Living Life Out Of A Suitcase And A Camera Bag: Summer '17
What is happpppppenNING!
I miss all of you fellow readers!
As you can see by my lack of writing this summer has been probably one of the busiest summers of my life and I am going to go on the record as to saying that this truly has been one of the best summers of my life!
Photography
started out in Minneapolis as nothing more than a hobby, then switched
to a side hustle of getting paid to do shoots then I moved to Columbia
and it became my main source of money. I couldn't believe that God
forced me into going full time in photography and allowed me to pursue
such an amazing passion.This summer I traveled over a thousand miles all over the country with my Canon 5D Mark III and got the opportunity to work with some amazing people.
In 3 months I had 24 photo shoots in 10 states...it was unreal.
5/12-5/14 Las Vegas, NV
5/25 Chicago, IL
5/27 Indianapolis, IN
5/29 Des Moines, IA
5/30-6/3 Minneapolis, MN
6/5 Green Bay, WI
6/11 Minneapolis, MN
6/13 Chicago, IL
6/14 South Bend, IN
6/17 Columbia, MO
6/26 Columbia, MO
6/30-7/5 Minneapolis, MN
7/7-7/9 Omaha, NE
7/10 Kansas City, MO
7/13 St. Louis, MO
7/14-7/21 Tampa Bay, FL
7/21 Atlanta, GA
7/22-23 Milwaukee, WI
7/23 St. Louis, MO
8/5 Peoria, IL
8/6 Chicago, IL
8/6 Madison, WI
8/7 Minneapolis, MN
8/15 Lake of the Ozarks, MO
In an ego move and celebration of how cool this summer has been I made a "concert tour shirt" with the dates and cities I shot in ha!
Every shoot came excitement and fun, without further wait this has been my summer '17!
Las Vegas, NV 5/12-5/15
Unbelievable camp. I used to go to this camp as a high schooler and college instructor for all of the long snappers. Chris Rubio and Chris Sailer (Pictured below Sailer; left Rubio; right) brought me on as their personal photographer and it was an experience unlike any other. I got to see the camps ran from the other side; not a camper but a staff member. I also was up close and personal with both Sailer and Rubio and got to capture some pretty amazing shots.
Chicago, IL 5/25
Growing up in Chicago was a lot of fun. People always ask what was it like to grow up in such a big city? My answer is always the same, incredible. I love the Chicago Bears (unfortunately), Blackhawks, and Sox. The lake made for some pretty sweet summers growing up. This was the first time traveling home on the search for some street photos in the streets of Chicago. Street photography has to be one of my favorites due to the pure organic nature of it. Catching people in their element. I also love kicking it with some homeless people and asking them for a pic. It is also terrifying.
Minneapolis, MN 5/30-6/3
Ultimate. Training. Camp. WOW. I have been to UTC for the last 5 years and this one was by far my most profound experience. I wrote a whole blog about it back in June. (http://namonaghanphotos.blogspot.com/2017/06/ultimate-training-camp-behind-lens.html) I couldn't believe the work that God was doing with these collegiate athletes. To see them completely surrender to Jesus and to grow in their faith was amazing. I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to capture these life changing moments. Athletes competing to the point of complete exhaustion and giving it their very all. God was glorified.
6/5 Green Bay, WI
This shoot was SO cool why? Because remember UTC? My first UTC back in 2013, my small group leader was a guy by the name of Colin Destache. In the spring of 2017 he called me up and asked if I would be willing to photograph his wedding and his engagement photos, of which I said...ABSOLUTELY!! It was a ton of driving! I drove from Minneapolis to Green Bay back to Minneapolis that night! I had never been to Green Bay before but that experience made this Chicago Bears fan enjoy that packer city ;) Colin and Rachel were amazing and so much fun to shoot with! The wedding was beautiful from top to bottom, but we will get to that later!
Columbia, MO 6/14 & 6/17
This
shoot was pretty wild. I got to combine my love for Mizzou Wrestling
and Gatorade. I mean I guess I love Gatorade? Yes, yes I love Gatorade
ha! I was tasked with shooting the Mizzou Tiger Style camps while trying
to promote Gatorade. The combination made for a fun and exciting photo
shoot. My brother Mike was a wrestler at Mizzou in 2016 so my heart was
attached to this shoot a little more than others. 
