So for those of you familiar with yelp, particularly those who are business owners and have a listing on there, I think you’ll really enjoy the following Portlandia clip which is an absolute favorite of mine. It is a totally hilarious, overdramatized yet somewhat relatable depiction of what it feels like to get a negative review (although just to be clear, we have all stellar reviews on yelp from both wedding photography, baby photographer, and family photography clients 
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Remember my trip to Harbor Springs? Well I also brought my film camera along and toyed around with a few rolls of expired fujifilm I had. Thought I’d post this since I’m starting to experiment with more of the same at my family sessions as well (including one that I have tomorrow!). Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend so far! XO
If you follow our blog then you probably already recognize this awesome family whose birth story I captured earlier this year. I had so much fun working with this bunch, you can imagine my delight when they asked if I’d be free to come document Sloane’s christening in Harbor Springs, Michigan. After discussing their goals for the event, we decided to make a whole weekend out of it and capture the full story from start to end. We started out on day 1 with a beautiful cocktail cruise around the lake on The Pointer, a small but sturdy boat whose history goes way back with the town of Harbor Springs. Then, we all got together again on day 2 for the actual christening, which took place on the beachy shores of Lake Michigan at Sloane’s grandparents’ house (did you know that Sloanie will be the fifth generation of her family to be going to Harbor Springs for their summer tradition?!). They finished up with a nice family dinner on the porch and finally, on day three we hung out for a bit in the morning.. they showed me around town one last time and we took their water-loving-bursting-with-energy-loveable-silly-lab pups to the beach before I headed back home. Sadly Vasili got sick right before the weekend and had to forgo the trip, but I actually found it quite fun and almost my own little adventure to make the 5 hour trek up to the northern part of Michigan and explore the town by myself (I’ll be sure to share some of my own personal photos I took around town on another day).
Anyway, here’s but a few of my fave moments from the weekend. Thank you so much Sloane, as well as her dearest family and friends for inviting me out to capture such a special weekend of yours. Thank you even more for your great hospitality and kindness, and for introducing me to the world’s most amazing cookies *drool* (again, will save those stories for another time!) xoxo
The last few months have been so insanely busy for us that I woke up today and realized that summer is almost officially over *sigh* This has been both an amazing and incredibly difficult year for us as we’ve experienced an enormous deal growth and change and also pushed through hard times in both our personal and professional lives. So far this summer we’ve photographed 18 newborn babies; a Day in the Life Of session; 3 engagements; 1 birth; 5 weddings; 9 family sessions; 6 maternity; 1 boudoir; traveled to Michigan, Virginia & San Francisco; celebrated World Breastfeeding Awareness Month; photographed a church baptism and christening in Lake Michigan and somehow enjoyed life with friends & family in between (well, somewhat lol). Yep, we’re totally insane but I wouldn’t have it any other way 
And no worries for those of you who have missed the regular smiling baby or loving family on our blog as I promise I’ll be returning to my regular blogging over the coming months as we have a lot of exciting changes, growth and announcements to share with you. Also expect to see a little more of who we, Vasili & Suzy, are as my goal is to do more sharing of our own personal lives and daily life experiences.
Anyway here’s a little peek into our summer of everything (and certainly not all of it!). Hoping everyone had an equally amazing summer, and with that I anxiously say good bye to the season and onto the next which is my absolute favorite of all – fall.
NOTE: Speaking of moving into the next season, if you’re interested in having us photograph your love this fall or holiday season please contact us asap to make sure we’re able to fit your family in as we’ll be reducing the number of sessions we take on each month. Although it’s been a ridiculously fun and wonderful last few months, it’s made me realize the importance of limiting our schedules so that we have enough time to still give back to ourselves and to our clients the way we believe we should.
Mark & Cyndi were scheduled to get married on the beaches of Saugatuk, Michigan with the sun setting behind them. Instead, they had something even better – they got married in the mist. I said to Cyndi before the ceremony started (as I assured her that the cloudy skies and mist would actually provide for the best lighting for photos) that the unexpected weather conditions were quite reflective of what our future lives are like with the person we marry. Things are never quite how we plan in life but it’s about how we react in response to adversity, especially when we are faced with troubles alongside our spouse or partner. However, the clouds parted just in time for us to have a beautiful golden sunset behind us for photos of Mark & Cyndi on the beach as we had hoped for. Thank you so much M&C for allowing Vasili and I to be one of just a small group of people to share in your intimate wedding on the beach, your hospitality and kindness truly made us feel like we were one of your friends and family! (PS keep in mind this is but a small fraction of the images we took – these are just a few of our favorites for now)
As a side note, I was absolutely blown away by this particular image while looking through Vasili’s photos from the wedding. He is so artistically talented it is unbelievable – and it just reminds me even more all the things I love about him and why he makes my heart still race. How awesome would it be to turn an image like this (the one featured below) into mural wallpaper that’s fitted to your ceiling? And every night, before you go to bed, you could lay together and look at the stars in the sky on the night of your wedding 
Here you will find all of our latest happenings and sneak peeks from our recent sessions. If you’d like to view our main portfolio or details about booking your own session, please go to our main website at www.simplybysuzy.com OR click on the VIEW PORTFOLIO link under any of our blog posts.
Simply by Suzy Photography
www.simplybysuzy.com
Chicago Photographers, Suzzane Brown (also known as Suzy!) & Vasili Gryfakis, work together in Chicago’s first premier pregnancy, birth, newborn and family photography studio. We met years ago while working at a local Whole Foods. He was the stock boy, I was the bag girl and, well, the rest is history… :) Now we photograph love of all kinds together (including a select number of weddings each year) and are proud to be Chicago’s first and only premier photography studio that offers a full range of services to capture your life and love at all stages whether it be pregnancy photography, birth photography, newborn photography or family photography. Our style has been described as organic and simple, and we strongly believe in the importance of giving you more than just memories of how you look but rather who you are. And because of that we take a candid photojournalistic approach in order to capture your real, authentic connections. In addition to our unique story-telling approach when documenting you and your family, we pride ourselves on the deep, long-lasting relationships we typically develop with our clients so don’t be surprised if we ask you out for brunch or coffee one day to catch up on your life after our session together! On a more professional level, Suzy has done work for organizations such as the Women’s Health Foundation and Motion PR and photographed local public figures including Angi Taylor with Chicago’s KISS FM. Suzy also received her MPH in Public Health while focusing much of her studies on Maternal/Child Health in addition to being a certified photographer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.
Simply by Suzy
http://simplybysuzy.brandyourself.com/
