BRYAN BAARS PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC

December 24th…widely recognized as the Eve of the biggest holiday of the year. For me? It happens to be the last post I submitted in my blog. WOW…5 months? Well, not that I had all sorts of readers swarming my site, I will say that I am disappointed in myself for not keeping up. I’ve nothing to blame, save for the Farmville’s and Mafia War’s of the world, consuming my time. Actually, it is a lot more than that, but still…isn’t it amazing to see how much time one can spend clicking and clicking and clicking just to make sure you get those crops harvested before they wilt? It brought me back to the days of childhood, when the rave was Atari & Coleco. Ohh, the hours I spent (invested?) in playing those games, when the hot, summer sun was just outside my window, beckoning me to share the day with him.

OK, ok, this is getting too dramatic here…my feeble attempt at being creative, as I try to make up lost time over the past five months. But my childhood does call up another memory, though a brief one for me, and something that *actually relates* to my posting this morning: the wonderful world of Boy Scouts. My son Joshua just finished up his scouting season. (Side note: I’m happy to say he has decided to continue his journey into the Boy Scout rank!). His pack celebrated their final meeting with a picnic and water rockets at Petrifying Springs in Kenosha. Naturally, Cora and I were on site, bearing camera and lenses to capture some of the action (and yes, indulging in the typical picnic cuisine). Which…FINALLY…brings us to the images (oh yeah, that’s what this blog is about?). I hope you enjoy them. I love taking these photos, kid and rocket - nothing else expresses the fun and pride they have when they see their effort fulfilled with blasting these rockets into the sky. I hope you enjoy viewing them too.

Now, where was that link to Farmville again? Gotta get those fields seeded…

Cora and I had the privilege of meeting with Santa to do a few portraits for a CYO Band fundraiser and concert in Kenosha.  The event was a lot of fun and a great success.  We were happy to be a part of it and will hopefully have the chance to work with them (and Santa!) again.

Cora and I also want to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  Enjoy your holiday and be safe!

We have a new addition to the family!  A little (and I mean *little*) frenchie that we name Dexter.  He is a handful, but lots of fun!  Here are a few shots we took as we prepped for an upcoming shoot.

Here are some recent portrait work samples and a card design that Cora and I have done during the past several weeks.  We always have fun with these “on location” shoots - meeting new people, having a lot of fun, and getting some really cool stuff that they get to show off in their homes.  We want to extend a big thanks to each of the families for inviting BB Photo to do their photography!

Here are some of my favorite picks from a recent engagement shoot with Shane and Julia.  These two were amazing!  Very outgoing, lively, entertaining…the list goes on!  Cora and I cannot wait for their wedding!

Here are some pre-wedding rehearsal photos from the night before.  Not much taken that night as I was supposed to be practicing…oh, and we just HAD to put a small dent in the amount of beer we put on ice that night…

A BIG THANKS to Ben, Dayna, and Dean for creating the memories of our wedding!!!  It was a great day and by all accounts, everyone had a great time, which is exactly what Cora and I wanted.  Thanks to EVERYONE who were able to make it to our wedding & picnic to celebrate the beginning of the rest of our lives.  I’ll be spending a good portion of time over the next couple of weeks to get through all of the wedding photos, as well as our honeymoon vacation photos.  In the meantime, here are a few teasers from the BIG day…enjoy!

Cora, the boys, and I took a day trip to Chicago and met up with our cousins Linda and Jeremy to check out the Harry Potter Exhibit at Museum of Science & Industry.  Three words can sum it up…very VERY Cool!!!  If you can shell out a few bucks and take a day off from work, this exhibit is well worth the trip.  The boys & Jeremy couldn’t move fast enough to see it all :-).

Before I move on to the photos I captured that day, I wanted to also take a moment to say thanks to my cousin Linda, who took the boys for a couple nights before our visit to Chicago.  They were very excited to see the new Harry Potter movie & have dinner at Medieval Times.  It will be a memory they will never forget!  Thank-you from the bottom of our hearts!!

After our visit to the museum, Cora & I took the boys back downtown to check out Millennium Park, eat some chow, and race back to catch the 7:35 train.  It’s always a blast to go down there and hang out for the day - so much to do and see. I decided to go black and white for the pics I grabbed on Monday.  I really like the effect - especially for my portrait work.  Sure, it’s old-fashioned, but I think it adds a ton of character to the finished product.  I hope you agree!

Cora and I were invited by a good friend to do some portraits of her daughter Emma, for her upcoming 5th birthday.  She was fantastic, and patient, and having all kinds of fun while we spent an hour walking about a local park.  ”Camera shy” is certainly not in her vocabulary - she was comfortable and talkative for us during the entire time.  Thanks Emma for being such a great and photogenic subject!!!  We hope we can be part of your 6th birthday!!

We had our third photo session with Harlen, Randy and Christen’s 3-month old son.  Boy, this kid is getting big!  It has been a blast during the past several months, watching him get bigger and more curious, and getting to know Randy and Christen better.  Cora and I send a big thank-you to you guys for giving us this opportunity!  We’re looking forward to seeing you at the 6-month mark.

Here are a couple of our favorites.