Hazy, overcast & about-to-rain Chicago spring days are some of my favorite days to shoot! Let’s add some beautiful people to the mix? Well it’s a little slice of heaven. In this case we are focusing on some Chicago teen photography on the far North side.

I’ve been photographing E & V (and their brother O) for more years than I can count on two hands. I think E was not even a year old the first time I photographed her and her beautiful mama. This kid is full of expressions for certain!! It has been a pleasure watching her grow up in front of me!! And V, her sweet older brother has grown up and is coming into his own: handsome, kind and athletic…a great combo.

Apologies for the delayed mini sneak peek on these two awesome kids. Thanks again to their awesome parents for trusting me enough over the years to record these kids growing up into young adults. It’s a bittersweet job but I certainly love doing it! We had only a brief time to create some magic with these two but it was enough (blows on & shines finger nails on pretend lapel) 😉

And some sibling love from back in the day (2012 does NOT seem like it was a decade ago) & some sibling not-so-love from just a few years back:

Life goes by fast…

Remember when your children were young and every well meaning older mom would come up to you/your family when you were wrangling Littles and trying to keep yourself together and they would chime in with a well meaning: “It really does go by so fast…” They really weren’t lying were they? And if you’re there right now and rolling your eyes at us older moms: I don’t judge that either. Man those days went by so slow sometimes…it’s really a little nutty that our children’s childhood is like that. There comes a point where you just want to bottle it all up and freeze it. The only way I know how to freeze time is through photos.


Is it time for you to get some Chicago teen photography done of your not-so-littles or perhaps you still have littles and would love to form a relationship with a professional photographer who not only gets it but has a commitment to the extended family relationships she forms with her clients? Someone to help you measure time and create beautiful memories along the way? You came to the right place. Let’s set up a discovery phone call to see if we are the right fit – I would love to help you create some pretty imagery for your home and for your life. 815-603-8450 is my number, I look forward to hearing from you!

Contact MeEmail This PostBack To Top
  • Lisa Jozwiak - May 29, 2022 - 11:41 am

    These are amazing!! You are such a miracle worker! These two weren’t even planning to get their pictures taken that afternoon – they were photo session crashers!! So, so happy we squeezed them in because look how they’ve grown and bloomed over the course of the last 3 years. So grateful you have such a gift for connecting with and capturing these teens on film.

This sneak peek is for Lisa who so wonderfully shared her space with myself and a few friends this past Sunday at her home on Chicago’s North Side to host a high school senior mini photo session event!

And when I tell you this bite sized version of Marmalade Photography was perfect for the guys, I am not joking!! It was a great experience, the afternoon flied by and I got to reconnect with some of my all time Marmalade Family members and their friends.

Win – win!

This last sneak peek from the boys’ senior photo session is of O. I have watched this young man and his siblings grow up in front of my camera and when I say that it is an HONOR to watch babies and preschoolers grow up and be able to document this passage of time for their parents…I absolutely mean it. Many times I see families every few years, documenting their family history, the kids’ growth, the relationships grow between everyone…I have had clients celebrate major life events, celebrate their renewed health after a health scare…I have had clients celebrate a variety of life events with photos capturing that time and mood. Most importantly I have witnessed so many kids grow from toddling Littles to full grown not-so-Littles. When I tell you that it is disarming to witness how *quickly* time passes I really mean it. Keep in mind that a child freezes in my mind to whatever my last photo session was with them, so to see them two-three-four years later is pretty disarming.

(and really very cool!!)

In this case when I saw O for the first time in three years I was stunned. He has always been a charming Little. He’s always possessed this infectious and somewhat mischievous smile mixed in with his open-hearted nature…now though he has grown SO tall mixed in with classic Abercrombie good looks. I love to watch young people grow into their own and start forming that beautiful sense of self and confidence that comes with accomplishing goals and working towards them.

So without further adieu I give you a couple sneak peeks of O’s high school senior session. Thank you to his mom Lisa…for everything. I always walk away from our sessions feeling good and Sunday was no exception. Thank you for continuing to allow me to create art for your family & home!! I am 100% certain we created some really awesome memories for you guys.

(and I’ll have a couple other sneak peeks posted in the next couple of days for you!!)

And thank you O, you are a great kid. I am so happy to be able to capture who you are right now!


