The Cocokios Siblings | Kansas City Photographer in Chicagoland

I've known Marisa for quite awhile actually, since I've been 15. We were in the same youth group together! Both Marisa and Christian attend Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, which is the same church I went to when I lived in Orland Park. It was so awesome when Marisa asked me to take her and Christian's pictures for their parents' fiftieth birthdays. I'm so glad that this worked out! I couldn't wait to photograph these cuties!!!

Our session last Friday was completely amazing. We had the perfect lighting and a fantastic backdrop for their sibling shoot. The barn on 139th St. and Wolf Rd. really worked well with their outfit choices. I loved how the brown barn wall brought out the Cocokios's beautiful brown eyes! (Seriously-what AMAZING eyes you guys have!) I especially loved the photos in the field with the silo behind the two.  

The second set of outfits was great as well! Christian's olive green shirt perfectly blended into the country scene, and Marisa's beautiful floral maxi dress with hints of that same green really brought the two together. We had so much fun doing all different kinds of poses! The two were naturals at "the model" and at "be serious." 

My favorite part during the shoot was when Marisa said, "knock it off Christian!" He was making faces at her for the next three frames of photos. It was simply brotherly.

I had the hardest time picking favorites from Christian and Marisa shoot. They literally were ALL fantastic. I went through to star my 20 favorite images and ended up with 40! Then the hard part from there was bringing the number down. These are obviously just a few of the favorites.  Feel free to listen and browse!

The Strid Sisters | Kansas City Photographer in Chicagoland

The Strid Sisters are absolutely fantastic people! We had the best time last Thursday evening during their sibling session in Orland Park. I know Stephanie, the oldest of the three, through Winter One Acts at Lewis University. When she contacted me about doing photos of her and her sisters for a family gift, I jumped at the chance!

Stephanie, Penelope and Victoria looked fantastic the whole session through, even in the extremely hot weather. These girls were all vogue! Seriously, anyone of them could be models. I really mean that! They're gorgeous! They were coming up with the best posing ideas and so great at communicating what they wanted. It made my job easy! They even brought props. Seriously, this session was all creativity, on both the girls end and on mine! I absolutely LOVED all the photos! Below are just a few of my favorites :)

If you'll notice, there is a pretty sweet tea set in the picnic photos. The tea cups belonged to the girls' Aunt who recently passed away. I loved that they used them in their photographs! I also loved how each of the girls was wearing a color coordinating hue! They thought out everything-it was completely awesome.

(I have to say, probably one of my favorite things that happened during the session, besides our awesome photo-ing, was when I put my sunglasses on over my nerdy glasses and Stephanie said she did the same exact thing. Yessssss!!! Hahah. )

I know the girls like Taylor Swift, so without further a-du, feel free to listen and browse!

Foxy Pinups On Groupon! | Pinup Boudoir Photographer Kansas City, Missouri

Here is a little mood music... :) 

This is a One Day Deal through Groupon! It's insane-82% off the Foxy Pinup Package with an additional 3 airbrushed images on DVD. This will never happen again, and it's only available to you tomorrow!


Check out our Groupon Here!

Questions: Let us help!

What is a Foxy Pinup Session?

A Foxy Pinup Session is a photo shoot that evokes your inner diva! It's totally sexy, completely vintage, and simply the bee's knees!

What happens during your shoot?

You are totally pampered! Our hairdresser Amanda works with you to figure out your perfect pinup hairstyle. When your hair is finished, a vintage makeup look is applied. Then you get to raid our closet! We have tons of dresses, skirts, shoes, and sexy little things to choose from. After you've put your outfit on, we put you infront of the mirror for the big reveal. There you are-a sexy blast from the past! When you're ready for your close up, Hilary gives it to you. You receive pinup coaching with each pose and you get to release your inner vixen for the camera!

How does Hilary edit these foxy photos?

Hilary works tirelessly on your perfection. Your pictures are airbrushed with gentle cellulite removal while keeping your original body shape. You pick the photos to edit and you're in complete control of what is edited away or put in. The pictures will definitely be you at your very best. The celebrities get this treatment and Hilary is determined for you to get it too!

What products are available exclusively for our Pinup Gals?

On top of amazing photo prints, we offer our pinup girls vintage 12 month (13 photo) pin-up calendars! Each one is customized completely for you! We also offer Little Black Books and Albums, to keep for yourself or to share with your special someone.

If you have any additional questions, please dont hesitate to ask! 

Lots of Love,

Hilary Hope 
708.498.HOPE

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Mike M | Kansas City Photographer in Chicagoland

I love Mike Mockovak. Really, everyone does. Mike is completely and wonderfully unique. I swear, he is probably the most individual of individuals I've ever met in my lifetime. He's just one of those people you feel like you've known forever! Though I totally know where and when I met Mike-my first week at Lewis University back in 2006. Since then, it's been a beautiful friendship. I was honored when this Chicago Police Officer asked me to take his photographs during my trip in!

