Best Location for Winter Family Photo Sessions In Chicago
The slowest time of year for family photo sessions (for me personally) is January-March. Why? Well we’re in Chicago and it’s cold…who wants to do family photos outdoors in winter? Not me.
The family sessions I do get inquiries for in the winter are often for kids that have winter birthdays…and the question I get asked quite a bit is…where can we do the photo session that isn’t our home or outside?
I have a great spot. It’s indoors, it’s warm, it’s in Chicago, and it’s very green. Do you have an idea of the spot I’m talking about?
First let’s discuss the obvious options…
Family photos at home:
This is the most common choice for a winter family photo shoot in Chicago…it’s warm, you don’t have to bundle the kids up to go anywhere, and it’s easy.
I really like doing home sessions. I like capturing the personal feeling of a family in their home with their own stuff. Depending on where the natural light takes me, I use the living room, master bedroom, and kids rooms. Sometimes I might even use the kitchen if it’s a cool kitchen or if the light is exceptionally great.
I feel like kids are more comfortable at home…although sometimes that encourages silly behavior because they’re so comfortable. But I’m totally fine with that…sometimes kids being silly can turn into great photo-ops.
Overall, a home session is great if you have good natural light, want it to be easy, and if you like your home (yep, I’ve had people tell me they don’t like their home…or it’s a mess, or they just moved in and there’s boxes everywhere, etc).
Family photos outdoors:
This is not my personal recommendation for a photo session in winter. Especially with how unpredictable weather in Chicago is! I usually don’t recommend an outdoor photo session from January until April. And even April can be iffy. December is fine for holiday photos outdoors, I did holiday minis this year at a Christmas tree farm and it was pretty chilly, but photos turned out great.
I have never done a snowy session, and I think that could be fun and I’m open to it (with hand and feet warmers of course!). But it’s hard to plan for a session with a lot of snow because again, Chicago weather is so unpredictable. And just FYI, that type of session would be best near a heated home or car for breaks to warm up, in my opinion.
I have done home sessions and then popped outside for a few photos…and that works. But being outside for more than 10 minutes in winter can create a few problems…not only do kids get cold and cranky, but parents do too. And ok…and I get cranky too! I hate cold weather! Plus my hands get very cold and it’s hard for me to shoot with numb hands. Ha.
Not only does that crankiness/discomfort come through in the photos, but it limits what I can get creatively as a photographer because outdoor sessions in cold weather inevitably end up getting cut short because everyone is cold.
NOSES AND EARS. Noses and ears turn bright red in the cold. Yes, I can edit them…but that would cost extra, and it can take a lot of time to edit red noses and ears in over 75 images.
Lastly, the background in winter usually isn’t much to look at. Unless there is lots of snow, trees without leaves don’t look great in the background.
The Garfield Park Conservatory:
This is my favorite winter spot!
It’s super warm and you kinda feel like you’re somewhere tropical with the heat and all the plants. It’s especially nice to visit on super cold days in Chicago. In fact, a lot of photos I’ve taken here look like they were taken outside…or in Hawaii. A client told me once that a friend saw one of their photos taken here and thought they went on vacation!
There can be a lot of people at the conservatory depending on the time and day. So sometimes it’s just a matter of waiting a minute for people to move from a spot. But otherwise it’s a great backdrop for your family photo session.
As far as clothing goes…it can actually be pretty hot so I would stick to lighter clothing under your coat. There are coat racks at the front to hang your things on. As for colors, I would stay away from greens so you don’t blend into the background too much. Pops of color work really well here. You can read my What To Wear blog post HERE.
During a photo shoot at the conservatory we will take a walk through most of the rooms, and I have spots along the way where we will stop and take photos. The fern room is my favorite…that’s the room that looks like you’re somewhere tropical. Kids love it here…so many families stay after the shoot is over for their kids to explore. There is a cute little playground area in one of the rooms too.
The Garfield Park Conservatory does require a permit for photography…it’s $80 and can be obtained on their website…click HERE to view.
Salvage One:
I’ve only done one family photo shoot at the antique store Salvage One in Chicago, but it was SO cool and I would love to do more. There were so many fun spots and we didn’t even get to all of them!
Which brings me to my first point about this place…VARIETY. There are 3 huge floors that we would have access to for a photo session there, as well as all of the furniture. Each floor is very different, with plenty of amazing spots for photos. There is also a lot of color in certain areas so that’s fun too if you like color.
If you want a unique space with a vintage feel and some color, this is the place for you!
A one hour photo permit is $200, but well worth it for some creative and fun family photos.
Another option for photo shoots when it’s cold outside is to rent a studio space. I rented this space in Wicker Park for a maternity session and really loved it (the family did too!). Super cute, amazing light, and privacy if you need to change kids clothes or diapers. You can even bring your dog!
There are a couple of different backgrounds on wheels, a little sitting area, wood floors, high ceilings, and huge windows that look out onto Milwaukee Ave in Wicker Park.
There are many studio spaces all over the city, but this particular one was $165. My sessions are an hour and that’s for 2 hours because it’s a 2 hour minimum, but if you know a family that would also want to do a shoot here, you can have them book a session right after or before yours and you can split the rental fee with them!
Ready to book your family photo shoot at the Garfield Park Conservatory?
