Cami and Ari's Maternity Session

Cami and Ari celebrated their marriage last year in 2023, where I had the honor of taking not only their engagement session photos, but I was also there for their reception celebration (see that blog post here). While my goal as a photographer is to make a connection with my couples, I feel like Cami and I really formed a unique connection when we worked together. Knowing that their initial plans to get married were halted by COVID, we spent what felt like YEARS dreaming up of their celebration. When the time finally came, it was a little bittersweet - I was so glad that Cami and Ari were finally able to party with their closest friends and family, but I was also a little sad that our time working together was coming to an end. Cami and Ari are such a great match for each other - their love is infectious and they are constantly joking with one another, which made photographing them so easy.

Earlier this year, Cami shared on her social media that her and Ari were expecting their first baby!

I was so excited - I knew deep in my soul that these two were going to be amazing parents, and that they were going to shower this sweet baby with so much love. Cami reached out - asking if I'd do their maternity session! While it's not advertised anywhere that I do maternity, I was elated - getting to spend another session with them made me so happy, especially now knowing that they appreciate my work.

Their maternity session was EARLY. Like - I left my house at 4:30 in the morning, before I could get my Starbucks - EARLY. They wanted their session to be in downtown Chicago, as they have many memories together there, and they wanted the sun over the lake. I knew that if we went during the day, not only were we going to probably melt - Chicago is so unpredictable with it's weather this time of year - but I also knew we would have had a difficult time with all of the locations being busy. So, I recommended a sunrise session - and after confirming with them that they still wanted to do Chicago, we started planning!

We spent the first part of the morning over by the Adler Planetarium - there's a nice little boardwalk that overlooks the lake, where we were able to watch the sunrise and spend time with a native duck who decided to greet us. We then stopped in front of the Field Museum to capture the beautiful skyline and architecture that the museum has to offer, before moving closer into the city to the Chicago Riverwalk.

As a girl who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, I never really had a lot of experience downtown. My knowledge of downtown is really only limited to the Broadway theaters - as that's typically the only reason I go to Chicago. Cami and Ari were amazing - showing me different areas, and the shortcuts to get there, giving different recommendations on things to do while in the city. Maybe one day they should open their own tour guide service - I'd pay for a tour of the city from them in a heartbeat!

The session was so good - I can't choose just a few favorites. Their entire gallery is my favorite. But, here's just a few photos from our morning together, experiencing Chicago.