blog

April 20, 2017

Chicago Twin Photographer | North Pond

Let me just prepare everyone for one adorable twin portrait session. These boys were the cutest, chubbiest little pair I’ve met. Poor things, they were just getting over colds and so we weren’t sure what to expect. But I’ve come to learn that you will never know what to expect, so I roll with it. Turns out, I was able to snap some darling moments from each of them! If a photographer is patient, those smirks and giggles will always emerge and you must be ready to capture them!

When I first started out photographing families, I would always get really frustrated if I couldn’t get EVERYONE looking happy and perfect in every single image. Then I came to understand children. I realized that not every shot was going to be all smiles and happiness, and that was okay. However, I will work through the tears or shyness or whatever we are dealt with as long as mom & dad let me, to get them those picture-perfect shots they were hoping for. Sometimes though, I think they appreciate the honest moments because it reminds them that this is real life –their life. The whole package. Because parents know that the sleep deprivation, messes, frustrations and tears cannot outweigh the inconceivable joy that has come over them.

Of course, portraits are an investment and so all my sweet families show up looking their best – coordinated outfits, hair and make-up done, etc. I’m always impressed. You wouldn’t show up to your own wedding day without your dress on or hair and make-up done, would you? No, because it’s a special day and you’re paying a lot of money to have good pictures taken. But also on your wedding day, you want those in-between moments…the candid ones, the ones of the flower girl picking her nose, the ones of the MOB rolling her eyes at her husband when he tells a bad joke during his speech. You want the dreamy and romantic pictures, but also the real ones too so that you can remember exactly what your big day was like.

This same principle applies in family photography, as far as I’m concerned. You don’t show up to your portrait session looking like a homeless person, which is what you normally look like around the house (am I right?). You shower, shave your legs, put on a cute outfit. Look good = feel good. This idea will not be true for your children. They feel better playing in dirt, and then eating it. So let’s celebrate getting dressed up and looking fabulous, while also capturing those silly shots of your kids doing what they do best…whatever they want.

And so, I guess my style is a hybrid of both. The cute and the real. The pretty and the tears. The buttoned-up and the grass stains. A well-rounded illustration of your family.

Enjoy these twin cuties!! It was a really windy day but also a really warm one, which is asking a lot from Chicago in April. I’ll take it!