This is Central Park. It is a small park near the center of Des Plaines. Although surrounded by condos there is an adorable circle path flooded with flowers during the summer and into the early fall. When I photograph just right, the viewer will have no idea that people, condos and cars are surrounding us. Kids love the cute path and parents love that it is easy to get to. This is a popular place for high school kids to take photos before dances. I have seen this place flooded with kids and parents. After being one those parents last year I realized that this is a great mini session location! The first round of mini sessions for fall 2018 took place here and Ela and her daughter jumped in for one.
Ela might look familiar…
You may recognize Ela, she is a fellow photographer, the baby whisperer here at the studio and my assistant for some other studio sessions. Her daughter, like many, does not photograph well for her mother…. Or does her mother not do well with her daughter as the subject? It might be a combination of both.
A great use of a Central Park Mini Sesssion
In the past Ela has claimed a mini session for just her and her daughter which I think is a fantastic use of a mini session. They followed the clothing suggestions, arrived a little early, played some games with me and spent some quality time together. And after they went out for some food. This sounds like a great early evening activity to me and a fabulous memory!
Check out Ela & Tasi last Mother / daughter mini session HERE to see how much she has grown!
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I once heard someone with older kids comment that after the kids get into kindergarten the pedal hits the metal and boom, senior year is here. For me it was more like 2nd grade, after 2nd grade hyper-speed set in. If you took the same ride, chances are that your last family photo is a little outdated. You could fall into the category of never getting a professional portrait OR your last portrait doesn’t include the last born child, because you were busy juggling kids and schools and activities. Not to mention no one was ever free at the same time ……. you are not alone and you wouldn’t be the first family I have helped solve this problem.
1. This could be one of your last guaranteed opportunities to get a professional portrait with your kiddo(s).
Life gets busy and before you know it its time for college graduation or their wedding! We thought High school went by fast? I’ve heard it gets faster and the years get shorter.
2. This is your first or only graduate.
Your senior will no longer have the same school schedule. Their breaks and vacations may not line up with your schedule or your younger children. If you have younger children, take advantage and get some images together with them too as well as the siblings together, because before you know it, those kids will be seniors too!
3. This is not your first graduate
If you can lure everyone home, this is a great way to get your grown children back out for a portrait. If not everyone in the family will be home, this is a great opportunity to snag some special images of just you and your senior. If they are not the oldest, they may not have many special alone moments and memories of you, let alone professional portraits with just Mom (or Dad, grandparents, the family pet.)
4. You have never had professional portraiture or professional printed artwork.
If your last family photo is from when they were in elementary school, its time to update it with their current size, smiles and style. Don’t ditch the old one, just make the new one the focal point in your home and relocate the old one to a new location in your home or add it to the gallery wall and keep telling your story.
Your kids, grand kids and great grand kids will appreciate this more then you can understand today. Think about your own grandparents and great grandparents.
What images do you have of them that you love to look at? Its fun to imagine your grandparents at that age? Maybe one of them will realize how much they look like you at this exact age.
5. The family portrait hanging is missing your last child
Like I mentioned earlier, you are not alone. We all know we have grand plans when we have our first child. If you stopped at one you may of maintained those plans but if you had more kids, chances are you understand that those baby books are less and less filled out with each child you added. This probably also extends over to photo albums and displayed portraits. I am a photographer with only two kids and I know this struggle.
6. You should celebrate too.
We all know that you were a huge part of their success. All those early morning rides, late night study sessions, cheering from the stands, sitting in the audience for every play or band performance, running them something they forgot (even when you said you never would).
That empty wall you have been meaning to design, the gallery wall you want to finish or the current frame you want to update the family image in. You worked hard, it’s time to show off all your accomplishments 🙂
(virtual software helps decide design, style and size appropriate for your room. Actual images of client homes are used during design appointments.)
If you are worried adding the family won’t keep it special for your senior, that is never the case. The first portion is devoted to your senior only. Special locations to fit your graduates personality and multiple outfits to fit their style still happen. The rest of the family can meet up with us later, fresh and ready to go.
If you have a 2019 High School Senior, click here to get on the wait list and to receive reminders of Senior Portrait sign up
Fall Family 2018 Portrait sign up waiting list and reminder is here.
We would love to take photos now, but there are no flowers out yet.
We will wait for the fall to take our photos, it is beautiful then.
Raise your hand if you have said that. Raise the other if because of those hesitations you still don’t have your family photographed, framed or up in your home. I love fall images. They are amazing and I do think that every family should do them at least once. But fall comes and goes so quickly that it is easy to miss with our busy schedules ….. and then your family photo is put off again.
