Ben was awesome to work with for our engagement photos. He met me the week before at the location…read moreto make sure I was fully comfortable about what I needed to do and where he would be. The pictures came out perfect and he really took his time to make sure both our families were involved as well. Couldn't recommend him more if you're doing an engagement in Chicago!

Ben moved fast, knew exactly how to use the light, and got me through without it feeling rushed. I…read morewalked away with a full set of professional headshots, candid street shots, and indoor portraits in 60 minutes. No wasted time, no awkward posing direction. Just good work, efficiently done. He made it easy and was extremely professional. Not awkward at all. Would book again without hesitation.

Before our second son was born, we debated whether to use the same newborn photographer as our…read morefirst. I'm so glad we decided to try Bethany Hope Photography because the experience exceeded every expectation. Bethany's studio, tucked away in Six Corners, has a cozy, rustic feel that perfectly matches her photography style. It's not a flashy, high-end production studio, and that's exactly what makes it so inviting. It feels warm, comfortable, and intentionally designed to capture the feeling of home. She even stocks snacks, water, toys for older siblings, and welcomed our dog without hesitation, immediately making the whole family feel at ease. Her studio specializes in newborn, baby, maternity, and family photography, and everything from the wraps to the props is thoughtfully prepared. What impressed me most was how naturally Bethany connected with our toddler. We were honestly worried he wouldn't smile for a single photo, but within minutes she had him laughing, playing, and completely engaged. Those genuine smiles ended up becoming some of our favorite family photos. With our newborn, her experience really showed. She handled every pose, wrap, and outfit change with incredible patience and care. As a relatively new mom herself, she understands how to work gently with newborns and put new parents at ease. She was thoughtful about hygiene, attentive throughout the session, and never made us feel rushed. What We Loved * Warm, comfortable studio with a beautiful rustic aesthetic * Wonderful with toddlers, newborns, and even family pets * Thoughtful amenities that make the session comfortable for everyone * Easy scheduling, responsive communication, and straightforward pricing * Beautiful collection of wraps, props, and newborn setups * Efficient session without ever feeling rushed Of course, the photos are what matter most, and they are absolutely stunning. Because everyone felt comfortable, the smiles looked natural, the newborn poses were timeless, and the entire gallery captured exactly what we hoped to remember from this stage of life. Compared with other newborn photographers we considered, Bethany offers tremendous value. You work directly with the photographer, the process is seamless from booking through delivery, and the final product speaks for itself. If you're looking for newborn, family, or milestone photography in Chicago, I couldn't recommend Bethany more highly. She's talented, caring, and creates an experience that's every bit as memorable as the photos themselves. An easy five stars.

Bethany is truly a wonder. She has taken our family photos for some of our most important seasons…read moreof life, maternity, newborn, and toddlerhood. She seems to capture us exactly as we are, while still having a quality that feels like we're a family from a magazine, even if for a split second of time. From a booking and business perspective, part of why we chose her was because it was SO EASY. Her website, pricing, contracting, proof process, and image delivery are all ABSOLUTELY seamless and easy. Booking her the first time was the path of least resistance because she was right in the neighborhood and had her pricing and booking easily available online. We keep coming back because it is so simply and joyful. Book her if you can get a session on her calendar, you will be so glad you did. And so will your extended family when they receive all of your gorgeous photos.

Susan made our wedding day so great! She was professional & straightforward to work with, and the…read morephotos turned out amazing. She got a good variety of couple shots, group shots, candid shots, etc. We always felt taken care of, never overwhelmed. Highly recommend!

Susan did a great job taking senior photos for my son! She managed to keep him engaged and happy…read morefor an entire hour while getting great shots.

I heart Soda Fountain. And now all my friends heart Soda Fountain…read more They posted a "sneak peek" of our wedding photos right after we got back from our honeymoon and I still can't stop looking at them (it's been two months). The photos are just what I knew to expect since we had our engagement session witg them - intimate, photo journalistic pictures that capture the emotions of the people in the pictures. These are not posed, traditional photos. These are moments in time captured on film. Since the photos were posted, several of my friends immediately made those photos their Facebook profile pictures and one couple who got engaged after our wedding, called them to see if they could book them for their out of town wedding. Mysi and Craig are truly special and will capture all the love and magic on your wedding day!

I mean.... this is my biz, but it moved to Chicago in 2013, so this is all lovely but old!…read more Follow @sodafountainphoto on Instagram and see new things!!!! We are getting crazy creative in so many ways. And love stays.

