JAKE THORNBERRY

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Joan Shelley, with Nathan Salsburg and James Elkington at Evanston S.P.A.C.E.

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Lovely shoot with Baby Grand, a local celebrity — the 1,000th dog from Safe Humane Chicago’s amazing Court Case Dog program — and his human friend, Kristin, for Safe Humane Chicago, who recently partnered with Pet Your Shirt, a local business that donates 10% of proceeds to local animal shelters. From September 1-30, 10% will be donated to Safe Humane Chicago and 20% will be donated when #Babygrand items are purchased!

Thanks to Angela Tomasino of Safe Humane fame for inviting me out to shoot, and to Kristin, Diane, and, of course, dear Baby Grand for helping with the shoot!

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Good news! Harriet got a gig as a dog model for State Bags’ new look book. 

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Once a year, for a few hours in the morning, Chicago closes down Lake Shore Drive to motorists and opens it up to cyclists for Bike the Drive. We arrived around 7:30 am and hit the South then North loops for a combined total mileage of 30 miles – plus another 16 or so biking to and from the event and Doughnut Vault. 

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From Safe Humane Chicago’s gala, “Diamonds in the Ruff.”

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Safe Humane Chicago was looking for two photographers to cover one of their biggest nights of the year – “Diamonds in the Ruff.” As I haven’t had as much time to volunteer with them as I’d like to lately – I’m currently taking a web development boot camp at Northwestern that takes up nearly every minute of my free time – I thought it’d be a great opportunity to volunteer my time doing something I love for an excellent and noble cause – it doesn’t get much better than that, right?

The event is their annual gala and largest fundraiser of the year where tons of lovely folks (and dogs!) come together to celebrate every facet of the community and its life-affirming work with both people and animals alike. Plus, I got to hang out with dogs! Much thanks to Cynthia Bathurst and the rest of the Safe Humane team for having me out to shoot – it was an honor and a blast.

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Kevin Coval

Chicago, Illinois

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Cadillac

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Achilleas

Chicago, Illinois

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New York

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Connecticut

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Doug and Carrie's wedding

Mt. Riga, Connecticut

I can't recall whether I offered to shoot my cousin and dear friend Doug's wedding or he asked me to be his best man first. All I know is that when it was hinted at by my girlfriend, Kathryn—who was taking care of the music by lending her lovely, lovely voice—that I might be backing her up on guitar (poorly, certainly) I suddenly began to wonder how I was going to manage to be in all those different places at once. Any single one of those responsibilities was weighty, but all three? A bit colossal.

Needless to say, I didn't end up doing all of them—only two. But I did end up performing my ceremonial duties as his best man to the, well, best of my abilities. My experience gained while being on the initial end of ring duty as a ring-bearer (I, in my young mind, remember thinking "Will I have to get a ring bear suit for this?") for my Aunt Diana's wedding at this same place when I was quite young served me well, as I managed not to let the rings fly into the lake.

Also, I managed to get a few shots of the day, the highlights which are above. However, I couldn't have done it without Neally Rhea, who, while I was taking care of the aforementioned duties, masterfully captured the unforgettable ceremony. 

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Summer

Lindale, Texas

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SPD-BRD

Lindale, Texas

Larry Rhea's Ford Falcon, by the numbers:

Year: 1961

Number of years it took for him to rebuild it: 3

How many seconds it takes to travel a quarter–mile: 11.86

I'd like to thank Larry for the opportunity to shoot his beautiful Spd-Brd, as well as David for helping out with this shoot. 

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Travis & Kayla's Wedding

Frankston, Texas.

As a friend of the the Rhea's (the groom's) I was asked to document their side of the family's day as a photojournalistic second shooter. They didn't necessarily want the alternate perspectives that the lead photographer was shooting but, rather, all of the other in-between moments of the day—that is, my favorite way to shoot.

It was a lovely day, with exquisite weather, a beautiful couple, and lots of love and laughter. It was an honor to be asked to do this and I had a ton of fun.

Thank you to the Rhea family (especially Neally) for having me and thank you Larry and Noelene for reminding me to take a few moments away from shooting to sit down and eat, which is something I had—somehow—forgotten to do.