There are a lot of animal rescue organizations in Chicago, and One Tail at a Time is a young but thriving rescue group that is making significant strides in rescuing and rehabilitating some wonderful pups! We have a fantastic mutt of our own, but I’m always perusing the web to try and find her a canine buddy, which is how I found OTAT. (pssssssst…..they have some adorable pooches currently available who need fostering and/or would love to be adopted!) After realizing that fostering a pup would be a bit too much fur for our small home to handle, I’ve been looking for other ways to help OTAT out, and providing photographs of their awesome merchandise was the perfect gig for me. Photos of their apparel and 2012 calendar are below–visit the shop now to make your purchase. You can also look under “Donate” to find out about more ways to support OTAT. Becoming a fan on Facebook is also highly recommended so you can stay up-to-date on the stories of the OTAT doggies and get news about fun events like Tattoos for Tails and the annual team trivia contest.

Thanks to my wonderful models: Sophia, Mike, Sam, Matt, Toby, Ashlee and Banjo!

If you’re interested in your own snapshots of you with your beautiful pooch, download our portrait session information, then use the “Hire Us” form to get in touch.

Sorry, the “I love my rescue dog” tee modeled by Mike, Sophia and Sam is currently sold out!

I’ve known Jackie for several years, and I’ve always known she was tough, but after this session, I hope that I never find myself on her bad side, and that if we’re ever in a dark alley together, it’s because we’re both trying to fight off the same bad guys.

Our hour together was a mix of fighting, fashion and fun–all of the things I love about female athletes. This montage from our afternoon together covers all of it and then some.

Interested in your own fitness portrait session? Check out our 2012 portrait rates!

Well hello there!

We have a few remaining spots for weekend portrait sessions coming up:
Sunday, May 6, 1-5pm
Sunday, May 13, 1-5pm
Saturday, May 26, 8am-noon

Learn more about our portrait sessions by downloading our portrait photography FAQ, then take the first step towards reserving your date and time by sending us a message via the “Hire Us” form on our website.

The month of June is filled with travel, and we’ll have some availability in Muskegon, Michigan, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, and Los Angeles! Stay tuned for more information. We’ll also be sending out info to our e-newsletter list–sign up for the list now!

(Get information about our 2012 individual headshot packages here!)

One thing I haven’t done much of over the course of our business lifetime is straight-up headshots–at least, not headshots on a single-color backdrop. I’m typically working outside in natural light and making use of lush green natural backdrops at a local park, or the textured brick of nearby buildings. However, when DJ contacted me with his headshot needs for his upcoming publication in Urban Gentleman Magazine, it was clear that only a plain studio backdrop would do. And, because I am always up for a challenge, I jumped at the opportunity to work with him.

Yes, you heard me right when I said that a studio backdrop can be a challenge. It puts more pressure on the photographer to make the subject feel comfortable, since there’s nothing to look at but the camera (or, since we were shooting in my living room, our sleeping dog). Thankfully DJ is a very easygoing guy! He’s actually pretty funny too–you should click over to his humor blog at Thoughts From Paris and take a quick read.

When all was said and done, our quick 30-minute session provided some excellent snaps for DJ to choose from for both the magazine and his other professional and personal needs. If you have similar needs, check out our individual headshot service options! We can also provide estimates for groups if you need snaps of your entire staff or work team. Use the Hire Us form on our website to drop us a line.

Winter and early spring are slower times for us here at TPP headquarters, and this year that slow time has been an incredible blessing! It’s an opportunity for us to play catch-up from the end-of-year rush; to take care of paperwork (like taxes!); and to explore the future direction of the business. This time is especially valuable in light of the exponential growth we experienced in 2011!

This exploration has involved A LOT of time spent engaging with new ideas and new networks of people, and in retrospect, each experience has rolled into the next and has put me on a new track that I’m very excited about. Don’t you just love when the universe flows along like that?

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

I kicked off February with two days at the Disney Institute in Anaheim, Calif., as a part of my professional development activity for my day job, and then bounced straight into Community Media Workshop’s Social Media Bootcamp. Bootcamp was incredibly helpful–specifically, I learned a lot more about Twitter, and with this knowledge, I was able to connect with some really awesome people, including Michelle Ward, a creative career coach better known as the When I Grow Up Coach. Through Michelle’s tweets, I found out about the second annual Right Brainers in Business Video Summit, a free event hosted by the amazing Jennifer Lee who just so happens to be the author of the Right Brain Business Plan. For the last two weeks, I spent one hour of my day listening to video broadcasts of Jen interviewing a variety of wonderful and talented people involved in right brain business endeavors–access a complete list of speakers and learn more about the summit here.

Here are some of my takeaways–do any of these ring true with you in your business or personal life?

• Be generous.
• Sometimes “done” is better than “perfect.” What a powerful message for me, the recovering perfectionist!
• Keep goals manageable.
• Have a sense of success on a regular basis.
• “Recognize that nobody is going to give you a stamp of approval to be a creative entrepreneur” – Jen Louden
• “Heart-centered work is the only sustainable option.” – Excellent paraphrased words of wisdom from Mark Silver
• Recognize the richness in your life: have a money jar that not only includes spare change collected from the couch, but all your other personal riches written down! Review jar contents frequently.
• Focus on being a source rather than a consumer of what I want to see in the world.

So, now where do we go from here? One thing I’m pursuing immediately: gathering together women in my social network who are current or future entrepreneurs/solopreneurs/freelancers/consultants/”women of the world” (as Michelle Ward likes to call us!) for an informal mixer where we can exchange ideas and business cards, collaborate on solutions to our business challenges and celebrate why we rock.

In the long term, I’ve got a project in the works that I’ve been dreaming about for a while, and these experiences have finally given me the confidence and the certainty to go ahead and make it happen. Like, now. The details are falling into place. It’s going to be a journey, but a fun one that is going to change the world!

Stay tuned to our Facebook page and this blog space for more information as these plans unfold–there will be photos, of course!

Well, 2011 is over and we are not only leaping into 2012, we are leaping into March already! (Speaking of which…happy Leap Year!) Where does the time go? Since January 1 I’ve traveled to both Texas and California, checked the first of two big day job events off my list for the year, and done some serious thinking about where we want Tipping Point to go in the next few years. It’s heavy stuff, people. And in between all this thinking, there are still quite a few cyclocross photos to edit! I haven’t forgotten about you, bike racers. One of my 2012 resolutions that applies to all elements of life is to pace myself and not be facing burnout by the time July 4th rolls around. The reality is that the to-do list is going to get done a bit more slowly than my OCD personality would like, but I’m maintaining my health and sanity in the meantime.
Speaking of health, this first post of 2012 is going to be dedicated to the fabulous Kristin who I worked with last weekend as a part of my first official fitness shoot! Kristin is, in a word, AWESOME. If my life is anything like hers when I’m her age, and more specifically if I LOOK like she does, I am going to be a very happy camper. Kristin is off to participate in the amateur bikini competition at the Arnold Sports Festival this weekend, and this session was not only a chance for her to get some shots of her competition-ready body, it was an opportunity for her to get some practice strutting her stuff! We did some work that highlighted a very small sampling of Kristin’s fantastic shoe collection, and then moved on to activities like side plank and squats to emphasize her muscle tone and demonstrate her strength. And, because I am an artist at heart, we played with the lighting setups to get some gorgeous silhouettes. Good luck Kristin–have a blast at your competition!

As you may have noticed, we are a little short on space here on the website, so if you’re wondering where we keep all of those cyclocross photos, here’s the scoop:

Most of our 2011 ChiCrossCup photos are housed on our storefront, which facilitates easy ordering of prints directly from our lab. The uploading process is extremely slow, and we’ve also been slammed with holiday photo sessions since early November, so we’re editing and getting things up as quickly as we can. Keep checking back for more photos in the coming weeks–we’ve got coverage of most CCC series races with the exception of Ted’s Doubletrack Adventure, and yes, because we’re early risers, there’s some Masters 40+ and 30+ in there!

We also have some photos posted on our Flickr account–check here for cyclocross sets. There are collections of the 2010 ChiCrossCup races, and the 2009 ChiCrossCup races.

There’s a handful of images on the Cyclocross Magazine website from the CCC New Year’s Resolution race weekend, and you can find those here (women’s coverage, day 1), here (men’s coverage, day 1), here (women’s coverage, day 2) and here (men’s coverage, day 2). Full sets will be on Flickr as soon as we get a chance to upload them.

