About Michael J and ChileJam

I’m a photographer that loves to make people happy when they see their photos.  I love taking photos of people who think, “OH MY GOSH, I can’t take a good picture for anything!” and then hearing those same people say, “That’s the best picture I’ve ever seen of myself.”

I started taking pictures as a way to get people to come to my karaoke shows in Chicago.  Every night I’d take 100’s of pictures.  After while you can’t help but get good at it; and I did.  I also learned how to interact with people and make them feel comfortable in front of a camera.  That’s a skill that translates directly into photography.

My passion is making people feel good about themselves and having a picture that says something when you look at it.  People have asked me, “Michael, would you do this if you didn’t get paid?” and I always answer, “I’d do this even if there weren’t any cameras in the world.  I’d find a way.”