Northwest Chicago Area Newborn and Family Photographer

Happy 1st Birthday Little Guy!

June 28, 2014

I had a quick trip to the ER tonight, so I’m a little late with this post. I met Joey for the first time this morning. He’s a sweet little guy with a great smile! He was totally into his little photo shoot until he decided he’d had enough. From then on when I’d make silly noises or try to get him to smile, he’d just politely shake his head no. He can be very serious! I hope you have a wonderful 1st birthday party tomorrow little guy!

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Two Brothers, a Bridge and a River

June 24, 2014

When I first met up with Justin and Ryan, I could tell that Justin might not be in the picture-taking mood. However, it was the first time I met these guys and I didn’t want to make assumptions. So we started off on the cobble stone bridge taking standard portraits. Now don’t get me wrong; he was plenty cooperative. I just had this feeling I wasn’t seeing the “true” Justin. Typically, after shooting on this bridge I like to take a little hike by the river because there are cool rocks and trees down in the riverbed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen today. It must have rained pretty good last night because the river was full and the current was strong. There were no rocks in the riverbed to be seen. I had to think of something different. I tried potty humor. Nope, not gonna work. Then I resorted to stupid school jokes. Yeah, that wasn’t cutting it either. I just couldn’t seem to get Justin in the picture-taking mood.

See, that’s him on the right. He’s smiling, but he didn’t seem really into it. That’s when I knew I needed to try some less conventional methods.

We hiked over to a different bridge and goofed around. Good job little brother!

We checked out the boulders right on the edge of the river.

This is Ryan. He’s adorable and always ready to smile!

We had staring contests.

Then, we spotted a cool area where some dead trees fell across the river. And that’s when Justin really started getting into the spirit of things. He asked if he could walk down to the river’s edge and climb out on the limb (Yes, literally!). Reluctantly, mom gave him the go-ahead and off he went. Of course, little brother Ryan wasn’t too far behind.

I knew if I was going to get good shots of the boys, I was going to have to physically get down to their level. That meant I was going to have to walk into the river. And so I did. Good thing I wore my running shoes today. It was here that I felt like Justin was truly in his element–just being a boy and doing what boys do best.

The view from the river was not only one of peace, but it was also beautiful.

Ryan even found a memento of our trip along the way.

In the end, I knew our little adventure was a success. Both boys asked if we could do this again! 🙂

Gabriella T. Graduation Party

June 23, 2014

This beautiful and intelligent young lady is heading to Michigan State University to study something “medical related.” Whatever she does end up doing, I have no doubt she will be successful and make her family proud! While this party got off to a rough start (Mother Nature brought in a whopper of a storm), it ended on a high note. The sky cleared just long enough for the sun to make an appearance before settling for the evening.

Watterson Family

June 15, 2014

I met with the Watterson family earlier today, and they were so much fun! Despite the large age difference between the four children, these siblings could not be much closer! I hope I was able to capture just a glimpse of the love this family has for one another. 🙂

Chasing Rainbows and Fire Ants

June 2, 2014

For the record, there were no fire ants. She just thought she found fire ants and they were her friends. That’s Annie for you. She’s my middle child, and just like the famous character Annie, my Annie is also spunky, bright, caring and a bit of a scrapper. She’ll be fighting with her big sister one minute, yet she’s quick to defend her in the next. Now that its summer, I am able to spend some individualized time with Annie when big sister is off to summer camp. We decided to head off to Panera for a little snack and to build one of those Melissa and Doug puzzles. It was fun for a little while, but she soon lost interest and no longer wanted to complete the puzzle. While heading back to the car, she began to stomp in puddles in the parking lot. That’s when I got an idea. . .I proposed to her that we go home, get her rain gear and go searching for big puddles and rainbows. It didn’t take long for her to consider this. She was in! We headed to a “secret location.” Really it was a spot in our neighborhood that I often run past, but since I drove her there, she was none the wiser. 🙂