Happy Thursday everyone! The weekend is near! I was chatting with a friend of mine yesterday, who told me I should do a blog post about the few celebrity clients whose newborns I had the honor of photographing; so I am following her advice and sharing a few photos from each session, as well as the back stories of how I how I met each one of their families, and how awesome clients they all are! And what a perfect day to do this, on “Throwback Thursday” day! 🙂

My “big break” was in 2012. I was the chosen photographer to capture Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose‘s newborn son PJ’s pictures. I was originally contacted by PJ’s mom that Spring to do the maternity session, which I did, and the newborn session would be done that Fall once he was born. They preferred to keep things private, which I respected; it was confidential. Then one day I saw that Derrick himself had tweeted out a few photos from the session! I was stoked!! So I immediately asked if I could share the same images that they shared, and they gave me the green light! Here are the images that were released; isn’t PJ just THE cutest baby? I never saw so much gorgeous hair on a baby boy!! I wanted to keep him, he was SO adorable!!

Not too long after that, the owner of Belle Up boutique (a very prominent clothing boutique in Beverly, on the south side of Chicago) contacted me because they were in need of a photographer to shoot a Chicago Bear player’s wife pictures for their Spring/Summer line. I agreed, and met them at the Belle up photoshoot. It was Chicago Bears Matt Forte and his beautiful wife Danielle. They ended hiring me to do their maternity, and newborn session. What an honor! They are the nicest and most genuine couple you’d ever want to meet! And Nahla, their little ladybug, melts my heart every time I see her! She is so pretty and full of personality! I love getting to see her grow thru my lens 🙂 She’s a big girl now! Here are a few from her sessions! (ps: the photo of Nahla with her “furry brothers” is what is called a composite, she was not posed at the same time as the dogs).

My next client that came after that was Jermon Bushrod, from the Chicago Bears and his stunning wife Jessica! And when I say stunning, believe you me! She had just had her baby and looked *fabulous*!! Jermon and Jessica welcomed their sweet baby girl Jayla 5 weeks early, and she was a teeny tiny little thing! When I photographed her, she was 2 weeks old, and was the sweetest little pea ever! One of my favorite things to capture is how little the babies are in their fathers hands or arms, and since Jayla was so small and her daddy so big and strong, I wanted to pose her literally in his hands; and she fit perfectly, like a football 🙂 Jermon wanted to wear his Superbowl ring that he had won while playing with the New Orleans Saints, and it was the perfect touch for that shot! Here are a few from Jayla’s newborn session, as well as one of her with her daddy for her 1st birthday shoot.

Then that following winter came my next athlete, Chicago Bears Tight end Martellus Bennett and his gorgeous wife Siggi! I love them! They are such a fun and talented couple!! Siggi contacted me during her pregnancy, as she wanted to do maternity and newborn sessions with me. They wanted the maternity session to take place in their home, so I went there. Of course, Chicago’s weather was being itself, it was in January so not only was it cold, but it was blizzard weather at that! I made it there safely and we got to shooting! The picture that I love most from their maternity session is the one where Martellus picked her up and they are in front of their large window, and it is snowing outside. Many people actually asked me if I had them outside but I did not! They have a beautiful house with a wall of windows and the snow made for the perfect backdrop. What is even funnier is that exact pose came to me in my dreams the night before. So the snow, in the end, helped make my vision come true! Then came Jett, their little bundle of joy. I have had the honor of watching her grow from her mommy’s belly, to her first year, and she gets prettier every time I see her! She is easily one of the most gorgeous babies I have photographed, with her beautiful blue eyes and long eyelashes, gah.. They are one photogenic family!!!

My next big client was not a professional athlete, but a sports anchor. Ryan Baker, the lead sports anchor for CBS 2 Chicago News and his beautiful wife Jessa chose me to document their journey into parenthood. My first contact with Ryan was when my photos of Derrick Rose were released; and his wife and him kept my information and when they were expecting their little Grace, they booked me! I loved every session I had with them, they are a very nice couple and made me feel comfortable and at ease the entire time while photographing them; and when I saw Grace! Oh my goodness was she GORGEOUS! She had the longest and straightest hair, and the finest beautiful and most delicate features, she looked like a real life baby doll!!! She will soon be celebrating her first birthday, and I will be doing her first year photo shoot, and I can’t wait to see how much she has grown!

Up next was my birthday twin, little miss Camryn, Chicago Bears Safety Ryan Mundy‘s gorgeous baby girl! During the summer of 2014, I was interviewed by Fox 32 news about my newborn photography, and Camryn’s mommy saw it and contacted me the next day! She was a few days past her due date, and was expecting her bundle of joy any day. I totally knew she would come on my birthday, ha!  And I was right! 🙂 Camryn was THE sleepiest baby ever!! She let me get pose after pose, and was so relaxed! I just wanted to sit and cuddle her!

Up next, and my latest professional athlete, is Chicago Bears Darryl Sharpton and his wife Jessica! Jessica contacted me a few months ago while she was still pregnant, and wanted to set up her newborn session with me; I was so honored!! And it was double the honor because they would be one of my first sessions in my new studio space! They brought little miss Bria to see me on her 8th day of life, and she was SO cute!!!!!! She looks just like her daddy, too 🙂 Once she had her feeding, she was off to dreamland and let me get thru every.single.setup like a pro! 

I was later on interviewed by Harry Porterfield with CBS 2 Chicago, for his segment “Someone you should know”; you can find the link to the interview right here! Thank you all for taking the time to read this long blog post! 

If you love this post as much as I do and are looking for Chicago IL newborn Photography for your new baby, book your session with me today by clicking here