Location: Lake County, IL

Saturday November 19th

15 Minute Session with 5 digital images $175

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This Christmas mini was done with Jay and Aimee and their kids (from oldest to youngest) Cailyn, Alyssa and McKenna. These girls get sweeter every time I photograph them! Alyssa was LOVING taking photos, can’t you tell??!! As their family photographer, I took their family Christmas card picture last year during a mini – session.

Jay, Aimee and their girls are from Northbook, IL but they came to my Libertyville studio for the session! I hope to stay as their family photographer and take another great Christmas card shot again!

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This mini session was with Jackie and Matt and their beautiful daughters Aubree and Carsen! As their family photographer, I shot Carsen’s one year birthday shoot/ cake smash session. You can see that here! This mini-session had the same fun and playful vibe as a cake smash session since it’s all about the kids here, even though I still got some great pictures of the whole family!

I have known Jackie for a long time, we met in beauty school! I always have great connections with my clients, but I also love to see some of my longest friends with their growing families, like with Jackie and her family!

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Being a Chicago wedding photographer I get to travel all around Illinois and many other states! Megan and Matt are originally from Amboy, IL but live in Chicago now, but for their wedding, they brought it back to their hometown. The ceremony was at St. Patricks Church in Amboy, IL with the reception following at the Mendota Civic Center in Mendota, IL. What was so sweet from the start, was how even though the couple live a different “city-life” now, they brought their wedding back to their roots. We took a lot of images at Megan’s parents house in Amboy. They had a super neat and beautiful backdrop at the house with barns and cornfields setting a classic and timeless backdrop for the photos of the bridal party and the happy bride and groom.

St. Patrick’s Church lent a beautiful backdrop as well. The stunning architecture and beautiful simplicity of the church played well with the classic theme, and even the colors of the church walls matched Megan’s bouquet. As a wedding photographer, I always seek to capture unique and special moments that my subjects share with each other, especially during weddings when there are so many happy emotions to capture. I had one of those moments when Megan walked down the aisle with both her dad and step-dad; later they each shared a dance with her during the father-daughter dance, and my heart melted.

Megan and Matt’s reception was full of love, sunshine and happiness! It had such a youthful vibe to it, and made for some beautiful and memorable pictures! One of my favorite parts of the wedding was the photo booth. What made this photo booth so cute was that Megan and Matt created and picked out their own props, which brought their own fun personal flare to the wedding! Likewise, since Megan and Matt are both attorneys, their guest book was themed having to do with their profession. As a wedding photographer, I have been to many weddings, but Megan and Matt’s will always stand out in my mind. Even though I wasn’t an official guest, and I still had a blast!

The best part about the wedding is that I was the second shooter! I love being a second shooter for many reasons! I not only get to work with some amazing photographers, but I am able to capture different moments of the wedding. This wedding I worked with Jenna Marie as the primary shooter, you can find her website here! I can capture a photo journalistic approach and more behind the scenes images. Another fun part of second shooting is being able to play with the images afterwards. So many images I would love to try out new editing and see what new work I can create with them. This wedding allowed me to do just that!

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This family was so sweet and fun-loving, and that shows in all of their pictures from their family session. Together, they like to go hiking or doing anything outdoors, but they also like to wind down playing video games or board games. By far, though, their favorite thing to do is to go on spontaneous adventures and trips. Julia and Kyle live in Vernon Hills, IL but they wanted to do their session outdoors to reflect some of their favorite things to do. As their family photographer, I chose the perfect spot outdoors in Libertyville, IL.

What started as a normal family session, turned into quite an adventure! As we were walking through the woods, Luke and his father Kyle started to play around and throw leaves at each other; it made for some adorable photos. Julia and Kyle definitely know how to make the most out of every moment, and their time during this photoshoot wasn’t just for the pictures, but also it was another fun and spontaneous moment for their family, and one for the memory books. As their family photographer, I couldn’t be happier with the way that their pictures turned out and how greatly they reflect upon Julia and Kyle’s fun-loving family!

Julia and Kyle ordered both an heirloom family album as well as a gorgeous canvas collection which they hung in their dining room. I’m so happy that I got to capture this adorable family, and helped make them a new memory that they will cherish forever! I LOVE seeing the images I capture on my families walls and enjoyed!

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This is Patrick, one of my favorite clients! Patrick is the son of Kim and Tim and the brother to his puppy Seamus! Patrick has starred in almost all of my mini sessions and is starting to become a real sweetheart. He always has big smiles for the camera and is happy wherever you stick him on set. Such a model already!! I’ve been the family photographer for Patrick and his family for sunset sessions, Easter minis, Mother’s Day and more!

