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.

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 as a picnic setting. She wanted to showcase their relationship in the context of an outdoor park like setting.

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 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 – maybe 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. 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 across Chicagoland (and beyond). I do take on a small number of destination sessions nearly every year, that’s where that “and beyond” comes from.

My point? Any objection about “everybody being photogenic” is something that most of the very real people on this site would’ve said to me before booking a Marmalade Photography session.

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