Hi, everyone! My name is Christine Kelly and I am a newborn and family portrait photographer in Southwestern Illinois, mainly surrounding the Glen Carbon, Edwardsville, Troy, Collinsville, and St. Louis, MO areas. My interest in photography started at the age of eighteen as I was constantly reading books about photography and teaching myself all of the ins and outs of the craft through my own extensive research. When I was blessed with the ability to start my own family, my children became my first muse and they have acted as my inspiration ever since! Through years of practice and continuous education through workshops, classes, and photography summits, I was able to tremendously expand my own knowledge about photography, which is an ever-growing field that I am still consistently growing in! Along with being newborn safety certified, I am also a part of multiple photography education organizations, such as Accredited Professional Newborn Photographers International, Ana Brandt Baby Belly School, and Finding North Educational Resources for Photographers. 

I have been with my spouse, Ira, for fourteen years now and we will be getting married next year on our fifteenth anniversary. Together we have four amazing kids, with my oldest being Jodynne, whose passion is reading. My second child is Conner James, who unfortunately passed away at three months old. Conner James is the reason that I started my photography business because I now know how important capturing lasting memories through a photograph is. He made me realize that life and all of the beautiful moments that come and go so quickly deserve to be remembered forever, and now it's my mission to help others realize and actualize this too!

My rainbow baby is my daughter, Montanna. She is currently in love with photography (whoot, whoot!) and likes to help her momma with outdoor sessions sometimes. My youngest is my son, Dylan, who is all boy and enjoys playing video games on his tablet or driving around his little Hot Wheel cars.

I also have a precious fur baby who is a five year old service dog named Buddy. He is a forty pound Australian cattle dog (blue heeler) who does a great job helping me control my anxiety and being there for me when I need him. As a one year old rescue dog, Buddy was trained to remind me to take my medicine and calm me down if needed and he is now also my best friend.

In addition to photography, I also love to read and go swimming. I’m a big Harry Potter fan and I love watching Disney movies with my children and bingeing Grey's Anatomy in my down time. My favorite holiday is Christmas because of all of the extra time I get to spend with family (along with all of the yummy food traditions). I’m also a coffee addict and really enjoy good mexican food.

My favorite thing to do in life is my photography work, which I consider my life’s purpose. The best part of this rewarding job is being able to work with babies and children and learning all of their different, fun personalities in order to capture their authentic selves on camera. My children are my pride and joy and if you're anything like me, you believe that the little moments that make parenthood worth it deserve to be captured and kept forever. To be able to not only have great photos of your kids to show off your good genes to others, but also to have a physical memento of the most formative and fun years of your kid’s lives, is a blessing and should be available to everyone. Being a photographer is truly the most rewarding job, in my opinion, and I feel so honored to be able to practice this trade of creating lasting memories that you can hang in your home and cherish indefinitely.