Traverse City Michigan getaway | Beach all day everyday | Chicago Photographer

We love Michigan! This was our second time traveling to Traverse City. It was my daughters first time. We live in Chicago and are about 5 hours away. The drive is not too bad and it is well worth it. We explored 9 beaches while we were there. To say that we were beachin hard is an understatement. haha!! We loved all of them! We ventured to beaches in Traverse as well as outside of the city. We explored Sleeping Bear dunes, Empire, Honor, Geln Arbor, and made a pit stop in Ludington on our way back. It was pretty amazing. Of all the beaches our favorite was Platte River Beach. This was in Honor, MI and it is where the River meets the lake. We had a 2 hour lazy river float and it ended right at the beach where we stayed the rest of our afternoon. 

We will be back. Michigan was absolutely beautiful, and it was so much fun to explore.

Beautiful Mom & Son beach session | Chicago Family photographer

This beautiful mom and son session seriously gave me all the feels. There is something so indescribably heartfelt when you see yourself in your clients. I saw myself in her...i saw myself in them. I remembered when my son was this small. I remembered the embrace, the playfulness, and the nurturing. Time passes so fast, I say this alllll the time. Only because I've seen it, with my own son. I'm incredibly grateful that I get to witness and capture these memories for another family. It brings me peace, and for a moment's time it brings me back. I know she will love these and look back someday, and remember this day, and that embrace, and the way he looks at her.  The beach was absolutely perfect to capture this connection. I'm so glad that we were able to bottle these memories up for them. It was a perfect evening, to say the least. 

Not my first rodeo.

I kept my Ella home from school last week. Not because she was sick or because there was some emergency, but because It was going to be 83 degrees and I just wanted to spend time with her. Now, to some of you this may not be a big deal, and I have friends that take their kids out of school here and there for vacations, etc. and do not bat an eye. But, I've never done this. In all the years that my son was in elementary school and even high school for that matter, I've never kept him home unless he was sick. Why am I telling you this? It's because I know all too well what it's like to go through (almost) all the stages of parenthood. My son is 19. He's an adult now. He makes his own decisions, and is learning how to manage his own time. I see him, and it completely baffles me as to how he got here. Where is my baby? Where is my toddler, my 3rd grader, my grade school graduate, my high school grad? It goes so so fast. I know that I did my very best with being as present with him as I possibly could. I was young, I was in school, and worked a full time job. We still went on adventures and we still spent loads of time together. I'm so happy that even at 20, I knew how precious time was. But, it was such a hard balance. And I know sometimes I failed. I am in a different season of my life now, things are different, yet so much the same. I am still in school (went back 4 years ago), work a part-time job, and own my photography business. Life is busy. So busy. But I don't want to miss a thing. I already know all the seasons of parenthood and how fast they pass. This is not my first rodeo.  So If taking the day off here and there to soak in the sun with my babe is what it takes, then I'll gladly throw my rules out the window. She was so happy and it was such a needed break for the both of us. I let her explore and just watched and soaked her all in. 

Lifestyle Newborn Session

I have had the sweetest lifestyle newborn sessions the last few weeks, and it has given me the craziest baby fever! The little newborn feet, the flaky skin, the softest wisps of hair. I miss all of those things. I know that this chapter is closed for our own family, so I am so so  grateful that I get to capture this time for other families. Not to mention, I get my newborn fix in! This family had the sweetest family dog that was so gentle with the new addition. My heart seriously couldn't even take it! They also had such an adorable little girl that...well is pretty evident she'll  be the best big sister. Loved this session and this family! 

Maternity Session

This is one of my favorite maternity sessions from last year. I'm getting so excited for warmer weather and thought I'd share this one. This is my best friend and her beautiful family. She had her rainbow baby not to long ago and he is the sweetest little boy. I was so honored to be able to freeze this moment for them and for their little ones to cherish later in life. 

