Hello! I am so excited to capture your family on Sunday. The weather is looking great and I’ve found the perfect location to hold our session. It’s going to be fun! Read on for some details and tips on how to prepare so we can make the most out of our time together. Be sure to fill out the form on the bottom of this page so I can prepare and know exactly what you want! Our session will be held at:

MAYSLAKE FOREST PRESERVE
3401-3499 St. Paschal Dr, Oak Brook, IL 60523

This beautiful location is going to be perfect for our session! When you map this spot, be sure to enter Mayslake Dog Park into your map so it takes you here and not to Mayslake Peabody Estates. It’s a pretty small parking lot, so just park anywhere and look for me and my camera waiting for you. I can’t stress enough how important it is to BE EARLY! We only have 20 minutes together so I want to make sure we make the most out of that time. If you plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early, you can rest easy knowing we will get started right on time and have all 20 minutes to capture your beautiful family! Also important is to WEAR BUG SPRAY… I was just there tonight and the bugs were not bad but you never know… late summer is when all of the mosquitos decide to come out and be pesky. We will be trotting through some longer grass so bug spray is a must.

Be Prepared

Let me tell you a little bit about how I run my sessions… the more prepared we are beforehand the more fun your session will be! We’re going to start our session with that picture perfect shot of everyone (hopefully) looking at me and smiling and from there we will go through some different poses but will be playing naturally throughout. I will give you direction, but I really just want you to take the time to enjoy your family and be with them how you naturally are. The only thing you guys have to remember is to BE MAGNETS the whole time… always be touching someone, loving someone and playing with each other. Just enjoy each other… don’t even worry about looking at the camera unless I direct you to! This is hard for some as you naturally want to look and smile when a camera is facing you. But trust me, if you DON’T LOOK AT ME UNLESS I TELL YOU TO, we will capture more authentic moments. This is going to be short time away from everything. How often do you get uninterrupted time with your family with no devices and distractions? Enjoy it! Mom and dad, steal kisses whenever you can, flirt with each other like you did while you were dating! Just play with each other as a family in a way that’s natural to you. Throw your kids up on your backs, shoulders, etc. give lots of tickles! I promise we’ll get a few shots with everyone looking picture perfect, but otherwise I really just want to capture the essence of who you are as a family.

Prepping Your Children

Don’t underestimate the importance of prepping your children beforehand! If you get everyone’s buy-in the session will run smooth like butter. Check out this blog post I wrote about preparing your children, lots of helpful advice there! The good news, this is a quick and painless session! 20 minutes will be gone in the blink of an eye so if you get your kids to cooperate for that short time, everyone will be happy!

Weather & Cancellations

In the event of inclement weather, we will work together to reschedule your date. Please note, there will only be one backup date and your time slot will remain the same. Due to the popularity of these sessions, I cannot except last minute cancellations. If your family needs to cancel at the last minute, you will not be refunded your initial deposit. I will, however save your deposit to be used for the booking of a full session with me at a later date.

Image Delivery

Your final images will be delivered via an email link to a beautiful online gallery. You will receive the link about 2 weeks after your session. I will post a sneak peak of each session via social media (Facebook and Instagram) just a few days after your session. Please let me know if you would prefer I didn’t share any photos.

Thanks for taking the time to read through everything, I can’t wait for our session together! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!