Carolyn Carmel Studio, LLC

09/16/2026

The Chapman family 💛

Give me a family who is completely willing to play along with my ideas and I am a happy photographer!

We did the traditional family photos, all the different combinations, lots of laughing and loving on Grandma... and then we played a little. That motion blur photo of Mom + Dad standing perfectly still while their boys moved around them might be one of my favorites from the whole session!

And can we talk about Grandma in that first photo?! Surrounded by her family, getting absolutely smothered in kisses... THAT is the good stuff.

Family photos don’t have to be stiff or perfect. Sometimes the photos that show who you are together end up being the ones you love the most. 💛

09/15/2026

This is why I will forever shoot THROUGH the flowers. 😍

That little bit of blur and color in the foreground makes it feel like we’re peeking through the garden…and Kailyn absolutely understood the assignment.

09/13/2026

One of those senior sessions where the location, the outfits and the girl just WORKED. 🤍

We wandered through the field, tucked ourselves under the willow trees and let Isla do what she does best in front of my camera. I love how soft and effortless this whole set feels.

And yes… photographing my own senior still feels a little surreal. 🥹

09/13/2026

Your family photos can be beautiful AND fun.

We’ll get the big group photo for the wall... but then I want the rest.

The couples loving on each other. Everyone laughing. Hair blowing everywhere.

Because years from now, I have a feeling those are the photos that are going to bring you right back to what being together actually felt like.

The Chapman family was SO much fun to photograph. 💛

09/11/2026

THIS is why I love senior sessions that tell a little bit of their story. 🤍

Bring me the boat. The sport. The instrument. The family property. The place you spend every summer. Whatever feels like YOU right now.

For Isla... that meant bare feet, a sailboat and a summer evening on the water. ⛵️

And I’m pretty sure we couldn’t have picked a more perfect setting for her.

09/11/2026

THIS is what happens when a branding session gets to feel like the people behind the business. 💗

Meet the sisters behind Kali’s Kleaning Services!

They came into this wanting photos that showed their strong relationship, their professionalism and how seriously they take being trusted in their clients’ homes...but they also wanted something with a little edge.

So we took over downtown Muskegon with blazers, denim, direct flash, parking garages, stairwells and one VERY pink blazer...and had way too much fun with it. 😂

Kali’s Kleaning Services has been serving the White Lake area and beyond since 2023, offering residential and commercial maintenance cleaning, deep cleans, move out cleans and new construction cleaning. And one of my favorite things they told me? Around 90% of their business has grown through word of mouth. That says so much about the relationships they’ve built with their clients.

I’m sharing more of their story and LOTS of favorites from this session on the blog today!

And if your own business photos feel a little too corporate, too generic or just not very you anymore...this is your reminder that branding photos can look like YOU. 💗

An edgy downtown Muskegon branding session for Kali’s Kleaning Services, a sister-run cleaning business serving the White Lake area and West Michigan.

09/10/2026

This is your reminder that birthday photos do NOT have to mean balloons and a cake. 🩰

She wanted to celebrate hers doing something she loves... dancing at the beach.

We started in the sunshine, chased that golden light, played with movement and fabric, and stayed long enough to get that incredible Lake Michigan silhouette at sunset.

THAT is my kind of birthday session. 😍

09/10/2026

One more for Baby Woller because I’m just not ready to be done sharing this session. 🤍

There is something so sweet about photographing those last few weeks when it’s still just the two of you… knowing everything is about to change in the very best way.

The flowers, the wind, that belly, and then the sky decided to show off at the very end. 🥹

Such a beautiful little chapter to have forever.

09/09/2026

We heard thunder almost as soon as I got out of the car.

I offered to reschedule... they said, “Let’s go for it.”

And LOOK what the night gave us.

Stormy skies. Rain. Beautiful golden light. A double rainbow. And one absolutely breathtaking sunset.

But when E told me afterward what that double rainbow meant to her... this session became about so much more than pretty light.

Their story is on the blog now, and this is one I think you’re going to want to read. 🤍

The W Family | A Rainy Golden Hour Maternity Session in Montague, Michigan

And yes... I would choose the rain all over again.

A dreamy maternity session in Montague, Michigan filled with stormy skies, a double rainbow, golden light and sunset. See this beautiful outdoor maternity session by Carolyn Carmel Photography.

09/09/2026

There are some outfits that just belong at the beach... ❤️

The bold red, the dune grass, Lake Michigan and ALL that wind... it gave us the prettiest mix of soft portraits and movement.

I love senior sessions that have a little bit of everything... pretty, playful, windy, messy and completely YOU.