This past weekend was filled to the brim with Marmalade favorites!  On Saturday I got to photograph beautiful P and her big brother M.  I have known M since, well, since before he was born even!  It has been wonderful to watch him grow.  I wasn’t disappointed when he came to the door to greet me with: "Miss Marianne, what car do you drive?" as he did back a few months ago at our last session.

P had just turned one years old (seriously WHERE is time going?!) and this was really mostly about her (altho we did get quite a bit of M in there too!) 

Chicago Children

I adore the way her hands are grasping at her outfit.  This was such a great outfit for her.   One of my favorite shots of 2010!

Chicago Family Photographer

It’s no secret that I find the little quirks of family life fascinating – I love the implied interaction here – the happy goofiness of 2 kids under four years old sort of moment – it’s one of those lifestyle moments that I adore.  With kids this age, THIS is the kind of fun shot that I wished I had of my own family.   Ah, if I could only go back in time to recapture this stuff… 🙂

Thanks for stopping in…

Posted in Chicago Children's Photographer, chicago family photographer
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  • Kim - January 19, 2010 - 1:56 pm

    What great photos! Thank you for capturing these moments. Can’t wait to see the rest.

  • PamN - January 20, 2010 - 8:58 am

    What a fabulously fun and modern family image! Love it!

  • lauri - January 21, 2010 - 12:29 am

    These are the lifestyle moments I adore too… and you do them so well! Beautiful beautiful…

  • Melissa Rohde - January 25, 2010 - 11:33 am

    A beautiful family portrait. These are the moments we will want to remember.

  • Melissa Rohde - January 25, 2010 - 11:37 am

    Beautiful family portrait. These are the moments we will want to remember.

Whew.  This weekend was a whirlwind of activity.  The Marmalade home was awash with the stomach flu the weekend prior and I had to do some schedule juggling to make it all happen this weekend!  We’ll kick off the weekend festivities with a blog entry from late last week’s fun session with A & A. 

I have been photographing Bananas and her family since she was 3 months old – I *always* look forward to our sessions together and seeing her beautiful mom Beth.  Now that she has a little brother – we spend time playing and photographing him as well.  I love working with this family and feel honored that they allow me into their lives every time I get to photograph them.

Little brother, A, had some bath time – I got some amazing bath time images and this shot pre-bath just made me 🙂 from ear to ear – I really love this shot so much:

 

Child photography

Is he a handsome devil or what?  He has the most beautiful lashes in the world.

Here’s Bananas in a more contemplative moment:

Chicago child photographer

I love her curls and the way the light shines in her eyes here

Thank you for stopping in.

Posted in Chicago Children's Photographer, Chicago Professional Photographer and Suburban Chicago Professional Photography
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  • Mrs Soup - January 18, 2010 - 5:22 pm

    Oh my, you have inspired me to shoot a bathtime shoot of my daughter! That is GORGEOUS!

  • PamN - January 19, 2010 - 11:11 am

    That bathtub shot simply must be made into a canvas and displayed in that bathroom!

  • Amanda Keeys - January 21, 2010 - 3:52 am

    Ohh the bath tub shot! So sweet.

Happy 2010 to everyone!!  Let’s start off the year with a bang! 

This past week I had a wonderful newborn session with Baby Michael and his mom L.  L is well on her way to sunny Florida (lucky girl!  I bet she knew in advance we’d be experiencing -20ºF windchills this weekend, brrr…) 

Here’s a couple little sneaks for you L.  Thank you so much for coming out to the studio for a Marmalade session!

baby photography

newborn photographer

L- mission accomplished.  Admittedly I worried for a few minutes but we got it! 🙂 

I had to postpone this sneak peek because of a little blog issue on the backend and a huge thanks to the guys over at ProPhoto blog for their outstanding customer support.  In this industry customer service is extremely hit or miss and it was a total hit.  Thank you Matt for helping me out earlier this week – I really appreciate it. 

Posted in Chicago Baby Photographer and Chicago Suburban Newborn Photography
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  • LeAnn Linehan - January 2, 2010 - 7:29 pm

    I LOVE them! Thanks for coming in on your vacation for Michael’s photo session :-). We really enjoyed working with you.

