Needless to say, it was a perfect autumn afternoon for an engagement photo session. Not too hot…not too cold. Beautiful. We were in Naperville, IL (a suburb of Chicago) at a remote park. It was so peaceful. Nobody was around. You could almost hear the leaves landing on the ground as the wind took them from their branches.

I met Brittany & Vaido at Inga & Jeff’s wedding last year (see their wedding at this blog post). Referrals from past clients are the greatest compliment! They are the owners and chefs for Truffleberry Market, a boutique catering company in Chicago. Since we will be heading to Cabo, Mexico for their destination wedding this upcoming winter, we took advantage of this perfect fall afternoon to capture some fun and creative engagement photos!

Brittany and Vaido had mentioned to me at our first meeting that they were a tough couple to photograph, but they wanted ‘real’ photos of themselves. They love how I capture emotion and love in my imagery. I’ll admit, I felt a little bit of pressure, but after 10 minutes into the photo session…my worries were alleviated…they were great to work with!

I LOVE this moment! For all you photographers out there reading this blog post…this was shot manual focus with a Nikon 50 1.2 lens (yes…a Nikon 50 1.2 you read that correctly!). It’s an old lens and that ‘glow’ you see in the photo is not from photoshop…it is a function of the lens at 1.2- when used appropriately…it looks great!

Vaido is such a fun guy…I didn’t tell him to run backwards…he just did that spontaneously! Look at the beautiful red, orange and yellow fall colors on the tree!

A photo documenting a real moment between these two-

The autumn leaves falling like snow

Possibly my new favorite black and white photo I have in my portfolio

We are in the midwest…gotta take photos of the prairie fields. It’s so funny to see California photographers commenting that they wish they had prairies to take photos of. Yes…here they are- we have lots of them in Illinois!

The suburbs of Chicago are full of great nature preserves…Naperville is no exception!

I felt like was shooting for a J.Crew catalog. If only we had time for 50 outfit changes!

For some reason…I am really loving how she has her eyes closed in this photo. I have the same photo a moment before with her eyes open, but this one feels right-

He can’t help but to laugh!

Trying to be a little creative with the usage of lines. It is such a strong compositional element-

And a full autumn palette of colors in one tree…and in one photo? Yes please! Oh yea, and let’s not forget to mention the great looking couple. =)

I love Brittany’s smile in this picture.

I love this portrait of the two of them.

You can hire Truffleberry Market to cater your next event and you’ll find out just how awesome they are!

Before we called it a night…we took a few more photos with one more outfit- but to be honest…I loved their shoes! =)

Thanks you guys for phenomenal time! I can’t wait until Cabo! And keep up the great work at Truffleberry Market! And I leave you guys with one last photo!

with love,

Kenny

Contact – Portfolio – Facebook – Twitter

Since Elizabeth & Dan are from the north shore suburbs of Chicago, we headed out to Evanston for their photoshoot. Evanston is on Lake Michigan and I thought it would be cool to have a photo of the Grosse Point Lighthouse in the background. It was built in 1873 and can be toured on the weekends- (I might have to go back to check out what it looks like on the inside!) I don’t know why, but for some reason, I seem to like lighthouses these days- It all started with another lighthouse engagement session I had in Michigan City, IN.

I loved the colors that all came together in this photo…the blue of her dress, yellow of the flowers, green foliage, and the red painted door-

I love their smiles!

I think the “caution” tape is self explanatory-

Evanston has all kinds of cool architecture within a small area- we tried to take advantage of that during this engagement photo session.

They hadn’t seen each other for two weeks- I think they missed each other!

One of my favorite photos…by the end of the photoshoot, you could tell just how much more comfortable they were in front of the camera…it’s almost like I wasn’t there any more-

Thanks you guys for a great time! I can’t wait until your wedding this weekend!

with love,

Kenny

Can you believe this urban Chicago? Feels more like rural Illinois. =)

I love her smile-

They are having so much fun in this industrial area!

The West loop is full of galleries and cool restaurants-

Dance with me- Jon’s got the moves!

Every industrial area has their set of railroad tracks

They had an outfit change and donned a more formal look-

One of my favorite moments of the day with the two of them-

Thanks being willing to travel down to the West Loop! I’m glad you like my ideas for an urban industrial type engagement photoshoot!

Your wedding photo are up next!

Kenny

View my Portfolio l Email: info at nakaiphotography dot com

Thanks so much Kelly & Melissa for a great photoshoot! I wish you the best in your future together!

with love,

Kenny Nakai

Afterwards we headed out to the Erawan Museum – where the mythical elephant with three heads resides. That elephant it so big, you can actually go inside it’s body!

To end our day- they took me out to this amazing restaurant on the ocean! It’s their favorite place for seafood- and I must concur…it was my favorite meal in Thailand. =) Fresh grilled prawns, scallops, fried fish….mmmmmmmmm….~

Thanks North & Tangmoe for a great time in Thailand! It was great getting to know you both- best wishes on your marriage!

with love from America-

Kenny Nakai

There are a few more images posted on my facebook profile- so if you want to see more- head on over there!

This photo cracks me up everytime I look at it! =)

Glenn thought I was switching lenses and just threw a fireball at Nicole! I didn’t tell him to do this pose…but I helped his cause with a little photoshop. =)

Thanks you guys for being so willing to try new things! I had a great time, and I hope these images make you smile as you remember all the laughs from the day-

Can’t wait til the wedding!

with love,

Kenny

I photographed Voltaire & Jamie down at the museum campus. It was a gorgeous day and both of them were really comfortable in front of the camera. I loved how playful they with each other…completely catching me off guard at times! I think you can see some of the fun in the images below- Goodtimes!

Thank you guys for all the trust! I can’t wait til your wedding!

with love,

Kenny Nakai

I almost deleted this next shot right after I took it, and I am glad I refrained! I really like this one!

This one was my favorite from the day- I love the way they are smiling and looking at each other- =)

Thanks you guys for a great time and for opening yourselves up to me! We definitely got some genuine moments! =)

See you soon!

with love,

Kenny

We had a great time just hanging out and enjoying the weather. I think that Jinu was secretly practicing his ‘model’ pose as it seemed to come a bit ‘too’ natural for him. =)

Thanks you guys for being so chill and willing to do anything I asked. I think it was worth all the effort! I can’t wait til the wedding day!

with love,

Kenny

After spending some time in the States, Yuki has been in Tokyo working in the business sector. So while their wedding is a long ways away, they wanted to get their eSession done when he came in town to visit.

We headed out to the University of Chicago, Hyde Park…near where President Obama’s house resides. The architecture is really unique for Chicago.

Thanks for coming all the way from Japan for the eSession Yuki! =) It was great meeting you and hearing how the two of you came together! I’ll be praying for you both as you prepare to livin