In: Weddings
30 Jun 2009Anabelle & Melvin are great people, very fun and full of energy. It was no surprise to us when their wedding was packed with the same enthusiasm. They were married at the beginning of June at Loyola University’s Madonna Dela Strada Chapel and then held their reception at the Four Point Sheraton Hotel near O’Hare. There was no shortage of special moments which included a Mariachi performance, Serenades, a feisty Salsa inspired first dance, and break dancing. These two know how to through a terrific party and it was apparent everyone had a wonderful time. Check out some of our favorites.
-Melissa


The girls dressed and looking cute.

The boys.

Beautiful Bride, Beautiful Chapel.

Happy to be married!


Smokin' first dance.

Melvin surprised everyone with a Mariachi performance.


He sings “I’m Yours” written by Jason Mraz.

It was a big hit.

Fauxtoboothâ„¢ fun.



In: Weddings
25 Jun 2009Lisa and Tom were married a few weeks ago at Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory on a glorious afternoon. The conservatory is really a Chicago gem. The grounds and greenhouses are breathtaking. Tons of flowers and greenery and lots of character. Add to that the near perfect weather and a beautiful couple and it was pretty awesome event.
We started off at the new and super chic Hotel Felix with the girls getting ready. Tom met us there for a “first glance” at his future bride and then we headed off to Michigan Ave for some picturesque fun.
Hope you enjoy some of our favorites from the day!
-Melissa










In: Engagements
22 Jun 2009On Saturday we photographed Becky and Matt’s wedding and it was an absolute blur of love, beauty, and excitement. We’ll be posting pictures from their event soon. But we can’t jump the gun… we have to show off some of their engagement photos first. Josh took Becky and Matt for a walk downtown a couple weeks ago. They are young Chicago professionals and I think these photos represent what it’s like to live here as a couple on daily basis with the hustle and bustle of a busy city. Hope you enjoy!
-Melissa

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In: Portraits
17 Jun 2009I met Melanie randomly a few years back photowalking with a Flickr buddy, who in the midst of a photowalk needed to make a jewelry pit stop for a present. So I found myself hanging out in a ritzy jewel store waiting for said buddy to pick out something good for his lady. I struck up a conversation with the small and lively jewel specialist by the name of Melanie and ended up photographing her a few months later. Since then Melanie has been a subject of portraits, dinner companion of Melissa and I, and unparalleled Star Wars fan. A few weeks ago I got a message from her saying her friend had entered her into a national reality TV show and she needed headshots. So we had her over, got her hopped up on caffeine and here are some of the results.
- Josh

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In: Engagements
14 Jun 2009A couple weeks ago Urszula and Rafal braved the urban West Loop jungle with us and we got some awesome photographs. These two are obviously very in love and I adore that we were able to freeze a little piece of their romance in time. We can’t wait to shoot their wedding in July!
-Melissa

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In: Weddings
9 Jun 2009Josh and I had the honor of shooting Michele and Gene’s wedding Memorial Day weekend. They had a morning wedding at Naperville’s Meiley-Swallow Hall and followed the ceremony up with a delicious Tapas lunch reception at Meson Sabika Pavilion. Here are some of the highlights.
-Melissa
The dress… hanging in the “green room” where the girls got ready.

