.  The too that I’ve already noticed (of which I am pleased) was the typing and contact search are more receptive (it used to stall) and battery life has greatly improved even with 3G on all day.  Of course, my battery did die yesterday at around 7pm, but I think thats because I was checking my fantasy stats every 5 minutes starting at noon.  Have you guys had any positive/negative changes with the update?
• [Paris] I was flipping through the channels, and stumbled upon previews for Paris Hilton’s upcoming reality show: “My New BFF” on MTV.  I was seriously shocked.  Is this really what reality shows have come to?  I guess its a good thing because it will force me to watch TV less.  Anyone actually interested in watching this show?
• [Caroline and Chris] On Saturday, I helped Kenny Nakai out with wedding out in Evanston, Illinois at the First Presbyterian Church.  This was a much different “second shooting” role, though – Caroline is Kenny’s sister, and he was groomsman!  I was greatly impressed with his ability to be both a groomsman and the primary photographer.  Obviously, an update will come later, but we all need a teaser (I wish I could tease you with more…but it will just have to wait):



• [D3] I feel a little dirty.  With Kenny serving his groomsman/brother duties at the wedding, I would occasionally shoot with his D3.  I never thought I would shoot Nikon…and it sucks because I was (obviously) greatly impressed.  Impressed enough to switch?  I think not.  Now we just wait patiently (like we have for the past YEAR) for Canon to announce the next great beast.  Rumors say its going to be announced this weekend…follow the evolution here.
• [Bears] I don’t want to talk about it.  2nd and 1 at midfield at the end of the game…2 incomplete passes and a failed run to turnover on downs.  Seriously Turner?  Of all the times to start passing?  I’m not a fan of your play calling there.  I digress…
• [Fantasy] 0-2.  Starting to get worried.  I’m very dissapointed in Tavarius Jackson…there’s a problem when you’re up 15-0 because your kicker hit 5 field goals (big ups to Longwell, though)…he needs to get the ball in the end zone.  Insult to Injury – I played the Cardinals D (11 pts) instead of the Giants D (25 pts). And Romo has already thrown 2 TDs and 132 yards…playing those two would have given me the win!
• [No Hitter] How crazy is this.  Carlos Zambrano, 12 days of rest, throws a no-hitter for the Cubs against the Astros in Milwaukee.  10 K’s, 1 walk, and he hit 1 guy.  He also went 1-3 with a run offensively.  To make things sweeter, the Brewers continue to slide, making the Cubs magic number now 7! A question:  which is a more exciting performance – a no-hitter (a la Carlos Zambrano yesterday) or 20+ strikeouts (a la Kerry Wood in 1998)?  As an added bonus, Ted Lilly took a no-hitter through 7 today, and the pitching staff held a 1-hit, 1-run victory.  THIS is the Cubs I remember…
• [United Center] On Sunday, I made my first trip to the United Center in my life.

  

  And I was there for Disney on Ice…how sad.

  

  It was pretty decent actually (if you couldn’t tell from these amazing iPhone pics).  It was mainly for my niece and fiance’s nephew, but most of the siblings came as well meaning there were 2 kids and 9 adults.  What I learned from it:  Disney does some amazing marketing.  The entire show was basically a demo/preview of a trip to Disney World (showcasing the different rides/events, characters and music).  They were able to make a profit by getting people to pretty much watch a live, 2-hour commercial.  Now that’s amazing.

• [Booked] I didn’t think that it would happen so quickly, but I’m pretty much booked (either with shoots or personal commitments) through the remainder of the year!  If you’d like to get a shoot in this year it might be difficult but definitely let me know ASAP to see if we can find a time slot.  Otherwise, let’s start planning for 2009!

  
  ***DUE TO MY OWN WEDDING, I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING REQUESTS FOR AUGUST2009***

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[09.08.08] Monday Night Recap
- September 8, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] In case you missed it, I posted the next challenge, so go check it out here.
• [Submissions] I’ve also posted the recent submissions for August’s challenge.  This is definitely my favorite, by Matthew Gordon:



• [Cubbies] They’ve lost 7 of 8.  A big thanks to the Brewers for sucking it up as well.  We’ve got 19 games left, 6 at home, and 15 against the Cards, Astros and Brewers, with the last 3 at Milwaukee.  My heart is pounding just thinking about it.
• [Bears] We did it!  I don’t care what people say (Colts missing their starting center, Peyton hadn’t played at all in the pre-season, etc.)…we still beat them.  Manning looked so confused with the Bears defense and couldn’t get anything going – that’s a really good sign for us.  Also, Rookie RB Forte had a good showing as well.  Great start, guys!
• [Fantasy] You can follow my fantasy competition here.  Week1 gave me a loss, with Brandon Marshall suspended for this first game and Fred Taylor literally doing nothing worthwhile.  But it’s just one game.  If anyone has any insider information, I’d be happy to receive it.
• [E-Myth] Continuing my reading plan, I finished “The E-Myth Revisted.  It’s a really good book for new business owners or budding entrepreneurs.  I also think it touches on important structures for any sort of organization.  It definitely goes on my must-read list.  My favorite quote from there is:  “I believe it’s true that the difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next.  The difference between the two is the difference between living fully and just existing.  The difference between the two is living intentionally and living by accident.” (emphasis mine)
  

  

  (pardon the poor iPhone quality image) I don’t think I’ll be doing reaching 12 books this year, but I’m going to keep trying.  Any suggestions on good books?  I’m not much of a fiction reader, but I might be open…it just needs to be a semi-easy.quick read.

• [Budget] I set up a poll last week to see people’s take on budgeting, and was impressed with the results…half the people at least semi-check a budget, and only a quarter hate numbers (I expected it to be much worse).  Now, I’m not financial genius or anything, but I do realize the importance (and freedom) of budgeting, so I wanted to give some quick tips on making a quality budget.
  • Monitor your spending for 3 months.  Using an online management system like Mint (which is free), or Quicken or just checking your bank statements, keep track of all your income/expense for three months.  Don’t change any habits, so you have a realistic view of what you do.  Once you do this, break them into categories (Food&Dining, Apparel, Entertainment, Education, Utilities, Gifts, etc.  Search google and I’m sure you can find numerous lists of budget categories for personal finances), and evaluate your priorities.
  • List out debt/loans/etc. Things like credit card debt, school loans, mortage, etc.  Also find out the interest on each of these.
  • Figure out your recurring bills. Phone bill, subscriptions, cable, electricity, car payments, insurance.  Things you are required to pay regularly.
  • Set some goals. Are you saving for something?  House?  Car?  Toy?  What’s it going to cost you?  When would you like to meet that goal?  How much does that mean you need to save per month?
  • Set your budget. With all that set, this is what I’d recommend as the following steps for your budget.  Start with your monthly (gross) income and go from there
    • First, pay your taxes (probably around 30%)
    • Then, set aside your tithe/giving (around 10%)
    • Next, separate out your current bills
    • After, pay of your debt (you can do the highest interest, pay off whatever you can in full first, put it towards the largest amount, etc. but put as much as you can towards that)
    • Then put aside your savings (in an interest bearing account…like ING)
    • Then break out the remaining amount into your budgeted categories based on your spending trends (after evaluating your needs versus your wants).
    • For the next 6 months, track your spending on a weekly basis and strive to stay within your budget.  If you are good with then, then it will probably become a good discipline/habit for you moving forward.

  This is really a rough overview and each step can be broken into a lot more detail with more clarity, but I just wanted to give everyone a general basis for your financial planning.  It’s not the most exciting thing, but the benefits are huge.  Questions/Comments/Concerns?  Let me know!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[09.02.08] Monday Night Recap
- September 2, 2008 -

• [Ummm...] Yes, I know it’s Tuesday.  Yes, I know its Tuesday night.  I’ve been near perfect (if not perfect) about getting these up on Mondays since I started last year.  Oh well…better late than never, right?
• [Photo Challenge] August is over, so get your submissions for that challenge e-mailed into challenge(at)natemathai(dot)com.  I’ll post the next challenge within the week and get these submissions up as well.
• [Cubbies] After some dramatic, come-from-behind victories last week (Aramis with a grand slam in the 8th, Soriano with a solo-shot to take the lead in the 7th the day after), we had a rough weekend.  Even still, we’re 4.5 games up on the Brewers, and I think the magic number is around 20-something…we’re coming down the home stretch!
• [Liza and Shibu] On Saturday, I shot the engagement ceremony of Liza and Shibu at the India House Banquets in Schaumburg, Illinois.  Here’s a little tease for you all:



• [College Friends] Two years later, and we all still hang out…that’s a good sign, right?  11 of us got together on Sunday (missing one in Atlanta) for some fun times of freeze tag, water balloons, and volleyball in the park, followed by pizza at Barnaby’s.  No pics…I wanted to avoid getting yelled at for bringing the camera everywhere :)
• [Blogging Friends] I’m a blog junkie, where in addition to my own blogging, I follow 25, 50, too many blogs, many of other photographers, others on finance, business, marketing, technology…and the list goes on.  I decided I should give a shout out though, to a couple of my non-photography friends’ blogs that post regularly so you can go check them out.  Not listed?  You haven’t posted enough!

1. {Rincey}  It’s 100% personal.  But she’s an amazing writer and completely knowledgeable about all things pop culture and beyond (she’s a journalism major).  She’s been blogging for quite some time to (longer than I have I think) so she’s very well-seasoned.  One of the few blogs I read all the copy to.
2. {Jason}  A more recent blogger and long-time friend, he’s started one to document his families current move back to the Chicagoland area from Bloomington/Normal, as well as his journey in starting his insurance agency.  And more than just personal info, he’s dropping some good info on finances here and there, so definitely check it out.
3. {Sibi}  My brother-in-law is trying it out now, and already has some quality information up there.  He’s a Mac/Tech addict so you’ll definitely gain knowledge on quality products and apps coming out.  He’s also occasionally giving some wise financial tips as well.
4. —>  I have a couple other friends who have blogs, but don’t update regularly, so they don’t get posted.  Oh well, such is life. :)

• [Google Chrome] So it seems Google is launching its own web browser (a-la Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer).  I’ve tested it out for a couple of hours earlier today, and its very bare bones (they wanted it minimalistic).  It’ll take some getting used to, and I’m sure there will be much more to come since this is just the first beta release.  The one thing I do like:  Most Visited Websites when opening a new tab.  Each time you open a tab, thumbnails of your most recently sites appear in a grid for you to click to go directly to it instead of having to type the address in.  More than the browser itself, though, I feel like if this browser can surpass that of Firefox/Safari in usability, Google’s Android begins that much stronger of a force.  Just my musings…awaiting for the release on OS X.
• [Budgeting] In planning for a wedding/future, I’ve begun the budgeting process with my fiance, which leads me to the following poll.  Please humor me by selecting your current ‘state of budgeting’, and if you’d like explain why you’re in that situation in the comments below.

