Nicole Defilippis is an experienced lifestyle photographer who is deeply uncomfortable writing in the third person. She’s lived her whole life in and around the Chicago area and can easily suggest photo shoot locations ranging from elegant rooftops, the perfect skyline shot, the diviest of dive bars and most artfully-graffitied walls. She works hard to make the most of her time with you, incorporating unique touches that convey personality and depth. She could tell you she got her start 11 years ago when she bought her first DSLR (a Canon Digital Rebel) and started photographing anything and everything. However, the truth is that her passion for documenting the most profound moments started years ago, with a 35 mm point and shoot camera that she would never leave the house without for fear of missing a moment with the important people in her life at time. For Nicole, a sense of urgency was ignited around artfully documenting proof a person’s journey, capturing a family’s transition from one of two people into one of three, four, five and beyond. But lifestyle photography in Nicole’s world isn’t simply about styling a perfectly posed moment, it’s about truth (and no, that doesn’t mean an album full of double chins). The truth in your story might be the quiet baby, posing still in a carefully selected headband, but it might be those first few days at the hospital when new life was messy and sometimes complicated. Your story is just as much marching into your reception to Soul Train as it is wearing your great-great-grandmother’s earrings down the aisle.