September and October have been crazy busy! I got to photograph so many families! I originally planned to play November by ear but the trees changed colors so late this year and now it’s warmed up a bit, so I decided to make it official and post all my family session dates for the rest of the year! This includes mini-sessions and full sessions!
I am going to take December off to spend with my family (except newborns – newborns are ALWAY welcome in my studio :)) so snag your holiday spots now!
$200
Mini-sessions include 15-20 minutes of shooting and 10 digital files with print rights. You pick your 10 favorites from the session and you will receive hand edited pictures in both color and black and white.
I only do mini-sessions in Winnemac Park or close by Winnemac Park (I will do Giddings Plaza once they put up the lights!). I shoot minis only on weekdays. If you want a mini booked on a weekday morning between 9.30am-1.30pm, please send me an email at alinesternphoto@gmail.com. If you want to snag up one of my Monday spots (I shoot every Monday in November at 3pm and 3.30pm, you can book here directly:
$350
I only have a limited number of weekend sessions left for this year. My full sessions include 40-60 minute of shooting time, 60+ edited pictures in an online gallery and you get to pick your location in the Chicago area. I have a long list of locations that I have shot in and we can come up with the perfect spot for your family pictures. Please be aware younger kids don’t do well being outside for longer. If your kids are under 3, you may want to consider only doing a mini-session and book a full session when it gets warmer again – unless you don’t mind having your kids in a full snow suit set up :).
You can book your full session here:
Outdoor Full Family Session November
Things you need to know:
I will bring blankets and hand-warmers. We will move fast through the session – not because I want to rush you but because kids do NOT do well in cold weather and I don’t want you having to stand around for a long time and catch a cold. If you book one of the later sessions we may not have beautiful foliage anymore, your pictures will still be beautiful! If you book a full session we have the option to do an urban session, for example with Christmas lights in Giddings Plaza, once they are up.
Do dress your kids according to the weather!! Kids will not be happy if they are cold. If you are set on a cute Christmas dress, layer, layer, layer underneath – long thermal underwear, two pairs of tights on top of each other, a cute scarf and hat to go with the outfit, …
Should the weather just completely turn on us and it rains all of November, we have the option to do the shoot in my Lincoln Square studio instead!
I am looking forward to meeting you!!
As it’s getting colder every day, the leaves are changing, it’s time to think about holiday pictures! I host mini-sessions every year for two days in November.
I will have two set-ups – one very neutral for those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas or who just prefer a simpler style one and one more Christmas-y one with props and a holiday backdrop.
Where?
At my studio in Lincoln Square/West Andersonville, close to Winnemac Park – easy street parking!
What do I get?
A 20 minute session and 10 edited pictures that you get to pic from a proof gallery – the pictures will come in both color and black and white, so really, you are receiving 20 pictures total!
How much?
$200
I require a $50 non-refundable deposit (if you don’t show up to your session, there will be no rescheduling! If you let me know you can’t make it, we will find a different date that works for you!) and $150 are due on the day of the session – I accept QuickPay/Zelle, cash or check.
Here are the booking links:
What else you need to know:
-Please be on time! Mini-session days are back to back and any time you are late, it will be taken off your shooting time! Also, don’t be very early – another session will be going on and you don’t want to interrupt. My studio is relatively small, so there is no separate room to sit unfortunately, especially with my two holiday set-ups.
-My studio is on the ground floor of my home and our two cats live upstairs. They don’t usually go downstairs and they don’t come in contact with the props but if you are very allergic to cats, please decide on your own risk!
Otherwise, happy holidays and I hope to get to see you in my studio soon!
Read On
My favorite thing about living in Chicago is Lake Michigan. I love that we have beaches right at our doorstep. Still, I had never done a professional shoot at the beach. That was until this family suggested it. I am so glad they did! We went to Montrose Beach. We started out at the Bird Sanctuary for some nature shots and then moved on to the beach. We found a patch of beach that we had all to ourselves. It was a hot and muggy day but by the water it was just perfect. The hour went by so fast as the girls were looking for seashells and jumping in puddles. I loved, loved, loved taking these photos. More beach shoots please! Well, maybe once Spring comes around …
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Fall is upon us and I get lots of requests, so I decided this year I will put my left-over dates together and people can book which day works for them.
A few important things to consider:
-My Family Sessions are usually $300 – on those precious weekends between September and December they are $350, weekday shoots are still $300
-My weekends book up FAST so if you want to book a weekend spot, don’t wait!
-I am somewhat flexible on dates and times. If you can only do Tuesdays or Fridays for example, I will see if I can move a session to that day. Also the times in the booking link are “Golden Hour” – that magical hour when the light is the most beautiful and most flattering – I will shoot an hour later in the morning or an hour earlier in the evening – just be aware that in general – this is when you will receive the best results. The only exception is a very dark and overcast day. In that case, we may want to decide the day of to have our session a bit earlier. Anyway – when booking, please tell me time preference!
-I am keeping Sundays free just in case the weather is so terrible that we really can’t find any other day to shoot but I will not book sessions on Sunday otherwise.
-My mini-sessions are $200, please contact me at info@alinesternphotography.com for mini-sessions. I usually do mini-sessions before or after a Full session. My premium times are reserved for Full sessions.
Here is the difference between my full and my mini-sessions:
The Full package
This includes a Full session with family and kids, it takes about an hour (depending on how long the kids take to warm up it’s sometimes quicker and sometimes takes longer). We usually start with the posed, looking into camera shots and then move on to more playful poses. I am an “emotive photographer” which means my main goal is to catch true, loving moments and interactions between you and your family. We do this by playing and snuggling and just having a fun time for an hour. You typically receive at least 60 edited pictures both in color and black and white in an online gallery for you to download. You receive the print rights and can print where you’d like but I do also offer professional prints
The Mini-Session
My mini-sessions take about 20 minutes. Those are great if you’d like a holiday card picture or just an updated portrait of your kid. I mostly do mini-sessions at Winnemac Park. Minis can focus on just the kids or family and kids. In those 20 minutes we usually don’t have time to do more emotive shots, so it’s really more the “smile in the camera” kind of pictures.
You receive 10 edited pictures, both in color and black and white.
Here are the links to the booking dates – I require a retainer and the rest of the payment is due on the day of the session!
I can’t wait to see you for Fall pictures!
Read On
I wore both my kids but with my younger kid, my son, I really got into babywearing. Maybe it was because he spent a few days in the NICU and I felt like he needed this extra bit of closeness to make up for those days we missed holding each other, either way – when I get into something, I get INTO something so I quickly was a member of many Facebook Babywearing groups. I spent way too much money on Tulas and hunting down Girasol wraps and I started attending local babywearing meetups. He is now 4 years old and I rarely wear him (though he still fits perfectly in the toddler Tula) but I still feel close to the babywearing community. So I decided to give back – for all the love and support I’ve received from this awesome group of mommas and daddies. I offered a day of babywearing mini-sessions for a very reduced price. Because I wish I could have had a beautiful picture of me wearing my son and because moms are too often not in the picture but if they’re wearing their kids – they have to be!
It was a really great experience – everybody was so nice and the kids felt comfortable snuggled up to their parents. These may have been the easiest toddler shoots I’ve ever had, no tantrums, no camera shyness – maybe I should have all my clients start out wearing their babies in pictures!
We originally planned to do this maternity session outside under some flowering trees but the Chicago Spring was wet and cold and we had to postpone and then the trees were no longer blooming. After that we decided we would do a sunset beach maternity session. The day of our session arrived and it rained and rained and it was dark and overcast so we decided to do the session at my client’s beautiful home and I couldn’t be happier about our decision. Mom wanted the focus to be on her sweet two-year old and her together. I love how tender and sensual these pictures came out. Those last moments before little brother arrives are so precious and special. I can’t wait to photograph Layla holding her little brother!
Read On