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In: Products
1 Jun 2009We label our photography style as “Fine Art Photojournalism.” Our primary goal while photographing a wedding is to document the event as it happens with little interference. We also love to capture a few photographs at each event that might have a little “artful” direction. Usually this consists of a spur of the moment idea one of us has and a few instructions to the couple to walk over there, do something like this, and be romantic. Usually, these images turn into something very special. A work of art. We think every couple should invest in at least one “big” work of art from their wedding. Maybe you put it over your fire place mantel, in your entry way, or better yet… over your bed.
What size gallery wrap should I order?
Bigger is better with these beauties. For example, we have three 20″x30″ canvas wraps over our fire place mantel and they fit beautifully in our loft with 12ft ceilings. I suggest measuring the space you’d like to place your wrap and follow the rule of thirds. Subtract one third from the length and width of the space and that should give you a rough idea of how large of a wrap or frame you should order. ie: If the space over your mantel measures 36″ wide by 48″ tall, you subtract 12″ from the width and 16″ from the height, which leaves a space for a 24″x32″ piece of art.
Don’t be afraid to think out side the box when determining what art should go on your walls. You can create visually interesting collages with several pieces grouped together. We have standard gallery wrap sizes already added to your personalized online galleries but these wraps can come in a wide array of sizes. Contact us for more customized options. My other great passion in life is interior design so I’m always happy to give advice and suggestions on domestic design.
Here are some pictures of the sample gallery wraps we’ve just ordered. We are so thrilled with the quality and clarity of these pieces.
-Melissa

Three samples on display in our meeting space.
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In: Weddings
29 May 2009When you sign on to become a wedding photographer you get to hear a lot of love stories from couples on the chain of events that lead them to one another. But it’s still rare for us to come across a high school sweetheart story, let alone one that started on the first day of a marching band practice. Being that they’d been together for so long we really felt a strong sense of familiarity between both of their families, and all of the friends who had known Brant and Chrissy as a couple since the beginning. It made for a very stress free and fun event to be a part of.

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In: Personal
27 May 2009Over the weekend I had the opportunity to join a group of Chicago photographers in a photowalk organized by the San Francisco blogger Thomas Hawk. Thomas is well known for his activism for photographer rights. In the post 9/11 world photography often gets the short straw, and there are a lot of misinformed security and law enforcement folks out there who are detaining and harassing photographers who are practicing photography within their legal rights. If you need specifics Thomas’ blog is full of them.
In addition to getting to meet Thomas, I was there to try out our new Lensbaby Composer. Lensbabies are simple lenses that use a bellows system to obtain a sweet spot of focus surrounded by a graduated blur. They are all manual lenses with no electronic communication with the camera body, so results can be somewhat tricky and sporadic. One might argue that similar effects could be obtained in post process, but personally I’d rather pull it off in the camera, it just has more magic to me that way. We had one of the early 2.0 variations (now called the “Muse”), and it honestly was a pain to use. The newer Composer is much easier to deal with and I have a feeling I’ll be using it a lot more. If you like intentional blurs and that weird dreamy effect, the Lensbaby is for you.
- Josh
Oh, and the first two shots were taken with a standard 50mm lens, the ones following are all Lensbaby material.

Thomas Hawk.
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In: Engagements
20 May 2009While I was away visiting my family in Wilmington, NC, Josh took a stroll down to the river with Nabiha & Erik. From the looks of these photos, I think they had a good time. I love how he captured their love and our city. While Chicago isn’t the cleanest city it’s still beautiful all the same and I always feel lucky to have it as a backdrop.
-Melissa

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Joshua Mitchell and Melissa Mitchell of Continuum Photography are Chicago and Portland based wedding photographers specializing in photojournalistic wedding photography. As contemporary wedding photographers their photography style is fun and modern. It is overwhelmingly photojournalistic, combining a unique blend of traditional pictures, fine art photos, and documentary candid wedding images.
Joshua Mitchell and Melissa Mitchell of Continuum Photography are Chicago and Portland based wedding photographers specializing in photojournalistic wedding photography. As contemporary wedding photographers their photography style is fun and modern. It is predominantly photojournalistic, combining a unique blend of traditional pictures, fine art photos, and documentary candid wedding images.
As Illinois and Oregon professional photographers they are available for engagement portraits and engagement photo sessions. They also offer specialty wedding photography services such as bridal boudoir pictures and trash the dress photos. If you are looking for a Chicago or Portland wedding photographer or destination wedding photographer consider Continuum Photography.
Wedding Photography serving Chicago * San Diego * Portland * Seattle * and destinations everywhere.