t has been a privilege to have worked with this Chicago family for the last three years. This time I got to visit their house for an in-home newborn session.

Last year I met a talented photographer who had just moved to the Chicago market, and was soon to take it up by storm. We started interacting and came up with an idea of taking photos for each other’s family that summer. 

Images are worth a thousand words, so there is not much for me to say other than that love shines through in these images from a recent Newborn In Home Session.

We have this idea in our heads that the perfect image is that in which we are all posing and smiling, but I find that it is actually the wild moments, when kids are being themselves, running around and being silly, that turn out the most precious photos - those that resemble real life in all of its messy splendor.

Lifestyle photography sessions are a great way to showcase life as it is – imperfect, but beautiful – and to document the little moments in an authentic way. When I talk about lifestyle sessions, I always try to emphasize that they cannot be prescriptive. This means every session that I do is envisioned and executed differently to reflect the family that I am with. Ultimately, it is about their personalities and this particular time in their lives. Here’s how I plan and conduct a lifestyle photography session at home.

I loved meeting and photographing Baby B, who was less than two weeks old during this lifestyle newborn session. He’s an average-sized baby, but seeing him so small melted my heart. I think you forget how tiny babies are. They are just a human in miniature. It sounds obvious, but really, how amazing is nature that allows us to create life, and then makes these little people that will grow and grow and grow in pure perfection.