LOCAL ENGAGEMENT SESSION PREFERRED LOCATIONS
SWEET AND SIMPLE ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS
These select parks are perfect locations for engagement sessions. I have highlighted the time of year that works best for the locations, as well as the time of day. Sunlight plays an important role in capturing fabulous images, it may even be more important than the location itself !! We have taken the hard work out of picking your amazing location for your session, read below to learn more about these prime photo locations, including any info regarding permits.
FULLERSBURG WOODS
This is one of my FAVORITE locations for photos, it has a lot to offer in a very small area allowing us to capture lots of different images for you. It has an earthy feel, natural and the sunlight is best here in the later afternoon or right before sunset. It is perfect for any time of year, including winter, but I think it looks best in late summer and all of the fall season. It has leaves and color typically until Thanksgiving weekend. No permit required and it is a dog-friendly park too, so bring those fur babies for some portraits too!!
LILCIA PARK
Lilicia Park in Lombard is a beautiful park for more romantic nature portraits. This is one of my GO TO parks for spring portraits as there are 1000’s of tulips and lilacs everywhere!! It is also very nice in the mid to late summer months. Morning or later afternoon/sunset are ideal times for light at this park. It is a smaller park, so a 30-60 minute session is perfect here. No permit is required for this fabulous location!!
DANADA HOUSE AND FARM
This is an amazing location for portraits!! It does require a permit, but we love this park sooooo much that we have purchased a yearly permit to photograph at this location. We do have to make an appointment to photograph of the property, so weekdays evening work best for sessions. We can try for a weekend, but it if they have any events on the property they will not let us photograph near the house or barn. We can still go out into the fields and fences, which is still plenty of places to get a great variety of portraits and romantic moments of love! Have a sunny evening is key to get amazing portraits like we captured for this session.
CANTIGNY PARK AND GARDENS
Cantigny Park and Gardens is a beautiful and very well maintained garden located on acres of beautiful land! There is a permit fee that can be purchased at the gate when coming into the park the day of the session, you can view more information on the fees for this on the Cantigny webpage. This is a great location for many different portrait locations and is really beautiful in all four seasons, but particular a spring favorite!
The Morton Arboretum
The Morton Arboretum in Lisle is a BEAUTIFUL venue for photographs!! It is pretty anytime of year, but I think Mid June-November is best. The fall colors here are amazing!! They do require a photo permit that can be purchased the day of for an additional change or ideally 3 or more days before the session. Having your session on a weekday is better since weekends are busy with weddings and they might not issue a permit. You can learn more about the arboretum photographer permits here: http://www.mortonarb.org/visit-explore/plan-event/photography-permits
Lighthouse Beach Evanston
Lighthouse park and beach is a fun and fabulous area for pictures in the spring and summer months!! There are very unique buildings to use as backgrounds as well as pretty floral and greenery for each season, and not to forget it is just steps from the beach on Lake Michigan. There is no skyline view, as we are in Evanston, but there are some nice water and sand dune spots for great portraits. Weekday is idea here as the parking lot is very small. I prefer the light in the later afternoon into the evening as it is very dreamy and romantic when the sun begins to set!!
Other Amazing Options for Engagement Sessions would be these areas {Images Coming Soon!!}
Downtown Geneva and Fabyan Park. Downtown Naperville, Western Springs, La Grange, Westmont, Downers Grove, Lombard, Arlington Heights, Long Grove and Hinsdale are also all fun options for interesting urban sessions with some nature aspects.
Does Downtown Hinsdale require a permit?