Lake Waconia, MN 6/30-7/5
Back in Minneapolis!!! Can you tell I like it there? I was back for one very cool reason...MY FRIENDS WERE GETTING ENGAGED!!!!! But before my friends Duke and Jackie got engaged I had an absolute blast with some friends in the cities (http://namonaghanphotos.blogspot.com/2017/07/friendships-are-best-ships-in-land-of.html ) we watched Twins games and got free My Pillows so you could say that it was pretty much the best time of my life! Ryan, Alyssa and I even did an impromptu photo shoot in a back alley of Minneapolis!
THE MAIN REASON WHY I WAS IN MINNEAPOLIS THOUGH!!!!! Duke and Jackie got engaged!!! It was so awesome and so beautiful! The entire day was perfect. We were out on Lake Wiconia enjoying the water, food and America's birthday when.......... DUKE POPPED THE QUESTION!!! We tricked Jackie into thinking that we were doing a photo shoot for a sports drink, that's when Duke walked up to Jackie and grabbed the sports drink and dropped down to one knee. All of Duke and Jackie's family and closest friends were there. #TakeMeBack
7/13-7/21 Tampa, FL
This is when the summer really started to heat up. If you look at the days, I was in Minneapolis for a week then came home to Columbia, MO for five days (came back on the 7th) then flew to Tampa on the 12th for a whole week. I was on another shoot with Rubio Long Snapping and Chris Sailer Kicking and it was an absolute riot. When I was a high schooler and college long snapper I saw Rubio and Sailer as my instructors and not so much as friends. This trip I really got to spend time with these two guys and it was so cool. We were eating in Ybar in downtown Tampa one night and I asked Rubio "Did you ever think we would be friends like this?" It was a pretty cool and full circle moment. The camps were unbelievable. It was 3 camps in one week. The College Camp, TOP 12 and Event Elite and Underclassmen Event. I had a pretty fun blog about it earlier. (http://namonaghanphotos.blogspot.com/2017/07/my-first-photography-tour-10-days-on.html)
7/21-7/23 Milwaukee, WI
The wedding!!! What a beautiful wedding this was! The coolest part about this wedding was the fact that the groom in this wedding was my first ever small group leader at Ultimate Training Camp, the camp were I really learned about my faith and sports. Back in 2013 I met Colin, not knowing that one day I would be the photographer in his wedding. The wedding started out with the fellas at the shooting range and the ladies getting ready. Then it was go time! The wedding was held at a beautiful golf course in North Prairie, WI. Colin and Rachel looked fantastic and the ceremony was a dream!
August 5-6th- Chicago, IL
Another absolutely beautiful wedding! This wedding has deep ties to it as well. Growing up in Darien, IL I wrestled for Eisenhower Junior High and we were pretty big rivals with another school called Jefferson Junior High. Two of the best wrestlers coming out of that program were Josh and Travis Hill. Josh being a little older than Travis. We would always go at it, matter of fact our dads almost fought in the stands! When we all moved on to high school at Downers Grove South and wrestled together the hatchet was berried and an amazing friendship started. This wedding was in the middle of Peoria, IL and was the scene for another beautiful wedding. Growing up I never thought I would be the photographer at Travis's wedding but again here I was! The wedding went off without a hitch and both families were dressed to the 9s! Travis and Ashley looked amazing and you can see their love towards each other pour out with every passing minute!
8/7 Minneapolis, MN
Though I had more shoots this summer I am going to finish with this one. It was probably one of the coolest shoots I have ever done. I was invited by the incredibly talented T.E. Morris to come alongside him and shoot the Dustin Byfuglien Beauty League. A summer hockey league that showcases the top College, AHL and NHL hockey players. It was unbelievable. If you know me then you know that I am a HUGE hockey fan. I LOVE hockey. I grew up watching the Chicago Blackhawks, I would have their schedule taped to my wall and keep track of every game. So when I got to be around all this NHL talent I was freaking out on the inside! It was so cool, the one guy that really stuck out to me was Ryan McDonagh, the captain for the New York Rangers. He stayed after and signed autographs (much like all of the other players) for a long time to make sure that all the kids got his autograph. It was pretty cool! Not to mention a few of my shots were tweeted out by the Winnipeg Jets and the Arizona Coyotes! It was a pretty surreal moment.
What a summer it has been. What a ride. Looking back at all of these shots makes me miss it even more! The cool thing is the future! Big things are coming and I am so, so, SO excited about it!!
God is good yall.
John 3:16
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