Chicago IL Photographer Natalie Starks
Of Natalie Maria Photography
Hi…I’m Natalie, the owner of Natalie Maria Photography. I specialize in lifestyle family, newborn, and maternity photography…and I also run a school portrait business. I live in Chicago with my husband and daughter, and in addition to photography I love traveling, going to concerts, cooking, and hanging on the couch watching movies with my family.
A little background on me…I have been an artist as far back as I can remember. I loved art class as a kid, and some of my earliest school memories are art projects I did in elementary school. Making geodes out of felt, a bowl of pasta out of construction paper and uncooked noodles, 3D drawings, and those colorful potholders made on little plastic looms (I do believe my mom has one of my pot holders that she still uses to this day!). I also loved ceramics…making plates and coffee mugs, trivets, and ashtrays (it was the 80s!) out of clay. Art class was the best.
I continued studying art in high school, and when I got to college I had plans to major in painting…but after signing up for my first darkroom photography course, I was hooked. With my mom's old Canon AE1 camera from 1980, I studied black and white film photography at Columbia College Chicago, where I earned my BA in 2007.
I minored in Art History at Columbia, which led me to a study abroad class in Florence Italy. And that was were my love of travel began! I have since been to 20 countries (and counting)…travel is one of my favorite things in the world, and I try to go somewhere that I haven’t been every year. I also love travel photography and sell my travel prints here on my website (check out my print shop). The picture of me on this page was taken on a recent trip to Ireland.
I’ve been photographing newborns and families since 2010 and I absolutely love what I do. No longer shooting film (but hoping to get back into it one day), these days I shoot digitally, with a Canon R6 mirrorless camera.
My goal is to create beautiful photographs full of emotion for families to treasure forever. I feel so lucky that I get to create art for a living, and it makes me happy that I can bring people joy with the photos I capture.
Interested in learning more about my newborn and family photo sessions? Or maybe my travel photography? Check out my featured blog posts below…
Featured
I like to photograph newborns before they are 14 days old. This is because they grow SO FAST. In the first 14 days they are brand new…scrunchy, sleepy, and easily pose-able. Although I don’t really “pose” babies, I actually like them unposed and in natural positions. My newborn photo shoots are baby-led, meaning the baby is the boss basically.