{Changes} Chicago Metro Maternity Photographer

Lately I've been busy (you might have noticed the lack of blog posts as of late). But, I'm not nearly as busy as this beautiful lady. This mother of two teenagers and one toddler is expecting her fourth child this week. On Christmas, no less... on top of all that, the family is in the midst of a cross-country move! After weeks of our schedules not matching up, I finally got the opportunity to document some of the final moments of this pregnancy. As usual, the M Family was a pleasure to work with. Best of luck to you all, and I can't wait to meet the little one!!!

 

{Young Men} - Elgin, IL Family Photographer

These four young men hold a very special place in my heart, as does their mom... I spent a long weekend with my sister and her four boys in the upper peninsula of Michigan and had the opportunity to take a few quick photos of the boys after church. A last minute decision to detour by the beach on the way home resulted in a memory for my sister and her family. Soon, these boys will be towering above their mom... reluctant to give - or receive - hugs. But, she'll always have this moment.

A Beautiful Family...

More often than not in the hospital, moms don't want to be photographed... if I think they are really up to it, I might give them a little push ("Let me take the photos, and if you don't like them, we delete them!"). Sometimes, I just drop it. Luckily, this dad told his wife, "You look cute" and so she decided to take pictures with her baby. Face it, moms... although we are the ones who spend most of the time with the baby, no one is going to be following you with a professional photographer to take pictures of your moments with baby. So, let me take the pictures now. You may regret it later, when you have no pictures of you with your newborn.

Anyway, I love the photos I got of this little family. So, I thought I'd share!!!

In Training... {Bella Life!}

A little over a week ago, I began my Bella Life training. I'm learning from our senior photographer (Kim), how to photograph families in their own homes - or in our "homey" studio in Naperville. Although I have "studio experience", this is different. We don't use stationary lights. We don't shoot on a backdrop. We shoot real people, in real light, in real poses... not unnaturally squeezing everyone into the frame. Its creativity to the max...and I love it. As the owner of Bella Baby Photography says, it is free training that we can use to better ourselves not only as Bella Babes, but also in our own photography biz ventures. Thanks, Kelly...for being so generous! I TRULY TRULY mean that... I've learned so much in two sittings!! (And thank you, Kim, for your patience and willingness to let me try my hand at this!!!)

So, in this sitting, we had mom - who is 36 weeks pregnant - dad, and 4 kids - 7 and under. Awesome family. Lots of fun. And such a great looking family too!! They totally "fit" Bella Life. They ARE Bella Life. My trainer let me shoot behind her - shooting when she wasn't, taking pics of the kids while she focused on Mom, etc... It was great. I was able to play a lot with my lighting, posing, camera settings...knowing that Kim was doing the important stuff and if my shots worked - GREAT!

Here is a pic of the whole family... Kim was shooting, took a break and I just snapped away. There's no, "Everyone look here", "Smile for the camera", or for heaven's sake, "CHEEEEESE". I just snap while you BE. You sit and talk and laugh and look at me, or at your kids and if we get everyone looking up - its natural... If we get everyone looking at each other...its natural. Basically, I said it before and I'll say it again... Its BELLA LIFE!!!

I've got some awesome shots of the kids, as well, and I'll share them once I've had the opportunity to edit them... having problems with the old (or, not-so-old) laptop again... so we'll see when that will be!

Let me know what you think... Let me know you're visiting my blog!!

More of the {M Kids}

A big thank you to the M kids, who cooperated yet again for me. After their family shoot in early January, we decided to get together again so I could take some more pictures of the kids and the family dog, Hannah. We got some cute shots, but I may be re-taking a couple that didn't live up to my expectations! But, here are my favorites...

{N & J and family}

When I scheduled this photo shoot, Mom said to me, "We'll be your biggest challenge yet."

Yes, it was a challenge to get 3 children under 5 to settle in and look somewhere close the camera (or at least not burrow their heads into mom or dad's chest!). Add to that challenge, the new puppy! Luckily, this is a really laid back and relaxed family. They were willing to do their thing while I snapped shot after shot. I got some candid shots and a couple good family portraits. I'm sharing the portraits here, because that's what I edited first so I can work on submitting my Bella Baby/Bella Life certification portfolio.

Thanks, N&J!! For allowing me to *practice* on your family, and for having us over. We'll have to do it again soon!!!

At long last... a sneak peek of the {M Family}

Two weeks ago, I photographed the M Family... and the next day, my computer crashed! Luckily, I didn't lose any pictures of the family, but I was without my editing software! So, thank you to K & family for their patience...

I really enjoyed meeting this family and appreciated their enthusiasm! The posing suggestions were great! I look forward to spending more time with you. I hope you enjoy the pictures I'm sharing here...

The {B Family} ... A sneak peek

Thank you to my good friend Vicky for allowing me to photograph her family. Here's a sneak peek of my first foray into "in home" family photographs!

Our family Christmas celebration...

Usually, our extended family convenes upon my mother-in-law's house on Christmas Day.



Its a wild time, with all my husband's cousins and aunts & uncles all in one place at one time.



But, in recent years, with each of those cousins branching off into their own little families, its hard to get everyone together. So, this year, we decided to celebrate on the Sunday before Christmas.



Yesterday, we had 6 "adults", 17 "kids" (the ones who are in my age group), and 11 little ones. It was heaven. Boisterous and loud and cheerful, we ate until our bellies were full (and then ate a little more), opened presents, watched football, and caught up with loved ones who we don't often see.



I tried to play paparazzi - especially during the madness of 9 kids opening gifts (two of the younger ones were asleep).



So, Jan - thank you for having us all!! It was great and I hope you enjoyed it.



To everyone else, I had a good time and wish we'd had more time to chat... hope you enjoy the pics and don't mind me sharing!!!!!