Children's portraits in Joliet

Being a photographer in Joliet (Chicago-land area) means one thing: indoor portraits. It gets really cold out outside and there is no way to pose a kid outdoors when it's super chilly. These are a few recent indoor portraits that I took of Jason and Isabella. I wanted some dramatic images of the kids, so I used a couple of different angles and kept the lighting simple. The light is all natural with a little fill to camera right. I like using natural light with kids because I can focus more on my interaction with them instead of with lights. Here are a few of my favorite photos from this shoot:

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Set-Up

Nikon D3 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Photo Mechanic for culling

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

            

By The Way: I don't typically shoot a lot. But I changed that up a bit here since I was shooting at a really shallow depth of field. Most of the photos I took were at f/2.0. I may have shot a few at f/2.8. So in order to get enough in-focus photographs of the children I will shoot a ton.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day is tomorrow, and in a flash it will all be over. The older I get the more I see Christmas as a time to spend with my family and friends. It's really fun and cool seeing my daughter open up gifts and dress up in her "fancy dress" as she calls it. It's also fun to see her in a Santa Hat... I couldn't resist the urge to take a bunch of photos of her in that hat. But this time of year can't just be about shopping and buying stuff for the people in my life. I hope to raise my daughter in such a way that she knows that this time of year is about giving to others and about spending time with the people that she loves.

I can't believe that 2010 is just about done! Have a great Christmas everyone!

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

            

By The Way: Christmas is also a time to make cool photos like this outdoors. Don't be afraid to step outside in the cold and make some photos.

Logan Square Children's Portraits

My approach towards children's portraits has changed this year. I'm still tempted to take really cute photos of babies and kids wearing funny/furry hats, and the like - I have done that in the past and really dig it. But kids are small adults in the making so I want to light them and photograph them in such a way. The idea has always been to clutter the scene with either a chair, a bunny rabbit, etc, in order to get the kids to laugh or smile and look cute. But with this photo shoot I wanted a totally minimalistic look, and so I photographed them on a white seamless background. I wanted the kids to be the center of attention and to stand out. I didn't want any visual distractions - just their expressions, either sad or happy, or whatever in-between expression they could give me. Plus, I really dig the timeless look that the white background gives.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from this shoot. A few have been composited for the blog:

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Pocket Wizards (2)

3 Alien Bee 400's

Medium Softbox and 60" Umbrella

White Seamless background, 4 pieces of 4"x8" foam board and white tileboard

Photo Mechanic for culling

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

            

By The Way: A lot of patience is needed when photographing kids. And patience is needed when shooting on a white seamless background. There is a lot to juggle on this type of shoot: kids, tough background, lighting, and interaction with the kids and the parents. Be ready for an exhausting time, but a fun time nonetheless.

Playing in Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds // Grace Turns 4

Silver Balloons Make Me Happy

A good time for me involves a few things: cool balloons, a beautiful afternoon, good food, and taking portraits of a 4 year old full of energy. Thus, this shoot was a good time indeed.

The portraits took place in Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology - I love the IIT campus! It's a great place to take portraits - it's peaceful and full of locations and amazing backgrounds. The coolest part of Crown Hall was Andy Worhol's "Silver Clouds" exhibit, as well as the Lego City exhibit. This made for an amazing and interesting photo shoot. Running through and around the silver balloons was a blast, and almost surreal. I could feel my imagination running at warp speed.

The portrait session ended at Pompei on Taylor street. I hadn't intended on shooting there, but the location and lighting was perfect for some candid and posed portraits of Grace. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the day:

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Check out more of Crown Hall and the IIT campus.

Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Tamron 12-24mm f/4.0

Nikon SB-800

Nikon CLS for OCF

30" Umbrella

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

By The Way: Be a kid in order to take some fun photos of kids. I had a blast running though the balloons, and I am sure that Grace noticed my willingness to be a kid.

Henry Turns 3 // Hanging Out in Oak Park

Just Hanging Around

Henry's 3 year photo shoot was a cool and chilled out session - just check out his Superman shirt and Keens! We, my family and his, met up at the Caribou Coffee on Lake St. and Oak Park Ave. We ordered some drinks and I started taking photographs, all while chatting and hanging out. I guess this could have been considered my first ever lifestyle session.

After the coffee stop (no, the kids didn't drink coffee) we walked around the quaint Oak Park downtown area, where we found a few cool places to shoot. We then walked over to Scoville Park and finished the shoot there. The last three photos are from the park.

It was pretty much the perfect afternoon: hung out with friends, beautiful weather, ate good pizza, and took some cool photos. Here are a few of my favorite photos from our portrait session:

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon SB-800

Pocket Wizards (2)

30" Reflector

Lastolite EzyBox Softbox

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

The Park District of Forest Park

By The Way: Shoot wherever the light looks best. There was beautiful reflective light inside the Caribou Coffee shop. I hadn't planned on shooting inside, but the light and location made for a great starting point to our session. Rock on!

My Pride & Joy Turns 3 // And Her Myriad Expressions

Time Really Does Fly By

My daughter just turned 3 and I still cannot make sense of how fast that happened. I still remember my wife being pregnant with our daughter, and how special that time was. I remember how we would try to image our daughters face, or how her laugh would sound.

But now she's here, loud and clear! I love her laughter and I gaze at her beauty everyday. I cannot imagine my life without her, nor can I imagine what I used to do without her in my life. What did I do with all of that free time :)

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our shoot. We shot these in the beautiful Sunken Gardens on Homan and Polk St.

Please indulge a proud dad and check out a few of these with me:

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Alien Bee 400

Pocket Wizards (2)

30" Reflector

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

By The Way: Kids never seem to stop moving. So I generally move with them. But stick to your guns and get the shot that you envisioned. I plopped my Alien Bee and battery pack and shot away until I got what I wanted.

Almost Too Cute // Chicago Fun Kids Portraits

The “Hat” Photoshoot

Hattie is seriously a little cutie. This shoot was a lot different from her 3 month shoot, but a ton of fun nonetheless. She was just so easy to work with, and those hats were amazing!

The idea for this shoot was to do something a little different and to create some colorful images. The lighting set-up was simple: one light with a beauty dish modifier and colorful background. Here are a few of my favorites:

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Alien Bee 400

Pocket Wizards (2)

22" Beauty Dish

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

By The Way: Sometimes a very simple light set-up is all that is needed to create some fun photographs. Total time for this set-up was about 4 minutes, and total shooting time was abut 12 minutes or so. Rock on!

I Love These Kids! Chicago Fun Kid Portraits

I really do love these kids. The first two lil' ones I have known since they were newborns and the last is my daughter. These are milestone photos, as the older ones are turning 3 and the little Hatted Cuttie is 6 months old. It has been so cool seeing these kiddos grow up and being there taking their portraits along the way. More pics to come. [gallery columns="1" size="large"]

Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon SB-800

Pocket Wizards (2)

30" Reflector

Lastolite EzyBox Softbox

Adobe Lightroom 3 for editing

The Park District of Forest Park

            

By The Way: Patience is indeed a virtue. Photographing kids is a challenge, but the return on that energy/patience investment is amazing.

Oh Babies!

Babies, babies, babies! They are so priceless, tiny, and squishy. OK, maybe not so squishy... more like delicate. They are a blast to photograph and I know that these photos will mean the world to mom and dad as they see their little one grow up right before their eyes.