Jake Rohde | Valo Photography

Christmas at the Rohdes and Perses

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:59 +0000

I hope you had an amazing holiday. I had the pleasure of spending a bunch of time with family. My sister in laws were both in town, and it is very rare that everyone is in the same place at the same time. It was great to just hang out, catch up, eat some good food and relax together in celebration of the holidays. I also promised myself I would take some time off and actually relax and recharge. However, while taking a break from my computer and email, I could never take a break from a camera… Here is a few photographs from the holidays. First set from the Rohde house and the second half from my in laws place.

Maggie – 6 days old

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:16:07 +0000

My wife and I had the chance to go visit our friends who were just blessed with a Christmas baby. Maggie is a couple days old and cute as all get up. Plus I am jealous of her room… so cool!

Merry Christmas

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:03:00 +0000

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take a quick second and wish you all a Merry Christmas. Everyone we have had the opportunity to work with this year has been amazing. You have all helped us grow throughout the year, not only in our careers and business, but in our lives. I truly believe I am a better person from meeting you and working with you all. For all of our 2012 couples, I look forward to working with you all next year!

Enjoy the holidays. Relax. Recharge and get ready for 2012.

A bit about the image: This was taken the other day at Red Arrow Park. I brought out my Pinhole camera, which I haven’t shot with in a long time. If you are not familiar with a pinhole, basically it is a box with a hole in it. My pinhole is made of wood. So it is a wood box with a hole in it. That is all. It is the simplest form of photography… even more simple than cameras such as the Holga (which you can see images of in the last couple posts). There is something freeing about walking around with such a simple camera… something refreshing. It takes a long time for an image to be made with this camera, which is also peaceful. You need to set the camera up on a tri-pod, compose (as well as you can, since there is no viewfinder), and expose… This photo took 6 minutes to expose. Some images I have made with the camera take 30 minutes – 1.5 hours… yeah, that’s a long time to make a photograph… But in that time there is a peace I don’t find many other places. There is nothing I can do but wait near the camera with a stop-watch. It is time to think and reflect.

I just realized that my last few posts have all been images from toy cameras. If you just stumbled here and are looking for something specific, like wedding photography, feel free to filter the blog posts over on the right there… you can see just wedding photography, personal work, engagement sessions, etc…

More of Camille and Dan on the Holga

admin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:28:53 +0000

Camille and Dan – Holga Love

admin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:50:15 +0000

Holga – Kodak Portra 160 NC

Katie and Ben – Holga Love

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:15:39 +0000

Holga – Kodak Portra 160

Ashleigh and Brandon – A Very Cold Engagement Session

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:30:14 +0000

We just met Ashleigh and Brandon, and they wanted to get their engagement session done before the end of the year, so they could use their images in their wedding planning for things like their Save the Dates… Simon and I are all about shooting whenever, so we were down. Ashleigh and Brandon braved the cold and we made some great images down by Lake Michigan, Alterra at the Lake (one of their first date spots), Brady Street, North and Farwell by the Oriental Theatre, and we ended the day warming up at Von Trier with some tasty beers. These guys are awesome… and here are a few of my favorite shots from the cold, but very fun, shoot with them:

The Mathewsons – Day in the Life

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:15:51 +0000

As the year draws to an end I finally have some time to start putting together all my thoughts from the year and develop them. A while back I found myself wondering what could make family sessions better. I started thinking about the portrait sessions I was shooting versus the weddings I was photographing. In both cases I like things to be natural, but at a wedding there is a lot more time to capture simple moments, laughs, expressions… the stuff that makes up life. I get a glimpse of this in a portrait session, but never really get into it… never get to develop the story completely. So I am working on some new things for next year. Celebrating the simple moments in life, I will be offering “Day in the Life” sessions next year, along with a slightly shorter version in the form of a “Lifestyle” session, as well as the regular portrait sessions. The Day in the Life sessions will not be limited to families either… a single, a couple, you and a pet… any combination of things could be documented in a Day in the Life session. It is all about documenting the meat of life… the simple moments that make up a day…

I had the opportunity to photograph my first Day in the Life session the other day with the fabulous Mathewson Family. This is the story of their day:

Each session is finished with a Fine Art Book of the day. Collecting these days year after year will produce an amazing volume of stories… More details about the sessions coming next year! If you want to schedule one before then, drop me a line: jake@valophotography.com

Kate and Ben’s Hubbard Park Wedding

admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:26:49 +0000

Tucked away in the woods, warm and cozy, two of the kindest souls I have ever had the pleasure to meet celebrate the first day of their lives together. I was lucky enough to be there to capture the day…

Kate and Jason’s Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Wedding

admin — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 02:43:40 +0000

Jason, now that your wedding is over, you are free to grow the most amazing mustache that has ever been grown…

Kate, I am sorry about that.

We met Kate and Jason last November, and Jason was working on a killer stash for Movember. Simon and I, of course, tried to convince him to keep growing his mustache until the wedding… and I think that almost lost us this wedding Kate and Jason heard about us because Kate was in Liz and Dave’s wedding… which I had the honor of shooting about a year ago. It is such an honor when someone that works with us on another wedding or project hires us for their own wedding or event. It means a lot and I think it speaks to the experience and product we provide.

Jason shaved for the wedding, so he looked good. Kate needed nothing, she already looked good and was ready to go. Take a look at some of my favorites from their day: