Jessica Gwozdz Photography - Chicago maternity, newborn, child, and family photographer » “chicago family photographer”

Fall Family Portraits – What to Wear

Jes — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:30:10 +0000

Here are some ideas for what to wear for your fall family portraits. The example clothes shown here are from Old Navy, Gap, Piperlime, and Zappos, and these images have been used with their permission. Notice that nobody is wearing the exact same outfit, yet each item complements everything else in the grouping. Clothing layouts courtesy of Kleinkopf Designs.

For more clothing ideas, check out “what to wear” under Categories in the menu above.

I wish they all could be California girls

Jes — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:43:35 +0000

I am so honored and flattered that this California family extended their trip to Chicago to have a portrait session with me. The mom from this family and I went to high school together but have not been in touch for 20 years. Here is a big shout out to Facebook for reconnecting us. Thanks, Facebook!

These girls are so sweet and were so easy to work with. Usually with a 5 year old and a 15 month old, I try various different concepts knowing that some of those ideas will work, and sometimes the kids lose patience and the ideas won’t work. Not with these two…they were like super models! I think that this family’s proofs is probably the largest proof gallery I ever will show because I simply couldn’t eliminate much. The girls were happy and cooperative for every idea we tried that day.

Plus – their Dad dabbles in some landscape photography. It’s always fun for me to talk shop with a fellow photographer. And he shoots with a Nikon like me, so you know he’s a smart guy. LOL!

Thanks A Family for sticking around Chicago for an extra day and for giving me the chance to capture some memories for your fantastic family!

Family Session in the Forest – Sneak Peek

Jes — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:17:56 +0000

(Click large image, and hold your mouse over the right side to scroll to next image)

glenview-family-photographer-071710 chicago-anniversary-portraits-071710 outdoor-family-portraits-chicago-071710 chicago-portraits-071710 morton-grove-family-photographer-071710

I was honored to be chosen by this family to create some portraits for them before their mother leaves the country for a year. They were teasing their dad because he wasn’t smiling much during the session, but look! I definitely got some smiles. How could a father not smile when surrounded by such beautiful daughters, right?

Thank you K family for the opportunity to capture some special memories for you!

Big Gorgeous Brown Eyes (x4)

Jes — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:52:46 +0000

I am catching up on sneak peeks from last week. I photographed this little girl as a newborn three years ago, and now she’s a big sister! Have you ever seen such captivating eyes? I took a tip from Sandy Puc and cracked out the Smarties for these two. Ahhh, the magic of candy!

Sneak Peek

Jes — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:23:56 +0000

You might recognize this little boy, as I have photographed him several times in the past 5 years. I photographed his sister as a newborn, but that was 17 months ago and she has grown so much! Their mom had warned me in advance that she has a bit of stranger anxiety and often clings to her parents in new situations. I was not worried, as I hear this often from parents yet typically it takes just a few minutes of goofing around until kids feel at home here in my studio. Not so much the case for this little one. Try as I might, little L would not let go of her mom. Fortunately her mom is in really good shape and was flexible enough to act as a chair. LOL! What great smiles both kids have, huh? And I bet if I didn’t tell you L was sitting on her mom, you wouldn’t even know. I actually didn’t plan to photograph both kids laying down like this but when I started looking thru the images I was excited to see that I had similar captures of each of them – him on the rug and her (of course) on mom.

Party of Five

Jes — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:45:47 +0000

I have a seven-year-old and a four-year-old, and I think that my family has a busy life. This weekend I got a glimpse of what it would be like to have an extra four-year-old in the mix. Wow, four-year-old twins will sure keep you on your toes! One of the little girls just couldn’t wait to get her hands on my son’s train table, which she saw in the playroom on her way into the studio. Fortunately that worked out to be a nice bribe – “Sit here for just one minute and then you can play with the train!” LOL!

And of course whenever there are three kids involved, there are bound to be some outtakes!