Carol DeAnda 9/30/16 Carol DeAnda 9/30/16

Chicago Lakefront Portrait Session

After seeing the shoot I did with Fransisco and Jon last week Lucy contacted to capture her and her husband Pablo before the head off to Miami in only a week! Luckily I had an opening and we had the best day for our session. We started near the zoo and then walked to the lakefront to get some amazing shots with the skyline. After that we headed back to the south pond area, on of my favorite locations and photographed the gorgeous fall colors there! Enjoy!

couple on lake front with skyline in the background

couple with lake in background looking at each other

Carol DeAnda 8/21/15 Carol DeAnda 8/21/15

Chicago Montrose Beach Skyline Family Photos

Meet Laura of Laura Manzano Photography, and her family! I have known Laura and worked with her for many years, most recently she has been one of my amazing second shooters! She is truly a gifted photographer and she wanted to get some photos of her and her family in Chicago! Take a look at her session!

Carol DeAnda 6/6/14 Carol DeAnda 6/6/14

Matt B and Angela's Chicago Beach Engagement

So you may see some familiar faces here as I had shot Matthew and Angela a few weeks ago in Millennium Park. Angela and Matthew also wanted to do a shoot on the beach but it was way too cold on our original date so we decided to do another engagement shoot at Montrose beach in Chicago. This was a special location to them since this is actually where Matthew Proposed! So here they are! I can't wait to photograph their wedding come this July! I also had my second shooter Kimberli come with me to this shoot so she could meet the couple before their big day!

After getting done on the beach we took a short walk to the wall to check out the skyline as the sun disappeared. There may of been some clouds of bugs as we walked though to get there. Matthew's reaction was hilarious, he really doesn't like bugs! But they soldiered though.

Carol DeAnda 6/1/14 Carol DeAnda 6/1/14

Chicago Museum Campus Engagement Photo Session LGBTQ+

I am so excited for you to meet Ian and Conor. I had the pleasure of meeting them about two weeks ago near the museum campus for their engagement shoot.

Ian is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan (though he was born and spent his early childhood in Hartford, CT). He came to Chicago in 2003 to attend Loyola University and has been here ever since. Conor is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. He moved to Chicago in 2007 after graduating from Notre Dame.

How did you meet?

We met in an acting class at Black Box Acting here in Chicago, where we both now teach.

Who made the first move and who talked to who first?

Well, we met in an acting class and so we first got to know each other when the whole class would go out for drinks afterwards. After a few of these group outings it was Conor who asked Ian out officially (as in just the two of us).

What does you favorite date night consist of?

We have a tendency to be quite the homebodies. We have a ton of recorded Jeopardy’s saved up on our DVR and love to come home, cook dinner, and watch Jeopardy together with a glass of wine.

What are your plans for the summer? Anything fun?

We both have a pretty full teaching schedule at Black Box through the summer, but we’re hoping to take a weekend to visit Ian’s family in Michigan as well as Conor’s parents in New York.

Also, we should probably start planning our wedding…

How did the proposal happen?

To bring it back to Jeopardy… We can be quite competitive and have had to resort to writing down our Final Jeopardy answers and revealing them after everyone has had a chance to answer. On the night Conor proposed, he had pre-written a Final Jeopardy “answer” that asked Ian to marry him. We exchanged answers, Ian saw the proposal, and said yes! Conor had some champagne and roses ready and we celebrated.

(For the record…Ian got the question correct, Conor did not. It was something about Slurpees and 7-11).

What do you both do for fun, hobbies, interests?

We’re both actors. Ian is also a photographer (mostly actor headshots) and a yoga instructor. Conor is also a writer, a painter, he and does the marketing for Black Box. We like to cook and have friends over. We love spending time by the lake in the summer (although we’d love to be able to get over there more often)