[poll=2]

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, Personal, [MNR], engagement

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[08.18.08] Monday Night Recap
- August 18, 2008 -

• [Cubbies] Yep…still going strong.  5 games up on Milwaukee, and 8-2 in the last 10.  I’m a happy, happy person.  White Sox aren’t doing too shabby either right now, which means Chicago is buzzin’, and it’s only going to get better.
• [iPhone] I announced it yesterday, but I did get the new iPhone.  I love it because it keeps me connected a lot better.  I don’t like the battery life though.  I haven’t had any signal/service issues, though, so that’s always a good thing.  Now I need to figure out what to do with my {branded} iPod Touch.  Anyone interested?  Make me an offer!  You can’t even see the branding if you put a case on it!
• [Olympics] I really haven’t blogged about it, but I’ve gotten more and more hooked as the games went on.  I used to be hardcore about it in the past, staying up into the wee hours of the morning following it.  This year, I guess I was just old…but I’m starting to do it again.  My highlights?  Phelps- a beast!  That man is amazing.  Then there’s the Indian who made the US gymnastics team as an alternate and got the bronze medal…gotta represent!
• [Tropic Thunder] Has anyone seen this yet?  It’s starring Ben Stiller.  I’ve wanted to watch this ever since I saw it in the movie previews a couple months back, but I don’t think I’ll be able to convince my fiance to go see it.  Anyone want to watch it with me?
• [Engaged] Culturally, even though I already proposed to my fiance, we had a formal engagement ceremony/party.  it was just for our close family/friends, and pretty much a formal announcement of our desires to get married and things like that.  It wasn’t a huge thing for me, but thinking about it I really do like how formal it is.  Marriage is not something to be taken lightly…and it’s not just a covenant/contract between two people, but also two families, and the church body.  So in that sense, I liked it.  Here’s a pic of us taken by my soon-to-be brother in law:



• [Save The Date] Our awesome photographer Kenny Kim hooked me up with a couple early previews of our e-session we did even with his busy schedule, so that I could get some save the dates made for our upcoming wedding.  What do you guys think of these that I designed?  I like a concept of having multiple save-the-dates of similar styles with different pictures from the esession…if I offer this service, would people be interested?




• [Wedding Website] Also, I got our wedding website up and running!  It’ll still be a work in progress (because that’s just how I roll), so if you have any ideas of things to add, let me know by dropping some comments!  Oh, and leave us some love/encouragement in the guestbook area of the site especially as we get closer to the wedding date…we’ll need all the help we can get!
• [Twitter] I’ve become a bit more ‘addicted’ ever since I got TweetDeck and my iPhone (and yes, I did twitter from my engagement party).  Again, you can follow me with my username natemathai.  But now I have a question:  I know in many places its become illegal to talk on a phone while driving without having a hands free system.  But now, is it illegal to Twitter while driving, or just dangerous?  I guess the same question is for texting, too…what do you think?

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[07.28.08] Monday Night Recap
- July 28, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] This month’s almost done, so get your submissions in ASAP! I promise I’ll be better about posting the next challenge within the first week of the month. :)
• [Nish & Joel] I posted yesterday, but my sister got married on Saturday and the happy couple are on their honeymoon now. I was told not to bring my camera so my gear sat at home throughout the festivities. But if you want to see some pics from the rehearsal and a quick grab of the details, check out yesterday’s post.
• [Summer League] The Bulls win! The Bulls win! They beat the Jazz! Reminds me of mid-90′s…except no last minute jumper by MJ to win it. With 6 rookies, the Bulls took had am impressive run through the league losing only one season game on a last second shot on day2. There was some amazing talent that came through again, and it’s only looking to get even more exciting in years to come. Thanks to all the staff who helped put this together as well as the players for making it the success that it was. Check out the site for many more pics for this year’s league.






Do you see where the ball is? Passes like that will always bring the oohs and ahhs…


















• [Teaser] I’m still getting through Linzy and Christiaan’s wedding, but wanted to get another teaser out there for you..the full recap will be coming soon.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, [MNR]

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[07.21.08] Monday Night Recap
- July 21, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] I know I posted it late, but the month’s almost up for July’s challenge! Get on it and send them in!
• [Turning 24] This past Thursday I celebrated my 24th birthday…man am I old! I started with work from 9-5 (I know…I should have taken the day off, but I need to save my vacation days). Afterward, I came home for dinner with my family and girlfriend, and then the two of us went to watch a movie in the park. A rather relaxing night.
  Last year, I made a point to respond to each person who wished me a happy birthday, but this year there were way too many sources! Text messages, phone calls, e-mails, facebook, twitter, IM…I just couldn’t do it! I’m thankful to all of you who did send messages though…if it makes you feel any better I did read them all!
  Oh, when you get this old, you rarely receive physical gifts, really…but my girlfriend came through yet again (isn’t she the greatest!):



• [Indo-Pak] I remember going to helping out with the Indo-Pak tournaments in the early 90′s since my cousin ran them, and this year I went back as a photographer. I’ll have a write-up once I process the images, but here’s what you get for now:






• [Girl Seeing] That’s a very loose translation of what Saturday held for me. It’s an Indian tradition for the groom (to be)’s family (elders) to go to the house of the bride (to be) and see the girl…and so on Saturday my family went to visit my girlfriend. About 15 from my side of the family drove over there, sat around and stared at each other, ate dinner, and returned. In the end, I think everything worked out because nobody is going to call off the wedding :)
• [Summer League] My season is over. Sadly, I wasn’t able to take any pictures this past week either! I was shooting Indo-Pak earlier in the evening, and made it to Summer League just in time for the last 3 games of the night, 2 of which I was playing in (we need more photographers!). The good news is we finally won! We had inter-league games, and we pulled out the first win in OT, and the second one we pulled away at the end. Even with those two wins, though, we weren’t able to get into the playoffs because of the point differential. Ah well, we played the spoiler determining the fate of a couple of teams in the West. Looking forward to seeing EVERYONE there next week for the playoffs and All-Star game!
• [Wedding Planning] Man is it busy! My sister’s wedding is this coming Saturday so it’s a last minute crunch on seating charts and details and such. The good news is I’ll have a lot of things taken care of and organized for my wedding next year! Yay for silver linings!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, Personal, [MNR]

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[07.14.08] Monday Night Recap
- July 14, 2008 -

• [Rough Thursday] Last Thursday I had a rough day. A bunch of last minute projects made me stay at work an hour late. Then I had to walk to the train in the rain. Then I drove through a hailstorm to get to the Men’s Warehouse in order to get fitted for my tux for my sister’s wedding in 2 weeks. I pulled into a parking lot to turn around and I hit pothole and popped my tire. And I still hadn’t packed for my trip. But I thought, ‘Ah well, it could be worse.’ And then I was fine. :)
• [North Carolina] Because you all are obviously wanting more, here’s a pic of part of the living area in the cottage I was staying at, and then a view of my “backyard”:






• [Linzy and Christiaan] Like I said before, I was out in North Carolina to shoot my first destination wedding! The wedding was at the beautiful Duke Chapel (…I’m still not a Duke fan), with the reception back at the Governor’s Club. I’ll have a full write-up later, but here’s a handful of teasers until then:

The chapel was AMAZING!






…inside and out…










• [Photographic History] Somewhere on the plane ride back I got a bit under the weather, and just felt like sleeping. But I got a quick call from my dad asking to go to my godparents place (his uncle) to take a portrait shot of them (which I wasn’t too excited about intially due to my ‘under-the-weather-ness’). You see, hanging in family room is a picture from India taken awhile ago with my Dad’s father, his brothers and their wives (minus the youngest brother, who is my godfather). So my dad wanted to get a picture of them in a similar pose/style blown up to hang right next to it. I don’t have a copy of the original, but this is what we’re blowing up:
  
  
  
  It really helped me remember the importance of photography in people’s lives. This is something that goes back many generations. My only knowledge of some of my grandfather’s brothers are purely through these pictures. I’m glad I’m able to provide a service like this which last well beyond even my client’s years.
• [Summer League] After the portraits I got changed up and headed out to summer league. There were some good news and bad news. The good news was I played like I knew what I was doing (unlike last week) and felt closer in skill to my younger days. But the bad news – we lost both our games. So that makes us 0-4, and the only team not to win a game yet. Sad! We’ve got to step it up big time next week as our league lives are on the line…I’ll have gone from being in the Eastern Conference finals last year to not even making the playoffs this year. Wish me luck!










• [The Shot] Sadly, I didn’t have a picture of this as I put my camera to get ready for my game. But just a story: Going into the day, there were 3 undefeated teams, and all 3 suffered their first loss. The one with all the attention was the Pistons vs. the Bulls. Clock winding down, tie game, Shawn Thomas with the ball…8, 7, 6…baseline, spin…5, 4…turnaround, fade, shoot…3…around the rim, SCORE! The Bulls had 2 seconds but couldn’t get a good shot, and so ended their run to perfection! This porved a couple things to me…1) Summer League is filled with MADNESS!, and 2) Never put down the camera. Sorry guys!
• [All-Star] This is probably most boring time in sports during the year, as none of the 4 major sports in the US have an official game going on. It’s the night of the MLB home run derby before the all-star game, but it just doesn’t have the same excitement as before for me. But the All-Star game tomorrow…the Cubbies got 8 represented (with Marmol taking Woods’s place because he has a blister)! Awesome!
• [2.0] The iPhone 3G came out, and over million were sold over the weekend (the original iPhone took 74 days to hit the one million mark). I’m still debating whether to switch over to AT&T once my contract with T-Mobile finishes up, but we’ll see. I must say, I am liking the 2.0 software though (played around with it on my brother-in-laws original iPhone…).

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, Modern Portraits, [MNR]

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[07.07.08] Monday Night Recap
- July 7, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] Sorry everyone for the delay…things have been VERY hectic as of late. I’ll get the challenge for July out by tomorrow, and post the June entries by Wednesday. (remember, you can keep sending them in until I post everyone’s submissions…my delay means more tme for you!)
• [All-Star] The MLB All-Star game is right around the corner, and the Cubbies will be sending 7 guys, including our rookies Soto and Fukodome! It’s also pretty impressive that Kerry got called as a closer…well-deserved recognition for the Cubbies. (I am a bit surprised that Soriano got voted as a starter with his limited action as of late, but ah well…I’m not complaining)
• [Linu and Sunil] On Saturday, I shot an engagement ceremony for Linu and Sunil, so I’ll have a full blog post coming up (…along with many other blog posts coming up :)), but here’s your tease to hold you over:



• [Summer League] The first day of summer league kicked off yesterday, and boy was it exciting! There was a new batch of rookies (and some vets back to prove a name for themselves) which proved to show for some tight games. Personally, I played as if I never shot a basketball before (we went 0-2 on day1), but it’s alright. Now that I know what it feels like to play again, I’m ready for next week! Here’s a couple shots, and you can find the rest on the summer league website (for the photogs, I normally shoot raw, but I did these jpg with limited post production for quick turnaround. I give much respect for sport shooters who have like a 10 minute turnaround time to turn images in for the web or paper while producing amazing images…it’s tough stuff!)
















• [Things to Come] So you all know, I’ll be flying out on Friday to shoot a wedding in North Carolina on Saturday, and I’ll be back on Sunday in time for day2 of summer league, so I’m not sure if you’ll hear much of me during that time. But I’m looking to get a couple posts up before I leave, so that should be a fair trade, right? :) Happy Monday everybody!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[06.30.08] Monday Night Recap
- June 30, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] As today is June 30th, get your submissions in NOW for the June Photo Challenge! I’ll post the next challenge later on this week (…oh, and if you have any ideas/suggestions for challenges, feel free to leave them in the comments).
• [Cubbies] After sweeping the Sox last week at Wrigley, they repaid the favor be sweeping us in the Cell this weekend. I’ll give them credit…it’s not like they’re a bad team, they’re leading the AL Central. What do you think…too soon to call a Cubs-Sox World Series?!?!

  |ETQ| The Cubs OWNED the Giants tonight in San Fran 9-2! DeRosa had 2 home runs (a grand slam in the 8th after they walked 3 straight batters to load the bases) and 6 RBIs…now that’s how you swing it back in the right direction!