There are other locations to consider outdoors where it could really be any season! The location won’t give away the time of year and you can get your family photo done. Lets start with an urban setting. Brick walls and colored doors make fabulous locations all year round.
It looks great framed as well!
Texture is another great urban element to look for. You probably drive by this door below, or something similar, and don’t notice it. The sidewalk is directly in front of this picture and people walk by it every day in downtown Arlington Heights. It makes a great backdrop and something different for those who have already done so many outdoor fall sessions or for a family who can’t wait for the leaves to turn or flowers to bloom. This door looks great all year. Photographing here looks even better and easier on your busy schedule!
We take our kids pictures the first day of school in front of the house, every year. Our home is where we spend the majority of our time, its where your kids learn to walk, tie their shoes and where you sit and watch them ride their bike. Its where siblings bond and where your kids feel safe. You work hard for where you live and you should be proud of it. We love to look back at those snapshots in front of our childhood home, there is no reason we shouldn’t consider this as a family portrait location.
If you still are hoping for nature in your images, spring can provide that. The images below were taken in April and provide a great backdrop for their family photo. Priority should be given to getting the family photographed, call to schedule and we will find a great location for you.
When was the last time your family was photographed?
Call today, 847-858-7050 or fill out the contact form to get your family up on your walls because next year they will only be bigger and you might only be busier!
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It wasn’t that long ago that this newborn’s brother made the trip to my Des Plaines Studio to get his own newborn photographs done. Now he is coming in as the big brother! It is such an honor to photograph multiple newborn portrait sessions.
Big brother had to get some time in front of the camera too! He has so many expressions, he was so fun to photograph and talk to.
This is one sweet, adorable family. Baby M sure made this trio one fabulous family of four. Looking forward to watching them grow up. Hold on tight, it goes fast!
This family was looking for a photographer, not just take family photos, but to create a long lasting family art piece to put up in their home. If it was up to this photographer (that’s me! 🙂 everyone would have a huge, gorgeous family photo up in their home. We don’t all have the perfect space for it, in fact I don’t really have space for it. There are a lot of other ways to create a long lasting family art piece.
If you are in the Mount Prospect area and surrounding towns, give me a call and we can find the perfect piece for you!
This family rocked their session from the outfits to the perfect poses, genuine smiles and most importantly, they had a fun! When the kids look at these images all over their home, they will remember the great time they had. They will remember throwing leaves, running, being silly for their little sister and playing in the forest preserve. Its more then taking a family picture, its a family experience.
Scroll down to see some of the fun had in our fall family session.
Mom has been looking at this empty stairway since she moved in. She knew she wanted a huge canvas to hang above it. We took the photo of the empty stairway when their youngest was just a baby but we didn’t get the session done for over a year. We decided to wait until their youngest was older and bigger, making sure she wouldn’t disappear or be super tiny in the image. We planned and waited for the perfect time taking into account the colors of their home and her love of fall. Turned out perfect and that’s it good because this will be around forever and ever.
Step one: photograph wall.
Step two: use special software to get correct sizing and spacing
Newborn sessions with older siblings are tearing at my heart strings lately. Probably because my own two are getting older.. a lot older.
I have had so many great big brothers and sisters in the studio lately. This big sister was so excited to be part of the session and help out which was a huge relief because the main focus of the session was the siblings images.
If you live in or around the Mount Prospect and you are looking for newborn photographers… Give me a call and we can chat about your own newborn session!
Now booking through Fall 2018.
If that picture below doesn’t say PROUD BIG SISTER then I don’t know what does! We were able to get some images of Mom and both of her kiddos, which I am hoping will be a great keepsake and addition to part of this families growing story.
Ok. Ok. Big sisters have their moments too 🙂 One of my favorite images above ^^^
Baby Charlie woke up and even gave us some giggles and laughs. He didn’t make it into the studio until after he was a month old. I think Baby Charlie just proved that even if you miss the perfect newborn time frame of 7-10 days, you can still get some amazing family images. Don’t skip a session! Just jump in and document your family at any moment you can.
The most important part… What did this family do with their newborn portraits? Click here for the post on their heirlooms and keepsakes
![Like Mother, Like Daughter [Central Park, Des Plaines]](https://kellyfitzgeraldstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Central-Park-mommy-daughter-photos-Kelly-Fitzgerald-Studio-09.jpg)
