Everything you need to know on how to book your Chicago family session with Aline Stern Photography!
I think we can officially say it’s Spring now! The temps are up, the sun is shining, the trees are blooming!
I am officially opening up Spring booking for May 1st – however – if you see the blooming trees and the nice weather and you decide you’d like to do an outdoor session RIGHT NOW (I am writing this blog post on April 11th), please shoot me a message at alinesternphoto@gmail.com and I’ll find a way to fit you in asap!
I know with things getting more expensive, that family photography is a luxury, so I am not raising my prices for the Spring and Summer season. I will see how this Spring and Summer seasons go and then make a decision about Fall prices later. But if you want to make sure to get my cheaper pricing – I’d suggest booking now!
One thing the photography community has been a little worried about this year is the cicada invasion! Current forecast for the emergence of the 17 year cicadas is end of May-mid June. But don’t you worry because I have backup plans! Yes, several! First – consider beach shoots! I think we’ll be safe at beaches! Or downtown or an in-home shoot or there is always my North Center studio!
As in previous years I am offering my Gold and Silver Sessions, as well as Extended Family Sessions. This Spring and Summer I will also be offering Studio Mini Milestone sessions. More infos on those and all my other sessions below!
I am also going to be out of town from July 31st till August 21st, visiting my family in Europe. So please keep that in mind for booking! My last day for mini sessions and Silver Sessions will be July 20th, my last day for Gold Sessions is July 23rd – since I want to make sure I can get your photos to you before I leave.
Everything you need to know including booking links:
If you have ANY trouble booking, please just send me an email to alinesternphoto@gmail.com!
How it works: You click on either “Silver Session” or “Gold Session” and my scheduler will pop up. You select a date (my Spring and Summer calendar goes from May 1st-July 31st – my late summer/Fall calendar will be live in early June), it will prompt you to enter your name and email address. I will send an email with my contract and invoice. Once you sign the contract and pay the deposit ($100 – which is the first part payment on the invoice) – you have reserved that date. IMPORTANT: your date and time are NOT secured until you paid the the deposit! For an Extended Family Sessions or Milestone Minis please contact me directly!
Spring and Summer Prices
Silver Sessions
$350
Do you need an updated family picture? Do you just want some nice pictures of you and your kids but you don’t want anything time consuming? Then the Silver Session may be a good option for you.
Outdoor Silver sessions are 20 to 30 minutes long. I shoot most of my outdoor Silver sessions at Winnemac Park. It’s the perfect place for Minis because we can get a good variety of pictures in a short amount of time and the foliage there is gorgeous. I also shoot Silver Sessions in a few other locations close to the Lincoln Square/Andersonville Area.
Included in the price of a Silver are EIGHT edited photos in both color and black-and-white. You may purchase extra pictures for $30 or upgrade to a full gallery for $200. You will receive an online gallery with your selected and edited photos to download as high-resolution files and an option to order prints.
Gold Session
$550
In the Gold sessions we take our time and try to capture moments and emotion. We spend 40 to 60 minutes together. We start out with the sort of pictures we’d do during a Silver session – smile in the camera, the perfect family portrait. After we get those shots, we play, we laugh, we run around. I’m going to make this experience as relaxed and positive and fun as possible for you and your kids. My goal is to get everybody out of their shell and to just capture love and personality.
With a Gold session you receive at least 60 pictures, usually more, in both color and black-and-white versions. You will receive an online gallery with your photos to download as high-resolution files and an option to order prints.
Extended Family Session
$800
(up to 20 people)
Since Extended Family Sessions are very popular this year I have decided to officially put them in my price list. For booking just book them as a Silver Session but please mention in the booking questionnaire that it is an extended family session and how many people will be part of it. I do not travel further than 45 minutes from Lincoln Square/Chicago for sessions so if you are in a far West or South suburb, let me know, I know lots of photographers and should be able to send you some recommendations.
My extended Family sessions are always posed sessions. We simply don’t have enough time to do fun, unposed shots in extended family sessions and these kind of sessions can be very overwhelming for little kids so I try to not drag them out. A lot of clients book both a full session for their extended family photos as well as a mini or a full session for their own family on a different day if they want to get more pictures of just their family.
If you have more than 20 people, please contact me for pricing.
BOOKING
To book just click on the link below to the session you’d like to book, then select your date. If you’d like to book a different day than the days available, shoot me an email and I will see what I can do! I generally keep Sundays as rain make-up days but will make an exception if it’s the only available day for you.
Milestone Minis
$250
Milestone minis are only held at my studio in North Center and only available on weekdays. These are perfect for Sitter sessions, One year sessions (for cake smashes we do longer sessions though!), kids who are starting school … any time you just want a snapshot of you or your kids or your family. These sessions take about 15-20 minutes and include 3 pictures with the option to purchase more pictures later. Please be aware that these are not good for kids with sensory issues or kids who might need a long time to warm up! Let me know if that’s the case and we can talk about other options. I do have lots of experience photographing neurodivergent kids (and different kinds of neurodivergence need different approaches!) – so just let me know and we’ll figure out the perfect plan for you!
I am so looking forward to working with you! If you have any questions or any troubles booking – please shoot me an email at alinsternphoto@gmail.com.
Read OnSpring came early this year! I’ve been working on my Spring and Summer outdoor schedule and plan to have it up the second week of April.
In the meantime please check out my Mini Session Specials!
I only offer these sort of sessions a few times a year – a Mini Session is a 15 minute session and it includes 3 pictures. My Mini-Sessions are $250 and you have the option to upgrade to buy more pictures later.
In May I am offering Motherhood Session. I think it’s so important to get mom in the picture and these sessions focus on mom and kids. I have a boho and a natural setup and I am so excited to photograph some beautiful Mamas in my studio!
Book your Motherhood session here
The dates are May 4th and May 19th
Stay tuned to see what I have planned for June!
In other news – check out this article by Apartment Guide where I was recently quoted with some tips about my neighborhood! I am always happy to talk fun things to do in Chicago and this new website looks like is has lots of good advice!
https://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/chicago-il-bucket-list/
If you don’t want to wait until I release my Spring schedule and want to put something in the books already – just send me an email! Either way – I hope to see you soon!
Read On
Everything you need to know plus prices and booking links!
How is it time for my Fall schedule again? This year has just flown by!
If you’ve been wanting to find out more about booking your Fall Family Session or Portrait Session with Aline Stern Photography – I’ve got all the info you need right here! I offer three kind of session – Gold, Silver and Extended Family. I am explaining in detail what the difference is below. If you ever want to book a true, quick and easy mini session, I only offer these in the studio and only for special occasions. But I will have some coming up in November so if all you want is a 10 minutes “update the family photo” session or something to put on your holiday card, stay tuned!
Gold Session
$550 on weekdays
$650 on weekends
In the Gold sessions we take our time and try to capture moments and emotion. We spend 40 to 60 minutes together. We start out with the sort of pictures we’d do during a Silver session – smile in the camera, the perfect family portrait. After we get those shots, we play, we laugh, we run around. I’m going to make this experience as relaxed and positive and fun as possible for you and your kids. My goal is to get everybody out of their shell and to just capture love and personality.
With a Gold session you receive at least 30 pictures, usually more, in both color and black-and-white versions. You will receive an online gallery with your photos to download as high-resolution files and an option to order prints.
When you book, it will let you pick a time. I always try and shoot within two hours after sunrise or before sunset. I make exceptions if those times don’t work for you but the photos won’t be quite as golden and rich looking as they do in these pictures. So please consider the timing when you book! Once I receive your booking I will be in touch to decide on the perfect time to shoot since sunrise and sunset times change. Weekend Golden Hour (that hour of perfect light about an hour before sunset) is always reserved for Gold Sessions! Downtown and shoots in the suburbs can only be booked as Gold Sessions!
To book click the link below:
Silver Sessions
$350 on weekdays
$450 on weekends
Do you need an updated family picture? Do you just want some nice pictures of you and your kids but you don’t want anything time consuming? Do you have a toddler who doesn’t need time to warm up to strangers but also has the attention span of a goldfish? Then the Silver Session may be a good option for you.
Outdoor Silver sessions are 20 to 30 minutes long. I shoot most of my outdoor Silver sessions at Winnemac Park. It’s the perfect place for Silver Sessions because we can get a good variety of pictures in a short amount of time and the foliage there is gorgeous. I also shoot Silver Sessions in a few other locations close to the Lincoln Square/Andersonville Area.
Included in the price of a Silver are EIGHT edited photos in both color and black-and-white. You may purchase extra pictures for $30 or upgrade to a full gallery for $250. You will receive an online gallery with your selected and edited photos to download as high-resolution files and an option to order prints.
When you book it will let you pick a time – I always try and shoot within two hours after sunrise or before sunset. I make exceptions if those times don’t work for you but the photos won’t be quite as golden and rich looking as they do in these pictures. Also the sun goes down REALLY early in late October – if you have school aged kids, weekdays might not be possible unless you take them out early! So please consider the timing when you book! Once I receive your booking I will be in touch to decide on the perfect time to shoot since sunrise and sunset times change.
To book just click on the link below:
Special EXTRA SILVER SESSION DAY on Oct 7th – Indigenous People Weekend
$800
(up to 20 people)
When you finally have everybody in town and you want to get the perfect picture of all of you! To book an extended Family session – book it as a Gold Session but please mention in the booking questionnaire that it is an extended family session and how many people will be part of it. Or alternatively, shoot me an email and we’ll find the perfect time and date for you. I do not travel further than 45 minutes from Lincoln Square/Chicago for sessions so if you are in a far West or South suburb, let me know, I know lots of photographers and should be able to send you some recommendations.
My extended Family sessions are always posed sessions. We simply don’t have enough time to do fun, unposed shots in extended family sessions and these kind of sessions can be very overwhelming for little kids so I try to not drag them out. A lot of clients book both a full session for their extended family photos as well as a mini or a full session for their own family on a different day if they want to get more pictures of just their family.
If you have more than 20 people, please contact me for pricing.
To answer a few frequently asked questions:
What if it rains?
I always have rain backup days! For Saturday shoots, that’s usually Sunday but if Sunday’s don’t work, I will try to find a future Saturday date for you.
I can’t make any of the days you offer for shoots! Do you have any flexibility?
I do! I try to stick to the days I offer but I make exceptions! Please send me an email with the days/times that work for you and I’ll see what I can do!
What if I need to reschedule?
I allow two reschedules if you let me know at least 48 hours in advance (with the exceptions of emergencies like sickness – if you double booked yourself that does NOT count as an emergency!). Please be aware that in my busiest months – September and October – spots for the best times for rebooking are somewhat limited!
If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to send me an email! I hope to see you all soon!
Read On
In February I was sure we’d have an early Spring this year but how wrong I was! It is now mid April and finally the trees are blooming! I am officially opening my Spring booking on May 1st but if you’d like to book an earlier date to catch some of those flowering trees, just shoot my a message at info@alinesternphotography.com.
Like every Spring/Summer season I don’t make a difference between weekday and weekend booking – both are the same price – the lower price! I know how much we all love later Summer and Fall pictures – Chicago is just so gorgeous in those seasons – but Spring an Summer have their charm – less hot and humid and a lot less bugs! Plus sunsets are later so if you have school aged kids or you don’t get out of work until 6pm, you really want to grab one of these Spring or Summer spots!
Like last year, I am offering two kinds of sessions – Silver Sessions and Gold Sessions. Silver Sessions are my shorter sessions but I don’t want to call them mini sessions because to me a mini session is 10-15 minutes long and for outdoor shoots that just doesn’t work for me. So my Silver Session is 20-30 minutes long, that way we have a little time to move around and do different poses. I currently only offer true mini-sessions in my North Center studio.
