I was a sorority girl. Correction: I AM a sorority girl.

Sigma Kappa to be exact. The kind from EIU.
The absolute best and most fun times I ever had were with the chicks of SigKap. Going Greek leads you to all sorts of amazingness–even outside the Barn Dances, hilarious double entendre t-shirts, frat guy introductions, giant couches in the chapter room, and lifelong friendships. Even years later.

You get to have an instant and immediate bond with someone you never knew, all because of those letters. Secrets. Inside jokes. Traditions. People you know you’ll like before you even met them. It’s weird, but it’s just a sisterhood sort of thing (stop cringing, you know it’s true).

Why am I mentioning this? Why the weird “Go Greek” intro? Chandi Kesler of Chandi Kesler Photography. She’s why I’m blogging today.

Chandi’s a Sig Kap I didn’t know, who graduated from EIU not much before I did. She’s the “it” photographer for basically everyone in the Bloomington, IL area.
She’s amazing, and I obviously had to have her take my family’s fall photos.

We’ve become fast friends since she photographed my family, and I don’t know that I’ve met a nicer person in all my life.

Two kids, a full time job, the owner of multiple businesses, Chandi’s the epitome of busy. It doesn’t stop her from making herself available all the time to help me in any way I need it. I’m just super grateful. (Hence the love note to her!!)

From knitting hats for me to use for newborn sessions (so I can have something quickly when I forget to order on Etsy), to answering questions about the best way to use my camera and it’s functions, this person is kind, patient, and I am so lucky to have a found a friend in her.

This past week, Chandi invited me down to her Bloomington, IL studio (check out her crazy amazing work at http://chandikeslerphotography.com/) so I could shadow her to improve my newborn photography skills. I always want to get better, and Chandi is always happy to help. The things I learned in the 6 hours with her were amazing. From angles to lighting, to posing and styling, Chandi is one of the most talented photographers I’ve met.

What makes her good aren’t her photos. Don’t get me wrong, they are FREAKING AWESOME.
What makes her good is her personality, patience, and giving heart. Clients see this and love her for it. This is my ultimate goal as a business owner.
It sounds like I’m really, really, really, REALLY in love with her—so I’ll chill on the compliments.

I just believe that good people need to be told they are good more often.  I love Sigma Kappa and never knew what awesome relationships I’d have because of the organization, even far removed from my days spent at Marty’s and Styx (Those are bars. I didn’t go often, I swear. I mostly was eating Mexican food at El Rancherito. QUESO. I MISS IT. OH MAN).

If you’re interested, here’s the work she helped me capture this past week. 100% of the styling goes credit to Chandi. I shot these with my Nikon 50mm 1.4 …I shortly got a 35mm lens thereafter 🙂 🙂