Most of mine & Alin’s family are in Phoenix, so the holidays for us can sometimes be lonely. We were so happy that the Waltz’s invited us over to their jam packed house full of friends and family on Easter yesterday, and we immediately felt at home. The Waltz’s have 8 kids who my brothers and I grew up with since we first moved to Deerfield around 20 years ago, so they are no strangers to us. The kids played on the trampoline, the older guys & gals played some softball in the baseball field that backs to their house, the kids hunted for easter eggs, people sat around and talked, joked, and messed with each other. It was great to be surrounded by people we knew and love, as well meeting new people, feeling instant connections & friendships with. This is just a small collection of my personal favorite images from our day yesterday. Enjoy.

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From today. Happy Easter y’all. More to come.

Alin & I just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary last month and as a gift to ourselves, we wanted someone to document us as a couple as well as us as a family. Since I am always behind the camera, I rarely make an appearance in our family photos. And we haven’t had any professional photos done of us since, well, our wedding ten years ago. I’ve been following the work of Nirav for a while. Whenever I’d look at a session or wedding he’s shot, I felt like I knew his subjects, and concluded that “the dude”, as he’s called by many, knows how to “get” people.

And he “got” us.

Alin brought Nirav over to our house from the airport late Thursday night, and Nirav greeted me with a hug. I immediately felt like he was a part of my family. As an attempt to be hospitable, I served him some of my homemade Fettucine Alfredo around midnight, and we talked about life & photography. This went on for a couple of nights all while he documented the ordinary things our family does. From making pancakes every Saturday morning, to taking the train to walk around downtown Chicago. The kids loved him from the start calling him “the best babysitter ever”. And they would also ask “why is he taking pictures of us in his pajamas?”

It’s cuz he’s “the dude”. That’s why. And the Niravenator does what he wants.

To see Nirav’s blog post on us and to view his personal favorites from our session, CLICK HERE. Either way, y’all need to check out the rest of his work. He’s ridiculous.

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