• [Summer League] I can’t believe its almost here! The second annual Summer League is starting this coming Sunday (draft on Friday), and I am OUT OF SHAPE! I tried ballin’ with guys last week and was winded after 1 game. We played again today and I at least had better endurance…maybe playing indoors well bring me back to true form…maybe?!?!
• [Abigail] On Saturday I did a shoot of baby Abigail. Im not sure of what I’m supposed to call her…she’s my Dad’s-uncle’s-wife’s-brother’s-son’s-daughter. In any event, she’s family. Here’s a glimpse:



• [Jiju and Soumy] While I was there, I did a fun little portrait session of Abigail’s parents, Jiju and Soumy. They’ve been married for over a year, but had their wedding out in India and didn’t really have many relaxed portraits of just the two of them, so we made sure to get some there. Another glimpse:



• [Busy Schedule] I thought June was a busy time for me, but July is even busier! I’ve still got to get some dedicated posts up about Dianna and Joe’s wedding, Alexis’ Birthday, and now baby Abigail and Jiju and Soumy’s session. And looking ahead, I’ve got an engagement ceremony this Saturday, a wedding the week after [more details to come], a basketball tournament the week after that, and then my sister’s wedding on the last weekend! (I’m standing in that one, but maybe I can pull off a few snaps without getting in the pro’s way :) ) I’ll be hard at work so please be patient if it’s a little quiet on the bloggin’ front or responding to e-mails/comments- I’m definitely reading everything and planning on getting back to all of you soon! Back to work!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[06.23.08] Monday Night Recap
- June 23, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] 1 more week for this month! Remember, this challenge is about composition, and giving your keeping your subject OUT of the center of the frame.
• [Cubbies] We had tough break getting swept by Tampa last week, but we just owned the AL Central leading White Sox in the crosstown series! (For the record, I’m not a White Sox hater…but am a MUCH bigger Cubs fan). Surprisingly enough, I was busy enough that I didn’t get to see any of the games…how sad is that!? Ah well…
• [ABDC] I was very disappointed in America’s Best Dance Crew last wek…the people who killed it the season premiere dropped the ball, and the average dancers really put on a show. One thing, though…I don’t like there are these “Best…” shows that do not bring back previous competitors. It would have been better if you had like that top 3 from last year come back and defend…I mean, seriously. JabbaWockees, Kaba Modern and Status Quo should have to prove themselves year in and year out (of course, they’d obviously own the competition…but it’d still be fun). Just a thought…
• [Ben & Anee] On Saturday, another set of friends got married…yep, it happens A LOT in my community. I think this is the 3rd set this year where both the bride and groom were from my home church! I’ve known both of them for awhile and have served alongside them over the past year. It’s so exciting to see two people get together with such a great vision for the future.
  Showing up as a guest, I let the paid photog’s do all the work :). But here are a few I grabbed…

Ben walked his mother down the aisle…






Anee taking a breath before beginning her walk…






This cute little girl had her doll with her in this exact same position every time I saw her…






The details! The cake (v1)…






And here’s version 2…






In lieu of wedding favors, Ben and Anee made a donation to the Binil Samuel Memorial Fund on behalf of each guest…






For the past few years this used to be me – I was a part of the ‘wedding dance’ crew who would dance at many receptions. It seems like the guys get older and broken down much faster than the girls do, because my generation of guys seemed to all have retired. We used to dance with these girls…and now they just got the new crew of males to step up…I think we should battle one day :)








• [Alexis' Birthday Party] Happy 3rd Birthday Alexis!! Wow…my niece is now 3! Today is her official birthday, but yesterday we had a Luau party for her and her friends at the house…my goodness all these kids are growing up so fast! I’m actually able to have a bit of dialog with them, which makes them more entertaining for me (I mean, they’re cool when they’re younger, but this is the age I like). Here’s a glimpse of the party, with a recap to be posted later:






• [Reflections] On my train ride to work, I was listening to a podcast by Ravi Zacharias entitled ‘The Lostness of Man”. Here are a few quotes that really hit me that I felt like sharing:
• The fact of the matter is that man carries on this game of pretense into many, many arenas of his life. He is attempting to build civilizations when he does not know what it means to be civilized. He is trying to be a philosopher when he does not know who the master philosopher is. He is portraying his artistic perceptions, he does not know the master artist. He moralizes on life, but he does not know the moral law giver.
• (quoting Dr. John R.W. Stott) Many of the happenings of civilized society would not exist if it were not for human sin. A promise is not enough, we need a contract. Doors are not enough, we have to lock and bolt them…Law and order are not enough, we need police to enforce them. All these things and many others to which we have grown accustomed that we have taken them for granted are due to our sin. We cannot trust each other, we need protection from one another; it is a sorry state of affairs.
• …until [we] understand the heart of man, [we] will never understand the justification by faith.

So there’s a glimpse into what I contemplate during my days…enjoy! Happy Monday everybody!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, [MNR]

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[06.16.08] Monday Night Recap
- June 16, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] Yep…June’s challenge is right here.
• [Summer League] WOW. Within the first 7 days, we maxed our capacity for Summer League! Last year was the first season, and we had about 70 players…this year we boosted it to 90 and already maxed out! A waiting list is open for another week or so in case people drop for some reason, but regardless its time to get hype! Summer League is taking over Sunday nights!
• [Cubbies] 45-25. That’s right…best record in baseball, 20 games over .500. PLEASE! Somebody take me to a (couple) game(s)!!!!!!!
• [NBA] The playoffs should be over. I mean, the past two games, the Lakers were up by at least 19 points, and blew the lead. They somehow were able to pull it out in the last game, but I really don’t think they can survive too more games…do you?
  
• [Painting] Some of you know that my sister is getting married in July. And it’s bit of a tradition in our community (I don’t know where the tradition started or why) that when someone gets married a part of the house gets remodeled in some way, shape or form (yeah…the tradition doesn’t make sense, I know). I think for my oldest sister we redid our bathrooms. This time I around, we repainted our family room, so the weekend was spent setting it up and paiting it all…looks good, though. Once the paint dries we’ll be good to go!
• [Picture] And so I don’t have a post without a picture, here’s one from a set I’m currently working on…

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[06.09.08] Monday Night Recap
- June 9, 2008 -

I know it’s past midnight, but I just got back from a fun dinner with the Bebbs and some others (I’ll update with links to their sites/blogs when I have a bit more time).

• [Photo Challenge] I know I’ve been very delayed on the last results (apologies), but remember: the new one is already posted!
  
• [Summer League] Last year we had an amazing time at the first annual Summer Basketball League, and since it was met with such great enthusiasm, we’re doing it again! Get the word out because registration ends June 30th and the season starts on Sunday, July 6th. We can only take a maximum of 90 players, and we’re a third of the way there (in only about 2 days), so hurry up! (side note: for anyone who registered this weekend prior to 10am this morning, you need to re-register as our system went down and we lost your info…sorry guys!)
  
• [Things To Come] You’ve probably noticed a few changes going on here, most obviously with my new imge brand. It’s just the beginning, as I have some changes coming up hopefully at the end of the month. Keep an eye out…here’s a blurry teaser…
  


• [Boda Bag] I ordered the original Boda Bag and I got it in the mail this past Friday, just in time for an e-session and wedding. I borrowed Kenny‘s when I second shot with him and I knew I needed it…I’m happy!
  
• [Lenie & Namrita] On Saturday morning I shot an e-session for Lenie and Namrita in Chicago, who are getting married in Atlanta July 12th. Here’s a quick favorite:
  


• [Dianna & Jeff] After the e-session, I had a quick break before heading over to shoot the wedding of Dianna and Joe. Of course, I’ll do a more thorough recap later, for now I’ll let a few picture talk:
  





• [ABDCv2] Anybody watch the live casting of the second season of America’s Best Dance Crew? I’m impressed with a couple groups, but a little upset with a few of the crews that advanced. What do you think? I’m thinking its Supreme Soul will take it all…quote it here.
  
• [The Bebbs] The Bebbs were in town all the way from Vancouver, Canada for their Bebbinar Seminar this week, so a bunch of the photogs got together for a dinner at Weber Grill downtown. It’s always a blast hanging out with everyone. Sadly, regardless of how late I get in…I still need to wake up early. Ah well, so is life. Goodnight everyone!
  

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Couples Lifestyle Sessions, [MNR]

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[06.02.08] Monday Night Recap
- June 2, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] As always, I’m providing a bit of a grace period for last month’s challenge. Keep sending it in until I post the submissions. I’ll hopefully have the next challenge up sometime tomorrow…keep an eye out!
• [Cubbies] How could you miss it? They went 7-0 on this past 7-game homestand! I LOVE IT! #1 in the majors (oh, and the White Sox are #1 in the AL Central working off a 3-game losing streak…well done to you as well). We’ve been coming from behind and proving ourselves, so I’m pretty happy. Tonight we’ve got Zambrano on the mound looking for his 8th win…I’m feeling good!
• [Bulls] Looks like its almost official we got ourselves a new head coach…good ol’ Doug Collins. Not sure how it’ll look from a win/loss outlook, but it will definitely be a nostalgic time with Collins back in charge (…I know I was like 4 when he coached, but still…I know history!).
• [Youth Chaplain] This past Saturday, my home church held a special program to meet our new youth chaplain, a pastor who will be dedicated to the youth and young adults of our church. It started with a short discussion time with everyone, and followed with a rousing game of softball! I like shooting things like this for fun at times, because it lets me have some fun with the processing…what do you think?






















• [Baby Seylah] On Saturday, I visited my to-be sister-in-law, and took a bunch of portraits of their newest addition. She seriously didn’t have a care in the world during the shoot…got to love it. I think this one is my favorite…I think…



• [Facebook Friends] Are you desperate for friends on facebook? This seems to be a great way to meet new people and get new friends! What do you think…would you ever purchase/where this?



