About

While residing in central Illinois, Michael Gowin has photographed clients from southern Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri, to the Chicago area as well as throughout the cities and towns in the middle of the state, including Springfield, Bloomington/Normal, Jacksonville, and Champaign/Urbana.  Couples who partner with him find that he creates and illustrates memorable images during their engagements and weddings.  Portrait clients, whether high school seniors, families, or business professionals, receive photographs that reveal themselves in telling ways.  His goal is not only to create dynamic and flattering images that his clients love, but to ensure that they also enjoy the experience of creating them with him.

Michael brings a strong sense of vision and a distinctive lighting style to every project.  In the pursuit of refining his skills to better serve his clients, he is an avid learner.  He has participated in numerous learning and training opportunities, including workshops with industry notables such as Chicago-based celebrity wedding photojournalist Bob Davis, Los Angeles-based commercial photographer Mark Robert Halper, and Atlanta-based editorial photographer Zack Arias.  Michael is a member of Professional Photographers of America.

Michael and his wife, Suzanne, are nestled snugly with their family in a late-nineteenth-century home in Lincoln, Illinois.  A mutual friend introduced the pair while they were in graduate school, claiming they should meet because they "both liked math" (Michael had studied engineering as an undergrad; Suzanne had a math degree).  They have six children: three children "in the traditional manner" and, as of October 2012, three children adopted from Ethiopia. Michael has formally studied engineering, English, theology, and business (he holds a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees), making him mostly unemployable but at least moderately conversant on a variety of topics.

The only time Michael can remember having referred to himself in the third person is here on this site.  Please contact him if you have a concern about this (or if you'd like him to make your photograph). 

A portion of this business' profits is used to provide life-changing small loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries through Micro.  Micro is a division of World Vision, "a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice."

Michael is also a fan of Hearts at Home, whose "mission is to encourage, educate, and equip every mom in every season of motherhood using Christian values to strengthen families." His wife Suzanne attends their annual conference in Bloomington, IL, each year and he can sometimes be seen behind the scenes there making photographs.