Mike was so efficient and did such a great job with my bf's ERAS pic, I highly recommended him if…read moreyou're seeking a professional photographer. I was looking for a a session at last minute and Mike got back to me in a timely fashion and accommodated us on such short notice. His studio is immaculate, he knows what he's doing and got the perfect shot relatively quick! We are happy, his turnaround time is realistic and we look forward to working with him again. Thanks!

From the owner: Does your image need a refresh?…read more Mike White has been a leader in celebrity and corporate headshots, executive portraits and lifestyle photography for over 20 years. View the complete portfolio of styles on our website and let’s talk about how we can boost your image!

Mark Trela and his wife Magda photographed our wedding August 2019 at Garfield Park Conservatory…read more When I say they exceeded every expectation of ours, I mean it. To be honest, the photographer was the only vendor I was picky about and as soon as I saw their wedding photography, I knew immediately that they had to be ours. I love the lighting and style of their work. They are incredibly talented and have an eye for what makes a good photo. I loved how their documentary style gave us a full story of that day. If that wasn't enough, Mark and Magda are incredibly kind and will put their whole heart into your day. They were present and attentive the whole time. When the events of the day were underway I didn't even notice them buzzing around snapping photos. They were also responsive before and after the wedding and worked well with our wedding planner when it came to scheduling, etc. We received the photos within a couple weeks of the wedding. They also helped us select photos for a leather-bound book (honestly, they did most of the selecting/formatting themselves which was wonderful - I'm a hands-off kind of bride). I've told Mark and Magda I want them to be our family photographer forever! I'm just so in love with their work and I don't want our wedding to be the last time we work with them. I can't recommend them enough and they'll be worth every single dollar you spend on them (something pretty uncommon in the wedding industry!!)

Mark & Magda photographed our June 2017 wedding and I could not have been happier with the entire…read moreexperience. From the very beginning, Mark was super easy to communicate with and he always responded promptly to the plethora of questions that I threw at him. At our initial meeting, he really took the time to understand what I was looking for in a photographer and what was important to me when photographing our wedding day. From looking through his blog, I knew immediately that his style of photography was exactly what we were looking for; candid, artsy, and a unique way of capturing light (this was huge for me). After we signed the contract with him, Mark was great about keeping in touch over the months leading up to the wedding to get all the specifics of the day and to check in to see if I had any questions. He always made himself available via email or phone if I needed advice for how to best set up our schedule for the day or even if I had silly freak out questions about worst-case weather scenarios (which he always put me at ease about). I really appreciated that Mark & Madga took a day ahead of time to scope out our church and reception venue. I told him it was very important that we incorporate the outdoors as much as we could, and he made sure to find some great potential locations for photos. On the day of, Mark and Magda were able to coordinate perfectly to ensure that both my husband and I would have pictures of us getting ready with our bridal parties. They are both so personable and fun that they quickly put me at ease and really blended into the background to get all of these amazing candid shots throughout the morning. The ceremony went flawlessly and they coordinated group family shots with ease. I think that my favorite thing about working with Mark and Magda was how enthusiastic they were about taking amazing photographs. They went out of their way to convince an owner of a private barn to let us take pictures on his property and I couldn't help but really get into the photo session as Mark was so excited about the location and the light filtering into the barn. The photos from our cocktail hour were such a pleasant surprise to look at after the wedding as I barely even noticed them mingling in the groups to snag some amazing candid photos of all our friends and family. Mark was able to coordinate the timing perfectly at our reception to sneak us outside right after dinner to get these amazing golden hour pictures on the beach. I highly highly recommend Mark Trela as a Wedding Photographer. He is a true professional, a super great guy to have around on your big day, and he creates absolutely stunning photographs.

Essi was just phenomenal to work with. You can tell she is very passionate and serious about what…read moreshe does & it definitely displayed in her work. The entire process from start to finish was seamless. Essi met with my fiance & I twice, once when we first inquired about photography for our wedding and again a month before our big day. A lot of photography agencies and freelancers will just hop on a call or zoom to meet with you, but not Essi. She made it a point to meet with us & get to know us in person. Having never serviced a middle eastern style wedding, she absolutely crushed it! She was so attentive and took her time with us; never rushed us or made us feel like we were just another booking. She got to know us on a personal level and took interest in who we were as a couple. As someone who lost a large deposit to a previous photography agency who outsourced knockoff photographers, I am so incredibly happy I stumbled upon Essi. Her work is simply unmatched, professional and so so sooo beautiful. You will not regret booking with Essi.