  • PamN - January 5, 2010 - 7:41 am

    Adorable – the baby and the images! Timeless, priceless images.

  • Corey Sewell - January 5, 2010 - 12:43 pm

    Beautiful work, Mare! Love the eye contact in the first one.

  • Julie - January 6, 2010 - 11:58 am

    Beautiful images! And I love the eye contact in the first one – so alert and sweet!

  • elizabeth pellette - January 7, 2010 - 10:19 am

    These are wonderful I especially love the last shot

  • Lisa Kelly - January 15, 2010 - 3:13 pm

    OH he is just lovely. Stunning images.

I *cannot* believe it’s the day before the DAY BEFORE the Christmas Holiday.  I’m certain I’ve forgotten something somewhere on some gift and/or to do list but no matter – I feel calm and cool.  Why, you may ask, are you feeling serene around the holidays?  Well my friends, readers, clients, loved ones & random strangers, I feel good because I was able to complete my holiday card in time for Christmas Eve delivery.

Now this may not seem like a large feat for anyone who is on the outside of the biz, but you busy photographers who may be reading this blog, you know who you are-readying YOUR home after every one gets their holiday deliveries for cards & gifts, putting off getting your card together so that your clients can enjoy their purchased goods from their beautiful photography session with you, ignoring your kids wishes until you know there are no more Zhu Zhu hamsters at the local Toys R Us because everyone (including your clients! LOL) got to them before you did.  You busy photographers who are hurriedly packaging, ordering & reordering items (because of the inevitable rush & mistakes that come with it!) understand what a feat it is to have your cards ready to go.

The secret for me was that I simplified.  I used a few images from our family session with St. Louis photographer Lauri Baker & Bay Area photographer Pam Biasotti from our trip to St. Louis this past summer for one side of the card.  I simplified because I needed to & it made sense because Isimply love the images.  Lauri did an amazing job with our session and I am so thankful to her for letting us hire her on and for being such a gracious hostess during our time in St. Louis.  The other images on our card this year are from our trip to Isle of Palms on the beautiful South Carolina coast this past August.  Had I taken the time to get images of my girls (like I usually do) just for the Holidays – sadly I don’t think the cards would be finished.  Simplification was key.

I am finishing them up and cards go out today.  Here’s some of what the recipients will see when they open the envelope.  I hope the bit of sunshine-y mood from warmer times will warm your hearts during this frosty winter season.

Children

Thank you very much for stopping in.  May your Holiday Season be filled with everything good that warms your heart, mind & spirit.

Posted in Chicago Baby Photographer and Chicago Suburban Newborn Photography, Chicago Children's Photographer, chicago family photographer
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  • PamN - December 23, 2009 - 12:33 pm

    That is a stunning card – and stunning images – and stunning FAMILY! Happy Holidays Mare, I hope you enjoy this time with your crew!

  • lauri - December 23, 2009 - 3:01 pm

    Aw…I miss you guys! Have a great Christmas! I’m doing New Years cards too. LOL

  • Whitney - December 24, 2009 - 1:50 pm

    Amazing card! Just beautiful!

  • Lisa Kelly - December 29, 2009 - 2:03 pm

    What a gorgeous card, and family. I agree with everything you wrote about putting everything before your own needs as a photographer leading up to Christmas. Good on you for getting it done.

Early last week I traveled to Wilmette for a photo session with a beautiful mom to be and her family.  I am thrilled to present these gorgeous sneak peeks of this *stunning* mom-to-be.  Doesn’t she look amazing??

maternity photography

pregnancy photo

and finally one with her handsome older boy:

family photography

A huge thank you to C and the W Family for allowing me into their beautiful home for a pregnancy photo shoot.

Posted in Chicago Baby Photographer and Chicago Suburban Newborn Photography, Chicago Maternity Photographer and Suburban Chicago Pregnancy Photography
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  • elizabeth pellette - December 14, 2009 - 2:06 pm

    Beautiful

  • PamN - December 15, 2009 - 3:34 pm

    Oh she looks so beautiful and serene! I can’t wait to see the newborn images!

  • Amanda Keeys - December 16, 2009 - 1:05 am

    What a beautiful mama. Gorgeous light too.

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