gina&tony|photographers - chicago wedding photographers

hi! we're gina&tony!

welcome to our blog! we're a husband and wife photography team that specializes in weddings, families, portraits, and pretty much anything else that seems interesting. we're based in the chicagoland area, but are available worldwide. here is where you get to check up on all our most recent work and adventures. so take a peek and let us know what you think!

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want to give us a shout? shoot us an email.

get your search on!

sae&jason|married

chicago wedding photographers, chicago portrait photographers, chicago engagement photographers

chicago wedding photographers, chicago portrait photographers, chicago engagement photographers, first congregational church of des plaines

chicago wedding photographers, chicago portrait photographers, chicago engagement photographers, astoria banquets buffalo grove illinois

chongmi&jimmy were there!

buffalo grove, il

sae&jason got married on a very chilly day in january. i’ve heard tell that these chicago winters can be brutal, but holy frostbite batman! i should probably invest in decent snow boots, eh?

despite the freezing temperature, sae&jason and all their guests partied hard all night at the astoria banquets. i have never seen a dance floor get so crowded! this was our second wedding in this group of friends, and they are so much fun. everyone just let loose and had a blast!

to sae&jason - you are such a beautiful couple and surrounded by so much love. we wish you all the best in your future!!

don’t forget the slideshow!

song credit: are you gonna be my girl by jet.

click here to check out all of sae&jason’s wedding photos! the password is sae’s maiden name.

-gina

gina&tony

Date Posted: February 4, 2010
Filed under: Weddings by gina&tony
Tags: astoria banquets buffalo grove illinois, chicago engagement photographers, chicago korean wedding photographers, chicago portrait photographers, chicago wedding photographers, cold, couple, first congregation church of des plaines, wedding
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before&after

one of the most asked questions we get is if we retouch our photos. and the short answer is - yes! but the real answer is sooo much more than just that.

one of the major reasons professional photographers charge more than the average joe is because taking the photo is only the first step in a pretty long process. you’re not just paying for them to snap a shot, but to then take that shot, and turn it into something extra awesome! and that my friends, takes quite a bit of knowledge, time, and practice to get juuuust right.

so we thought we’d give you a little insight into how our post production process works!

here is an example of a “before” shot:

chicago engagement photographers, chicago wedding photographers

on the left is the photo as it was straight out of the camera without any adjustments to it whatsoever. we really loved everything about it, but as with most photos, it could use some extra love. we use adobe lightroom to tweak things like exposure and color balance to get them just right. (and just in case you were wondering, we shoot RAW!) on the right is the color corrected image.

after lightroom, we take everything through adobe photoshop. we sharpen them up a bit, add some contrast, and then do some selective editing to make things 100% perfect. now, there are a ton of great photoshop actions out there that a lot of photographers use to give their photos an extra pop. right now, our favorite set is jesh de rox’s colorshift actions. on this particular shot, we used “a winter sun” at 30%.

of course, it sounds like we just hit a few buttons and the photos are done! but really, that whole process can take a few hours. we put a lot of love into this aspect of our business, and it is one of our favorite parts. it’s taken us a lot of experimenting to find the right “look” for our photos, but i really think we’ve found our style!

all this being said, please understand that it’s super important that to end with an awesome photo, you have to begin with an awesome photo! there is a big difference between using photoshop to save a photo, and using it to enhance a photo. but that’s a whole different post, my friends.

hope we were able to give you a little more insight into the world of us!

-gina

gina&tony

Date Posted: January 25, 2010
Filed under: Personal by gina&tony
Tags: before&after, chicago engagement photographers, chicago portrait photographers, chicago wedding photographers, lightroom, photoshop
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sae&jason|sneak peek

their names are sae&jason. and they like to party.

chicago wedding photographers, chicago reception, chicago korean wedding photographers

more coming soon.

-gina

gina&tony

Date Posted: January 22, 2010
Filed under: Weddings by gina&tony
Tags: astoria banquets buffalo grove illinois, chicago engagement photographers, chicago portrait photographers, chicago wedding photographers, couple, korean wedding photographers, reception, wedding
2 People Showed the Love - Leave a comment! » | Share on Facebook

things that are awesome #5

1. people helping people

so first - natural disasters are very NOT awesome. but people helping people is very awesome.

unless you completely avoid the news, you’ve probably heard about the horrific earthquake that rocked haiti on tuesday. the devastation has been massive and the loss of life is heartbreaking. in spite of all the sadness, seeing the world band together to help a country in need is a silver lining.

if you haven’t already found a way to help, please consider making a donation, however small, to one of these relief organizations. every little bit helps.

american red cross
unicef
doctors without borders

2. boudoir, boudoir, boudoir!

ladies, if you’ve been looking for something special to do for your other half - we’ve got the answer! we’re super excited to announce our new boudoir sessions!! sessions are shot exclusively by me (gina), and begin at $300.

boudoir albums make perfect gifts for valentine’s day, your guy’s wedding present, or anniversary present! (the first anniversary is “paper” after all. :D) since we’re aiming to keep this blog PG, you can email us for more info at boudoir@gntphoto.com.

and because the only thing that could make this more awesome is a great deal - all gina&tony brides will get 10% off their chosen boudoir print package!

3. the bulls

anyone who knows tony, knows he comes from a pretty die-hard chicago sports fan family. so getting to go to a pro chicago game, no matter what the sport, is pretty freakin’ awesome. what’s even more awesome, is when one of our brides happens to work for the united center (home of the bulls and the blackhawks) and is able to hook us up with some really sweet seats! monday night we got to go to the bulls vs. pistons game, and it was so much fun. there’s nothing quite like sitting in a huge sea of people and cheering on your favorite team.

so here’s a big THANK YOU to elaine!! and here are a few fun photos we took:

chicago wedding photographers, chicago bulls, united center

the view from our amazing seats.

tony’s brother nick and our friend rachel representing the home team!

chicago wedding photographers, chicago bulls, united center, benny the bull

the matadors taking it all off.

the final score.

hope your week is awesome!

-gina

gina&tony

Date Posted: January 14, 2010
Filed under: Personal, Promos by gina&tony
Tags: american red cross, chicago boudoir photographers, chicago bulls, chicago engagement photographers, chicago portrait photographers, chicago wedding photographers, doctors without borders, haiti, just for fun, promotion, things that are awesome, unicef, united center chicago, yele haiti
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whitney&josh|married

my little cousin is married!! in december, we took a trip to delaware to go to the wedding and visit family. of course, we could have never predicted the craziness that was about to ensue. by the time that saturday rolled around, the east coast had been slammed with one of the worst snowstorms the state has seen. personally, i blame the whole thing on tony. obviously the snow followed him from chicago. it didn’t want him to forget about it.