When Mike showed up with his completely tailored box of clothes from Trunk Love, I immediately knew this session was going to be super fun! It's not everyday I get to help style a guy for photographs. I think he looked absolutely fantastic in his denim shirt and faded jeans. This particular outfit really popped when we made it to the park by the Old Orland Library. The green and blues looked fantastic with Mike's handsome eyes.

By this time on the blog, you guys can probably tell that Orland Park is a railroad town, judging by all the train tracks. We took advantage of those tracks during Mike's session as well! His colorful checkered shirt looked fantastic agains the bronze track colors. Even the rock gravel from the tracks played a roll in the backdrop of Mike's session.

What I especially fell in love with during Mike's shoot was how laid back it was. Mike let me try tons of different things with my lighting and with posing. He was so trusting in everything I did with him that it was probably one of the most relaxed sessions I've ever had. It was just a pleasure to photograph this photogenic dude.

Here are a few photos that I thought would be great to show for his sneak peak! Feel free to listen and browse.

Katie T | Orland Park + Chicagoland Area Photographer

I was so happy to photograph Katie Tacker last Wednesday on my trip to the Chicagoland area. We had been talking forever about trying to arrange a day for these senior portraits. I am so happy that this date worked out! I've known Katie since she's been thirteen (I think?)  When she told me she wanted me to do her senior pictures, I couldn't believe she was already graduating! Holy cow, how time flies!

Katie is beautiful, in every single way. Her style is flawless, and so is her smile. I can't even begin to describe how fun our session was. We started off at the Centennial Park train station and got some really awesome pictures with train tracks and train cars as the backdrop. The floral dress Katie picked for her first outfit was absolutely fantastic for this location. I couldn't get over how sweet and carefree she was in front of the camera. (Even when I drove my jeep over a giant curb, she kept her cool, haha). 

After the first train station stop, we moved to the Old Orland downtown area. Tons of amazing photos followed suit, as I followed Katie down the street. We had the most amazing colors to work with as all of the old buildings have such great coloring on their walls and in the brickwork. We even found a bright yellow door, which popped her black sequenced turn-about dress perfectly!

Our last stop was the new Orland Park train station on 143rd St. By this time, a Metra train was pulling out of the station. We got some pretty cool photos of the moving train behind her. It was so hard to pick photos for her sneak peak because I truly loved all of them. Katie is SO photogenic! 

A special thank you to Katie, for being so amazing. I am excited for her to see the rest of her senior photos. In the meantime, feel free to listen to this song and browse some of my favorites. (There are many more!)

Week's Summary | Kansas City Photographer in Chicagoland

*ATTENTION: Slight Blog Post Adjustment. Check the updated day at the end of your paragraph to see when your blog and facebook sneak peak will be posted!*

I absolutely love coming to sweet home Chicago and seeing all my favorite people in the area. You guys have made this week an absolute blast! Thank you for letting me be a part of it! I'm so excited to get all my blog posts up next week that will describe the wonderful sessions I had here in detail, but for now, here is this past week's summary.

On Tuesday, I started shooting my little brother Cody's first full length music video. For those of you that don't know, he is 11, a singer and is absolutely fantastic at it. I worked on that all week long and finished it up yesterday in the wee hours of the morning. I will be posting that on here so check back for a sneak peak of Cody singing Viva La Vida by Coldplay.

Tuesday also was the day I got to meet with the beautiful and soon to be bride K.C. Hurley, her mom and her lucky grooom Scott, to talk about their May 2012 wedding. I was so excited to go over everything with them. The wedding is going to be gorgeous! <3 I can't wait to photograph it. 

Wednesday was so fun! I had the first photo session of the week with Katie Tacker for her senior portraits. She had the cutest dresses on during her shoot and the location of downtown old Orland Park and the various train stations really made them pop! I can't wait until I get all of her photos up for her sneak peak. Her blog post will be up on *Wednesday.

Thursday morning hosted Mike Mockovak's creative session. What a cutie! Every outfit accented his Chicago Policeyness. Seriously, what a tough but loving guy. We did some amazing things with light during his shoot, and I can't wait for you to see! His blog post will be up on *Thursday.

Also on Thursday I shot the Strid sister's fantastic picnic and nature session. The barn on 139th and Wolf Road served as a fantastic locale. Not only were the sister's beautiful, but they were fully prepared for a picturesque evening with props galore! Their blog post will be up on *Friday.

On Friday morning, the Cocokios siblings had their session with me as a gift for their parents 50th birthdays. What photogenic people! I loved shooting their session in the grotto and barn in unincorporated Orland Park. Their blog post will be up on *Sunday.

My last photo session of the week was Friday evening with Marilyn Lamana, one of my sister's beautiful friends (and Maddy too!) I was so excited when Marilyn brought her grandpa's vintage camera with for photos. She possesses such timeless beauty! Madalyn, of course, always knows how to strike a pose. Their photos will be posted on *Monday.

Again guys, YOU ROCK! I had a fantastic visit and I can't wait to come back and see all of you! 

Lots of Love,

h i l a r y  h o p e