Surprise!!! Sarah Barlow

First I'd like to say that I'm sorry for the long wait but It's finally here so I hope you enjoy!





Sarah is finally 19. I mean we've been waiting for like a whole year! So she's done it and we choose to suprise her with a party. Pretty much all the cool people decided to show and even a few celebrities.... Here's the non-slideshow (Because I don't have showit yet).




























































































































































































































































































Happy Birthday Sarah!

J@KE

Party People Everywhere

I know I'm the lazy one when it comes to blogging but I need time to get all the pics together so chill. Very soon I'll have the post you've all been waiting for...... I just need a little more time. Sorry :-(

It'll be soon,

J@KE

My Day Job

Ok so I've worked for this company for five years now..... Well technically it will be five years on the 16 but who's counting??? Right. Anyway so yah it's been so long that they gave me this......




So "let me splane....... No no there is to much, let me sum-up" I'm told that this watch is "really nice". I don't know what others think about it but I like it. It's perfect for this fad that I'm going through that involves buying watches...... Don't ask. {What am I talking about???} Back to "train of thought". Um..... Oh yeah! Nice watch. Well I like it because it signifies that I've been with the company for five years but it also has the logo of the mother company (Beldon Roofing) with a leaf (Leaf Guard) all in one logo with a diamond. Now this is a big deal for me because this is officially my first diamond. I know what you are thinking...... Well, actually I don't know what you are thinking but, I'd like to...... Maybe? You may be thinking you've never worn a real diamond before???? The answer is simply, no I've never worn a real diamond before but, now that I have one I can say that I have. I'll mostly wear it for dress occasions although, it's kinda cheesy that it's a company watch but, who cares a diamonds a diamond. Right?

Anyway it's really late (you may be able to tell through my writing) and in the last two days I worked twenty-seven and a half hours so I'm really tired. Good night. ;-)

J@KE

DA TASTE

just some shots of buckingham fountain.


The taste of Chicago ended yesterday. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a huge festival of food held downtown in Grant Park. Tons of food vendors from around the city come and show-off their stuff. This as you can imagine attracts tons of people. I think on average there is about 1 million people that visit each day! They also have bands come and play in the various bandshells, for instance Train was there the day I went. It's totally the biggest event of the year for Chicago. The only downside is the price of the food. It costs seven dollars for eleven tickets and a combo (Italian beef with an Italian sausage in it) costs nine tickets so as you can see it's not exactly cheap, but it's totally worth it!

The people I took to the taste were, my sister, my cousin and one of their friends. It was a blast!

(from left to right) Ange (their friend), Tor (my cousin) and Cynth (my sister). We did A little photo shoot (kinda).

Now it's Cynth, Ange and Tor

Crankin' the Gears

(me and Phil Long at the Chicago Fire's first game in their new stadium. Yes, I have a Mohawk ;-)

(and this is at the second Fire game in the new stadium. That's my friend Joe Payne in the background)


So since I'm kinda a Photographer....... When should I start and when I do, what should I name my photography company?

I only ask because I'm lost...... I've only taken pictures for friends and I wouldn't think of charging them for my work but at the same time I ain't makin' no funds. You know what I mean? This is my dilemma. Any thoughts???? And since I'm not making any money doing it (for myself that is) I didn't see any reason to start a business. So when should I start the business?

I know this is a lame post but I want to know what you think.

J@KE

More or Less

I guess this is a question for all of you out there in the blogosphere....

Should I do more posts? Or bigger posts?

I have been doing bigger posts with lots of pictures and stuff but I work so hard on them I want them to be "on top" for a while so those who want can comment but, when I read others blogs they have a post like every other day. So I'm wondering what you think..... More quantity or what? I guess it really doesn't matter but sometimes when I haven't been able to get on the computer in a couple days and then I visit one of the "one-a-day" blogs....... I can't leave a comment on a post that was posted three posts ago because I won't get a response....... And I really want to leave a comment! Oh well, life goes on.

Let me know what you think?

J@KE

There and Back Again: A Photographer's Tale

This story taken from (the work in progress called) Sappy Adventures. :-P

Well it all started like any normal wedding photoshoot; we had to drive to the wedding. (like DUH!) So what better time to do some shooting. Right?




We had to stop for supplies........ (what chain of stores is this a picture of???)



Further north we encountered some interesting things to shoot......There's like thirty or so boats in this picture and I didn't even get the whole lake!!!! (and I thought traffic was bad on the roads. Gosh!)

(You do what you gotta do I guess?)

Then it happened.........Sarah's car just stopped working. She said she was in cruise control and all-of-a-sudden there was no power...We stood around for awhile trying to figure out what could've caused this phenomenon (in the 95 degree weather BTW). Finally we concluded we were NOT gonna be able to get it started or fixed ourselves so Sarah called her dad (The Great Joe Barlow!) *sorry there is no photo entry for The Great Joe Barlow.*After talking to her dad she called AAA and summoned the tow-truck(dun-dun-duhhhhh). While all this is going on........ Mark and I decided to turn this into the perfect photo shoot..... (after all that's what we were there for :-).




So after the tow-truck was arranged and the clients informed of our dilemma, Sarah asked the bride if someone could pick us up. The only problem was Sarah's car was still on the side of the road so someone would have to stay with it. That someone just happened to be me. (picture copy right Mark Collins Photography)

As Mark and Sarah faded off into the distance I was left with only my camera, one sixteen ounce bottle of water and a hand-ful of trail mix. If you think that's bad...... I hadn't eaten anything since the night before.

The important thing was that I had my camera......... Here are some of the things you might see if you sit on the side of the road in a BMW for six hours.......















All in all It was a long day (I spent approximately 6 hours driving and 6 hours sitting), but it had it's moments. The answer to the question; WHY?! Is simply "a friend in need is a friend indeed". There is no doubt in my mind that I'd do it all again in a heart beat!

I just hope this doesn't happen to you,

J@KE