We're in the top 5% of Wedding Pros nationwide!

The past is catching up to me, and I like it. Sometimes our past lives drift, become vivid memories – but with Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee (maybe) running for president, mine is resurfacing. Enjoy a look back with me during the months as I post photos over 10 years old. And enjoy looking forward with me, as I post work I do in the next months as these two make a go of it.

Hillary Clinton, the early 90s – Photo by Chris Ocken

Mike Huckabee 1998 Arkansas Gubernatorial Campaign – Photo by Chris Ocken

 

Buzzfeed is good at finding the good old days – And what a blast from the past.  Hillary Clinton for the early 90s, taken by none other than me.  Wow – check it out.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ilanbenmeir/hillary-clintons-first-campaign-song#.obQVLL7B4

Hillary Clinton, the early 90s

Chicago, IL – January 23, 2015 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading online wedding marketplace, named Ocken Photography as a winner of the prestigious WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards® 2015 for Photography!

The WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards® 2015 recognizes the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. The esteemed awards are given to the top local wedding vendors in more than 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their professional achievements from the previous year.

While many industry award winners are selected by the host organization, the WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards® winners are determined solely based on reviews from real newlyweds and their experiences working with Ocken Photography. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients.

“It’s always exciting to start the year by honoring the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Network who represent more than two million reviews on our website,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Each of the businesses recognized are committed to quality, professionalism and all around top-notch service. We applaud Ocken Photography for their impressive achievements within the wedding industry.”

As a Couples’ Choice Awards® winner, Ocken Photography is highlighted within the WeddingWire Network, which is comprised of more than 200,000 wedding professionals throughout North America and abroad.

Ocken Photography is proud to be one of the top Photography studios in the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding sites such as WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. We value all of our clients and truly appreciate the positive feedback that helped us earn the WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards® 2015.

For more information about Ocken Photography, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/ocken-photography-chicago/5e1a79ef0f12395c.html.

To learn more about the Couple’s Choice Awards®, please visit www.weddingwire.com/couples-choice-awards.

About WeddingWire
WeddingWire, the leading technology company serving the $100 billion wedding and events industry, is the largest online vertical marketplace connecting engaged couples with event professionals. With more than two million consumer reviews, it is the industry leader in consumer reviews. The site enables engaged couples to search, compare and book from an extensive database of more than 200,000 recently reviewed event professionals, from venues to photographers. WeddingWire provides event professionals with the technology they need to serve their clients, including a SaaS platform, which powers advertising, marketing, and CRM needs of local wedding and events businesses nationwide.

Congratulations Amy and Kevin.  Married at Our Lady of Lourdes and a wonderful reception on the 99 Floor at the Wills (pronounced ‘sears’) tower.

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Congratulations Sarah + Josh.  Such a wonderful wedding at the Ignite Glass Blowing Studio.

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Bob Ocken picked up a camera for the first time in 1985 and thankfully, he hasn’t put in down since. A self-taught freelance photographer, he founded Ocken Photography in 1994 where, with his two siblings, opened offices in Little Rock, Dallas, and Chicago. Our photography business is stronger today than ever.

Bob is also an avid cyclist and father of four, living in Little Rock, Arkansas. He can often be seen riding a race, then photographing the next one (if, of course, he’s not carrying a camera during his race).

As a freelance photographer, Bob was part of a team of Associated Press photographers team that shared in the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in feature photography for the coverage of the 1992 Presidential campaign. Chris was also a part of the team.

Bob is active in the his community.  He volunteers his time and talents with many organizations, specifically CARTI, a cancer treatment center located in Arkansas.
About the Photograph
While visiting and camping on scenic Petit Jean Mountain in Central Arkansas, Bob and his family were preparing for a hike towards Cedar Falls when the early morning light caught Bob’s eye.  It was  falling across the overlook near Mather Lodge, it was so wonderful, as you can see.

“Our challenge as photographers is to create depth in a photo,” Bob says. “In landscape photography, you cannot control anything. You have to be patient and wait for the perfect light. It was by luck, and joy, that I happened upon the perfect light that creates the so many layers in this majestic valley scene.”

On September 29, 2002 Sakiko Mito married Budi Tjoenawan at Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas.  This was eventful from our perspective because they gave us a freedom we hadn’t experienced before.  We shot mostly film, with a slight amount of digital mixed in, but we could do anything we wanted and they wanted us to push our boundaries and try very interesting and progressive (at the time) photographs.  We used grain and blur to our advantage, we shot cross process and just about anything else you can thing of, but mostly, we simply had a great time. The final results are something to be enjoyed by all. #experiencematters #tbt #ockenphotography

How long does it take to create great photographs?  We say decades – and here’s way.  Have you ever looked at a photo and said, wow, that’s a great pictures, but then just haven’t been able to define why?  Well, that’s what takes decades, that ability to make the connections within photos that take a picture beyond just ‘good’, the ability to create a photos that are simply a joy to view. #experiencematters #ockenphoto #tbt

See more at our growing throwback gallery on Facebook.

Does the changing definitions of art change the way you think about art?  Seth Godin recently outlined many changes in his recent blog post – Now it’s ruined.  How many times have we heard this?

– Photography is a cheat, the death of painting
– Photoshop is a hack, the death of photography
– Instagram filters are crap, the death of Photoshop
– eBooks are for losers, stealing the magic and majesty of the printed book
– Blogging is impermanent, the end of thoughtful word processing
– Tweeting is stupid, the end of intelligent blogging
– Video is too easy, a cheap shortcut that destroys the essence of film
– YouTube has no curators, the end of quality video
– Selling by phone is for losers, closers show up in person…

Seth argues that “Technology almost always democratizes art, because it gives us better tools, better access and a quicker route to mediocrity.”  So in our case, it’s exponentially easier to be a decent photographer given all the great tool on the market today, but, in our opinion, it’s just as difficult to be a great photographer as it ever was.  To be great, just as always, takes hard work.  As Ashton said, “Opportunity looks at lot like work.” Seems fair to me.

Seth sums it up well “… all this ending is leading to more and more beginnings, isn’t it? It’s not ruined, it’s merely different.”

We found this quote and feel it really captures our message:

“[Experience] is a matter of sensibility and intuition, of seeing, and hearing the significant thing, of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and coordinating. Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” – Aldous Huxley

Although brides and grooms plan their big day just once, those of us who have spent some time in the wedding industry have tasted more cakes, sniffed more bouquets, and photographed more crazy dancing than we care to remember.

But this is good for you—and it’s good for us too. This gives us a certain perspective. We can tell you that a midnight round of vodka and Red Bull shots may not be the best plan at your reception. Or that hand-making each and every one of those 450 special party favors may not be worth the damage to your eyesight and relationships with those you roped into helping you.

And, because we’ve been around a while, we know more useful stuff! Such as what venues are up and coming in our area, what’s hot this season, and what you can do to choose the very best professionals, which will help make your day as smooth and fun as possible.

In addition to imparting our wisdom (because who can’t get enough of that?), we at Ocken Photography want to talk about what it takes to be a professional wedding photographer, why it’s important to hire someone who’s an industry pro, and what does experience have to do with it anyway.

We’ll be chatting with some of our favorite people to work with and telling you what they have to say. We’ll be sharing different perspectives, as well as our own, in a series of blog posts over the summer and fall, so plan to check back regularly for the latest in wedding trends and insights for all aspects of your blessed event.