Essi was amazing from the start. My daughter & I were in Chicago for her senior trip and I had the…read morethought of doing her senior photos while we were in town. I came across Essi Photography in my search for a reputable photographer. I gave her a broad overview of what I wanted, she got back to me with some ideas and totally nailed not only what I wanted but also made sure to incorporate my daughter's personality and comfort level in front of the camera. Essi's response time before and after the shoot was phenomenal, she adjusted her camera equipment for the different lighting at every location, she's creative, focused, fun, personable, and what she captured with my daughter is priceless. I was astounded at the turnaround time in getting our photos because of the time she clearly took in getting each photo to a finished product. But, above everything else was what I saw in the final product...I saw 'my' daughter, who she is, her personality, and not a 'posed' girl with no personality. Thank you Essi, from the bottom of this mom's happy heart!

REALLY glad we hired paola and vivid photo + video for our may 2018 chicago wedding! i was…read moresearching for a company that could do photo + video both, at a reasonable price, and they popped up in my search. thank goodness they did! i met paola for coffee back in the beginning to learn more about them, and left with a really good feeling. after hiring her + her team, as it got closer to the wedding, she wanted to do a walk through of our venue with us since it was a new one for her - we appreciated this a ton, and felt even more comfortable knowing they would take care of capturing our day. (they also worked really well with the many other vendors we used the day of) i had a bunch of creative ideas on my own for photos and/or video that i wanted to accomplish, and she was incredibly open to all and had some great additional ideas. our wedding included a first look at an old fire station, ivy walls, shots downtown on the bridge, a (warm) rooftop ceremony, and then food trucks for dinner + a glass blowing demo for our guests. they managed to capture so much of our day in photos/video/or both.our photos are vibrant and colorful and candid, just as we wanted. and we'll be watching our highlight reel over and over with friends & family, while our full feature footage will be reflected on at least every year to relive the whole day. hire vivid photo + video - we feel like we got incredibly lucky finding them for our wedding!

It is my absolute pleasure to recommend Paola and her team at Vivid Photo and Video for any wedding…read moreor event! My husband and I worked with Paola and her team to provide photography and videography for our wedding during August 2017. Paola was kind & flexible from the start, meeting us at a coffee shop in our neighborhood for an initial consultation. Upon meeting, we instantly felt at ease. She took time to learn about us as a couple and to our delight, worked with us to customize a package of photographers and videographers to fit our needs and budget. After seeing Paola's work, we were thrilled to learn that she would be our primary photographer for our wedding. We found this to be a fabulous perk of working with a smaller boutique studio. Paola and her team did an excellent job on the day of our wedding. They were all friendly and made our wedding party feel very comfortable. They did an amazing job capturing the important moments without being noticeable or "in the way." Paola has a way about her that could put the most anxious bride at ease! She was always one step ahead with her quick thinking, suggesting creative and fun poses, as well as beautiful locations for our "first look" and group shots before the wedding. Several members of our wedding party, friends, and family mentioned how much they liked Paola and the energy that she brought to our event. We were also impressed to see her positive & creative energy last all day and night! Last but certainly not least, Paola and her team take beautiful photos and create lovely videos. They do an excellent job of using light and focus to highlight important details within different shots. They also pieced together our highlight video in a meaningful way that told a story about our relationship and brought together different elements of our special day. It was evident that Paola understood who we were as a couple and captured our day perfectly. As we watched our highlight video it almost felt as if she had read my mind! Every beautiful detail of our story can be told, remembered, and cherished for the rest of our lives. We have Paola and her team to thank for that.

Omar is exceptional. I would give him 6 stars if they would allow me. He was professional, he…read morecommunicated with me throughout the process and got back to me quickly, he showed up early on the day of the photo shoot to help me workshop my plan (it was for an engagement), and he had the pictures back to me by the next day. Also he's a really nice person. Would recommend!

My colleague and I worked with Omar for an all-day event where we needed a professional…read morephotographer. He was a very fast and clear communicator, flexible, and overall extremely easy to work with. And I say that as someone who knew we needed a photographer but didn't really have much specific to guide him with other than that. So in that sense when asked for feedback, he was excellent in trying to understand the purpose of our event and suggest what would work well. We had great shots of speakers and the audience for the event, along with headshots that the attendees loved. Thank you, Omar!