Meet the Hamilton Family. Steve, Leah, Max and Olivia. Matt and I have had the pleasure of knowing this wonderful family for three years now. The Hamiltons are incredibly creative and innovative. Steve owns one of the most well known food photography studios in the city and across the country, Stephen Hamilton Photographics, where he works with some of the leading national agencies and food brands. Stop by his Who’s Hungry blog to get an idea of all that goes into photographing food. It’s pretty incredible. Leah launched her own line of really awesome all natural bamboo building blocks for children this last year called Be Blocks. I love them and they are a great idea for gifts for the little ones this holiday season. They also recently converted parts of Steve’s studio space into an absolutely stunning event and wedding reception venue called Room 1520. You can see all of the beautiful pictures on the website. There are two spaces available, the Sky Loft and Aérée. Located in the West Loop they are on the rise as Chicago’s newest and hippest places to host your party, art benefit, luncheon, bar/bat mitzvah, wedding reception, etc.

On the day that we met the Hamiltons at their lake house in Michigan for their photo shoot, Olivia showed me her butterfly and heart shaped rock collection. It brought back memories of being a kid when my brother and I spent our summer evenings running around chasing lighting bugs in a jar or peeling slugs off the back porch in Virginia to tantalize each other with. There is something so refreshing about being around kids and stirring up those old childhood memories.

It rained for most of the morning that we drove out to Michigan for their shoot but we didn’t let it stop us from having fun. Leah made us all hot tea and we had a great time hanging out and catching up. We were able to get outside a few times in between the rain showers and I ended up loving how the images turned out. They each wrote down one word that describes what family means to them and I loved seeing what they all came up with. We don’t get to do family portraits often, but it is a great feeling to know that we had the honor of preserving the individual relationships that they each have with one another.

Emery at the time was a little fussy, not feeling her best. Little did we know it wasn’t just a little sickness she had. Through a series of events a tumor was found (Neuroblastoma) in Emery’s delicate body. It was about two inches long extending behind her lung and into her spinal canal. For the past ten days Dave, Bonnie, Emery, and a number of the family members and friends have been in Houston at Texas Children’s Hospital where Emery has been admitted. Emery has undergone numerous tests and a few rounds of chemo trying to shrink the tumor.

Things like this we can’t understand and can only look at them as a way to see what is important in life, grow closer to each other, and ultimately grow closer to God. We have been praying along with many others for a perfect healing for Emery’s body and strength for Dave and Bonnie as they do all they can for their sweet daughter. Please join us in prayer for Emery.

Without any marketing other than word of mouth and her Etsy page she had successfully launched her own clothing line in less than six months. Word traveled fast, far and wide and soon boutiques and wholesalers all the way from Texas to Germany became interested in carrying her line of clothing, forcing her to find a sewing factory to help her mass produce her orders. That is where we got involved! As this special lady is my sister-in-law, she asked us to photograph the dresses and help design her marketing materials to present at an upcoming trade show in hopes to attract a few buyers. Amazingly, we were able to turn around her catalog and postcards all the way from concept – shooting – design – production in only 4 short days. We are extremely excited about what she is doing and couldn’t be more proud. Many thanks to our wonderful friends and photographer Tony and Katy Skarlatos for allowing us to use their beautiful daughter, Mia, as one of the models in our shoot. Olivia, my niece, is the other sweet little girl that helped make the shoot such a success.

Below is a quick look at the catalog spreads starting with the front and back cover. Since Sam’s visit to the trade show in June she has been picked up by reps in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, and several other cities around the U.S. For more information on where to find her Fall 2009 line at a store near you or to place an order online visit her website HERE!

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One story that sticks out in my mind is about Katie. She works in a V.A. hospital and cherishes her patients. In fact, they are what she loves most about her job. Recently she lost one of her longest and most favorite as he just couldn’t fight the battle anymore. He had known since January that Katie would be getting married this month and knew there was a chance he wouldn’t be here so he had is wife buy her a gift and wrap it up as beautifully as she could. He told her to make sure Katie received it a few weeks before her wedding. And so, 2 weeks ago, Katie received this beautifully wrapped gift from a man who wanted to congratulate her and let her know exactly how much he appreciated all she did for him. He truly cared for her because she truly cared for him. It is easy for me to see why David wants to spend the rest of his life with Katie. She is sweet and genuine and beautiful and the two of them together are like peas and carrots. They adore each other. They make me smile.

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Also, check back later this week for more pictures from our trips to Texas and maybe even a few pictures from our own reception!