(oh, and if you aren’t my friend on facebook yet, you can find my profile here :) )

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Portraits, Personal, [MNR]

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[05.26.08] Monday Night Recap
- May 26, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] There’s about a week left in this month’s challenge! This one takes a bit more ‘creativity’ and possible ‘work’ than the earlier ones, but I know my blog readers can do it! Looking forward to seeing your work!
• [Cubbies] We’ve hit a bit of a slide lately, but no worries. Still holding strong at #1 in the NL Central…you can’t win ‘em all, right?
• [LinkedIn] I’ve been trying to expand my network/’net-worth’ in many ways, as well as broaden my connections with others. My latest attempt is through the online professional network of LinkedIn. I’ve avoided it before just because I didn’t feel like joining another online network, but I recently recognized just how beneficial it could be. The biggest thing for me is realizing what everyone does! I have many friends in many different industries (medicine, teaching, engineering, business, etc.), but I really never knew what it was specifically. By knowing other people’s industries and abilities, we can find a way to see how we can benefit them, or they might be able to provide help for us. So get connected!
• [Surprise Party] On Friday, I shot Ajoy’s surprise birthday party thrown by his sisters, held at Bin36 in downtown Chicago. Everything was beautifully set up and everybody had a great time. Here’s a detail shot to hold you over until i get them all processed:



• [2 Years] On Saturday, my girlfriend and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We don’t always have tons of time to spend with each because she’s normally out in Champaign and we both have busy schedules (even in the summer), but we were able to take a day trip together downtown to Navy Pier. For her sake, though, I left the camera at home (…but I do plan on making another Navy Pier trip this summer for the purpose of taking pictures). We wandered the loop, went to Millennium Park, had dinner at Capi’s, saw a Vaudeville Magician, went on the Ferris Wheel, and took a Seadog boat ride (note: wear many layers on that thing…it’s cold!) All in all, it was a blast and very well needed.
• [CMTC] On Sunday, it was a special time at my home church, as we had two of our diocesan bishops visiting. Because of the occasion, we had a combined service with both our church and the St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, held in Evanston Township High School. Here’s one of my favorites…:



• [Nap Time] I used to take a lot more naps when I was in college, but I was so drained yesterday afternoon that I took one after church…for 5 hours. During that time, I missed out on a softball game (we try to play softball on Sundays when people are free…first time this summer) as well as an after party/hangout. But I don’t mind…I needed the rest :)
• [Memorial Day] As you probably noticed, this is an early post, because of Memorial Day. I’ll be heading over to my girlfriend’s place for lunch, and then going to my sister’s inlaws for dinner. I like these extended weekends, but I’m dreading a bit to go back to work…going to be some busy times this week. Ah well, so is life…Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[05.19.08] Monday Night Recap
- May 19, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] We’ve got a little over a week left in this month’s challenge. This one requires a bit more ‘creativity’ on your part as the photographer, but should be tons of fun! Get ‘em in!
  
• [Twitter] I tried doing this before, and after one tweet (is that what it’s called?) I stopped. But I’m going to try to get back on this again. Maybe I’ll even start updating my Facebook away message with twitter as I seem to be a bit bad about updating that one either. Soooo…FOLLOW ME!
  
• [Equinox] It happened. I renewed my contract with my gym (after going like 5 times in the past 6 months). But I’m determined now. I met with a Personal Trainer (complimentary) and they told me just how out of shape of was, which will hopefully kick me in the right direction. Wish me luck and make sure I go more regularly!
  
• [Cubbies] Still flying high in first place in the NL Central. Today we take care of the Astros 7-2, capped with an inside-the-park home run by our catcher Geovany Soto. I definitely need to find a way to make it to a couple games this year. Please take me!
• [Children's Museum] So, it seems that through my work, I get free access (along with 3 guests) to the Chicago Children’s Museum. I think it might seem a bit shady for me to walk around there taking pictures of random children, so if anyone is interested in going on a Saturday when I’m free, I’d be more than happy to get you in (…s long as you don’t mind me photographing you and your child).
  
• [Playoffs] I feel like I haven’t been as ‘into’ the NBA playoffs…but its reaching the end. We got Boston vs. Detroit and the Lakers vs. the Spurs. Who you got? I’m not much of a fan of any of these squads, but I think I’d like to see KG get one…he deserves it.
  
• [Podcasts] I have about a 45 minute trip to and from the city everyday, and so many times I try to read during the train ride, but sometimes it’s just not feasible to pull out a book. So I’ve been quite into listening to podcasts, and decided I might as well give you guys a list of a few that I listen to quite regularly (in no particular order):
• Photoshop User TV (video) – Before I even started photography, I’ve been following these guys because they provide quite of few interesting tips and tricks in using Photoshop.
• The [b] School (video) – Becker (photographer) has been putting out these video shorts in prepartion for his online [b] school for photographers. I recommend any into photography as more than just a hobby to check out these videos as he covers many things from contracts to organization and many things in between.
• Desiring God Sermon Audio - A great preacher and author in John Piper provides these sermon podcasts that are very deep and powerful. It takes a bit of focus to really understand, but its amazing and challenging to hear the passion of this man.
• A New Beginning with Greg Laurie – Pastor Greg Laurie is from California and I’ve been following his podcasts for a few years now. He has a pretty laid back approach in his preaching style, and is able to speak clearly and simply well not watering down a message.
• TEDTalks – TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and it’s been an conference that’s been held for years bringing together the greatest thinkers and doers of our age to share their knowledge. These keynotes have all been posted online, and its very inspirational. Topics can range from advancements in medical science to using the Wii as a virtual white board. It’s amazing to see the potential of our world through these talks.
• Let My People Think (RZIM) - This podcast is from Ravi Zacharias, who is one of the most powerful Christian apologist I have ever heard. His theology and explanation is extremely profound, but again requires focus to truly understand. It’s not something you can multi-task with (…at least I can’t without getting confused).
  
• [Jane and Alan] Last year I had the pleasure of shooting an e-session and engagement ceremony for my friend’s Jane and Alan, and this past Saturday was their wedding! I attended as a guest, but I just had to bring my camera out. I’ll post more later, but here’s a little teaser for you:
  








• [Nisha and Joel] For those who don’t know, my sister is getting married this summer, and so on Sunday I did an e-session with them out in Prospect Heights. Again, I’ll have a more detailed post when I process all the images, but I feel it’s only right I leave you with another teaser:
  






• [ICF] After the e-session, I made my way over to an alumni reunion of the Indian Christian Fellowship, which was a ministry I served in during my time at the University of Illinois. It was a great time to reconnect with many of the alumni as well as recent grads…and you guessed, more images will come later, but for now a tease:
  

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 Events, [MNR], engagement

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[05.12.08] Monday Night Recap
- May 12, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] April’s is posted…got anything yet? Have FUN with it!
  
• [Busy] Yep, another busy week ahead. Wedding planning tonight (I know…a year and a half away…madness), physical fitness test tomorrow (so someone will officially tell me I’m overweight), family time on Wednesday, birthday party on Thursday, wedding Saturday…hmmm…I think I have a break on Friday? That’ll fill up, I’m sure.
• [Diversity Day] Have you guys seen the ‘Diversity Day‘ episode in Season 1 of The Office? HILARIOUS! I bring it up because I just had a diversity training meeting thing last week at work, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was more like the guest speaker than the way Michael ran it, but entertaining nonetheless. I did get this nice book of different actions/words that can trigger the buttons of others…I’m thinking of trying a few out soon :) I wish I could go through all of them, but here’s one of my favorites…has this happened to you?



• [Cubbies] 12-3 tonight. I love it…we’ve won 4 straight at home…how can you NOT love it?
• [Kids] On Saturday I went over to my girlfriend’s place to visit since she’s finally back from U of I for the summer, and there were a handful of children under the age of 3 there which was entertaining. (the one in the Old Navy sweatshirt is not under 3, just so you know…)








• [Goodnight] I wish I had more to post for you, but I’m tired. Got anything you want me to post about? Let me know!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[05.05.08] Monday Night Recap
- May 5, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] If you missed the announcement last weekend, the new photo challenge is up, and it’s the most fun to date (at least to me)! I’ll get last month’s submissions up shortly for ‘symmetry’.
• [Dawn and Richard] On Saturday, I second shot with Kenny Nakai for the wedding of Dawn and Richard, with the reception held at the Sofitel Hotel in downtown Chicago. Let me tell you, everything was GORGEOUS! Dawn had consistency from her bouquets to the centerpieces (and everything in between). Here’s another teaser as I go through the images:








• [Nieces] Madelyn is now almost 7 weeks old, so the parents decided to do a little photoshoot of the sisters. (For reference, I think the best time to do newborn pics are around the 12 week mark, when the baby is able to hold their head up steadily for the most part) People say they look like me…what do you think?



• [Another Niece] My family just keeps growing (a bit premature)! Last Thursday my girlfriend’s sister had their second child, and I was finally able to get a glimpse of baby Seylah. Obviously I can’t see a baby without taking a few snaps. I love when baby’s yawn:



• [UPS] You know, I don’t understand why they make their deliveries during normal business hours..especially if they require a signature. I’ve missed my 70-200 because of this…sadness. I need to start sending shipments to my work address.
• [Interviews] Lately I’ve been reading about a lot of photographers being interviewed and such…so I just wanted throw my name in the hat as well! A friend of mine did an interview about my for a paper. It was actually very insightful for me and I recommend everyone to do it consistently even for your own benefit. It made me reflect on my foundational passion for photography and purpose behind it all. It’s good to do this for whatever you are doing consistently as it will keep you more focused and grounded. Oh, and she got an A on the paper! I love knowing my life is worth an A. :)
• [Cubbies] It’s been a tough streak so far, dropping 8 of the last 11. But that’s why it’s a 162-game season…much more to go and we’re still in 2nd in the division. Keep hope alive!
• [Busy Week] Just a heads up…you probably won’t hear much from me this week as I’ve got a bunch of meetings and such throughout. Hope you don’t miss me to much!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Portraits, [MNR]

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[04.28.08] Monday Night Recap
- April 28, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] FINAL NOTICE! April’s challenge of “symmetry” is coming to a close. Get your submissions in ASAP!
  
• [lensrentals.com] Just wanted to give a quick shoutout to LensRentals. I wanted to try out the 70-200 before purchasing, so I rented it for the weekend. Quality condition, and extremely fast shipping (2 days!). I am very impressed. Oh, and here’s an image of what I was dealing with:
  
  
  
  
• [Deb and Cabin Preview (and #25)] This past weekend I went out to St. Louis (next bullet point) to second shoot the wedding of Deb and Cabin with Kenny Nakai, which was a great time to try out the 70-200. I had a blast, and Deb an Cabin were an absolutely gorgeous couple (they made my job so easy)! Here’s a little teaser as I start going through the images…I’ll blog a bit more as I get through all of them. Be sure to check out Kenny’s blog as he’ll be posting soon too! (And #25 of my ‘28 in 2008‘ list has been completed- second shooting with someone)
  
  

  

  

  

• [1 of 5 States (#6)] …And that also helped me completed part of #6 on that list. I’m not much of a traveler, so going to 5 states in one year is a lot for me. Being in St. Louis, MO was state number 1. We were literally there for less than 24 hours, so not too much sight seeing or visiting friends, but it still counts!
  
• [Never Eat Alone (#7)] This post is long overdue, so I figured I’ll just throw it in here. My book for March (I know…I’m a month late…sorry!) was “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi. Its an interesting read, covering his life and view of the world around him. He stresses the importance of networking, and more so the value of your network. By providing various case studies (many from his own life), he shows just how important we can be to the people around us (and them to us). By looking at relationships and networking with an unselfish motive, it provides the greatest benefit to all.
  
  
  
  For April, I purchased 2 books, and started one of them: “How To Win Friends and Influence People”. It’s a classic and a good foundational book, which is mainly repeating many of the standards and views I was taught growing up. A long read though, which I won’t finish this month. Ah well, I will still read at least 12 books (and purchase 12 books) this year.
• [The Office] I don’t believe I blogged about this recently, but The Office has been back with new episodes for the past couple weeks! I love Thursdays again! If you’ve never seen it, go and watch them, and set aside your Thursday nights for this. I’ve been impressed/entertained greatly with the new episodes…have you?
• [Leadership Meeting] On Sunday, my church had a meeting among the leadership body of our youth/young adult ministries. It was good for us to re-connect and start progressing in standards of leadership. I’m excited to see the growth and change that is going on, and look forward to what’s ahead.
  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  
  
• [Chicago Weather] Who wants to complain with me? This is what see today from my Google weather:
  
  
  

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[04.14.08] Monday Night Recap
- April 14, 2008 -

• [Cubbies] An off day today, but we’re still above 500! It’s the little victories that keep me going…it’s still early. I still haven’t seen a game yet (not even on TV!), but that’s why its a 162 game season.
• [Photo Challenge] We’re halfway through the month! Keep taking those pictures and get your images in for the photo challenge!
• [UIUC] So this past weekend I made my last trip of the semester down to U of I to visit my wonderful girlfriend (and all the others). It was a rather busy time for everyone, so I wasn’t able to make my visits and such like I normally do, but I still had a blast. It’s always great to go back…my home away from home.
• [CFC] I got in Friday night, and caught the end of large group at Covenant Fellowship Church, the church I attended during my undergrad. Although I’ve been gone for over a year, it still feels like I’ve been there every week day in and day out. On Sunday, Pastor Min game a message on our dual natures which makes me want to go back and hear the podcast from last week’s message (since this was part two). A little something-something that caught my attention:
• Don’t be too impressed with the greatness of people, and don’t be too surprised by their sin
• Growth is not a weaker propensity of sin, but just a stronger ability to fight
• [ICF] My other ministry on campus was the Indian Christian Fellowship, and I was able to hang out with a select group on Friday night. A quick game of catchphrase followed by a rousing time of the bowl game kept us busy until the wee hours of the morning. Good times!



• [Bloomington] On Saturday, Nithya and I took a trip out to Bloomington to visit my good friends Jason and Susan, and their little one Isabelle. One thing I love about Bloomington: the price of gas was $3.20. That was about 20 cents cheaper than what was at U of I, which is a few cents cheaper than up here! It was a fun catching up with them and spending some time with Isabelle. She’s quite the character!






And here she is getting ready to enjoy her long awaited dessert:




• [Colbert] Anyone watch the Colbert Report today from Philly? He sang the National Anthem with John Legend. I must say, he did surprise me…he’s got a decent voice.
• [Delayed Posts] Keep an eye out, as I’ve fallen behind on quite a few posts that I wanted to get out. Things like an S&P on TaDa Lists, a book review on ‘Never Eat Alone’ (I’ve started my new book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’…it might take me over a month to finish though), and some photography tips are just a piece of what to expect. Sorry for the delay!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[04.07.08] Monday Night Recap
- April 7, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] The April challenge is posted here, and for those who don’t feel like clicking the link to see the theme…that’s just sad. (The theme is “symmetry”)
  
• [Cubbies] It’s still early, but I’m liking how they’ve played. Just won a few games (3 straight), and are now above 500 at 4-3. Keep it up, guys! Hopefully I’ll get some time this year to check out a game or so…
• [Baptism] On Saturday morning, I had the honor of photographing my cousin’s baptism. Earlier I had taken his newborn pictures, and it’s crazy to see how much he has grown since! It was also fun to see some of the family again (though the time was short). I haven’t gone through all the images, but here’s a little something-something for you:

Matt, Ravita and baby Vivek (enamored by the candles)…

Big sister Sureya (I LOVE this shot!)…

And I love this! Completely unposed. Am I the only one reminded of The Little Rascals?…

• [Bachelor Party] This weekend we had a two-day extravaganza bachelor party for my soon-to-be brother-in-law Joel, and his best friend Alan (whom I shot their engagement last year). Can’t get into too much details but it was a fun (and draining) time. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan Avenue, and then had many fun filled activities through the two days. We had a little fun with some scavenger hunting-ish-ness downtown, and so I was able to get some great pics of one of my favorite things: SUN FLARE! Some people hate the high sun when they shoot, but if you know how to use light, it can be a beautiful thing!

• [NCAA Tourney] Today is the final day…and I’m still in it! This is the first time since the Illini made it the finals that I’ve had my pick for the championship game made it to the finals. And if Memphis wins, I’ll have won my pool that I had with my college friends! (And I’ll probably be in the top 5 for the other pools I was in…awesome!) I’m pretty proud of myself…but first we need Memphis to pull this out. Here’s to hoping!
• [Taxes] Just a reminder, April 15th is around the corner, so take care of everything NOW!
• [Above the Weather?] So at the end of last week, I finally got better. Than the weekend filled with non-stop activities and no sleep has left me not at my best again…so that means time for rest!

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, [MNR]

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[03.31.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 31, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] So today is officially the last day for the photo challenge, but I’ll give a couple day grace period for people to send their images in. It was fun seeing the “yellow” from others perspective. In the next day or so, I’ll post the collection of images that have been sent for the first challenge (and state my ‘favorite’) as well as post the challenge for April. I’m building a new site for the photo challenge to make it easier to view the images and stay up-to-date with the challenge, but that might only be completely later in the year (I’ve got like 5 site designs/re-designs that I’m working on for the year). So if you haven’t sent it yet, SEND YOUR IMAGES NOW!
• [Under the Weather] So over the weekend I came down with a bad cold, which was terrible because I went to visit Madelyn and couldn’t hold her. I put myself on bed-rest yesterday (took a 6 hour nap), and am slowly feeling better. Because of this, I haven’t been able to do my same day / day-after photo posts, but I’ll have something at the end to get you coming back.
• [Home Opener] Today was the home opener for the Chicago Cubs, and how else would we start a season than with a rain delay followed by an extra inning loss? Zambrano pitched a great game, but I guess we just couldn’t finish. Well, it’s only 1 game in a 162-game season, so anything can happen. All this to say – I love BASEBALL!
• [JabbaWockees] As I called it, Jabba won the Best Dance Crew title (so what if all my other assumptions were wrong?). The final show was entertaining, with a great collective performance by Jabba, Kaba and Fish. I expected a much better final routine, but can’t complain…they kept me entertained all season long. I wonder what season 2 will bring- dancers on stilts? Skateboarders?
• [NCAA Tournament] For the first time in history, all four #1 teams made it to the Final Four. Impressive. And with that, there’s still a chance that I can win at least one of the pools I’m in. So this is what I need…Memphis over UCLA, Kansas over UNC (even though I had UNC in the finals for one of brackets), and Memphis winning it all. So everyone wish your good feelings on this…I think I have a free dinner riding on this!
• [Uncle Bob] The term ‘Uncle Bob’ is used among photographer’s to define that person/family member who shows up to weddings and such with their own camera, and normally hangs over the photographer’s shoulders taking all the pictures they set up and such. Now, this can pose a bit of an issue, as the people in the picture sometimes look at his camera, his flash ruins the exposure of your shots, he gets in the way of your picture, etc. Different photographers deal with it differently, and all I ask for people is to just respect the photographer. Many will let you take pictures and such, just follow their directions so that the pro’s pictures (the one the couple paid for) turn out the way they expect.
  I bring this up because this past weekend was my friend’s engagement ceremony, and they hired a photographer friend of mine, Kenny Nakai, to shoot the event. At the end of it he was going through formal portraits with everyone, and I just thought it was hilarious seeing all the other cameras. He did a great job letting people get their pictures while making sure he got his as well. Normally you’re looking through your own camera and you don’t notice it, but this is what the photographer is dealing with.

And possibly my favorite…

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, Personal, [MNR]

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[03.24.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 24, 2008 -

• [Easter] Quite possibly my favorite holiday. It really refocuses me, and helps me put everything in perspective. I hope everyone had a blessed Easter!
• [NCAA Tourney] And this is quite possibly the least productive weekend for me all year. This first weekend is the most exciting, tracking teams that I’ve never watched before. And like always, I have a few teams that lead most of the game, blow the second half, and totally mess up my brackets (thank you Georgia, Clemson). I’m still fighting strong, though, but hanging out a thread.
• [NCAA Tourney #2] I’ve made 6 different brackets, and am in 4 different pools (4 on ESPN, 1 on Facebook, 1 on Yahoo Sports). The hard thing is it takes so much effort to figure out who to cheer for! I might have one team winning in one pool but losing in another. Then I waste so much time figuring out which one is most worthwhile to win so I can win a pool…and then I need to think about which pool I have the best chance of winning, and so forth and so on. It’s tough! I need to figure out a better way to do this next year so it’s not so mind boggling.
• [Dance Crew] It happened. Jabba Wockees and Kaba Modern split the Asian vote, which kept Status Quo safe last week. Which meant Jabba and Kaba went head-to-head, causing Kaba to go home. It’s very sad- they should have both been in the finals this week. Ah well, now it’s up to Jabba to take care of the high-flying antics of Status Quo.
• [Photo Challenge] Just a reminder that there’s less than week to get your submissions in for the March Photo Challenge (Yellow). Keep shooting and get them in fast!
• [Perception] Check out this video:
  
  Did it work? It gets me thinking on so many levels…Leave a comment whether “it worked on you” or not. I’d love to get some stats on this thing.
• [Spring Break] Only in Chicago is there a ‘snow storm’ during Spring Break. Luckily (or unluckily, I guess), the corporate world doesn’t have spring breaks, so it didn’t really hurt me too much. Still sad though. But high schoolers have this week off, which should be nicer for them. Congrats!
• [Madelyn] Might as well throw some pictures in this post, huh? Enjoy!

Her eyes are HUGE!

Big sister Alexis will obviously still get her picture too…

Madelyn with daddy…

She started getting a little camera shy, I think…that can’t be a good sign :)

Big sister is doing a good job helping take care of Madelyn as well…

And that’s the end of that photoshoot! Let me know if you get sick of these (not that I’ll stop, but it’s still nice to get some feedback :) ).

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[03.17.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 17, 2008 -

• [Illinois] After a disappointing season, I was thoroughly impressed that they made to the Big 10 Finals. I mean, they were a 10 seed going in expected to lose the first game, and came one game short of an NCAA Tourney birth. Rough season, but well played at the end (minus the last game…a little disappointed).
• [Tourney Time] It’s finally here! So, I really haven’t followed college ball this season at all, but I’m still excited for the tourney. Brackets are out so start building yours! I’ve created a public group on ESPN so make a bracket and join up. It doesn’t matter what you know of the game – I used to watch the games religiously in college and still couldn’t be in the top 50% of any tournament. Hurry, brackets get locked on Thursday, March 20th!
• [Girlfriend] She’s Back! She’s on her spring break now, and it’s rough that it’s during Passion Week as my evenings are busier and I still work days (I wish we got a spring break), but we were able to hang out Saturday evening. We watched this movie called Margot at the Wedding (her choice) starring Nicole Kidman…I was lost the whole time. I really don’t think there was much of a plot or character development…it did take up quite a bit of time. I think I actually fell asleep a bit too. Ah well, better luck next time.
• [Vantage Point] Yesterday we celebrated my brother-in-law’s brother’s 30th birthday. My goodness have we all grown up. After dinner with the family, a couple of us went out and watched Vantage Point with Dennis Quaid and Forest Whitaker. I’m not going to ruin it for you guys, but it’s an interesting concept but could have been written a lot better. A lot of details could have been added to make it a top movie…for now, it’s just ‘decent’. But definitely better than that Margot movie…definitely.
• [Passion Week] A bit late as yesterday was Palm Sunday, but we are now in Passion Week, remembering the week up through Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross followed by His resurrection. I’ll be busy most nights with church stuff so I probably won’t be able to blog much. In any case, wanted to get this resource out to you all – it’s a collection of bible passages that account Jesus’ last week. It’ll be a good way to reflect during this week.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[03.10.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 10, 2008 -

March Photo Challenge: Yellow

• [Bulls] It was a rough weekend…we got rocked Friday night by Boston, and then got our first loss to Detroit this season yesterday…geez. Even still, we’re still fighting for a playoff spot…I love the Eastern Conference!
• [Bears] We re-signed Briggs and Rex. We lost Moose, we lost Berrian, we lost Ayanbadejo, got rid of Griese. We picked up Marty Booker…again. Lord help us.
• [Daylight Savings] To make up for ‘losing’ an hour on Sunday, I took like a 3 hour nap. Still haven’t been able to sleep in until 11am once this year yet, but an extended nap is always nice.
• [Facebook Notes] Seems facebook is really delayed in importing my blog posts…I posted Saturday afternoon and it still has uploaded that one yet. So remember, if you want to get my posts as it happens, subscribe to the feed with Google Reader!
• [Dance Crew] Yep…still impressed. They did a throwback special to Michael Jackson, and as Shane Sparks would say, they “killed it…murdered it.” The way I see it, Status Quo will be out next, then BreakSkate…then Kaba Modern meaning Jabba will take it all! You can quote me on this.
• [NCAA Tourney] I haven’t followed college basketball at all this year, and it’s on pretty much every channel now as they tourney is right around the corner. Not following it, though, just might give me the best chance as ever before because I always over-analyze everything. Is anyone doing a pool? Let me know…
• [Uncle Soon] It’s only a matter a time, but I will soon have my second niece! In a few weeks, get ready for many pictures of the new little one.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[03.03.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 3, 2008 -

• [Internet] For some reason, my internet has been acting up since last night…majority of the time I can’t access any page, and sometimes it takes 5 minutes to load my homepage. It took me forever to even get to the site to post this blog…hopefully it all works well when I actually try to post it (didn’t work, hence the reason its posted on Tuesday morning).
• [SALT] Friday evening and Saturday I spent at SALT (South Asian Leadership Training), which was held at the Comfort Inn in Des Plaines, IL. I love working with college kids, and it was a great time for me to re-connect with some U of I kids. The event was co-hosted by Cornerstone Fellowship and Campus Crusades of UIC. I’ll have a photo post recap later this week (when my internet works a lot better, hopefully). For now, my ‘press pass’:



• [PassingTheTorch] It’s finally over. I spent 2007 serving as the vice president of my church’s youth fellowship, and this past Sunday was ‘officially’ my last day in that position. It was a very stretching year for myself and our church in general, and I know that God has some amazing things in store for the year to come.
• [PhotoChallenge] Last Friday I thought of having a monthly photo challenge where I post a theme and get blog readers to send in their photo interpretation of said theme, and it was met with a great response. So I’ll be posting the first theme tomorrow morning, with more details/directions as to how the process will work. I’m so excited!
• [NewBook] I did finish my book for February, which was “unChristian” by David Kinnaman. I’ll have the recap posted shortly as well (I’ve got so much to blog!). My book for March is “Never Eat Alone”, which covers the concept of purposeful relationships and building relational networks.
• [Girlfriend] My girlfriend came home this weekend for the SALT Conference, and I was able to spend some good, quality time with her. I saw her at SALT Friday and Saturday, on Sunday went to her sister’s place for dinner (Jaden is slowly starting to like me…I think…), and then she came over on Monday. Good times indeed! In a couple a weeks she’ll be back for Spring Break…that’s one whole week! I love it!

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[02.25.08] Monday Night Recap
- February 25, 2008 -

• [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 :)

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natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR], engagement

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[02.18.08] Monday Night Recap
- February 18, 2008 -

• [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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natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR], engagement

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[02.11.08] Monday Night Recap
- February 11, 2008 -

• [UIUC] I posted yesterday about my festivities at U of I. It’s always so fun to go and visit, but my time feels so short (even though I take Friday off of work to visit!). No matter how much time I have, I still can’t find time to meet with everyone I’d like to. Sorry people- next time we’ll create a list with 1.5 hour slots…will that work? Keep in touch even if I don’t visit! E-mail, IM…whatever!
• [TheKingdom] On night #1, we watched The Kingdom…I thought it was very well made. There’s something about these movies that get to me…keeps me interested. It always attempts to show the humanity of both sides. Opens up minds to perspective.
• [CFC] It’s great going ‘home’. I post this every time, but whenever I go back there’s always a handful of people not just saying ‘welcome back’ but ‘welcome home.’ I spent 4 and a half years being raised/trained there, and while many have left (including myself), we still have a bond that transcends location. A bit of teaching that hit me:
• at every single moment, we are seeking maximum pleasure
• past events don’t determine our current choices, though they do influence them
• Repentance is more “God Help Me” than “God Forgive Me”
• [Disappointed] My girlfriend and I had an early Valentine’s celebration since she’s away at school. We were searching for things to do and stumbled upon an event called “Covered in Chocolate” held in Monticello, IL. There were many different events, and we got tickets to go to a live jazz show with a chocolate buffet. And let me tell you, we were a bit disappointed. The jazz band was nice (though I guess we’re not that cultured to love it), but the buffet was said. It seriously seemed like a small table with 3 different chocolate items that they just purchased from Meijer. We made the most of the night and had a blast, but we expected more…I’m just saying. Maybe it’ll get better over time.
• [Allerton] The event was held at Allerton Park in Monticello. It was late at night when we were driving, and the place is not lit at all…no real street signs or lamp posts. We found our way by the occasional “Allerton Park -> ” signs. I’ve heard the grounds are amazing there, but the outdoor area is not lit at all to notice at night…so sad. We were inside one of the buildings for the jazz event, and it is a rather beautiful place. Anyone having a wedding in the Champaign area, I recommend booking the place (and book me too!), because you can get some great photos there. We did wander around a bit and took our share of photos in there, but my girlfriend’s bit shy, so I won’t post (all of) them.
• [SelfPortraits] People have always asked what who we’re going to hire for our wedding. I always tell them that I’m going to do it…I mean, I’m going to have the best view right up front. I’ll also set up a few cameras on tripod with a wireless remote in my pocket for different angles. Everyone thinks I’m joking…I don’t know what to tell them. But here’s proof of what’s possible! This was one camera, no tripod, no flash, no nothing! It might take us like 8 hours to do an e-session having to set everything up, but it’s possible! What do you think?

*I’m getting into a habit of pulling over on the side of the road when I drive. The banner picture is from one of those stops on my drive back from Champaign. Here is the full picture…

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natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[02.04.08] Monday Night Recap
- February 5, 2008 -

Got home kinda late, but still getting the MNR up…look how dedicated I am!

• [SuperBowl] I’ll repeat what everyone else said: Boring 3 and a half quarters, and then an amazing finish! I did call it though. I said the 4th quarter would be amazing, I said Brady and the Patriots score too quickly, I said Manning was Grossman with better luck (he lofted quite a few at the end), and I called the last drive completely being Brady to Moss. I like the sound of 18-1…though I’m not a fan of of the Giants at all. Fun time watching though.
• [SuperAds] I wasn’t too impressed with any of the superbowl ads this year. I guess I was just expecting more. But this one I thought was greatly written and executed. It’s the one from Matt Hasselback…hilarious, in my eyes.
• [Lent] I barely eat enough as it is (and I get in trouble all the time for it), so sacrificing food doesn’t do much for me. But what I’m trying to do is sacrifice a bit of sleep. Hopefully this will become a habit…I’m waking trying to wake up between 6 and 6:30 everyday so I won’t be as rushed in the mornings, and do my quiet times at home instead of on the train. Wish me luck!
• [PottyTraining] Alexis was over this weekend, and she’s in the process of being potty trained…and is doing a great job (or so I’m told). It’s entertaining, because when she has to go, she stops what she’s doing and runs to the bathroom and says, ‘I’ve go that feeling.’
• [Fog] It’s crazy…I could barely see anything driving tonight. I practically got lost going to Lucky Strikes for bowling.
• [LuckyStrike] A bunch of photographers from the Chicgoland area got together tonight and went bowling at the Lucky Strike Lanes out in Lombard. It was some fun times. Mad props (yes, Mad ones..I don’t give those out all the time) go out to Jason Kazcorowski for setting this all up. You haven’t really bowled until you’ve walked towards the lane with 5 cameras pointed at you, and 3 flashes when you’re releasing the ball! People must have thought we were crazy. Sadly, I bowled one of the worst games in my life (64), and we only bowled one game. So I definitely will find some time next weekend to bowl…I don’t care if it’s by myself. I’m going to prove that I still have my 150 average…I promise! I’ll post more pics tomorrow, but here’s a glimpse:

And quite possibly my favorite shot:

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, Personal, [MNR]

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[01.28.08] Monday Night Recap
- January 28, 2008 -

• [CollegeDays] This past weekend, I went to sleep at around 4am and was up by around 7am…This used to be a daily occurrence in college. Now? I was passing out at 2 in the afternoon…man I’m old.
• [Equinox] After a bit of a hiatus (again), I’ve started my workout regime again. Wish me luck!
• [StateOfTheUnion] George Bush gave his State of the Union address today. As I watch, one sad thing is seeing the ovation and cheers by one side while the other stays seated. I know there are differences of opinions and varying stances by parties, but these are times where you dream of a unified nation…rebuke and challenges coming face-to-face, but speaking highly of the President to those in the public. ‘Holy Gossip’ as I was taught…
• [MissionsPresentation] As promised yesterday, I uploaded the missions presentation online. It’s just a glimpse of the faces out at the NavJeevan Center. If you guys have any interest in helping out or making donations for them or just to learn more about it, let me know or visit the NavJeevan website.

Here’s the presentation…

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[01.21.08] Monday Night Recap
- January 21, 2008 -

• [Website] So what’s been keeping me busy to start ’08? The new website!
• [Design] Don’t you just love beautiful objects that are functional? Some things are made as art, and art alone. Functional design is the greatest.
• [Gladiators] I continue to enjoy it. I guess I’m a bit old school because I think the acting is over-the-top, but I still love the competitive nature of it all. Maybe one day…
• [Girlfriend] Another great weekend because my girlfriend was in town. Now we take about a 3 week hiatus before my U of I trip #1 of the semester.
• [Touch] As many know, Apple came out with an update for the iPod Touch which adds a sort of wi-fi GPS, as well as putting Mail, Maps, Notes and Stocks on the home screen. My only issue is it’s $20 software update. It’s not a huge amount, obviously, but is it really worth it? I don’t know. I’m going to hold off hoping they’ll make an announcement…but I do want to see how the wi-fi GPS works. Ahhhh…
• [SuperBowl] Patriots continue rolling. They don’t look dominating like at the beginning of the season, but they still don’t seem beatable. and I can’t believe the Pack lost in that type of weather…it’s looking like a very boring Super Bowl Sunday coming up.

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[01.14.08] Monday Night Recap
- January 14, 2008 -

• [NFL] What’s going on? Eli advances, and Peyton is out. Not sure what to expect coming up…maybe Moss continues to be human and Brady shows he is too? (It’s not as exciting with the Bears out…)
• [Illini] The basketball team continues to struggle, so we’ll keep that topic silent. In other news, Mendenhall is going pro…let’s see if Zook and the Illini can follow up the Rose Bowl with another strong year.
• [Alone] My girlfriend finally had to go back to U of I for law school…it was a great month…back to the grind…
• [#12] With my 28 in 2008, I’ve completed #12! This past Sunday, I was given the opportunity to share my experience at the recent Regional Conference with my church. A quick 3 minute thing, but still…a speaking opportunity nonetheless!
• [10ItemsOrLess] I heard a commercial for this new show on Tuesdays on TBS (11/10c) that will be on the air after re-runs of the Office (10/9c). Seems like my kind of humor. Anyone else watching?
• [LazyMonday] It is…American Gladiators and rest for me! I don’t normally get many of these.

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[01.07.08] Monday Night Recap
- January 7, 2008 -

A new year, and the first MNR for me…

• [Regionals] Like I stated before, it was truly amazing. I forgot my battery charger (doh!) so I limited my photos, but you can see the full gallery here. Again, there were many lessons learned, but one thing that reverberated day in and day out: we are forgetful people. We need to be constantly reminded…hence the reason for disciplines.
• [Patroits] What did I miss? The Pats finished an undefeated season. I tip my hat to them. Not much more to say.
• [Bears] I mean, seriously? Kyle Orton finishes the season 2-1! The defense loves to play when he’s in the game, for some reason. And Hester had another pro bowl game. Here’s to next season- Devin’s breaking the return record if people keep kicking to him. I guarantee it.
• [RoseBowl] Ummmm…let’s not talk about it.
• [Lost&Found] So, over the past 3 months, I’ve seem to have lost a few articles of clothing…and I have no idea how. If you find them, please let me know. Missing: Aeropostale Jeans, Winter hats (all 3: black/red, white/green, gray/orange). I mean, seriously? Who stole them?!
• [28in2008] At the end of last year, I decided to set some goals in 2008. Looking over it, I realized one thing- I’m not really good at goal setting. But, I’m starting to make some progress. I didn’t realize how many blog hits I’d get, but I’m on pace to hit the 2000 mark by the end of February, so we’ll say its 2000 in the year. I did, however, start my book reading/purchasing, and the first two I bought were “Egonomics” and “unChristian“, and I’m starting with Egonomics for January. The first chapter in and of itself is so eye-opening…keep an eye out for a 2-part self-evaluation post from there.
• [Gladiators] I posted earlier about the return of American Gladiators, and it CAME! I caught half of the season premiere yesterday, as well as watching it right now. It’ll be shown Monday nights at 8/7 central on NBC, so be sure to re-live your childhood and check it out.
• [Fact] 1 in 1 people die in their lifetime. Crazy statistic, huh? Are you prepared?

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natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[12.24.07] Monday Night Recap
- December 24, 2007 -

• [Bears] Now this is the team I remember from last year. No real offense, amazing defense scoring all the points. If only they did this throughout the season. At least we swept the Packers this season.
• [Illini] We’re having a tough season so far, but we beat Mizzou in the Braggin’ Rights game. Go Illini! Can’t wait for the Rose Bowl on New Year’s…
• [ChristmasGifts] I’ve never been a big Christmas gift person but there are two I want to talk about. First…

I bought my niece a digital camera! After a couple minutes learning to hold it, she was off snapping away telling everyone “Say Cheese!” (she wouldn’t take your picture unless you said it). I wonder if she’ll be an apprentice or competition…
And then my girlfriend and I exchange gifts and she got me…

A monopod! Totally unexpected. It’s on my Amazon wishlist (along with many items which i doubt anyone would buy me), but she went and got it for me! She really is supportive! Also, she bought me a new sweater and some socks…all very practical gifts. She’s the best!

• [Fantasy] Obviously. The final matchup of the season, and I outscore my opponent by over 100…And I score more than every other player in the league (minus the one who won the whole thing…stupid LaDanian and his great Monday Night game). If my guys played up to potential all year and not just the last two weeks, I would be in the top 3. Instead…second to last.
• [Vacation] After a busy first year of work (both corporate and photography), I’ve got my first extended ‘vacation’ this week. It’s a good time to relax and get refreshed. I’ll be out in Michigan from Thursday-Sunday for a church retreat, so I’ll be back posting and responding to e-mails shortly thereafter.
• [1More] I’ve got one more party left on my plate- a Christmas party with my extended family (70+) on Tuesday evening. Maybe I’ll post before I leave…but I highly doubt it…here’s to hoping :)
• [HolidayCards] It didn’t seem like much of a contest, as this was the selected card:

…I got a bunch of responses (you’d expect), so here’s some excerpts of my favorites (hope they don’t mind me posting)…
– ‘OMG he’s so adorable’
– ‘Absolutely hilarious…that picture just made my day!’
– ‘Wow…he’s really…mature-looking.’
– ‘Man, that baby looks strange…’

Again, wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas time, and I look forward to amazing things in 2008. Much love, everyone…God Bless!

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You’ve been promised, we’ve been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don’t mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven’s silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

~Welcome To Our World – ChrisRice

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natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[12.17.07] Monday Night Recap
- December 17, 2007 -

• [Dolphins] They finally won a game! Although they started out 0-13, at least they won’t be placed in the record books of NFL history as the first winless team. Keep celebrating, guys…you deserve it!
• [Fantasy] This week and next week, I’m in a battle for last…er…second to last place (I’m trying to win…right.). I finally have all my players playing up to potential. Being up 40+ points going into the final week makes me confident I won’t be in last. But anything is possible…right? Can’t start celebrating yet…
• [RoseBowl] My girlfriend can be very cute. She told me that when she found out the Illini were going to the Rose Bowl, she was thinking of taking me there. I laughed…she asked why. I then went on to tell her that the game was New Year’s day, in Pasadena, California, and the cheapest tickets are around $250 each. She responds with ‘oh.’ It’s the thought that counts.
• [HolidayCards] Keep the votes coming (either on facebook or the blog), as I’ll be sending them out this weekend.
• [Clarity] I first got glasses my junior year of high school. My sophomore year of college, I went and got my eyes re-checked, and a new pair of glasses. I haven’t been too fond of how I look with glasses, plus didn’t feel they were that vital, so I don’t really wear them often. But then they broke on Thanksgiving, which forced me to go to the eye doctor again. This time I went all out: contacts and frames! My goodness is the world a whole lot clearer! I’m on my trial pair of contacts, and I love it. We’ll see how I feel about my new frames.
• [MNF] Bears vs. Vikings, Kyle Orton vs. Tavaris Jackson…what?! I’m sure it looked like a great matchup at the end of last season. At least they let Orton throw and Hester play offense more. All we needed was him to not make a mistake- one bad throw at the end, and we’re officially out of the playoff race. Oh well, at least Urlacher looked like a beast again.
• [GPS] At first I thought if I could just get GPS on my iPod Touch, I’d be set. Now, I’m not too sure.
• [ChristmasEve] Due to the holidays, I can’t guarantee an MNR for next Monday…but we’ll see…keep an eye out through the remainder of this week though…got like 5 holiday parties.

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natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[12.10.07] Monday Night Recap
- December 10, 2007 -

• [Bears] I really don’t know…I really just don’t know.
• [Fantasy] Last week really hurt me, so I’m now playing for last place in my league. How sad is that? My opponent had the perfect counter for every one of my weapons. I have Jay Cutler giving me 25 pts, he has Brandon Marshall who caught all his passes. I have Addai running wild, he has Payton Manning throwing wild. I got hosed…
• [HolidayParty] Why does it seem like there’s only 1 day that everyone can have a party? I have had 2 invitations for next Wednesday, and 3 for the following Saturday. Sadly I can’t be everyone at the same time.
• [OutdoorParking] I park on the street outside of my house, and I don’t enjoy the winter weather. Yesterday morning it took me 25 minutes to scrape the ice off of my windows. When does this end again?
• [LazyDays] This past weekend was a bit confusing for me- I had no meetings or anything scheduled. Outside of church on Sunday, I spent both Saturday and Sunday at home. It was really odd…I felt like I was missing something. These types of days are nice to have.
• [TShirts] It was (jokingly?) suggested to me that I should make nmathaiphotography T-Shirts…and something I had considered before. If I did decide to make shirts, how many people would be interested to buying one? Now, I’m not all about a blatant branding, so it’s not like you’d be walking around with a huge “N” on your chest. Let me know if you’re interested (oh…and if you have a design idea, feel free to let me know that too!)
• [Niece] I’ve posted many times how I love taking pictures of children. Well…that’s mainly when I have to capture them in their own element, unaware of the camera. When you try to pose them…it’s a completely different story. Word of advice: never try to take a child portrait an hour or two before they are supposed to go to sleep- they won’t be that keen on cooperation. She’s a blast to hang out with, but my goodness did she not care for pictures today. Not sure which will be used for the holiday card (if any), but I here’s some of what I dealt with:

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[12.03.07] Monday Night Recap
- December 3, 2007 -

A little bit of a bunch of stuff here…

• ::EDIT::[FacebookPhonebook] I found this interesting thing with Facebook…a printable photo phonebook for all your contacts that put their phone numbers online! Just login and go to http://www.facebook.com/mobile, and then click on the button at the top called “phonebook”. It’ll show all your buddies avatars in alphabetical order by first name, and list the numbers that they’ve posted. How awesome (and somewhat stalker-ish) is this?!
• [BEARS] I am speechless. An ugly finish after an amazing start. One request: Let Devin play. He drops one pass (which would have been an 81-yard touchdown), and we don’t hear from him after that. Put him in opposite Berrian, and you’ll get the deep ball open. Rex has the arm…we’ve got nothing to lose here on out…
• [ROSES] The brighter side of my side: THE ILLINI ARE GOING TO THE ROSE BOWL!!!! With BCS as crazy as it is, the 9-3 Illini were invited to the rose bowl for the first time in 20 years. Proud to be an illini…proud to bleed orange and blue.
• [HolidayCards] I felt like it’d be good to send out some nice Christmas cards out. The only problem is I don’t have a wife or child to put on the cover. I’ll spend 2008 looking for some good shots, I guess, and you can look for a card (or request it) for December 08.
• [FANTASY] I had Vince Young sitting (19 points) and Culpepper playing (injured). To make matters worse, my regulars came up empty: Cutler: 2pts, Addai: 6pts, Patriots D: 1pt. To make matters worse, the Patriots still won. I mean, if the D is going to give me 1 point, at least end the undefeated season! (If Boller had Rex’s arm, he would have reached the end zone)
• [SLEET] Saturday night was freezing rain and sleet. I drove out to Joliet to pick p my girlfriend with limited visibility, and then back to Chicago. This morning, you could barely tell any snow had fallen. Weather is crazy!
• [STRIKE] I’m actually a bit happy that the writer’s guild is still on strike. My week’s have gotten so busy I haven’t had time to watch TV, so this strike is helping me not fall behind with The Office.
• [GLADIATORS] On ESPN Classic, they’ve been playing the old school American Gladiators episodes. I loved that show growing up. At first they were showing the commonly remembered ones. But lately it’s been the original ones, where the platforms were cardboard and the referees were masked…it was kind of scary. Word has it that there’s a new one coming out on NBC soon…I can’t wait!
• [BULLS] In case you missed it, we lost…again. Hmmmm…
• [BW3-iPodTouch] I went out with a few friends to BW3‘s tonight, and it was an interesting time. It was a good time of just chilling and eating, but I think the main highlight came when I found a great use for my iPod Touch. The Score radio station was at BDubs during Monday Night Football, and they were playing a trivia game during the commercials. Well, with free Wi-Fi there, I browsed online and found the website where they were pulling the trivia questions from- with all the answers! After a whole lot of screaming and waving to get their attention, we came away with two T-Shirts and a hat (what are we going to do with Miller apparel?). I think they started catching on. I mean, who knew Curtis Strange was the first golfer to win more than $1 million in a single year, or Martin Luther invented 9-pin bowling, or Arnold Palmer was the “Athlete of the Decade” in the 60′s? I did..that’s who. Oh, and who brings Hello Kitty cards to BW3′s? That would be Jane.