And of course, we post things on Facebook. Have you “liked” us yet? We post a lot of updates here, too, because it’s the easiest way to share photo goodness with you when we’re on the road, so liking us is a way to guarantee plenty of awesomeness in your news feed.

If you see an image you’re interested in having printed or you would like to purchase a digital file, contact us at liz-at-tippingpointphoto-dot-com. Also, while we’re on the subject, remember that all images posted in any of these venues are protected by copyright, which means that you shouldn’t be swiping them off of any of the online spaces and using them in any way. Period. That includes using them as your Facebook profile photo. Thanks in advance for respecting this…and you can be guaranteed a lot of bad karma if you don’t!

Also, in case you don’t know us personally and just happened to find this site and post via the interwebs,  you should know that we are both bike racers and photographers, and we have day jobs in addition to this very cool photography business we feel so lucky to have. We volunteer our time to come out and shoot these races. I know some of you may be wondering, “Where are all the photos from Race X back in October?” Well, we frequently find ourselves wondering “Where are the 25th and 26th hours of the day?” In all seriousness, though, we are working as fast as we can while trying to maintain high quality, meet client deadlines and keep our sanity. We always welcome inquiries via e-mail (liz-at-tippingpointphoto-dot-com), but also appreciate your patience!

Congratulations to everyone on a very successful 2011 ‘cross season!

Holly is a fellow cyclocross competitor–though far faster than I am! Over the past few years I’ve taken several dozen photos of her at races, and I was so excited when she called me about taking some photos of her adorable pregnant belly and her pet pugs as a surprise for hubby Kevin.

I met up with Holly at her house in southern Wisconsin over Memorial Day weekend. It was a great change from the usual urban settings I work with, and the large trees and lavender wildflowers were the perfect setting to capture this gorgeous mama-to-be…and two sometimes mischievous pooches. Now that she’s surprised Kevin and baby Max has safely arrived, I wanted to share these fun shots with you. A sampling from the set is here.

Are you expecting? Consider hiring us to catch some snaps of this unique and special time for you and your family. Rates and more info available by e-mailing liz@tippingpointphoto.com.

We met Greg and Kristin in summer 2010 when Greg, a fellow Chicago Endurance Sports runner, inquired about business headshots. We did a combo headshot and engagement session with them, and were completely smitten. In addition to being a good looking pair of people, there’s an amazing loving energy between the two of them. At the time of the engagement session, they didn’t have a date nailed down for the wedding, but I secretly hoped that when they did pick a date, they would call us!

And so, on April 1, we were honored to be the photographers at their celebration. Little details like Kristin’s gorgeous jewelry and peacock-patterned clutch spoke of the simple elegance that characterized this event. With the threat of rain looming, we traveled to Union Station for bridal party photos–and made rush hour very interesting!–then settled in for the evening at Spiaggia. Much to everyone’s relief, a very nervous groom managed to stay upright throughout the ceremony, and Kristin surprised Greg at the reception with a L.A. Dodgers cake.

Check out all of the elegance.

What a day! Erin and Gabe connected with us through a mutual friend we know through Chicago Endurance Sports‘ marathon training program. (Thanks for the referral, David!) We’re always excited to work with new clients, but it’s especially awesome to work with a bride and groom who are committed to each other, and also to working together as a team to have an awesome celebration of their marriage. In the case of the latter, mission very much accomplished!

Erin looked absolutely stunning surrounded by bridesmaids dressed in gray with beautiful yellow and burgundy calla lilies, and Gabe and his groomsmen were polished and witty in their tuxes. Once the gorgeous ketubah–painted by a local artist–was signed, the wedding party made their way from under the eaves of Glessner House to the Women’s Park and Gardens east of the Clarke House Museum. Under pleasantly overcast skies, the bride and groom exchanged vows and Gabe followed the Jewish tradition of crushing a glass underfoot.

We all returned to Glessner House for cocktails and socializing underneath tents in the yard. Following dinner, numerous heartfelt toasts were made, and it was apparent that Erin and Gabe come from phenomenal families, and are also lucky enough to have some fantastic friends, too. Post-toasts, a live band rocked the dance floor, and we were graced with the presence of a surprise special guest—you’ll have to check out the complete set of event photos to find out who it was.

Mazel tov, Mr. + Mrs. Schneider!