Kari Campos Photography | Chicago, IL

Raul and I (and the pup of course) went to Indianapolis for Christmas to spend it with my parents and sister. It’s always nice to be back home for the holidays. We spent our days playing games, baking, eating, more eating, drinking, and just generally relaxing. A great break from the grind of everyday life! In addition, I had the opportunity to shoot my last session of the year for two of my parents’ best friends and their family.

I’ll just be honest here, I feel like shooting for people you know is almost more nervewracking than photographing people you don’t know. There’s this fear of failure that overcomes me: what if they truly hate what I produce?!

Well, luckily, that wasn’t the case. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told. Which is great considering this was my first ever indoor shoot. And on top of that, it was my first large group shoot as well. I’ll even add one more to the mix–it was my first session using my new camera, the Canon 7D! Let me tell you, a 50mm lens on a cropped body is even more of a challenge while indoors and shooting a large group. But, with all that said, I managed, and I’m happy to share a couple of my favorite shots.

Of course, I couldn’t resist getting pictures of my favorite subjects: children! Aren’t they adorable?!

Thank you Deb and Jimmy and the rest of your clan for allowing me to photograph your fun family! I hope to do it again in the future!

Where do I begin with this one? Take two very tall and gorgeous parents (and I mean TALL) and their two fun (and yes, very tall) little girls, and you get a shoot to remember. I met the G family back in June at a get-together at my aunt’s house. I remembered the parents to be a great couple and their girls to be super cute, so when I was contacted by Jennifer to do a family shoot, I was super excited.

We met early on a chilly Saturday morning at North School Park and were able to capture a nice mix of images. I must say, I love taking candids! I’m working harder and harder to come up with techniques were I can capture families in those same kind of candid moments. It definitely takes practice! Regardless of my ability (or inability) to get those candid moments on camera, I’m very happy with how these images came together. I think we have two little future Gap models on our hands!

G Family, you were great to work with. Thanks for bundling up and allowing me to capture images of your family. I hope to do so again in the future!

I must say this. The families I’ve had the opportunity to photograph thus far have been awesome. The majority of my sessions have been cold and breezy, but yet they are just excited to get photographs taken so they endure through the cold. The M’s were no different.

Last Sunday, after we had to reschedule our session from the day before due to rain, we were able to meet up at Mills Park in Oak Park. What a nice (and gorgeous may I add) couple, and what a beautiful baby girl they have! Lilah was totally into the picture taking, she had plenty of smiles to offer and was super engaging with the camera. I definitely got lucky with this one. And I’m happy to declare that it’s one of my favorite sessions yet.

I think you’ll see why.

Shoots like these remind me of why I love what I’m doing. Just looking at the finished product puts a smile on my face.

The bluest eyes. That’s what I think about when I think back to my shoot with the S Family two weeks ago. Their little girl had the bluest eyes I have ever seen and a smile and adorable outfit to top it off.

Thanks to the S family for allowing me the opportunity to photograph your family!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph the A family at Promontory Point in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. I discovered this great park the weekend before while photographing a high school friend and her family. Not only is this a spot with an awesome building and beautiful trees showing the fall colors, but it’s also on Lake Michigan with an awesome view of the city.

Erin, her husband Doug, adorable daughter Kathleen, and fun-loving dog were troopers and joined me bright and early on Saturday morning, even though the temperatures were quite chilly to say the least. Our session the weekend before had to be rescheduled due to rain, so I was happy that we could just get together. They were so kind and gracious, and I had so much fun photographing them.

Thanks so much to the A Family for the opportunity to photography your beautiful family. It was a great experience for me, and I hope you enjoyed it as well!