There’s something about a farmhouse that makes room for real life to happen kids running through tall grass. A windmill catching the last light, siblings tangled up in a hallway hug because someone started a wrestling match. That’s exactly what unfolded during this farmhouse maternity session Chicago families will recognize the honesty in the moment they see it. This family is so near and dear to my heart, they are one of the first families that believed in my photography business. They consistently invited me into their beautiful lives for over a decade.
This family came to me wanting something different. They wanted their story to unfold and just have a cool vintage vibe. Since we’ve worked together for over a decade it was so much fun to see the boys in some vintage outfits. They are the sweetest five boys. Mama was glowing in her last weeks of pregnancy, and a farmhouse that felt like it had been in the family for generations. So instead of lining everyone up and asking for smiles, I let the afternoon do what afternoons like this do: Just be.
Planning a Farmhouse Maternity Session in Chicago
A farmhouse gives a maternity session Chicago couples just can’t get in the city.. room to run, breathe, and be a little wild! The boys took off into a field of wild grass the second we arrived (of course they did), and honestly? That became one of my favorite frames of the whole day. The windmill way off in the distance, the farmhouse all soft and dreamy behind them, and a bunch of kids just being kids. No direction, no “look here,” no fuss. Just pure joy doing its thing
Inside, the light was doing all the work for me. I saw the mirror, the window, the balloons. and I couldn’t resist framing mama right in that reflection while she looked out at the light. Is that a little staged? Sure, lifestyle photography always has a hand in it! But her expression, that soft smile, the way she’s just existing in that moment? That part’s all her. That’s the magic of this style I set the stage, but the realness is never something I can fake.
By the time we got to the “let’s get ready” chaos suspenders being adjusted, shoes kicked off, a toddler mid-sprint toward the dinner table. the whole house felt alive. That energy is the entire point of a documentary-style farmhouse maternity session: showing up as you are, and trusting that “as you are” is more than enough.
If you’re picturing something similar for your own growing family, a countryside setting like this one might be exactly the backdrop your story needs.
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