Tag Archives: Chicago wedding

robilyn & darell :: engaged!

Over Valentine’s day weekend, we had the honor and pleasure of photographing Robilyn & Darell’s beach wedding.  Remember when I photographed their wedding here in Chicago? Well, this is part 2 of their wedding celebration.  They chose the beautiful Hilton Cancun Golf & Spa Resort! But before I blog on their wedding photos, I wanted to blog on their engagement session first.  As expected, we all had a blast exploring the grounds of their hotel…

The next photo needs some explaining… The staff at the Hilton Cancun was nice enough to allow us to photograph on their Golf Course and they actually brought us to this sleeping croc… Needless to say I was terrified of this gigantic thing just chillin’ on the green… I was shooting with a wide angle lens, and kept creeping up to him to get my framing… and when I finished shooting, I realized that I was A LOT closer than I thought… haha… Anything to get the shot, right?

I loved the little petal details on Robilyn’s dress!

There isn’t really a true  golden “sunset” in Cancun… at least from our hotel side, but we did manage to get a little bit of color as the sun was coming down…

I really loved shooting on the beach because we don’t have beaches in Chicago…

Thank you for the laughs Robilyn & Darell!

Many many more photos to come…

Stay tuned for a few photos from their Rehearsal… then more photos from their Wedding… then lastly, more photos from their Rock the Dress Session…

Lots coming up on the blog, so please check back! :)  or RSS feed it!

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richelle & rick

Congratulations to Richelle & Rick!   Richelle is technically my sister-in-law =D  My brother married her sister… so through the laws of marriage, we’re related!  They had a small intimate wedding reception a couple of weeks ago at Entourage in Schaumburg.  Here are just a few of my faves…

Entourage in Schaumburg, IL

Thank you Richelle & Rick for allowing us into your lives! :)

Michele & Andy

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lisa & rinaldo : engaged!

Misha Media is excited to introduce our new concept photo sessions!  This is where we photograph you and your significant other doing something that you love to do together!  It can be anything, anywhere, anytime… we’ll be there.  The beauty about this session is that it’s all about you!  When you look at these images 10 to 20 years from now, it’ll mean a whole lot more!  This is a Misha Media exclusive.  We want to tell your story through our eyes with the help of our cameras.  So what do you and your significant other enjoy doing?!  Contact us!

Towards the end of last season, we had the opportunity to photograph Lisa & Rinaldo… Do you remember Maria & John?  Maria & Lisa are twin sisters!  There’s a certain bond between twin sisters and it’s very apparent between these two.  I love being able to witness this, especially having a sister of my own… there’s really nothing that compares… Lisa & Rinaldo will be getting married in Italy in August later this year and they have given us the opportunity to document and capture their celebration.  I’m not going to lie, we are super excited!  We’ve never been to Europe before and we are really looking forward to it!  Their families have welcomed us like family!

Rinaldo LOVES to make home-made brick oven pizzas.  Yes, they have their own brick oven! :)  We’ve never had home made Italian brick oven pizza before and aside from being excited to shoot it, we were excited to taste it.  If you’ve never had this kind of pizza before, you are missing out!  We kept telling Rinaldo that he should seriously think about starting his own restaurant!  Lisa & Rinaldo are pretty reserved, but when they started making their pizzas, their aura and energy between each other changed… There’s that certain smile and look that they exchanged between each other and it was the sweetest thing!  You can really tell that Rinaldo was very proud of making these pizzas with the help of Lisa by his side… Can we do a re-shoot!?  Haha … just kidding.. it was Yummmmmmmmy!

Lisa & Rinaldo will be getting married later this year in Italy!  They have commissioned us for their wedding day as well and we are very excited to go to Italy and really experience the Italian way of life :)


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2009 rewind

It’s been a great 2009!  I know I’m a little late for this post, but due to personal reasons, it was delayed longer than expected… Anyway, better late than never… First of all, we would like to say thank you to all our clients who have become part of our lives in 2009, without you guys, we wouldn’t be able to do what we love to do.  Thank you to our families who have supported us from day one with our photography.  Thank you to our parents for watching Misha on the weekends while we go out and shoot.  Thank you to all of our fans on Facebook for their continued support.  And last, but definitely not least,  thank you to all our blog readers, especially to those who comment on our blog posts… We read each and every comment and we appreciate you taking the time to leave us a message!

As you can see, Andy and I have been working hard on some of the back end of our business with our new blog look :)  It’s a work in progress and there’s definitely more to come.

It is now 2010 and we would like to take a moment and reminisce about the major things that happened in 2009.

In February, we went to our very first photography conference known as WPPI where wedding and portrait photographers from all over the world go for seminars and the tradeshow.  If you are a wedding or portrait photographer, I highly recommend going!  We’re definitely going this year which is actually going to be held in March (instead of February).  Here’s more info if you’re interested.  Going to WPPI truly got our gears in motion for our 2009 season and we’re very excited for what’s in the works for our 2010 schedule.


In March, we had the opportunity to host a free photography seminar which consisted of different photographers with varying skill levels across the board.   We had a chance to photograph models and study available light shooting.  We had called our seminar “let’s shoot with Misha Media“.  People have been asking us if we will be hosting another seminar this 2010.  Andy and I actually haven’t decided if we’re going to or not.  We will definitely let everyone know if we do decide to have another one.  If we do host one, it will be in the month of March again… so stay tuned!  We also started a Facebook Group “Let’s shoot with Misha Media“  and we were thinking of taking a different route for it this 2010.  We used to have monthly ‘contests’ but we noticed that some photographers didn’t always submit their photos… So stay tuned for the changes that we’ll be doing for that.  Members of the group will be notified.

At the end of March, we went to NYC for my cousin’s wedding Karen & Jayr.  No, we did not photograph their wedding… we were guests!  Our friends out in New Jersey,  MPW Media Group documented their day and they did an amazing job!  Although we weren’t the offical photographers for their wedding, we did have a chance to capture an engagement session while we were out in New York.  Here’s their my blog post and below is my favorite.

Aside from spending time with family, we had a chance to visit the actual B&H Photo Video store where we buy most of our gear… and man, we were like kids in a candy store!  We shot around as we walked the streets of NYC and here’s my fave:

We also had a fashion shoot on a roof top in New York.

After New York, we drove to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

… and shot some images at night

In 2009 my parents celebrated their 60th birthdays.  I love them and without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

In April, we also had the opportunity to photograph an engagement session in Wrigley Field and had tons of fun doing it!  Thanks Liz & Nevin!

We officially started our 2009 season in April, with our first wedding of the year with Cathy & Mike.

In May, we had the honor of capturing Noelle & Joey’s wedding

Mindy & Doug

And in May, my lil sis graduated from UIC College of Education.  I love you Stine!

Majka & Ziggy started off our June weddings

Hanna & Christian

Liz & Nevin

“E & J”

In the beginning of July, we went to the Philippines for my brother Chris and Gilda’s Wedding.  This time, I was a bridesmaid, Andy was a groomsman, and Misha, a flowergirl :) The official photographer for their wedding was Dino Lara.

I did photograph their engagement session here in Chicago back in 2008 :)

When we got back from the Philippines, we hit the ground running for  Gina & Josh’s wedding at the end of July.

In August, we received an Accolade of Excellence award in the 8×10 print competition for WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) in the Engagement Category.  Click here to see our winning image.

Our August clients : Miriam & Andrew

Liz & Tyler

Diana & Roger

Meann & Brainard

Our September couples

Cheryl & Rich

Robilyn & Darell

Lisa & Eric

Maria & John

Robbie & Joe

Sadly, on September 25th,  the Philippines was devastatingly hit by a typhoon called Ondoy.  We hosted a photo fundraiser “Shoot for a cause : Ondoy Typhoon Relief” and we were able to raise $3,000 and collect 6 large boxes of canned goods.  It was a huge success!   Thank you to those who donated their time, money, and goods!

October brides & grooms:

Amy & Nadeem

Dana & Mike

November:

Kaori & Anthony

Lyssette & Richard

And last but not least, our last wedding of 2009 in December : Leslie & Brad

Seeing all of these images really brought back some great memories.  Thank you to all of our 2009 couples for choosing us and providing us with the opportunity to photograph your wedding and allowing us to continue to do what we love to do!  We had such a great time and you’ll be forever in our hearts.

Thank you for being a part of our growing Misha Media family.

Michele and Andy

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the Knot Best of Weddings 2010

We have been selected as one of  the Knot’s Best of Weddings 2010!  It’s truly an honor and a blessing to be chosen for this award.  We thank all the brides, grooms, and fans who have voted for us.  Without you guys, this would not have been possible.  Thank you so much for your support!  This is such a huge motivator for us to keep going!  Thank you!  It was kinda like winning the lotto, not that I’ve had any personal experience or anything, but I had to look multiple times to make sure that our name was really there… =D

Thank you!  Michele & Andy

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