Illinois
Senior portraits · Chicago
In short
Senior portraits in Chicago starts at $395: 90 min on location with a photographer who works in Chicago, and 40 edited photos delivered to a private gallery within 5 business days.
Why choose Senior portraits in Chicago?
Senior portraits in Chicago are a 90-minute session across two or three locations that delivers 40 retouched photographs, priced from $395. The Chicago senior calendar is short: the green outdoor months run from May to October, and late September usually brings the first color to the oaks along the lakefront. Most seniors want one frame that looks like the city and one that looks like nothing but trees. In the Chicago area that second frame often comes from the western suburbs, where 1,700 acres of collected trees sit beside the Naperville and Lisle neighborhoods many seniors live in.
Worth knowing about Chicago
The Morton Arboretum in Lisle sells photography permits that are good for exactly one hour, priced by party size with the photographer counted in it: $125 for one to four people, admission and parking included. A 90-minute Chicago senior session that uses the Arboretum therefore spends its permitted hour there and its remaining half hour somewhere else, and the permit date is bought when sales open on the first of the month, two months ahead.
What does the session in Chicago look like?
- The Morton Arboretum, Lisle
- Collected trees in every color in October, for the frame that needs no skyline at all.
- Promontory Point, Hyde Park
- Limestone steps for a seated pose and the skyline small in the distance for the city frame.
- Wicker Park or Logan Square streets
- Murals and storefronts for an outfit that looks like the senior’s own Saturday.
What does senior portraits in Chicago include?
- 40 retouched photographs
- Two to three locations in one session
- Unlimited outfit changes within the session
- Yearbook-format crop supplied to the school’s specification
- Private online gallery within 5 business days
- Print release for personal use
Permits at these locations: Promontory Point, Hyde Park: Chicago Park District permit required for professional photography.
FAQ — Senior portraits in Chicago
How does a Morton Arboretum permit work for Chicago senior portraits?
The Morton Arboretum requires a permit for all posed and formal photography and sells it in advance for a specific one-hour slot: $125 for a party of one to four, photographer included, or $50 for members. The fee covers admission and parking, and the slot can be moved up to three days ahead if bad weather threatens the senior session.
Can a Chicago senior session at the Morton Arboretum happen in December?
Earlier in the day only. During the Illumination light show, running from November 2026 through January 2027, The Morton Arboretum issues no photography permits between 4pm and 9pm, so a winter senior session there is booked for late morning or early afternoon, and the city half of the route is planned indoors.