Maybe you came across this sneak peek in hopes to find a photographer to capture your High School Senior Boy Photos in Chicago…or perhaps you have a young lady and are looking to capture her grace, beauty and sass during her senior year in high school. Please feel free to reach out to Marianne to schedule a discovery phone call to see if we are the right fit for each other. My phone number is 815-603-8450 and I create custom photography art to fill your spaces and heart with soulful and touching imagery that is meant for life. I look forward to hearing from you!

Contact MeEmail This PostBack To Top

I could’ve titled this: a young man and his dog. Honestly Irving could’ve been the star of the show if I let myself get carried away! 😀 Having said that this handsome young man deserved all the attention! Photogenic, charismatic and with an great future ahead of him!

Thank you to Cathy, this young man’s mom, for letting me capture a few moments for her to forever remember her not-so-Little guy before he travels half way across the country to college. <<SOB>> I can’t help but think about all the emotions we moms go through before our kids embark on this next leg of life’s journey…having been there and done the whole high school senior thing before with my own two girls I really get how moms feel…the tide of emotions: bittersweet, happy, joyful and sometimes (or more) sad. But this young fella has a bright future ahead of him and I am 100% certain that he’ll be back…probably with laundry 😀

Without further adieu a few brief sneak peeks for Cathy and C. Thanks to you both for allowing me to capture these images for you! Please enjoy! 🙂


Are you looking to capture your young adult for Chicago High School Senior Photos? Please feel free to contact us at marmaladephotography@gmail.com (or call us at 815-603-8450) to set up a brief few minute exploratory phone call to determine if MP is the right fit for your high school senior photography needs.

Contact MeEmail This PostBack To Top

It’s crazy right now in Marmaland, boy boy boy sessions! It truly is high school senior boy season in Chicago for Marmalade Photography! Though I have to admit it’s been fun, the guy energy is something that is not typical for a mom of two young ladies and it’s been refreshing to photograph so many handsome young men on the cusp of a major life change.

My long time client Lisa reached out to me several weeks ago inquiring about doing a set of mini sessions for her son & a few friends. To say I jumped at the opportunity is an understatement, I loved the idea (and why hadn’t I thought of that before?? I am not sure).

For guys a mini session: 20-25 minutes in front of the camera in a somewhat familiar environment is actually the *perfect* scenario. Guys are great and these kids were absolutely fantastic but let’s be honest: getting your son in front of a stranger’s camera for any length of time can be a struggle dependent on the situation and ideally a guy’s mini session for senior photos fits their lifestyle needs.

(I was super careful not to say they don’t like the camera because I really don’t think that’s always the issue, it’s that pictures and posing and forcing smiles isn’t something most guys willingly sign up for, I think it’s more about creating a sort of fun and laid back scene for the guys to ease into)

Enough meandering…I have a few sneak peeks to get into!

First up is handsome C! It was a pleasure of meeting this young man: smart, athletic and a pretty great guy overall. Thank you to his mom Annie for allowing Marmalade Photography into his world for just a brief few minutes in order to capture his spirit. Truly a pleasure to meet the both of you and thanks to Lisa for hosting these minis.

As a side note…the area near Lisa’s home is simply filled with some of my very favorite elements to a photograph a scene, really a great spot to photograph young adults. Because I shoot primarily on location I am used to finding great scenes wherever I can. Having said that these sessions were held somewhere where I probably could’ve spent from dawn to dusk photographing here.

I hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek of this Chicago, Illinois high school senior boy. Go class of 2022! You have huge things to accomplish.

Contact MeEmail This PostBack To Top

I had the pleasure of traveling to southeast Missouri to visit and photograph one of my long time favorite Marmalade kids this past weekend for a high school prom photo shoot.

I have been photographing this family for fourteen years, which is a lifetime for one of some of us! It’s always a pleasure to see this family, an honor to be invited into their lives to photograph them and to have become part of the fabric of their memories.

It’s strange though, if I am being honest, because the first time I laid eyes on this young man he was just a preschooler…and now he’s a young man. Really it’s a bit of a mind bend to have just photographed him and his friends for his prom photos because if I look back into my galleries from just a few years back he was still a middle schooler. So weird how quickly these kids grow, develop their own personalities…and DRIVE??!

I know there is some excitement built up to see these since prom was this past Saturday so I hope these are enjoyed!! Here’s a bit of an extended sneak peek of these really awesome moments from this prom weekend. I hope they are “tough” enough! LOL Thank you Scotty, Erin, Scott and everyone else involved. I am pretty proud of these. Will be in touch very soon!!



Contact MeEmail This PostBack To Top