I had a conversation with my mom not to long ago about why she was not in a lot of photographs when she was younger. She had mentioned all the common things that you often hear; "I hated my teeth, I don't think I photograph well, we just didn't take a lot of pictures", etc. etc, etc. But the funny thing is, she says now she regrets it. We searched for photographs for when she was pregnant with me and I think we found one. Only one. When I look at old photographs of her, I don't care at all about all those things that bothered her then. And to be honest, she no longer cares about those things either.  I wanted to see how she "carried" me in her belly, or how she cared for my older brother while having another on the way. I wanted to see her life as a young mama. That's a piece of her that I don't really know. 

It's so important to get in the frame. I'm truly an advocate for this.  I know we don't always feel our best when we are expecting. We feel large, swollen, uncomfortable, not ourselves. But your babies won't care, I can promise you that. Document this special time, mama's. 

Lifestyle Newborn Session

One of my favorite things to capture is the welcoming of the "new addition" to a family. These sessions seriously have my heart. I know when I had both of my babies those first few weeks were such a blur. I am so grateful for some of the snap shots that my parents took at that time for me. I will cherish them forever. I look back and It's funny how fast you forget the little details. The umbilical cord, the newborn flaky skin, how tiny they are in your arms, and how a sibling looks at their brother/sister with fresh eyes. These are moments I now embrace and love to capture for other families. I loved this session for those exact reasons, and it was pretty amazing watching big sister interact with her new little sidekick. 

A year in Review

Happy New Year!! 

I am so excited to see what this new year has in store. I don't really do New Years resolutions. But I do like to reflect on the previous year and see what changes I could make to be my best me. Sometimes it works out and others it doesn't. But I always try. For 2018,  I want to blog a little more of my sessions. I'm hoping for the best. lol. And I am going to try so hard to accomplish this goal.  So I am starting this year off with showcasing some of my favorites from my sessions throughout 2017. It was an amazing year and I am so so humbled that my clients choose me to capture their memories. I will say......my favorites are sometimes the little things, the un-posed moment, the image that tells a story, the small detail, the underdog image. I swear I'm not crazy when I intentionally cut your head off in the frame.  "There is a method to my madness."

52 self Portraits Aka P52 radness

Ahh. Where Do I begin?

Since this is my first official blog post, (yikes!)  I thought it would be fitting to blog about a personal project that I've  been apart of for the last 50 weeks. I initally decided to join this Facebook group called  P52radness in hopes of getting into the frame a little more with my kids. I have NEVER completed any photo projects that I've started and I really didn't have any confidence that I would complete this one either. But as the weeks went by,  I found myself taking out my tripod and shooting away. It was hard. So much harder than I thought. I'm not a huge "selfie" person as it is....and there is something so revealing about a true self portrait. It makes you want to run and hide. But here I was every week, not only contributing but sharing in our group as well. This group is filled with some of the most talented, inspiring, and uplifting women.  And I am grateful for all the friendships that have come from it. As I added my images to the group I would also add whatever it was I was feeling for the day. Sometimes it was long, other times is was super short. But whatever it was, there was always a feeling of acceptance and encouragement. 

I started this project to be in the frame with my kids more. I definitely accomplished my goal. But, in the midst of it all I realized that the self-portraits meant more. I not only wanted to be in the frame with my kids/family.  But, I wanted them to SEE me. It has become my journal for them. I want them to know that there are so many parts to me. Not just mom. So as uncomfortable as it was, I started to shoot alone. This was CRAZY HARD!! I could pick myself apart a thousand ways to Sunday. Eventually, I learned to say F*%$ it and did it anyway. These are for us...for them. Not for anyone else. And I know at the end of the day when my kids and grandkids are looking through old photographs they will not be looking for perfect. They will be searching for me.  

This small project has become so big for me. I will forever be grateful;  for the things that it has taught me, for the people I have met, and for the courage and self love that I have gained. 

Here are some of my favorites.