Sweet Baby Alaina :: Elgin and Crystal Lake Newborn Photographer

This precious little lady was only 13 days old when I met her. Alaina is already completely adored by her family, especially big brother, Oliver! I have a feeling this sweet baby girl is going to be one spoiled princess. :)

Alaina's mom is decorating her bedroom in purples, so we made sure to use lots of that color in her portraits. 

Oh, sweet little baby lips! She's just so squishy and sweet that I want to eat her up!!! 

To see more of Alaina's session, check out her slideshow.

McHenry family and child photographer :: The Ebel Family

Oh, the weather! These November days can be so unpredictable, but we've been blessed with some GORGEOUS weather lately. I'm so thankful for that!!

I met the Ebel family at the McHenry Dam, where they love to hike with their children. It was a little on the chilly side, but Mama had stashed thermoses of hot chocolate in her bag, so the kiddos were sipping sweet warmth in between setups. I loved wiping their chocolate mustaches off over and over. :)

Can you tell how much FUN we had during this session? I sincerely hope that every family feels relaxed and enjoys the process of creating their family portraits - and I want those fun feelings to show in the images we make together.

Ebel family, you're fantastic! I'm so excited to meet your third little bundle this winter and watch your family love keep growing. 

To see more of the Ebel's, visit their gallery here, or watch their slideshow.

Fun Fabric Backgrounds

I have a stack of fabric sitting by my sewing machine, waiting for me to turn it into something new. But today I was hit by the inspiration bug, and decided to put that fabric to use while it waited for me to get to my sewing machine. Fun, right?

As usual, my firstborn was totally into the photo experience (especially when there was a lollypop to be earned!) and my youngest was not into it at all. While these images of her aren't "perfect," I do love that they capture so much of her independent, strong-willed personality.

I'm pretty sure I'll be making a trip to the fabric store this week to find some fabrics perfect for more portraits. I'll take any excuse I can get to visit the fabric store! ;-)

Elgin family photographer :: The Hartford-Hoon Family

I'm sure my opinion is biased, but I think giving a photo session as a gift is a really great idea! Deb's parents were celebrating 40 years of marriage, and I can't think of a more personal, special gift she could have given than a photograph with all three generations of family together.

This is a family that I love a lot. We go to the same church, and their youngest son is in the same preschool class as my son, Aaron. So to get the chance to create a family keepsake for them was a special treat! I often get a little nervous working for people I know well. I worry that if they don't love their images as much as I do, they might not love me. It's silly and insecure, I know. But this kind family has a way of putting people at ease, and there wasn't one moment during our time together that I felt anxious. Just one more reason to love 'em!

I got to test out my new Shutter Buddies on these boys, and the smiles that happened totally blew me away! Who knew that a silly loop of fabric on the end of my lens would be so entertaining? If you take a lot of photos of your kids, I HIGHLY recommend grabbing one!

Thanks, Hartfords and Hoons for spending the evening with me and my camera! 

To see more of their family session, pay a visit to their gallery.

Or watch their slideshow.

Do you have a special event coming up? Family portraits are a GREAT way to celebrate special birthdays, anniversarys, graduations, and more. Call me (847.697.1606) or zip me an email (sarah@imagesbysharp.com) to set up your celebration session.

Elgin baby photographer :: Three-month-old Everett

My family and I are back from our rather long (and long overdue!) vacation, and we're settling into our fall routine. Our oldest just started preschool, so that's adding a whole new set of activities to our weekly schedule.

While on vacation, I had the privilege to photograph sweet baby Everett. What an adorable boy he is!! As I put the finishing touches on his images, my husband looked over my shoulder and proclaimed,"Man, he is one CUTE boy!" And I have to agree. That shock of dark hair and big saucer eyes will just melt your heart.

Could he be any more precious? I feel like my own baby boy was just this small, but this week I watched him put on his backpack and skip into a classroom. Where does the time go?

You can see more of Everett by visiting his gallery.

Or watch a slideshow of this adorable boy.

Crystal Lake family portrait :: The Ebels

October 17th must be "picture day" for this family. I realized as I was loading their images onto my hard drive that I've photographed them twice on that day, exactly two years apart. Of course, I had to go back and look at their 2008 session, and it made me smile to see how their family has grown and their lives have changed.

Here's a blast from the past:

And here are a few from this year's session:

They're so darn cute aren't they? This family is just so full of love!

Thanks, Ebels, for letting me into your lives. It's beautiful to watch your family grow.

You can watch their slideshow HERE.

Or see their previews HERE.

My baby is growing up way too fast!

Susannah is ten months old. How did that happen?

At least I have these wonderful images to remind me of just how sweet she was at this age.

click the image to view it larger

Hope you have a great weekend!

In my Elgin studio :: the Busch children

Oh, my! These kiddos are BEE-You-TEE-Ful! I just love how their blond hair and freckles looked in all that white. Their mama has been dreaming about having these images made for a long time, and she and I both got excited as we saw here dreams turn into a reality on picture day. The very next day brought a trip to the dentist to get braces on for big brother, so this was one last opportunity to capture his pearly whites pre-metal-mouth. :-)

Have you ever seen a better looking trio?

One very handsome big brother...

and his sweet little sisters!

This one is my very favorite from the session. Mom says they agreed ahead of time that reading was something they all like to do, so we worked that into a portrait.

They just look so angelic! See more of their session HERE.

Thanks, Busch family, for spending an afternoon with me. Hope you had as much fun as I did!!

Elgin baby photographer :: Three is a magic number!

Three six-month-olds in one session? This was a first for me! I headed to the family's Elgin home with a good idea of what I wanted to accomplish, but also saying a lot of prayers that everyone would be in a good mood. :-) It was a wild morning, but these triplets did so well, and I just love how the images turned out. Take a look:

So cute, right? It was wonderful to see how each of them have a personality all their own. And those boys make me want to lock up my daughter. They're going to be charmers, for sure.

To see more, CLICK HERE to watch their slideshow. Or here to see their proofs.

Elgin baby photographer :: Susannah is 4 months old already (and a photo challenge!)

I CANNOT believe my little baby is four months old already.  We're 25% of the way to her first birthday! Craaaazy!!

This isn't one of our official monthly portraits, but the sunshine was so nice yesterday that I could'n't resist spreading out a blanket and snapping a few shots of her.  Good thing I did, because today is gray and snowy, and the beautiful sunshine is gone. :-(

Using natural light is a great way to make your own family photos look better.  Try turning off your camera's flash and see what you get! For this photo, I simply opened our front door and laid Susannah on a blanket in the light. Let's make it a challenge!  Take a photo using only natural light - no flash - and email it to me. I'll post a few of them here to share. Go have some fun!

Chicago area children's photographer :: Tommy is 1!

This session was a lot of firsts - my first session after having a baby, Tommy's first professional portraits, and all to celebrate his first birthday. Happy Birthday, little man!

Doesn't he have the most captivating eyes?

This is one of my very favorites from the session because it speaks so loudly to my mother's heart. These little hugs are just the best! Smelling the baby shampoo, the weight of that little head on your shoulder... oooh, I just love it!!



And this one, to me, is what being one is all about: exploring new ground, getting into a little trouble, and just being busy.


We had so much fun! Thanks, Laird family, for inviting me to photograph your beautiful family.

You can see more of Tommy and his parents in their slideshow.