LET’S TALK DETAILS : REAL CHICAGOLAND FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY
Does any of this sound familiar?
“I’d like to lose 10 pounds before being photographed…”
“Everyone on your site is so photogenic…”
“My kids are not so well behaved…”
“My husband is less than enthusiastic…”
I understand!
When I say I’ve heard every objection for why NOW isn’t the perfect time for Chicagoland family photography session to get family photos – I’m not at all exaggerating.
Photos of families are rarely an easy endeavor, especially on mom (who is nearly always the planning guru of the whole day). And it’s hard to believe that your unruly bunch will, well, become ruly (is that a word? It is now!).
So instead of grinning and bearing it you’re waiting for some magical time – a time when the kids are a certain age and will settle down enough to follow direction – they won’t…and when they do they won’t be THIS fun age anymore…
You’re waiting for your husband to fully jump on board and really understand the NEED for family photos – it won’t happen as easily as that but when he does show up he’ll understand his role and oblige – 9 out of 10 dentists agree…
That 10 pounds of baby weight hasn’t budged since you gave birth to your ___ (1st, 2nd, 4th, 10th…) child – aren’t photos of you with your littles worth getting now while they’re still cute and cuddly with you?
Wow, the people on the Marmalade Photography website look like models or at the very least are extremely photogenic – everyone becomes photogenic when they are photographed at their very best – yes, even your family!
I get it because I too have made objections about being in the photos…choosing the right photographer…booking a photo session…getting everybody on board. Real Chicagoland family photography means addressing very real concerns and I’m here to calm your nerves a little.
So let’s chat about each of the 4 reasons you should not schedule a Chicagoland family photography session
Maybe your objection has to do with the kids:
Here’s something that’s weird but true, in 20+ years I have never once had a session ruined by unruly kids. I once had a session ruined by a toddler we didn’t realize was sick until I arrived and about an hour in it was clear he wasn’t at his best. I’d photographed this family a few times already and this toddler was uncharacteristically NOT himself. That is the exception in 20+ years! The solution? We rescheduled and had an amazing next session! No harm, no foul.
Truth? The chaos of the children IS the fun of any family session. The running, the climbing, the refusing to look at the camera – that’s where the real images live. I don’t need your kids to perform. I need your children to be themselves. Whatever that may look like the day we get together.
In addition to my experiences as a Chicagoland family photography specialist I possess knowledge of the developmental stages of childhood and have applied those principles to real life photography sessions. Learning about children’s behavior and family dynamics over the years has helped me tremendously: when I say I’m prepared for busy and unruly kids? I am. I meet each child where they’re at. Sometimes they don’t want to look at the camera. You know what? That’s fine. The expectation is that we arrive at an understanding that the images will be a little more arty than usual. Some of my favorite images, in 20+ years of photographing children AND having looked at literally thousands of photographers’ works (as well as the great painters and other artists) have children looking away!!
Do you think Marie Cassatt was mad that the children painted with their mothers and siblings and friends didn’t look at her while she painted?
Maybe your objection has to do with your partner:
So your husband/partner/wife? They will show up. They will stand where I tell them to stand. They will wrap their arms around you when I ask and position you both in place. And approximately 15-20 minutes in to our session together? Something nearly always happens – it’s as if a magic wand is waved and boom! You’ll catch eyes or one of your unruly/ruly children will do or say something ridiculously funny (or embarrassing) and you’ll catch each other’s eye – and they’ll forget they didn’t want to be there. They’ll relax in place and while we’re wrapping up I’ll catch the best photos ever…I’ve experienced it a thousand times during many a Chicagoland family photography session.
Maybe your objection has to do with that “extra” 10 pounds (or whatever observation of your appearance is bothering you):
As a human being who is worried about what others think, do, or say: I hear you. Listen, I’ve said it to myself. I’ve mulled it over. Heck I’ve done all sorts of crazy things to try to make it so I don’t look my shape through the years. I’m a product of the 90s – heroin chic anyone? It messed my whole generation up!
But here’s what I know after 20 years – the moms who waited to have a Chicagoland family photography session are the ones who wish they hadn’t! Your kids don’t see the 10 pounds. They see you. And so do I.
And in 10 or 15 years you’re going to look back at these images and say: “WOW, I WAS A HOTTIE!! MILF!” (or FILF or whatever you want) Seriously. I recently looked back on some images I had in a photo box back before I had a digital camera (film!) and was like: “Wait a minute Mare, you were cute CUTE!” Hindsight really is 20/20 vision…
Frankly if you’re concerned – please call me. Let’s chat, I’ll write down your concerns and at some point I’ll wave my magic wand in such a way you won’t remember that you had a care in the world about your body type or that extra ten pounds the day of your photo session. And me? I won’t tell a soul!
If it’s something other than 10 pounds and has to do with a weird scar, or marks you wish didn’t exist or you’ve been extra tired and feel like it shows in your skin? CALL ME and let’s chat. I promise those things are fixable and I do it all the time…or I don’t. I’ll never tell. REMEMBER??!
Maybe your objection has to do with “I’m not as photogenic as ____”:
So I said it before and I’ll say it again. Nearly every single person on this site told me some version of “I’m not photogenic” before their session.
Every one.
Being photographed at your very best, having a moment with the people that matter most in your life, has nothing to do with how you look and everything to do with how you feel while we are together having a laugh…romping through the city or the forest or in the fields having a time.
My job is to make that happen.
Real Chicagoland Family Photography…in Chicagoland and beyond
The many images of children, families, high school seniors and all the event images on this website? Not one of them is a photography model. Not one of those groupings is a model shoot.
Marmalade Photography, a Chicagoland family photography specialist , is committed to showcasing real people, real client work at nearly every point in this journey through the website – where you may see a model shoot is in the art section where I showcase range and some of the work that I’ve done outside of family photography – but that’s it, not even 5% of this site.
Early on in my career I took on a client with an amazing concept for a photo session – a session with her and her husband and their dog in a outdoor picnic setting, she wanted to showcase their relationship in a casual photojournalistic sort of way – showcasing their relationship with each other as casually as possible.
When we met face to face for the first time and I showed off samples of my printed work immediately concern crossed her face. “I should’ve asked before I booked this session but I want to be sure…is this all your work. I mean not just the website but these beautiful prints too…”
I looked at her with a puzzled look or something because she immediately backtracked and said “Oh we’ve been burned before.” and later adding: “…by photographers that show one thing and do another, it’s been disappointing.”
Mind you, this was sometime in mid 2006 – just over a year into my business – I was stunned. How could anybody pull that sort of move on people paying good money for a service you’re advertising?!?!
But they did. And over the years I’ve heard numerous other clients and potential clients discuss the same kind of thing (I still can’t believe this happens so frequently, to be honest). They paid for a photo session later finding out the images on the photographers website were 1) not the photographers 2) stock images or 3) the photographers but from a workshop or a get together where the photographer hired wasn’t doing the directing.
I learned early on and have committed to showcasing only family work from real families. Real faces. In real locations and homes of those I serve.
