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Chicago Photographer + Kelly Ry Photography bio picture

Welcome, welcome!

Whether it's my home or my blog, I love visitors.  The ones that come to my home to visit add something new and interesting to the mix of daily life. But then they leave again, forcing me to return to daily life without their smiles and laughter.  The great thing about blog visitors is that they can come again and again, and need never leave. 

Photographer Vincent Versace said, "We came to photography because the world moves us in such a way that we want to photograph what we see so others can be moved the way we were."  And so it was for me.  Despite my deplorable skills with a canvas and paints, I found the joy of creativity with a camera.  

So welcome.  Make yourself at home.  Enjoy the people in love, the gorgeous details, and adorable families.  I'd love to hear from you.

PS. And as much as I love having visitors, I love being a visitor!  I have had the pleasure traveling around the world to capture weddings and families, and I would love to come visit you.  Live across the country (or continent) or planning a destination wedding?  I'm a wonderful guest.  And I bring my camera.


Love: Betsy & Kevin ~ Engaged! ~ Chicago Engagement Photographer

To say that I’m excited to photograph Betsy & Kevin’s wedding this August is a massive understatement. I just know that if we had this much fun trolling an Irish pub and wandering a farm, then the day they are actually married is going to be a ridiculously fun day. One thing I absolutely loved about spending time with Betsy & Kevin this past Sunday, was to see the very natural care and affection these college sweethearts have for one another. All that kissin’ going on? Their idea. :-)

Betsy & Kevin,
I cannot wait for your wedding day. Cannot!
Best,
Kelly

I love that Kevin kept wanting to play with Betsy’s hair.

If I could choose what clients would put on their wall I would print these next four on individual canvases and hang in a square.  LOVE them.

Want more?  View a slideshow with all of the images HERE.

February 5, 2010 - 11:34 am Molly W. - WOWZA!!! Gorgeous, just gorgeous. too many faves.

February 5, 2010 - 1:16 pm Ceece - wow! I love their wedding date in the shots! the guinness ones are some of my faves and I totally agree with your four canvase idea! beautiful!

February 5, 2010 - 1:41 pm Natalie Gibbs - I love the sunset shot of them walking away. The picture frame is cute, too.

February 5, 2010 - 5:04 pm Brandi Morris - Wow--these are fantastic. What a handsome couple (and what great eyebrows she has!) Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.

February 5, 2010 - 5:15 pm Alicia Kennison - Gorgeous photos and what a great couple. Love it all!

February 5, 2010 - 10:41 pm Nikole - Loving the beer shots! How fun :)

February 6, 2010 - 12:08 am s h e r r y - :) Cute couple!!

February 6, 2010 - 10:20 am Robb Duncan - Awesome work !! Love the kissing over a pint of Guinness images and finishing on the tractor, love it!!

February 6, 2010 - 1:08 pm Lindsay Buckley - you did an amazing job with this shoot! i'm in love with the framed wedding date - so cute. and the shots of them with the beer are awesome! ah, but the sun flare shot near the end is definitely my favorite. they should have that one blown up and hanging on their wall!

February 6, 2010 - 5:29 pm Avelaine Scyrup - Wow, what a stunning couple! You certainly have captured their love for each other. I love the intimacy of the legs/boots shot. Great job!

February 7, 2010 - 5:45 am Matt Stanton - The guinness shots are great! What lovely work!

February 7, 2010 - 1:21 pm Drew - Great session! Love the 4th image, and the wide shot in the field.

Love: Betsy & Kevin ~ Sneak Peek! ~ Chicago Engagement Photographer

Prepare yourself for a ridiculous amount of perfection in the coming days.

February 1, 2010 - 2:29 am paul von rieter - I love the plaque and how you have them positioned in the photo, it makes the scene really interesting to look at.

February 1, 2010 - 8:00 am wedding photography manchester - Nice Shots! I look forward to seeing the rest!

February 1, 2010 - 8:22 am Daniel Dunlap - Great photos and I also look forward to seeing the rest!

February 1, 2010 - 8:41 am Tom and Kelly Bertsch - That shot is really cute.

February 1, 2010 - 9:34 am Kelly - Very nice! I have an engagement/save-the-date shoot coming up one of these days, so I appreciate the concept for working in the date. Looking forward to the rest of the set!

February 1, 2010 - 11:42 am Molly W. - giddy....can't wait to see more!!

February 1, 2010 - 12:15 pm Timothy E Kaldas - That second photo is just so perfect for invites. I love it!

February 1, 2010 - 2:58 pm Mark - These are great!! I am not sure how you are not in my RSS feed....... You rock!!

February 1, 2010 - 6:31 pm Alen Abdula - Nice Boots!!! I want to see more :) Can't wait...

February 1, 2010 - 8:51 pm Ben Godkin - So cute! Great composition!

February 2, 2010 - 6:18 am Matt Stanton - I love the sign, can't wait to see the rest!

February 2, 2010 - 5:59 pm Shyann - These look so cute! Love the tones!

Love: Michelle & Steve ~ Portland Couples Photography

This is the last of my Portland sessions, which took place on a cold and windy day.  So windy that little 3-lb Harley almost blew over as he tried to reach his mom & dad.  This threesome is just so stinking adorable, I almost have no words.  Enjoy!

My niece thought it would be fun(ny) to put a stop to all that kissing nonsense.