Which session is right for you?
$350
0-30 minute shooting time, includes 8 pictures for digital download – with the option to purchase more later
Do you have a toddler (or multiple toddlers) who is outgoing and likes people but just doesn’t have a very long attention span? Or do you just want some updated pictures but you really don’t want more than a few photos? Do you like my work but want to “try” this out first before committing to a longer session? Or does the sound of a one hour session just sound like a nightmare to you (trust me, I make it as fun as possible but I know getting your picture taken is just not fun for a lot of people)? Then you should try out a Silver Session! We will get all the “smile in the camera” picture perfect family photos and if we have time we can do some unposed ones too. This sessions is NOT for kids that take a long time to warm up and usually not for kids with special needs that might take a while to trust me. Also with families with 5 or more members, I recommend a full session. Silver Sessions can only be done in the Lincoln Square area or close by. Montrose Beach is ok!
$550
40-60 minute shooting time, includes full gallery of all pictures that turn out during the session
I was considering naming Gold Sessions Adventure Sessions because that’s how I like it to go. We do some posed shots but we also walk around, play some games, get to know each other … if you don’t like super stiff, posed shots, maybe you don’t even like when your kids look in the camera, consider booking a Gold Session. These are my favorite! My goal as a photographer is to capture the real you – the best version of it. I want to catch those loving looks between you guys, I want your kids to giggle with glee, I want there to be a spark and we usually get the best photos after the first 30 minutes together. A lot of my clients started out booking a Silver and then come back for a Gold Session every year. Gold Sessions can be done anywhere in Chicago, as well as North Shore suburbs up to Winnetka (after that I do apply a travel fee).
Frequently asked questions:
What about timing? We will discuss the exact time of your session after you book – just pick either a morning or an evening time, depending what works for your family. My preference to get the most gorgeous light is to shoot within 1-2 hours of sunrise and sunset. I will only shoot midday if there is absolutely no other choice because those harsh shadows are just not flattering on anybody’s face and you’ll be squinting in every picture. If you’re not sure the timing will work you can always email me first!
I see you only have Mondays available for weekday Silver Sessions but I cannot make Mondays! While I generally prefer to stick to the booking days, I am still pretty flexible and we can change the day. The only day I try not to book is Sunday since this is my weekend rain backup day (and also the day both my kids have all their sports events – oh youth sports!). But if Sunday is absolutely the only day you can do I will try and make that work too!
What happens if the weather is terrible on the day of our shoot? If it’s raining or there is a tornado warning or anything like that we will find another day for you! I always check in with my clients a couple of days before our shoot and if the forecast looks iffy, I will give you some other choices for dates. We only make the ultimate decision the night before the shoot because the weather service cannot always be trusted but we will make it work!
What will I wear? Once you book I will send you my style sheet, as well as some personal recommendations. You can also always text me your outfit choices and I am happy to help and give advice!
When do I have to pay?A non-refundable down-payment is due when you book to secure your spot, the rest is due within 48 hours of our shoot.
My family is high-risk – do you still take Covid precautions? My kids get tested weekly in school and I test myself whenever I feel sick at all. I am also fully vaccinated and boosted. While I normally don’t wear a mask during outdoor shoots anymore I am happy to wear a KN95 mask if you prefer. It is actually a question in my session prep questionnaire!
I hope that answers most of your questions but please don’t hesitate to email me if anything else comes up!
Read On
Christmas, Hanukkah, or just want a nice studio family picture?
After a three year break I am so excited to be hosting Holiday Mini Sessions again! I will have four different setups in my North Center studio (conveniently located two blocks from the Irving Park Brown Line Stop).
My Holiday Mini sessions will be 10-15 minutes long and you may pick 1-2 setups (you will receive a questionnaire beforehand). 3 pictures are included in the price with the option to buy more pictures later. The price is $250. I have 3 weekdays available – November 14th, 15th and 21st (a CPS day off school!) as well as Saturday, November 19th. Now, even for Mini Sessions I limit my spots because it is extremely important for me to provide individualized service to each of my client families. I want to know your names and what makes your kids laugh, so make sure to book your spot fast!
