Prom
(Photos courtesy of Visual Image Photography)
Aon Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier, Chicago
The Aon Grand Ballroom is a very hard venue to work in. Because of the iconic vaulted ceiling, there is nothing to bounce your flash off of. I compensated for this by carrying around a very large bounce card as I created these images. Fun fact: The Aon was the background of the boat scene in "The Dark Knight!"
This photo took 2nd Place in the "Yearbook Candid" category of the 2025 Visual Image Photography employee photo contest. What makes this image work so well is its adherence to the "Rule of Thirds," where the subject is placed where your eye naturally looks at the image, how the student's phone breaks the center line, and how the stage lighting illuminates the dome (which would be way too far for my flash to travel to!).
Meridian Banquet & Conference Center, Rolling Meadows
This shoot was full of fun experimentation. For most of the dance floor photos, I rigged my 70D to a monopod and remote triggered the crowd shots using the pop-out screen as a viewfinder. Toward the end of the dance, I played around with some slow sync flash effects (zoom bursts, shutter drags) hovering between 0.5" second and 1/4" shutter speed.
Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, Chicago
Between the ceiling lighting and color-changing fog lights throughout the venue, my camera had a "grand" time capturing the immersive setup complemented by the rainbow glow sticks for DePaul College Prep's prom at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. The featured photo is long exposure of a student, 'Mo,' who performed a 30-minute DJ set during the final hour of the dance.
Concorde Banquets, Deer Park
The hardest part of an event shoot is deciding when to use which lens. Being efficient with a two-camera body setup, knowing your gear, knowing the benefits of each lens, and using each to its full advantage. I think I did that here! I used my 10-18 5-6.3 ultra wide for crowd shots at dinner and on the dance floor (example: featured photo below), and then used my short range 17-55 2.8 zoom to pull in isolated dance floor photos—like the student below who air guitared to "Take It on the Run!"
The Stonegate Banquet, Hoffman Estates
The light-up floor was such a nice touch at this already well-lit venue. I worked with the 10-18 5-6.3 basically the entire night, pulling in the ambient light from the ceiling. For the featured photo below, I thought I captured the colors well for these two students during the court dance too!
The Field Museum, Chicago
The Field Museum is a great venue for Museum candids! I have worked three proms at the Field Museum, learning the best ways to capture both the Museum and the venue more and more with each shoot.
Shedd Aquarium, Chicago
