Kari Campos Photography | Chicago, IL

Meet Me: Kari Campos, Lifestyle Photographer

Location: Westmont, IL
Email: kari@karicamposphotography.com

2009 was the year it began. As I was planning my wedding I fell in love with photography. There were so many pretty pictures out there, and I wanted to be able to create beautiful pictures on my own. That year, I received my first dSLR camera as a wedding gift from my husband. I don’t think he knew what he got himself into because I’ve been obsessed ever since--reading, learning, and taking classes. I began shooting sessions in the fall of 2010 and knew that I found my passion.

Why do I take pictures? It’s a simple answer really. Pretty photos make me happy. And being able to provide others with pretty photos that make them happy makes me even happier, cheesy as it may sound. I feel blessed to be able to spend an hour or two photographing a moment in time in other’s lives.

Besides my photography life, I am a wife to my college sweetheart Raul, and the two of us are dedicated alums to our Alma Mater Cornell University. My Beagle/Pointer mix Marty is like a son to me, and might just be the cutest “perma-pup” ever. During the week when I’m not shooting, you can find me at work in the world of healthcare administration. I’m a lover of good food, tasty wine, and craft beer. Chips and salsa are my weakness, as are freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I’m a loud and proud fan of my hometown team, the Indianapolis Colts. I love traveling, and would love to add Europe to the list of places I’ve visited by 2015. I cherish my family and love children. But probably most useful to you is I love being a photographer.

Thanks so much for visiting my website. Take your time to look around. I hope you love what you see as much as I do, because I’d love to shoot you or your little one(s) (with my camera of course)!

Monthly Archives: August 2010

{Chicago Couples Photography}: Ryan and Jess

August 31, 2010

My husband and I spend so much time with my brother Ryan and sister-in-law Jess that they’re never surprised when I whip out my camera. I think they’re starting to get used to my incessant picture taking, and they don’t complain when I send them a picture or two of their adorable dog either.

I shot this picture of the two of them when my mom was taking a picture of them (hence why they are looking towards a different direction). I actually love how it turned out!

I hope they don’t mind me taking many more pictures of the two of them (and their growing family) in the future! Family makes the best practice after all!

I’ll be back soon with some exciting news (hint: a first session is in the works)!

Posted in Couples

{Chicago Couples Photography}: My Parents

August 26, 2010

Since I’ve been M.I.A. recently with the meaningful posts and will continue to be over the next week or so as we get settled in our new house, I thought I’d share another picture I took over the weekend.

Yes, those would be my parents. And yes, I realize I basically only take pictures of them, R, and Marty.

But that won’t be for long…

Posted in Couples

{Chicago Pet Photography} Sonoma at 5 Months

August 24, 2010

One of the (many) realms of photography I’d like to explore is pet photography. Lucky for me, a couple months ago my brother and sister-in-law became proud parents of a yellow lab puppy. Sonoma is now five months old and quite the photogenic little lady. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to snap a couple shots of her while over at their house for a cookout.

With the move and all, I haven’t had much time to look through all the pictures, but this one stood out right away as a favorite…

Isn’t she adorable?

Posted in Other

Quick Note

August 21, 2010

Just a quick note to say that I haven’t forgotten about this blog of mine. We are in the midst of moving, so things are hectic. I hope to get back to a normal posting schedule by the 1st of September. Until then, expect sporadic posting.

And thanks again for stopping by!

Posted in How It All Started

A Question About Questions

August 18, 2010

Here’s a question for you…

What questions should I be asking myself before I press the shutter button?

I’ve learned that there are so many photography fundamentals and camera settings that need to be considered when taking pictures, but these considerations seem infinite.

What mode should I have my camera in? What type of depth of field do I want? Do I need to capture motion? What is the lighting like? Is there anything distracting in the foreground/background? What about the composition? How about the angle?…

Questions, questions, questions…just thinking about all these things gives me a headache.

So that’s my question for you! With the seemingly limitless things that need to be considered when you photograph your subject, how do you approach it? Do you have a mental checklist of things you go through each time and change settings accordingly? Do you have a picture taking workflow of sorts?

I’m afraid that if I try to consider everything, I will be staring at my camera for five minutes before I even snap a photo.

It just all seems so overwhelming…