Photography & Portraits in Brookfield

Studio Portraits, Lifestyle Portraits, Boudoir Parties, Weddings, Corporate and Event Photography by award-winning photographer Giorgio Ventola.

The photographers at Bright Eyes Photo are skilled in capturing a variety of photos whether candid engagement shots, posed family portraits, or pet snapshots. After the shoots, the photographers carefully edit and retouch their shots before delivering frame-ready prints from their professional lab.

Nicole Bergstrom is as artistic with babies as she is with tiramisu—although she rarely photographs them together. A former food stylist, Nicole and her husband Allan founded Kinder Image in 1994, naming their business in tribute to the families and kindergarten-aged children they love to film. The shuttersmith specializes in onsite photography, snapping timeless images as families and children frolic in parks, on the beach, or in their own homes in front of one of Kinder Images' 20 portable backdrops and sets. Unique specialty packages can follow expectant mothers through each month of their pregnancies or revisit newborns throughout their first year, documenting the ways they grow and change from tiny cherubs to ringleaders of their local stroller gang. After each session, clients can pick their favorite edited shots during a personal viewing session, which Kinder Image prints in sizes ranging from petite wallet pictures to sprawling canvas wraps.

Magnolia Photo Booth Co's customized photo booths add entertainment to any event or social gathering, from wedding receptions and birthday bashes to family reunions. Magnolia Photo Booth Co. designs, creates, and maintains its own booths; its photo boxes preserve the spontaneity and charm of old-timey boardwalk models while adding modern appeal with digital technology. A full-time attendant will be on duty for the duration of the event, to ensure proper booth function and to strong-arm guests into having a good time. The attendant also brings props and accessories that turn the mini photo sessions into retro-fests featuring pirates, kitschy album covers, and powdered toupees. Every rental includes unlimited prints, which means guests can get in the booth as many times as they want and take home hundreds of matte 4"x6" printouts. All of the images will be hosted online for guests to see, download, and order as prints.

The first Ebert Studio opened almost 100 years ago on Chicago's west side. Since then, four successive generations have preserved memories for countless families in studios that now reside in Oak Park and Hinsdale. At the helm today is Jeff Ebert, the great-grandson of the studio's founder. Jeff makes a very small distinction to give you the big picture—"It's not so much that it's photography," he says, "but it's photographing people."

Making people feel comfortable and look better is just one part of his job. The next part is to create "a piece like a painting that can be hung above a mantle and somebody can be proud of for years and years to come." As the latest in a line of artists stretching back to 1915, Jeff does that well, harnessing the power of passed time and using it to build a portfolio that showcases families, weddings, animals, and individuals. Some of his notable subjects have included Cardinal Francis George, Walter Payton, and film director Christopher Columbus, known for his historical documentary of babysitting, Home Alone.

Val Westover and Stephanie Adriana, both authors and photographers, draw from diverse artistic backgrounds. Val once trained hundreds of photographers as the manager of a nationwide portrait studio, and Stephanie has seen her work featured in an array of photography and fashion magazines. Applying fine-tuned artistic styles, they snap candid photojournalistic compositions and posed portraits of new couples, newborns, mothers-to-be, families, and secret families.

They also pass on their skills through step-by-step workshops, during which they use a blend of professional tips and practice exercises to teach the basics of ISO, shutter, and aperture alongside applied artistic principles. They then give protégés free rein to practice what they’ve learned in hands-on, on-location photo safaris, during which students capture shots of wildlife and people.