Steve Ewert's Photography

Two guys in hats

2010-09-01T10:33:00.005-05:00

I love everything about this image, the people, the clothing, the hats and their expressions. All these elements were completely up to the two guys in this shot, and the elements are perfect.

First year teacher

2010-07-29T13:22:00.002-05:00

I was shooting photos for the Alaine Locke charter school on West Jackson Blvd, on Chicago's West Side, when I met this young man, a recent college graduate. He is working for free for a year to get his teaching certificate at an affiliated school. After spending a day at this school I came to believe that the future for these kids is hopeful because of the work done by teachers like him in this school.

Darlene and her cars

2010-05-03T14:40:00.003-05:00

Darlene is a no nonsense business woman. She has run her Chevy dealership since her husband died in 1984. In 2006 she was voted Car Dealer of the Year in Wisconsin. Having said that I picked this photo because I thought she looked great in a red Wisconsin sweatshirt with a bunch of shinny new cars and the American Flag blowing in the wind.

Jim and his tuba

2010-04-09T14:31:00.003-05:00

Last summer I saw a photo of Jim and his tuba. After seeing the image I knew that I needed to make a shot of Jim and his instrument in my studio. Jim played this tuba in high school.
When he graduated he found he could part with it, so he talked the band instructor into selling the tuba to him.

Kicking Groom

2010-03-08T11:23:00.002-06:00

I always shoot a portrait of the groom alone on my background. Often the shots are simple photos of the groom smiling with his hands in his pockets, unless the groom has another idea.
I don't know when the groom got the idea to kick his foot up. I guess this was a last minute inspiration, but as it turned out this shot is one of the most noticed shots I have on my portrait studio wall.

Girl standing in the pines

2010-02-22T15:41:00.002-06:00

Hattie is a senior in high school studying theater. I did not talk to her much before the shoot, because I was loosing daylight. I simply told her to stand comfortably and look into the lens, and this is the shot she gave me before the light disappeared.

Elegant older woman

2010-02-07T18:59:00.005-06:00

Often at weddings I look at young faces and think about
what will be. When I looked at the face of this elegant older woman,
I wondered what has been.

Tom at The Roxbury Tavern

2010-02-01T10:01:00.005-06:00

Tom is the owner of the Roxbury Tavern in Roxbury Wisconsin. The town of Roxbury has 3 bars and a German restaurant and nothing else. He bought the Tavern, which was pretty much a biker bar and decided to change how the bar was run. His new rules were no swearing, no TV or a pool table, no sissy beers like Bud lite and no bad food served. Now people come from miles around to eat great food and have good conversation with Tom and his friends.

Boy with sailor hat and family

2010-02-01T09:32:00.007-06:00

I have always loved this photo of the boy with the sailor hat; to me it perfectly captures the absolute beauty of youth. I also liked the photo of him with his relatives. After looking at both photos, it hit me where the great energy of this boy came from. He inherited his great energy and lovely face from his family. What a gift he received.

Bill in his repair shop

2010-01-20T13:20:00.003-06:00

I met Bill for the first time in his electric motor repair shop. He has been fixing motors in his shop for decades and knows where everything is, even though he is blind. Bill is an extremely charming fellow who told me many details of his life, including stories of girlfriends and wives past and present.

Some very crazy British guys

2010-01-18T13:42:00.006-06:00

Some nationalities are just funnier than others. This British groom and his friends always make me laugh when I look at this image on my studio wall. While shooting the portraits at his wedding, I kept thinking I was working with Monty Python and friends.

My construction friend Brett

2009-12-29T15:07:00.005-06:00

I usually photograph Brett's home rehab projects after he is done, this time I got the idea to shoot Brett in a home at the start of the rehab process. Brett has a great eye for detail, but he is also very comfortable in the middle of a major mess.

Groom in Kilt

2009-12-03T09:47:00.005-06:00

It says a lot about a guy what he decides to wear on his wedding day. Some guys wear tennis shoes, John(the groom above) showed up in a kilt. John definitely had great presence in his kilt. I thought he looked great.

CaSandra and Carl

2009-11-20T13:56:00.008-06:00

We drove past the Baraboo bluffs to meet CaSandra, who does healing work at her house. I could not tell were she was from, but Carl had a great New York accent. I really liked a shot I made of CaSandra alone, but the shot of them together was filled with too much joy not to post.
CaSandra's website

Two little Grandmothers

2009-11-11T11:02:00.004-06:00

I make a funny sound that causes kids to laugh and dogs to perk up their ears. I wanted to help these two grandmothers smile but they did not speak English, so I made my funny sound. Every time I made my sound the grandma on the left cracked up.

Wisconsin boy with chicken

2009-11-03T10:17:00.002-06:00

I was shooting a portrait of Jacob and his family and pets.
Before I shot the family I took a quick shot of him with his chicken.
Its pretty hard to beat a photo of a boy and his chicken.

1940's Inspired Bride

2009-10-29T12:27:00.002-05:00

I shot this portrait of this bride this year,
but she and her groom were tuned into a 40's look.
I think she pulled off that era well.

Dr Evermore, Wisconsin sculptor

2009-10-28T11:15:00.007-05:00

Dr Evermore has been creating scrap metal sculpture on this site
since 1983. The sculpture behind him is the largest
scrap metal sculpture in the world called the Forevertron.
This shot is from our portrait series from the Sauk Prairie region in WI.

Goth girl and little brother.

2009-10-27T08:42:00.002-05:00

Some people at weddings catch my eye more than others.
This girl was one of those people, but the shot was not complete
until I put her younger brother with her.

Mickey WW II pilot

2009-10-07T15:06:00.003-05:00

Mickey was a pilot in China during WW II. I met him at his condo, which had a few photos of him in China during the war. I asked him what he had from the war that he could hold. He showed me this flag that was sewn into his leather flight jacket with writing in Chinese about who he was if he crashed. Mickey never piloted a plane after the war, but I like to think that this
photos shows how he felt about that special time in his life.

What I'm thinking about my blog.

2009-10-07T14:26:00.000-05:00

Upon the suggestion of my studio manager, Jamie, I have decided to create a blog with some of my images and what I think about capturing these images. One type of image I will include are location photos of people in places. These are people that I know and found interesting or people Jamie or her family knows. The locations are pretty much in Chicago IL, Oak Park IL or Prairie du Sac WI.

I go to these people and shoot them in their locations wearing the clothing they selected. Most of these people I don't know and need to get to know them in about 30 min. The photo shows what kind of person they are and what kind of rapport we have developed.

The other kind of photo I will show are portraits of people who come to weddings that are hosted in my studio and the bride and groom hired me to shoot portraits of anyone who comes to the wedding. This business developed 9 years ago when I cleaned out my studio and put up a website for other photographers to rent my space by the day. Not many photographers called but a lot of future brides got in touch with me. After turning the first few down, I gave in and this business started. The portraits I make on the night of a wedding could never be duplicated at any other time. Weddings in my studio are magic and the magic shows in the photos.

I hope you will enjoy the images that I post and some of the thoughts I have about these shots.

Steve