One of the most popular locations in the city for Fall skyline views - this is the bridge that goes over the South Pound near Lincoln Park Zoo. I love that the area provides a combination of skyline views, nature paths, greenery and foliage, and historic landmarks.

This year I've had the opportunity to photograph several grandparents visiting from various parts of the US and from China, the UK, and Philippines. My clients usually reach out to me and propose these extended family photo sessions as a gift that they want to give their parents or in-laws. And really, what a gift it is!

I love Montrose Harbor and Montrose Beach as a location for my summer family photography sessions. Here you get a mix of urban and natural settings , and if you are willing to walk a bit your images can have so much variety that it looks as if you went to different places to make it happen.

Registration is now open for my Beach Mini Session event!

Happening this August, 20 minutes with me gets you 15 images and lots of good memories. My Beach Minis are dynamic and playful, we run around, give lots of kisses and cuddles, jump in the water, and we get some adorable images. See for yourself!

I wanted to write this post to share some differences in light quality and how it can impact a session. To be clear, it is not really the time of day that has an impact on your images, but rather the direction and quality of the light available that specific day, at that specific time of day. So, photographing on a sunny day at noon will yield a very different result to photographing during a cloudy day at noon.

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.

I wanted to try a new location on the North Suburbs of Chicago. After looking around, we settled on Ryerson Woods in Deerfield, IL. We picked this place because we were looking for a woodsy area that had nice Fall colors. 

Whenever I promote my special 15-minute petite sessions (Mother’s Day, Fall, and Holiday season) people who have not worked with me before often ask me if it is actually possible to get some good pictures in that period of time. Well… here is the answer! 15 minutes, one location, multiple backdrops, multiple posses, lots of laughter and play and multiple images to choose from. 

Every once in a while, I search for families interested in modeling for me in exchange for a few images. People have asked me why I do model calls, and so I thought I would write a short post about my top reasons.

Here are some photos of precious Vivian’s session for her first birthday. Her mom and I collaborated to find a location that had beautiful flowers, and to plan for the use of props like the cute party hat and vintage chair.

Here are some images from a recent session at one of my favorite locations for Chicago photography. I think it is impossible to ignore the magic of golden Summer evenings, sun-kissed skins, lush green tones, blooming prairie flowers, and images of the lake covered in sailboats. Oh! and being able to see babies’ chubby arms and legs is always a plus.

Fall season is just around the corner, and so is my Fall Mini Photoshoot event. This is by far my most popular time of year for family photos. That is why this year I have increased the number of spots available and including a second location in the North Shore to accommodate more families. Per usual, I am scheduling them around peak foliage to make sure we get lots of beautiful colors in our images.

When I know I’m going to be working with toddlers at a session I am particularly intentional in selecting the spot for our photoshoot, and I do so with the kids in mind. I think there are two key things you want to consider when determining the spot for a photoshoot involving young kids.

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.

If you’ve ever tried to book a session with a photographer, or followed one on Instagram, odds are you have heard them throw around the term “Golden Hour”. Photographers love shooting at Golden Hour and praise what it does for skin tones and mood in photography. But what exactly is it?

For Mother’s Day this year, I ran a giveaway on social media to gift two families with a photography session. Well, we had the photoshoot a couple of weekends ago, just as Chicago weather was warming up. And we had a glorious evening! If you are interested in participating in one of my giveaways, make sure to follow me on Instagram @catylamadridphoto so you don’t miss out.

As they become more toddlers and less babies, kids are so full of curiosity and eager to explore and discover the world around them. Their playfulness and personality just comes through in the photos - that’s why milestone sessions are so fun.

Here are additional images from my mini Spring photoshoot event in Chicago. Register to my newsletter to be the first to know about events such as this one.