Here are the setups:
This setup is best for just kids
2. Scandinavian Christmas
Since I am from Europe, I’ve always wanted to do a simple, scandi-Christmas setup. This is best for kids by themselves or families with babies
3. Navy blue background
This can be a whole family setup with a sofa or just for one kids – it is super versatile and Hanukkah as well as Christmas appropriate!
4/5. White background with sofa – with or without wreath
This is perfect for a family!
Special shoutout to my kids who were real troopers modelling all my setups for me! It’s an exhausting job but somebody’s gotta do it!
Prices, booking links and everything you need to know!
Gold Session
$550 on weekdays
$650 on weekends
In the Gold sessions we take our time and try to capture moments and emotion. We spend 40 to 60 minutes together. We start out with the sort of pictures we’d do during a Silver session – smile in the camera, the perfect family portrait. After we get those shots, we play, we laugh, we run around. I’m going to make this experience as relaxed and positive and fun as possible for you and your kids. My goal is to get everybody out of their shell and to just capture love and personality.
With a Gold session you receive at least 60 pictures, usually more, in both color and black-and-white versions. You will receive an online gallery with your photos to download as high-resolution files and an option to order prints.
When you book it will let you pick a time – I always try and shoot within two hours after sunrise or before sunset. I make exceptions if those times don’t work for you but the photos won’t be quite as golden and rich looking as they do in these pictures. So please consider the timing when you book! Once I receive your booking I will be in touch to decide on the perfect time to shoot since sunrise and sunset times change. Weekend Golden Hour (that hour of perfect light about an hour before sunset) is always reserved for Gold Sessions!
To book click the link below:
Weekday Gold Session
Weekend Gold Session
Silver Sessions
$350 on weekdays
$450 on weekends
Do you need an updated family picture? Do you just want some nice pictures of you and your kids but you don’t want anything time consuming? Then the Silver Session may be a good option for you.
Outdoor Silver sessions are 20 to 30 minutes long. I shoot most of my outdoor Silver sessions at Winnemac Park. It’s the perfect place for Minis because we can get a good variety of pictures in a short amount of time and the foliage there is gorgeous. I also shoot Silver Sessions in a few other locations close to the Lincoln Square/Andersonville Area.
Included in the price of a Silver are EIGHT edited photos in both color and black-and-white. You may purchase extra pictures for $30 or upgrade to a full gallery for $200. You will receive an online gallery with your selected and edited photos to download as high-resolution files and an option to order prints.
When you book it will let you pick a time – I always try and shoot within two hours after sunrise or before sunset. I make exceptions if those times don’t work for you but the photos won’t be quite as golden and rich looking as they do in these pictures. So please consider the timing when you book! Once I receive your booking I will be in touch to decide on the perfect time to shoot since sunrise and sunset times change.
To book just click on the link below:
Silver Session Weekday
Silver Session Weekend
$800
(up to 20 people)
Since Extended Family Sessions are very popular this year I have decided to officially put them in my price list. For booking just book them as a Gold Session but please mention in the booking questionnaire that it is an extended family session and how many people will be part of it. I do not travel further than 45 minutes from Lincoln Square/Chicago for sessions so if you are in a far West or South suburb, let me know, I know lots of photographers and should be able to send you some recommendations.
My extended Family sessions are always posed sessions. We simply don’t have enough time to do fun, unposed shots in extended family sessions and these kind of sessions can be very overwhelming for little kids so I try to not drag them out. A lot of clients book both a full session for their extended family photos as well as a mini or a full session for their own family on a different day if they want to get more pictures of just their family.
If you have more than 20 people, please contact me for pricing.
B
If you’d like to book a different day than the days available, shoot me an email and I will see what I can do! I generally keep Sundays as rain make-up days but will make an exception if it’s the only available day for you.
I hope to see you soon!