Adorable, aren’t they?  See all of the images from their shoot in a slideshow here.

January 21, 2010 - 11:10 pm Brandi Morris - These are two of our favorite people in the whole wide world so don't ask US if they're adorable. Crazy thing is they're as gorgeous inside.

January 22, 2010 - 12:32 am mish - Thank you for the most amazing photos we've ever had taken of us!

January 22, 2010 - 5:09 pm Molly W. - I love their eyes in that second to last one, and that YUMMY light!!! wowza.

January 24, 2010 - 10:52 am Shari - What a wonderful series of images! They really are stinking adorable! :-))

January 24, 2010 - 3:19 pm Chavvon Smith - Great job on this set! Love your black and whites!

January 24, 2010 - 3:30 pm Lara Eichhorn - I love the sun on the first shot. I'm such a sucker for that type of lighting. They look super sweet there too. His smile on the first black and white shot is great. Aw, the one with your niece is so cute. The second last shot is really beautiful.

January 24, 2010 - 3:49 pm Brad - Great choice of processing with this couple. Looks great.

January 24, 2010 - 4:00 pm Phill - Lovely images Kelly. They're brimming over with warmth.

January 24, 2010 - 4:15 pm Drew - Very nice work Kelly. I love the DOF in your images. The couple looks absolutely adorable.

January 24, 2010 - 4:40 pm mike murrow - these are all great but i have to say the one with the dog smiling back with that single tooth sticking out made me giggle a little.

January 24, 2010 - 4:47 pm Krista - I love this set. The lighting is amazing - I love it in the first couple images. Such a cute couple!

January 24, 2010 - 5:23 pm jeff - icherishyou.ca - Toronto Wedding Photographer - omg. that little puppy is so darn cute! WANT! Nonetheless, great shots! gotta love the PP too! :)

January 24, 2010 - 5:47 pm Natalie Gibbs - These look great, and that couple looks awesome. These images make me want to be their friend!

January 24, 2010 - 8:56 pm matt s. - The couple's great and all, but my little girls looooooove the puppy. All I hear is, "awwwwwww."

January 24, 2010 - 9:44 pm Kristi Wright - These are so beautiful! How have I not visited this site before? Shame on me :) Just beautiful lighting and processing and what a great job you did capturing such sweet moments.

January 24, 2010 - 11:36 pm Alicia Kennison - Lovely couple + cute dog + great backlight = very nice session! :)

January 25, 2010 - 12:06 am Daniel Dunlap - 1005 in agreement with Alicia. Awesome work!

January 25, 2010 - 12:07 am Daniel Dunlap - make that 100%

January 25, 2010 - 2:38 am Tobiah Tayo Manchester wedding photography - Love your style, very classy and cool

January 25, 2010 - 3:03 am Sweet Caroline Photo - Awesome shoot, love the colors here and of course the cute little dog.

January 25, 2010 - 12:52 pm Amanda Basteen - How cute! Love the sunflare!!

January 25, 2010 - 11:47 pm Robb Duncan - I agree with Molly W, the eyes in that second last image are stunning!!

January 26, 2010 - 3:05 pm Brandi Myers - WOW! Crazy, amazing eyes! Absolutely fabulous pictures!

January 28, 2010 - 8:33 am Timothy E Kaldas - Kelly this is an adorable session. I love the first shot with the hazy into the sun look. The warmth in the white balance works great.

February 1, 2010 - 12:30 pm Lori - Super Set!!! Love the tones and the lens flare!

Families: Nguyen Family ~ Portland Family Photography

There are certain families that radiate a togetherness.  The Nguyens are one of those families.  Arms casually around each other, tickles and giggles.  I didn’t ask for that but within a few minutes it was clear that this is just how they are.  They love each other and it shows.  When they mentioned that they love to read to their children each night, a family story-time, I wanted to capture that for them. Thank you Nguyen family, for letting me in your family’s life.

They live directly across the street from the children’s school, where they are very involved.  A picture in front of the school was mandatory.

After story-time, it was milk & cookies time as a reward. :-)

January 20, 2010 - 12:38 pm Molly W. - What beautiful kids! Lovely family shots, Kel.

January 21, 2010 - 11:08 pm Brandi Morris - You're right--they do radiate togetherness. And love. How, exactly, do you catch stuff like that on camera? Consistently? Dumbfounded...

January 24, 2010 - 3:43 pm Ruth - I have to agree with Brandi... such love between this family and you've captured it so well. I have the warm fuzzies just looking at these!

Love: Paula & Jason ~ Portland Couples Photography

Paula & Jason are newlyweds, married just a little over one year.  Gifted with a session by her cousin Brandi, we met up on one of my last days in Portland.  Rain was forcast for the entire day and indeed it was raining steadily as I drove to our meeting spot.  Until, that is, the exact minute that Paula & Jason stepped out of their car.  The rain stopped and held off for the rest of our time together, providing my favorite kind of light.  Paula & Jason held up their end of the bargain, showing their sweet and funny sides.

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I asked them what kind of couple they were and Paula said ‘feisty’ and then showed me. :-)

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January 16, 2010 - 11:28 pm Brandi - LOVE! So glad the rain stopped for a few minutes!

January 17, 2010 - 6:53 pm Molly W. - I especially like that first one.

January 18, 2010 - 8:35 pm Paula - Thanks Kelly! I still just love looking at them!