Sadly, I have neglected posting on my blogs for several months. The good news is I have been busy with the usual photography work. Many fantastic families, and lots of amazing food. More recently, I have turned to doing black and white fine art portraits. Here is a sample to share.


Who says yellow don’t wear yellow? They must be out of their mind. While actually this was a fortunate combination of creamy skin tones, and a beautiful girl with blonde hair against a natural background highlighted by yellow flowers. I must admit as a rule of thumb yellow is not the best choice for most but there are several exceptions.
We had a great holiday season at Ally Gruener Photography. Once again, the overwhelming positive response from our custom holiday cards was outstanding. We are thrilled that so many families hired us and ordered our custom cards. With that in mind, we have decided that now is the time to bring our quality cards to the Valentine Holiday. With cards only featuring Ally Gruener Photographs, printed on quality cardstock, the cards are sure to be a huge hit. They are the perfect Valentine for children to give to their classmates and for parents to share with family. Below are some sample cards. The cards can be ordered in packages of 25 and are available for $40.00 plus shipping. Don’t miss out on this one…your child will be so thrilled you decided to order them.


I’m thrilled to announce the Berghoff Café Cookbook is now available for purchase. I photographed this cookbook for Andrews McMeel Publishing. Thanks to my terrific and very talented crew: assistant Alyssa Pazdan, Food Stylist Susie Skoog, Digital Technicians, Brian Eaves and Anthony Tortoriello, Lighting Technician David Monkhaus, and Prop Stylist Carey Thornton, the book is filled with wonderful photographs. The book may be purchased at most major booksellers including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. It is a fantastic holiday gift and a fun one to have at home for great cooking ideas and inspiration.
The first edition of the Kids Feeding Kids Cookbook is now available for sale. I understand copies are flying off the shelves. It makes the perfect Hostess Gift or Kids Birthday Gift at only $20 for the entire book. The book is now available for purchase in several retail stores and online at www.kidsfeedingkids.info. Below is the cover of the book, starring the Kids Feeding Kids Club founder, Carson. The book is amazing and sure to please all kids. Congratulations to the kids and parents who worked countless hours on this terrific book. 100% of the profits from this book, will go to the Northern Illinois Food Pantry. So, not only when you purchase this book do you get a great cookbook but also, you get the satisfaction of knowing that you helped feed the hungry in Northern Illinois. It is a “WIN WIN”!!

While on a recent photo trip to Barrington Illinois, I photographed many families and children. All of them will appear on their family Holiday Cards. I wanted to share all of the photographs with you but, it is so hard to choose and I don’t want to let the “cat out of the bag”. After all you may be one of the lucky ones to receive a card! So here are a few to enjoy for now…More will be coming on the blog. Thank you to all the great families who gave me the opportunity to capture their families.


I am so excited to share with you that the Kids Feeding Kids Cookbook is currently a feature story on Oprah’s Angel Network Website. If you would like to see the story, please log into (you will have to do a quick registration if you are not already a member) www.oprahsangelnetwork.org once there, go to feature stories and look for this photo of five year old Carson, the founder of Kids Feeding Kids. For those of you that have been living in a cave, Kids Feeding Kids Cookbook features recipes by kids for kids. All the money raised selling the cookbook will feed hungry kids in Northern Illinois. I am the exclusive photographer for the cookbook. There is still room for your child’s recipe in this book, and/or your funds for this cause. To join this great cause please visit: www.kidsfeedingkids.blogspot.com Congratulations to Carson and all the wonderful kids working on this book!!!

I was photographing a tennis tournament when this little spectator caught my attention. I may have missed a shot of the players but, I thought this one was a winner!!
Taken at a recent Fall Photo Shoot. This adorable family (both inside and out) arrived on time for their photo shoot. The family was so beautiful, including the darling daughter…..Too much fun. I loved her choice in wardrobe as layers add great texture and depth to the photos. Her scarf was so cute, I just had to go out and buy one for myself. Great choice!

by ally
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