    This session was a holiday mini session. These mini sessions are offered around some of the major holidays and only last 15 minutes. The family’s will come to my Libertyville,IL studio for these sessions. The main focus I have as a photographer during these sessions is the kiddos, but I always make sure to get some family shots in as well!

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    This blog captures Briana and Matt’s destination wedding. They got married on September 12th, 2015. The wedding was held at Stewart Park near Stewart Lake in Mt Horeb, Wisconsin. Although this wedding was only in Wisconsin, the whimsical and secluded area made it a true destination wedding! As a well-known Chicago wedding photographer, it was such a privilege to travel to shoot a wedding outside of Illinois.

   We started the day at Briana’s house where she got ready. She lived close to the venue which was a big perk of the day. It was special to be able to take some pictures in her own home and made the day even more special to her and unique to me, as their wedding photographer. Briana got ready for her big day with her sister MOH, her bridesmaids and her mom.

    One of the most popular trends in wedding photography right now is capturing the “first look” or when the groom sees his stunning bride in her gown for the very first time! Matt and Briana chose to do their first look earlier in the day so that they could get the photos that they wanted without being rushed later in between the ceremony and reception. Their first look was so cute, Briana walked up behind Matt. When she got close, he turned around and had the happiest look on his face as he saw how beautiful his future wife was.

    Matt and Briana were a simple, easy-going and loving couple, and all of that translated into the ceremony and theme of the wedding. The wedding had a rustic theme which paired perfectly with the outdoor venue. Matt and Briana thought of all the detail which only added to the charm of the whole day! At the ceremony, Matt’s brother performed Firefly by Ed Sheeran acoustically. His performance was so touching, soft and beautiful that almost everyone teared up. Afterwards, Matt surprised Briana by performing I’ll Be by Edwin McCain for her, he made almost everyone cry, including myself and the bridesmaids. It was so touching to see such a beautiful and simple love blossom even more that day, and I’m so happy to have been their wedding photographer!

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Being a family photographer is especially rewarding when you get to meet the entire family, especially after only working with and shooting maybe one or two members of the family. For this family holiday mini, parents Maria and Christopher brought their kids Nadia and Vinnie to the studio, along with their pup! Vinnie was super shy at first, but opened up to the camera as the time went by. But Nadia absolutely loved the attention. She was a natural! Maria and her family are from Vernon Hills, but came to Libertyville for this session.

The pictures I took turned out so well! As a family photographer, I strive to capture the natural beauty of a family! I think I achieved that with such a photogenic family for this session. There are definitely some really great shots of the kiddos that are worthy of a Christmas card! This session came with holiday cards and they were beyond adorable!

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What made this family session so special was the celebration of Niko. Lana and Mike wanted to make sure to take pictures capturing the first month of Niko’s life. One month sessions are so unique because the baby’s are still so young, but there is also such a difference from newborn to one month. They’re already so much bigger and more expressive and emotional! It’s crazy how much can change between one day and thirty days. Even though this session was focused on Niko, I captured so many great shots of the entire family!

As a family photographer, it’s part of my job to keep all the kiddos smiling and the parents relaxed, as it can be stressful for them if the kids aren’t cooperating. Luckily, Zoe and Niko were so sweet and were more than happy to be in front of a camera. The whole session was super laid back and the comfy environment turned out some really great pictures. During the session, daughter Zoe was 2, but she’s 3 now! Since I’m close with Lana and  her family, I get to experience some of their family memories with them, but I love when they let me capture them as a family photographer.

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This blog post is about a newborn session that I did for new parents Ashley and Tevin. They are originally from Palatine, IL but came to my Libertyville, IL studio for this newborn session. Their beautiful baby girl was due December 19, 2015, but came 8 days early on December 11, at 11:01 pm! She was born at 6 lbs 6 oz and with a full head of hair and the name Mayah Grace! It was wonderful that I got to see Ashley and Tevin again, since I had previously been their gender reveal photographer and maternity photographer, but their new addition made this session even more special. 

Baby Mayah is such a sweetheart, she staying in all the poses that I put her in and barely cried throughout the whole session! Typically during newborn sessions, it takes a while to get a good group of photos because there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. A lot of times, the newborn will cry or get hungry or even cranky and mom and dad have to swoop in to the rescue. This session was so serene. There are even a couple of shots where baby Mayah has a smile on her face! Overall, this session went so great, and I can’t wait to see Mayah, Ashley and Tevin again!

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