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR]

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[11.26.07] Monday Night Recap
- November 26, 2007 -

• [Macbook Pro] So I ordered a refurbished Macbook Pro in celebration of Black Friday (needed an excuse), and was expecting it to come by Thursday. I checked the tracking this morning at work and saw that at 5:27am, it was in transit. 14 hours later…it is still in transit. I mean, seriously!?!?! Don’t toy with me like that. Here’s to hoping for tomorrow.
• [BEARS] Devin Hester, you are ridiculous. Shanahan is very foolish for kicking to him, and I feel a bit sorry for Sauerbrun…both times he ended up kissing Hester’s ankles and watching him dance into the endzone.
• [ROSE BOWL] There seems to be an option for the Illini to make it into the rose bowl!!! I’m literally in awe, right now. God bless the BCS!
• [TheShot] I’ve been a bit hooked on this show called The Shot, on VH1…which is basically “America’s Next Top Model” for photographers. It’s focus is fashion photography, and I haven’t seen anything amazing yet, but it’s still entertaining to watch. There’s one guy who comes from a background in wedding photography…I’m rooting for him.
• [FANTASY] I used to do do fantasy sport for baseball, basketball and football, but now I’m just doing football (and rather poorly). However, Jay Cutler and Tony Scheffler pulled down 34 points for me, so it was an all around great bears game.
• [Science&Faith] Here’s an interesting article in the NY Times regarding how the basic foundations of scientific ‘proof’ are based on faith in an unknown. Caught my attention…

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natemathai | filed under: [MNR], announcement

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[11.19.07] Monday Night Recap
- November 19, 2007 -

As stated earlier, I’m having a time consuming night/week, so it looks like I’ll be shooting the MNR earlier in the day.

• [Bears] Ummm…I’m no longer blaming Rex…or even Benson. Our O-line needs to step it up.
• [Illini] Capitol One Bowl, here we come!
• [Reminisce] At the engagement party on Saturday evening, I got to catch up with my old hometown friends (Hillside/Bellwood/Berkeley…we grew up in the hood). Fun times remembering St. Dom’s…
• [Expanding] Growth is a good thing, and it looks like we’re set on expanding our church to accommodate our large numbers. Pray for the expansion project…we need ‘God in the details.’
• [Life] As my post yesterday noted, my cousin had a baby boy on Friday, named Vivek (translation: wisdom). the two things that really bring me back to a moment of recognition is life and death- and God has been challenging me with both of those non-stop this year.
• [Deadline] Just a reminder, that for everyone planning on going to the Winter Regional Conference, the first deadline is December 2nd, before a $20 late fee. So get your forms in ASAP!
• [Black Friday | Pay Day] It’s very interesting to me that pay day is this week (an early one on Wednesday because of Thanksgiving), and Black Friday is coming as well. I think they are all out to get me…(It’s also interesting that in my 23 years of life, I’ve never gone shopping on black friday yet).

Alright, well hopefully by Wednesday I’ll have one event ready to be posted.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[11.12.07] Monday Night Recap
- November 12, 2007 -

In an effort to not post twice within the span of an hour (as I’d like to edit and post pics from a birthday celebration this weekend [which really turned into just a child photoshoot]), I’ll be doing the MNR midday.

• [ILLINI] I said it once, and I’ll say it again. I proud to be orange and blue. Illinois is #19 in the BCS, while THE Ohio State Buckeyes dropped to #7!
• [BEARS] How many people are hearing the chants for Orton? Rex fumbles his first chance, but then has a 59 yard game winner to Berrian. Say what you want about Rex, but my goodness he has an arm. We’ll see how long this lasts (I still think we can win out). (In other news, Peyton throws 6 INTs for the Colts second straight loss…what?!)
• [EQUINOX] OK, I’m going to try to get back in shape and working out. Let’s shoot for twice a week, starting today.
• [LAKSHMI] Not sure how many saw this story of a girl who was born (2 years ago) with 4 arms and 4 legs. I’m amazed at what the is possible in the health field, as well as broken as to the mindset of the masses in India.
• [SRS] For some reason the SRS light came on in my car, and after 2 and a half hours, Honda had to order a part to fix it. Looks like I might be spending another 2 hours at the dealership tonight. (Maybe I’ll jump on the twitter bandwagon, and twitter from my iPod Touch…)
• [OFFICE] Due to the writer’s strike, this Thursday is the last new episode of the Office. Soon, all that will be left is news, sports, and reality TV. Looks like I’m going to find a lot more productive ways to utilize my time in the near future…

OK, so keep an eye out late tonight for a post with pictures.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: [MNR], announcement

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[11.05.07] Monday Night Recap
- November 5, 2007 -

• [28 in 2008] In an effort to set goals and be held accountable by the general public, I’m going to be doing a ’28 in 2008′…where I set 28 goals I want to accomplish in 2008. Some seem simple enough, and some are very reaching. I’m not sure if I’ll meet all of them, but as long as I make progress, that’s all that matters- I’ll have it posted somewhere here with updates as to when things get accomplished. But for now, here’s the list (in no particular order).

1. Generate 2000 blog hits
2. Dunk a basketball (on a regulation rim)
3. Provide custom-designed albums
4. Sell street photography (at least as stock images)
5. Gain at least 10 lbs
6. Travel to 5 states outside of Illinois
7. Read (and purchase) 1 book a month, and build my library
8. Design the creative compilation that is natemathai.com (more details to come)
9. Spend more time with my niece (and niece/nephew to come!)
10. Organize my baseball card collection
11. Learn to play the guitar
12. Accept at least one speaking engagement (if available)
13. Create a marketable product
14. Get engaged
15. Book at least 10 gigs
16. Read through Bible
17. Complete at least 2 project100′s
18. Expand the Sports Ministry for girls
19. Support 5 charities/missions organizations
20. Buy something obscenely unnecessary simply because I can
21. Create an online newsletter
22. Write a book
23. Journal everyday for 1 month straight
24. Go to a Cubs game, Bears game, and Bulls game
25. Second shoot for…someone
26. Sleep until 11am at least once
27. Spend a weekend without my cell phone, internet access, or iPod
28. Get one other person hooked on a product/idea that I’m hooked on

• [gPhone] OK, it’s not really the iPhone’s nemesis, or a phone at all, but Google is continuing to push the Open Source envelope with their announcement of the Android platform for mobile devices. If T-Mobile signs on, I’m definitely jumping on board. (I will NOT, however, be leaving Facebook for OpenSocial…yet).
• [Bears] A bye week means no loss- got to put a positive spin on things.
• [Bulls] Remember last year? We sucked in the beginning then too…here’s to hoping…
• [DST] I loved the extra hour of sleep, but it’s really odd walking to the train station after work with it being so dark out.
• [Mind42] I’ve started using this web app called Mind42 to try to organize the business (and possible life). It’s purpose-serving at the very least.
• [Snow] I haven’t experienced a winter in the loop yet, and it just might snow tomorrow. We’ll see how this goes…
• [Swab4Bevin] There’s yet another need again, particularly for the South Asian community. If you haven’t done it yet, get info from the website and learn how you can help.

Here’s a little flashback: My niece about 1 year ago (my goodness she’s grown up so much). This is from before I got my camera, and pretty much before I really knew how to use one properly.

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[10.29.07] Monday Night Recap
- October 29, 2007 -

• [Bears] I mean, seriously? I’m speechless. I’m waiting for the chants to start coming to pull Griese and put in Orten. Let it be know, since the pre-season I’ve been wanting Ryan Leak. (Bears fan knew Griese was not better than Grossman. But, instead of waiting for something better, we simple ask for something different. Quite an analogy of a man’s heart…)
• [World Series] In case you didn’t know, it’s over. Congrats Boston. I don’t think anyone cared.
• [Dating Seminar] If you leave yourself open to be taught, you will learn. I went to the seminar with a willingness to listen, and learned so much about counseling and psychology…I’m glad I went.
• [TEDTalks] In an effort to increase my knowledge, I’ve been watching the TEDTalks podcasts, where some of the greatest thinkers in the world come together to share ideas and new innovations relating to technology, entertainment, and design. Amazing stuff, I just sit in awe with the knowledge in the world around us.
• [Project 1hundred] In order to keep my creative eye open, I’m going to be giving myself some projects to work on. The idea will be take 100 pictures of the same type of object (but all different objects, and probably different types of processing). And because of the season, the first project will be “1hundred trees“. (Yes, I changed it…I’ve been seeing a lot more amazing looking trees than leaves) We’ll see how this plays out.

I didn’t pull the camera out too much this week, but I’m realizing more and more how beautiful fall is. It’s just so colorful (and I’m just talking about the sky). Now, for your viewing pleasure:

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natemathai | filed under: Personal, [MNR]

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[10.22.07] Monday Night Recap
- October 22, 2007 -

In an effort to blog more regularly, I’m going to try to instill the “Monday Night Recap” – mainly a collection of randomness that normally will encompass my weekend activities/encounters, and possibly other thoughts that come up. Hope you enjoy (…let me know if you don’t…I won’t stop, but it’s nice to get feedback :) ). Here we go…

• [UIUC] This weekend I was able to make another visit to the greatness that is the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign. Just like home…no matter how much things change, things just don’t seem to change. Good times.
• [REVIVAL] This would be Revival #6 for me, and yet another blessing. Initially I had hopes of grabbing some amazing shots, but I decided to just sit back and just absorb. I think CFC is the reason I’m a Canon shooter- you don’t recognize it initially, but throughout any event you’re bound to see at least 6 different people wandering around with the white L lens (I have lens envy, yes). I did grab a couple shots from my spot in the balcony though (with all the Indians, as usual). [side note: it truly is a family at CFC. It doesn't matter if you've been gone for a month, a year, or 10 years: they remember you, they are praying for you, and they welcome you.] As some subpoints, here’s a glimpse at the blessings/convictions/thoughts/etc.:

• God places you under authority to teach you to lead from your current position
• decision declaration is different than decision fulfillment
• an ungrateful heart will never see God
• sometimes all our human glory needs to be taken away from us, in order for us to know/see that His glory is all that really matters
• the Bible is not about Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel, Ruth, Paul, etc. (simple concept, yet strikingly eye-opening)
• God’s promises are based on the integrity of God; it has nothing to do with you
• trying to fulfill the law is legalistic; not fulfilling the law is rebellion; recognize that you have no control and you are utterly helpless – then let the Spirit fulfill the laws from within you (still digesting this one)
• [ICF] I still feel so old. Luckily, there weren’t as many freshmen/new faces, and I was accompanied with a couple alumn that came down.
• [Second Shooter] OK, so it wasn’t an event, nor did I hire him. But I do like the concept of having someone else get the shots you missed (or don’t feel like taking- I’ve got to enjoy posed pictures more). Oh, and this in a way signifies an acceptance of Nikon gear (not for me, but allowing others to shoot with it).
• [Bears] The first time I missed a game all year, and Griese throws for 300+ (and only 1 TD). Happy for a win, even happier that Robbie Gould was on his game (nice getting 10+ points from your kicker in fantasy; sad when that’s 20% of your total points for the week).

OK, well hopefully that was as exciting for you as it was for me. Now on to the pictures and a different style of processing for this batch (and congrats, not just the top 10, you get all 21!).

be sure to visit the contact page if you’re looking for a chicago wedding photographer, available nationwide.

natemathai | filed under: Modern Events, Personal, [MNR]

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