Ellen and JP are taking a walk down the aisle this September, and I’ll be there with them, taking photos of the big day. As with all my wedding couples, we got together a few weeks ago for an engagement session. The best thing about these sessions (for me, anyway) is learning more about the couple’s I’m working with. Getting to know their interests and preferences helps me to tailor their wedding-day photography- and an engagement session helps to make the couple more comfortable in front of the camera!
So I was excited to spend some time with Ellen and JP, who had flown in from California for the shoot. I met up with them in Lincoln Park, where we took some nature-based photos before hitting the streets of the city.




One of my favorite springtime activities is driving through the streets of Chicago to check out the new street art that popped up during the off-season. I was happy to see some of my favorites survived the winter and thrilled to find new colorful backdrops. JP and Ellen were fans too, so I took them on a tour of some of my favorite spots.






Chicago is world-famous for many reasons, not the least of which is our rail system. So it makes sense that a Chicago engagement session feature a series of photos taken with trains and tracks.



While we were downtown, I had Ellen and JP stop at two of my favorite spots, and then we headed out to the lakeshore.




It had been a busy afternoon! We had taken tons of pictures but weren’t quite finished yet. There was one very important person we still needed to include…

…Ellen’s niece! She was happy to see them and ready for her time in front of the camera!


Playing with chalk is one of her favorite things to do, and drawing on the fence is too much fun.


An artist in training!

Congratulations on your engagement, JP and Ellen! I’ll see you again in a few months for your wedding day!
