Home. For most of us it’s a place of comfort and refuge. It’s where we are surrounded by those who mean the most to us in this life. Where we rock our babies to sleep at night and where we break bread around the table. It’s where conversations continue into the wee hours of the night and where you will find both celebration and solace. Leaving home behind, even when it’s a good thing, it fills the heart with both gratitude and loss. This sweet session by Chicago area photographer Katie Kett is a tribute to the special memories of a chapter in life coming to a close. This lovely family sought to capture a typical morning in their condo, the home where just nine months earlier they had brought home sweet baby Clark to begin life as a family of three. There was no makeup, but lots of love. No posing, but the coffee and laughter flowed easily. The family dogs sprawled lazily across the bed and enjoyed the company of their humans.
Katie tells us that she arrived at the family’s home at 10am on a bright and sunny day. The home gets plenty of gorgeous light and the clean, white walls and bedding made the perfect simple backdrop for snuggles in bed with baby. As repeat clients, the session was laid back and effortless and one of those great matches between client and photographer style and personality. The family was able to relax and let little Clark be himself, which made for truly authentic images.
Katie’s approach to family photography is to place her clients in great light, and get them to interact with each other as much as possible in a natural manner. It’s so much more enjoyable to capture them playing together in their home rather than posing on a park bench. Armed with prime lenses, Katie likes to bring two Canon 5d Mark iii cameras to her sessions, one with the 50mm f1.2 attached and the other with a 35mm f1.4 lens. This allows her to easily switch focal lengths without having to stop the flow of the session to change lenses.
Katie’s favorite images from the session include the images of the dogs lounging around the family in bed as they read a book to the baby, and of course the photographs featuring little Clark’s adorable baby rolls and happy grin. What sweet, visual memories this family will have to look back on this special time in life as one chapter comes to a close and a new one begins.
Follow Katie online: