Kenny Nakai – Chicago Wedding Photographer turned Chicago Family Portrait Photographer!

So many of you know…I photograph weddings. It’s my passion. But…did you know…before weddings…I photographed kids and babies! It’s where I discovered that I am more of a relational photographer. Taking photos of Chicago’s skyline and flowers just doesn’t excite me. It was great to spend an afternoon taking portraits of these two siblings. And it doesn’t hurt that it was beautiful fall afternoon in Chicago!

These kids were so well behaved and so fun to be around! We headed to park in Chicago for their portrait session. I enjoyed goofing around with these siblings…a welcomed break from photographing a wedding. I am privileged to be their portrait photographer as I worked to make them feel relaxed so they could just be themselves in front of my lens!

These two are close…I could tell by their interaction…it reminded me of my own relationship w/my sister-

Again…a special bond.

She was a little more ‘nervous’ than he…so when you see her smile in these portraits…it is truly something special. =)

I’m not quite sure what is happening here…an audition for Chicago’s American Idol or Rock Band?

Fun times in the fall!

Love these portraits!

Mommy and daughter!

Dad carrying him around before he gets too big-

What a precious portrait!

Hugging his hero

A cool family portrait!

A photo with Chicago in the background! I love their smiles!

A beautiful fall day in Chicago-

And we know the true colors of this family…bleeding blue and orange of da Chicago Bears!

Thanks you guys for a great time! I hope you enjoyed your family portrait in Chicago- They were so great in front of the camera- so many looks and emotions throughout!

with love,

Your Chicago Portrait Photographer,

Kenny

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New Chicago Studio in Lincoln Park: 855 W. Blackhawk Chicago, IL 60642 *by appointment only*

I headed out to Hinsdale, a western suburb of Chicago, to photograph Judy’s family! Multi-generational family photos are so important and it’s great to know Judy really values this for her family. She already knew where she was going to hang her new family portrait!

I love the styling and timeless look of these portraits!

17 people…four generations from one family represented in this portrait! It’s always great to create a photo that you know will be treasured on their wall for generations to come.

Then we put all the little guys on an ottoman for a quick portrait!

These little ladies were so well behaved and were so photogenic!

These two guys wouldn’t be out done! Smiles galore!

Thank you Judy for having as your family portrait photographer! You have a lovely family and they were so good about having their photo taken! Enjoy!

with love,

Kenny

Contact – Portfolio – Facebook – Twitter
New Chicago Studio in Lincoln Park: 855 W. Blackhawk Chicago, IL 60642 *by appointment only*

Happy Birthday to O and L who are having their 1st Year Birthday party today! I rushed home after this photoshoot and am staying up late burning the midnight oil so they can have this slideshow to share with friends and family at their birthday party! Half Korean and half Greek- so cute! Kor-eek or Gree-rean. =)

The twins were soooooo cute! And being an uncle two 2 nephews and 5 nieces, I love taking photos of kids! I really try to capture as many ‘looks’ as I can…b/c we all know how quickly children change! It’s great to see how a photo can really capture a kid’s thoughts and personality traits. Anyhow…enjoy the photos!

A fun moment-

Like most 1yr olds, he is teething and wants to put anything and everything in his mouth!

A cute portrait

A photo capturing where their progress towards walking. They can stand…and that’s it…for now! =)

In Korean tradition, the 1 year birthday is important. They typically dress the kids up in a ‘hambook’ (am I spelling this correctly?)

And one last photo of the two of them together!

And a slideshow with more photos from the portrait session!

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New Studio – 855 W. Blackhawk St Chicago, IL 60642

I’m so excited! My first ever family portrait promotion!

Last Minute Holiday Photos! – a limited promotion by Nakai Photography
-A mini studio session (30 minutes at my new Lincoln Park studio) – for couples, families, dog owners
-1 8×10 print
-2 5×7 prints (of the same image as the 8×10)
-50 Holiday cards w/custom designs (designed for exclusive use by Nakai Photography)
-All for a special promotional price of $200!
-and in the spirit of the holidays, bring in a new toy to donate…and you get $50 off!

So please spread the word on this promotion! It’s only going to last for a couple weeks! I’m looking forward to shooting more families in my new Chicago studio! Feel free to email me at: info {at} nakaiphotography {dot} com to set up a time for a photo session!

I had a great time with my cousins who drove in from the suburbs to Chicago. Dawn & Yutaka have the cutest girl and I adore the way she says my name! She almost sings my name! The emphasis goes up in the middle and down at the end. The. Best. They brought some cute props and we had a great time taking these holiday photos! It was their first professional photography session, so I wanted to make sure they got some good photos! =)

We start off with a nice family portrait

I love how she is standing on her tippy toes in this photo!

Her smile just makes you want to smile!

Dawn and Yutaka both have personalized stockings, so we had their little one carry hers too!

An awesome portrait of the reindeer!

Nothings says anticipation of Christmas better than milk and cookies! =) I think it helps bring a smile to everyone’s face!

Thanks you guys for a great photo session! It was a fun time! I’m glad that you guys were able to see the new studio! And a shout out to Dawn, Yutaka, Keith and Donna for the studio gift! It was a surprise and will no doubt be used on a daily basis! You guys were so thoughtful and generous- Thanks for all your support!

with love,

Kenny

Contact – Portfolio – Facebook – Twitter
Studio Location: 855 W. Blackhawk St #104 Chicago, IL 60642

I’m so excited! My first ever family portrait promotion!

Last Minute Holiday Photos! – a limited promotion by Nakai Photography
-A mini studio session (30 minutes at my new Lincoln Park studio) – for couples, families, dog owners
-1 8×10 print
-2 5×7 prints (of the same image as the 8×10)
-50 Holiday cards w/custom designs (designed for exclusive use by Nakai Photography)
-All for a special promotional price of $200!
-and in the spirit of the holidays, bring in a new toy to donate…and you get $50 off!

So please spread the word on this promotion! It’s only going to last for a couple weeks! I’m looking forward to shooting more families in my new Chicago studio! Feel free to email me at: info {at} nakaiphotography {dot} com to set up a time for a photo session!

Christy & Dennis are a couple I ran into at T’s first birthday party this past spring! I was the photographer for that birthday celebration, and Christy and Dennis had expressed an interest in having me photograph their family at sometime in the future. Well…they happened to hear about my “Last Minute Holiday Card Portrait Promotion” and thought it was a great idea for their family!

So they headed into Chicago to visit me at my new Lincoln Park studio! I love my new space and I can’t wait to have more family portraits taken here! We started with a photo of “N” next to frosty. =)

And of course…a family portrait w/frosty! It is a holiday card portrait session!

The loving family!

The next time “N” visits the studio for a portrait session, he won’t need mom & dad’s hands to stand up…he’ll be running around!

He liked his moose. So much that he wouldn’t turn him around for me to take a photo of the two of them! =)

A fun family portrait! So simple, but yet I love it!

I love all of their expression in this photo!

And lastly…a portrait of the little guy. “N” crawled right up to me and was staring at himself in my lens. He was so close…that you can see a reflection of me in his eyes!

So if you happen to know of anyone who might be interested in a “Last Minute Holiday Card Portrait” let them know about this limited-time-only promotion!

Thanks Christy and Dennis for stopping by the new Chicago studio! I hope you enjoy the photos!

Contact – Portfolio – Facebook – Twitter
Studio Location: 855 W. Blackhawk St #104 Chicago, IL 60642

I’m so excited! My first ever family portrait promotion!

Last Minute Holiday Photos! – a limited promotion by Nakai Photography
-A mini studio session (30 minutes at my new Lincoln Park studio) – for couples, families, dog owners
-1 8×10 print
-2 5×7 prints (of the same image as the 8×10)
-50 Holiday cards w/custom designs (designed for exclusive use by Nakai Photography)
-All for a special promotional price of $200!
-and in the spirit of the holidays, bring in a new toy to donate…and you get $50 off!

So spread the word on this promotion! It’s only going to last for a couple weeks! I’m looking forward to shooting more families in my new Chicago studio! Feel free to email me at: info {at} nakaiphotography {dot} com to set up a time for a photo session!

So yesterday…I picked up the keys to my new studio in Chicago! Nakai Photography is now in Lincoln Park! I am super excited about this new endeavor…and to kick it off, I had a photoshoot with the Frank & Julie’s family! I have been photographing them since 2007- you can see a previous photoshoot from this past summer here. So it’s only fitting that the Frank & Julie are the first family I photograph in my new studio!

This studio is so fresh that I literally don’t have anything in this new space yet. It’s a warehouse loft…and it’s HUGE! I’m sharing the space with Vale of Enna (floral designer) – though we occasionally work together on weddings, we were friends back in junior high school! I’ll share more about the new studio space in future posts…but I wanted to throw this out there to all the families, couples and dog owners:

Anyways, back to Frank and Julie- here are some more portraits from our session together! I love this picture of all the kids together!

Then some photos of each kid by themselves, I think some of them believe the candy cane is a martial arts weapon-

I love this photo collage of the kids-

And a “Nakai Photography” portrait of Frank & Julie!

Thanks you guys for a great time and for being apart of this new chapter of Nakai Photography! I hope it was worth the drive from the ‘burbs to Chicago!

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A couple weeks ago, I headed down to Champaign, IL for my first newborn portrait session! Newborn in the sense that this baby was less than 10 days old! I recently attended a seminar given by an experienced newborn photographer and I was inspired to put my spin on a newborn portrait session. Being the experienced uncle that I am (four nieces, two nephews- thank you very much), I was really excited to see a newborn again. There is just something about their fragility and innocence that just cannot be explained.

A shout out to my friend Nathan, who connected me with Crystal and Joe – most of business comes through referrals, and I appreciate people who help to share my work with others! It’s always good to see you bro!

I hope you enjoy the photos from the youngest baby I’ve ever photographed since forming Nakai Photography!

A quick outdoor portrait- the weather was surprisingly warm for November-

The one thing about newborns, and most moms can attest to this: they change so much…so quickly. After about four weeks, a child looks completely different than as a newborn. I really cherish the opportunity to photograph this little guy after only seven days of life.

Look! He opened his eyes! I love it!

He only smiled for a second or two…but I was able to capture this moment…a photo of mom and dad’s hands- and the rare smile of a newborn!

Another fun part of newborns: the yawns! It’s amazing how big their mouths get!

Another little smile!

The older brother was a great help and even went along with my ‘creative’ photo!

And at last…the new family portrait! Just in time for Thanksgiving!

Thanks Crystal and Joe for sharing your family with me! It was great to spend time with you guys and I’m looking forward to seeing these guys grow up! I hope you enjoyed the portrait session and the photos!

with love,

Kenny

Contact – Portfolio – Facebook – Twitter

So Adrian & Hoa…I was their photographer for their wedding a couple years ago. You can see more of their Chicago wedding photos at this blog post. THEN…when their little guy was born, Hoa called me up to photograph his baptism!

And now…he is just beginning to walk! Time just flies! I had a great time catching up with these two and spending time with their little guy- He did a great job hanging in while we played and took LOTS of photos-

On a side note: Hoa just started up a cake making business, so if you were wanting a birthday cake or any other kind of cool/custom cake like they have on the Food Network (ie: Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, etc) check out her stuff at: www.mamawacakes.com

A fun picture of the toss up- One of the best things to do before he gets too big-

A cute portrait…all strapped in his radio flyer

The roles were reversed as Hoa wanted to be pulled!

What a cute smile!

It’s so fun to see kids who are just learning to walk…you can just picture him falling on his booty in this photo-

I think he enjoys pulling on his dad’s hair-

Great hand eye coordination…ET phone home! I love these types of ‘lifestyle’ photos…not anything super posed, just life and having fun!

A nice family portrait- Nakai style!

SOOOOO CUTE!

And lastly…a photo of some hands and shoes- love it!

If you were interested in a family lifestyle portrait session, feel free to contact me! Photo sessions also make great gifts! =)

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment below!

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A couple weeks ago Debbie & Kyung celebrated their firstborn’s first birthday! What a great time of celebration & thankfulness as little “T” has gone through so much this year. In true Korean tradition, “T” donned his traditional outfit to celebrate the event. So many friends and family came out to join the birthday festivities!

This slideshow is in High Def, so it may take awhile to load, but it will be worth it! =)

Another great photoshoot with Frank & Julie’s family! This was my third or fourth photo session with these guys and it’s been awesome to see the kids grow up!

One thing I keep in mind when taking photos of families, is the personalities of the kids- I love the interaction they have with their parents and with each other. Kids grow up so fast and their faces, smiles and ‘looks’ change all the time! These more casual family photo sessions are a great way to ‘stop time’ and remember your kids at this moment in their lives-

Fun times in front of an old horse drawn carriage.

There were two cousins that joined in for a couple photos!

This was my favorite photo from the portrait session. It makes me smile every time I look at it!

She loved her umbrella – I loved how Julie selected great outfits and accessories for the kids-

What a smile!

I think these guys are looking for a future career in modeling! And I loved the red ties!

He was trying to out run my camera! =)

Thanks Frank & Julie for another awesome family photo session! You guys were great!

with love,

Kenny