chicago wedding photographers in illinois. nate mathai photography

double teaser! : Ann & Jim [modern portraits] // Ann & Greg [modern wedding]

2010-07-26T14:59:22Z

On Saturday, I headed downtown with Ann & Jim for their e-session- while most of their session is NSFW (not-safe-for-work) because of Jim, I was able to find a safe one ;)

Then Ann & Greg tied the knot on Sunday- and I’ll tease that one with one of the more timeless moments of the wedding day: the father-daughter dance. Enjoy!

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Copyright © July 26, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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26 and counting…

2010-07-21T04:02:49Z

For some reason, life has gotten extremely hectic all of a Sunday, and I realize that I’ve not shown my face on the blog in quite awhile, so here’s a post for you! [For those looking simply for my wedding and portrait work, oh get ready- the blog will be EXPLODING over the next month or so ;)]

So this past weekend I hit another milestone: 26 years of life. Can you believe it?! I guess most people can, because I generally get assumptions that I’m at least 2-3 years older than that. Not sure why it is…I’ve convinced myself it’s my maturity and wisdom, and not my receding hairline. :) And even though it’s not a “big” number in any sense of it, it was a great birthday nonetheless. I feel like over the past year my life has taken quite a bit of twists of turns of which I’m so thankful for, which makes me even more excited to start this new year off. Obviously, the biggest change was that I got married last August (goodness…it’s almost been 1 year!), and my wonderful wife decided to gift me a great birthday weekend!

It started on Friday, July 16th, the day before my actual birthday. I woke up with a note on my phone (the first thing I grab when I wake up) wishing me a Happy Birthday. And that morning my wife revealed my first gift:

Now, I LOVE video games. And I’ve been talking about getting a PS3 since before we got married, but kept putting it off because I could not justify the purchase (to her or myself). She took all the hints though, and got it for me! This is really a big deal for me, because…well…I went from this:

To this:

To all of you who are freaking out right now…don’t worry. I’m keeping the original NES. It’s sitting nicely right next to my PS3. :)

That night my wife and I helped babysit my nieces, as my sister and brother-in-law took a trip to celebrate their anniversary. And generally, babysitting a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old can be quite a handful. But this time, it was a breeze! Mainly because everything surrounded my birthday so I didn’t have to do anything. They spent the night making me birthday cards, meaning I could not be in the room with them as it was a surprise. Then in the morning, they were ‘surprising’ me with breakfast, so I had to avoid the kitchen at all costs. Much love to my wonderful wife for truly watching the two little ones the whole time :)

We then hit a bit of a snag on birthday weekend- we went to a dealership to possibly purchase a new car. The bad news: within the week, they had sold the car we looking at! Can’t fault them, but it put a little bit of a downer on the day, now that we’re back on the search.

In the evening on Saturday came the 2nd celebration, where a few of my close friends got together at Dave & Buster’s for some good food, fun games, and good times.

\

They had a rather big birthday ice-cream-cookie thing…I barely made a dent in it.

We started out with some bball…

then did some racing…

…and a little bit of shooting…

At the end of the night, we used our winnings to get some candy for everyone, and I came away with a few prizes of my own:

I think the green care-bear will be my new mascot- you think I can pull it off?

Then came Sunday- CUBS GAME! For 3 of the past 4 years, my wife and I have gone to the Cubs game for my birthday, and this was the best one yet. We had great seats and it was my first night game. Truly beautiful!

We started out with some poor looking swings…

I told the wife that I wanted to try to capture a HR swing (preferably by Lee, but I would take anyone at that moment). And then Soriano came up and this happened…

It was a great night- a bonus because we broke our curse of going to games and having the Cubs lose :)

All in all, I had a great birthday weekend. I’m officially 26 years old and counting…counting my blessings for all the goodness, grace and mercy that God has shown me. He’s been faithful when I chose not to be, and has continued to be an anchor in the every changing storm of life. And because of that, I’m so excited for what’s to come. Because it’s truly not about anything I’m going to do, but what He’s going to do with me and through me- and what’s more exciting than that?!

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

Copyright © July 20, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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Fourth of July Fireworks (Ribfest in Naperville, IL)

2010-07-05T15:54:53Z

Fact 1: I’ve lived in Illinois for almost 26 years.
Fact 2: I’ve never been to the Taste of Chicago.
Fact 3: This was the first time I went to Naperville’s Ribfest.

Yes, I’ve lived a deprived Chicagoan’s life, but I’m slowly improving on it. A group of friends decided to head out to Naperville’s Ribfest on the 4th, so we headed out to get there just at 7:30pm (when the gates are free) for a little meat and fireworks. After driving through a little rain, it cleared up by the time we got there, which was a plus. We had a little over an hour to get whatever food we’d like before the fireworks began.

My wife and my meal consisted of: Beef Brisket sandwich from Hog Wild (great!), Funnel Cake (alright, no ice-cream or fudge), Chocolate Covered Strawberries (the wife said it was alright, I don’t like strawberries), and a Strawberry-Banana Smoothie (Refreshing, but not amazing)

And here’s a couple frames from the fireworks:

Enjoy the 5th! :)

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

Copyright © July 5, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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American Cancer Society Walk & Roll 2010

2010-06-25T06:00:20Z

These images from the American Cancer Society’s Walk & Roll Event should have been posted awhile ago, so I’ll just skip the commentary and give you guys some frames (more posted on my personal page on facebook). Enjoy!

