Lisa Predko's Blog

I LOVE DESIGN BUREAU!!!!!!!!!!  A magazine all about things I love, designed beautifully, printed on awesome paper that feels good to touch!:)  AND they asked me to photograph the incredibly talented designer, Gary Lee, in his Merchandise Mart showroom.  Coincidentally, the day we needed to shoot, Gary Lee Partners had hired the super cool photographer, Tony Soluri (who just happens to be my former studio mate!), to shoot some interior shots for them.  I don’t know if all photographers would play nice in this situation, but Tony & I had a great time!:)

Gary said he wore these socks special for me!  I don’t know how he would have known about my obsession for aqua or how he would have known I had to photograph the saddle as soon as I saw it!  I think perhaps he was just messing with me!;)  Either way, Gary Lee is AWESOME!!!!:)

LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you Gary Lee!!!!!!!:

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‘Tis the season for creating holiday promos!  I’m always happy for an opportunity to collaborate with one of my favorite makeup artists, Martina Sykes, on subject matter we are both inspired by!  She is quite skilled at making people look good, but she excels at making them look dead!:)  Here is our latest gem, Handbook for the Recently Deceased (or as I fondly like to refer to it, SAMI ZOMBIE!!!!!!)!:)

We had an awesome day in the studio!  While Martina was working her magic, Richard from Bombastic Cafe (opening Spring 2013 near The Music Box Theatre) fueled us with amazing coffee and taught us how to use a chemex with the pour over method!

It’s not everyday a photographer is able to give fun, yet contradictory, direction to her talent like, “ANGRY!!! …but sweet!:)” which happens to go hand in hand with my love of the sweet and sinister (be sure to check out the secretary images on my website, “Good Morning Doll, Good Night Sweetheart”).  And it’s not every model who’s able to pull it off; Lauren Johnson from Ford rocked it out!!  I am thankful to a couple truly awesome guys, Josh Peters and Neil Danaher, as well as DraftFCB for the opportunity to work on this super fun concept for Halls!:)  Everything about this job made me smile from to start to finish: the casting day (so wish I could show these!), fantastic shoot with great (and also adorable) clients and crew, a wrap party with open swinging (yes, an actual swing hung from our 16 foot ceilings!), editing the photos the next day in my Nashville hotel room before going to see the Grand Ole Opry, and of course being able to share it all with you!:)

XOXO!!!!!:

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Yep, still smiling!;)

Wow have I missed YOU!:)  To say things have been a bit hectic this year would be an understatement!  With so many new projects to share-I hope I don’t end up over blogging this next month!;)

The major contributor to the blog delay: Lisa Predko Photography has moved!!!  After 11.5 fantastic years at 452 N. Morgan St, the time had finally come to pack up my set walls, and move on up!  And yes, it’s even to the east side-Michigan Avenue to be exact!:)  I can now officially say, thank you Move-tastic!: you truly are Chicago’s Best Movers EVER (not to mention, terribly photogenic!)!!!!;)

I digress!  Knowing my time in West Loop was coming to an end, I made a point to take a few extra shots of just a few of the things I appreciated on a daily basis.  These are from the final month on Morgan Street.  We look forward to you visiting us at the new studio!

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Holiday Fashion? Yes, please!
Andrew, Kevin, and Jessica? Yes, please!
Improv Olympic? Yes, please!
Puppets? YES, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!:)

Thank you Time Out for thinking of us again this year for the Holiday Party Fashion (here is last year’s if you want to take a peek!)!

A special thanks to the iO cast from Joy! – An iO Family Christmas Special which is running for just two more Wednesdays (December 14th and December 21st) at 9pm , buy your tix here!  The show is described as a bit of old school Christmas review feel with guests from around the theater popping in and joining on stage (the perfect kind of show for my short attention span!).  AND at the end audience participation is encouraged for a round of caroling down Clark St!:)

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Another special thanks to Dinner Party who sells and rents fabulous vintage tableware, linens, and home decor (some of which looks like it came out of my own kitchen cabinet!)!  You can also see some of their wares at the next Dose Market on February 12, 2012!

Take pictures of course!:)  Check out her blog debut here, and this time WITH glasses, the oh so lovely Lauren Butterfield!

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Taking pictures of the Casio TRYX camera at a diner, a record store, and listening to great music-what more can a girl ask for?  Special thanks to one of our favorite Chicago record stores, Permanent Records, for letting us take over for the day!  I’m excited to let you in on a fun little secret-the album in our friend Alex’s hand belongs to Steel Pole Bath Tub (Permanent Records), an awesome band I was lucky enough to see live in ’97 (or was it ’96?) at the Bug Jar in Rochester, NY (the perfectly intimate venue to see your favorite band!). Keep your eye out for the Casio ads in magazines like Rolling Stone, Wired, Men’s Journal, and Sports Illustrated!

The TRYX has a super fun HDR Art function, check it out in the record store ads as well as in some of our behind the scenes shots here:

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Thank you Mr. Nawrocki for thinking of us for this fantastic shoot featured in this weeks Time Out Chicago! I am truly fascinated by the Rainbow Motel (also known as the Pink Palace) and have been for years! I can’t help but think how much fun it would be to work at the front counter for a day, but I am sure I would get into trouble for asking customers too many questions!

Some things you should know before you make your own trip to the Pink Palace:

-Even though the room was clean, bringing our own antibacterial wipes made us feel much better!

-Fantasy rooms are about 85 % bed!

-The motel staff were all incredibly nice and super helpful (they even brought out a new bedspread for us!).

-As I said in the previous post, the inside is even better than the outside!

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XOXO!!: