Business is picking up as we finally start to get the nice Spring weather we earned after that long Chicago winter. I'd like to share some favorites from a recent family portrait session.
Kelly, Eric, and their son, Ryan, plus their extended family, had me over in early May. The inside of their house was very cozy. "Cozy" for a photographer means "very tight with a lot of furniture to move." With the weather being damp and cold combined with 3 kids under the age of 3, that meant making the cramped quarters work.
With all our portrait sessions, we try to do a scouting trip and client consultation ahead of time so we have a rough idea of what we're going for. Kelly's main goals were to 1) get a picture of her and her siblings, and 2) a family portrait of her, Eric, and Ryan. Anything else was a bonus.

Fine. I setup the lights inside for the "formal" portraits, and readied another camera to capture the candids that occur whenever kids are around. I started off with a formal shot of the siblings, then followed this up with other shots of the kids and various combinations depending upon which kid wasn't melting down at the time. (Photographers who only take pictures of adults have it easy!)

To break things up, I suggested the adults step outside for a few minutes for some more casual shots. When I asked Kelly about her siblings, she said she wanted a portrait that captured their playful relationship. I think I did that here.

Finally, we came back inside and I took more shots of whoever was willing to get in front of the camera. But I also saw Ryan being lit by some beautiful natural window light, so I asked Kelly to go outside and play peak-a-boo, and managed to capture this image. Those eyes tell the story.

Since Ryan was in a good mood, and took this opportunity to take care of Kelly's second main goal - her family shot. Ryan was tough to get a good smile, but Kelly's sister made some goofy faces over my shoulder and voila.
If you would like to view the complete slideshow, follow
this link. Enjoy.
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