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Copyright © June 25, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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[VS] Mine By Design

2010-06-11T04:12:25Z

I love reconnecting with past clients in new ways. You probably remember our wonderful family session last fall, and I was so excited when Jackie contacted me again for a new project.

Jackie has taken a leap of faith and has entered into the Next Top Author competition, which is offering a publishing contract to new authors looking to get a positive message out to the world who otherwise would not be able to. She was looking for a way to further explain her book concept, and after some collaboration we pulled this piece together.

Mine By Design – Jackie Cyriac from Nate Mathai on Vimeo.

The book is not completed yet, nor do I have any children, but I’m already excited to read it! :)

If you guys have a moment, you can show your support by voting for her at the site.

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

Copyright © June 11, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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[VS] The ScoreHigh Movement

2010-06-10T18:39:46Z

One of my good friends and college roommate Shawn Thomas had a vision awhile back about creating a quality ACT prep program without all the added fluff, designed specifically for teachers. He saw the need for a program that was beneficial for both sides of the equation- the students get quality learning without being overwhelmed by material, and the teachers are able to do what they do best…TEACH. I love when people are willing to step outside of the box to find a great solution to a problem, and I believe that’s exactly what he did! So when he told me that he wanted to create a promo video to get a quick glimpse of this new idea out to prospective schools, I couldn’t resist. For those of you who are teachers (or even parents with High School kids!), you should definitely spread the word to your schools and principals about getting hooked up with the ScoreHigh Movement.

The ScoreHigh Movement from Nate Mathai on Vimeo.

I also managed to capture a few stills of him during the shoot as well- enjoy the ‘behind the scenes’ :)

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

Copyright © June 7, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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Ann + Greg : modern portraits [kenosha, wi]

2010-05-31T03:09:16Z

Though many times I’m able to meet with my couples during the consultation prior to the wedding, sometimes it’s not possible and we do much of the communication over e-mail. From the first message I got from Ann, though, I knew we’d be a great fit! By the time I met up with the for the portrait session, I felt like I had already known them, which made everything so much easier :)

The weather called for rain, but Ann and Greg were willing to do whatever was necessary to pull off the shoot, and I happily obliged. We were lucky to get the rain to pass us early in the day to give us a short gap of dry times to work with.

I love the way she looks at him-

This is what it looks like just 1 second before a huge wave crashes over the pier :) They were GREAT sports!

Not gonna lie- I hired the bird to make a cameo in this image.

A downpour won’t slow us down from taking a quick stroll along the shore…

Ann and Greg, you guys were troopers braving the cold and the rain. I’m so excited for your wedding this summer!

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

Copyright © May 31, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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Jaimy + Sijin : modern weddings {oak brook, il}

2010-05-03T13:08:32Z

After a quiet winter, it was great to get back into the swing of things with the ever wonderful Jaimy and Sijin (who you’ve probably seen before with their proposal, engagement, and parts 1 and 2 of their portrait sessions). I’ve got to start off by giving mad props to Marcie Krueger from M&D Photography for helping me out for the day at this wedding.

I started out with the girls over at Jaimy’s place, where the girls were pretty relaxed all morning, which made my job that much more fun! Another handful of major props go out the wonderful ladies at Starlight Makeup for their awesome work in the morning!

Marcie started out with the guys, as they helped Sijin get ready for his big day.

The dashing groom…

Love the details:

I’m not one to give out props all willy-nilly, but how can I not give a few helpings out to Grace from Vale of Enna?! The bouquets she made were absolutely amazing! (full disclosure: she was also the florist at my wedding :))

Jaimy’s dad was such a proud father that day:

She was absolutely stunning!

Before the ceremonies, both Sijin and Jaimy wrote each other letters- I love Jaimy’s reaction in receiving mango juice as well!

I think the flower girl was a little upset she didn’t get any pre-wedding gift. :)

Sijin was pretty happy to see his beautiful bride walk down the aisle…

Christ Church of Oak Brook has beautiful stained glass windows lining the sanctuary, pretty much begging for a silhouette shot.

After the ceremony, we headed out to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois for a little football…

Model much? These girls were a little too good at this ;)

Quite possibly the largest bridal party I’ve shot. Love.

I was then able to steal away a few seconds with just the newlyweds, and made it work. Fine, they made it work. Big time.

LOVE.

We then raced over to Carlisle Banquets in Lombard to get the rest of the party started!

Classic.

The MCs played a few games for guests who wanted to see Sijin and Jaimy kiss (anyone know the history of the clinking of the glasses? I’m truly interested in learning more about it!). This guest (one of New York’s finest) had to eat something like 6 saltine crackers in one minute.

I don’t think he fared too well :)

And then came the dancing! A bunch of close friends and family put together this awesome hip hop dance mix that get everyone hyped and around the dance floor!

And then it was time for everyone to get on the dance floor party the night away!

Sijin and Jaimy, it’s a blessing to capture your relationship from proposal to wedding, and I’m so excited to see you guys grow through marriage. Much love!

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

Copyright © May 3, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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Ann + Greg : modern portraits {teaser}

2010-04-26T01:57:29Z

They told the rain to stop for a bit. So it did. And we made amazing images.

True story.

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

Copyright © April 25, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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Jaimy + Sijin : modern weddings {teaser}

2010-04-19T03:10:41Z

baller. the game is just getting started…

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Copyright © April 18, 2010
All content and images are property of Nate Mathai of Nate Mathai Photography. Please don't steal my stuff...it's not nice. :) Follow the link to view my stance on image sharing.

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