Light and Chapel

Maurice Strickland, who goes by Sonny, has worked as a photographer since 2003, in commercial portraiture, fashion and weddings. He has covered New York and Paris fashion weeks, and his wedding count is past 200. Light and Chapel is now a small team, with an associate photographer and a filmmaker alongside him, and proposals have their own planning service and a set of location guides on the site.

Of the ways they'll stage it, the friendly-tourist routine is the best. The photographer walks up like any visitor offering to snap a couple's photo, puts you both in position and gives the cue, and in a city full of tourists nobody looks twice at that. You can also do it the other way round and ask them for the photo yourself, fold the proposal into what looks like an ordinary photo session, or have them stay back and shoot from a distance. Every booking runs straight on into a short engagement session.

One of the studio's favorite spots is the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park, a hidden garden of stone paths, prairie planting and small waterfalls, where the winding layout keeps the photographer out of sight. There's no skyline view from inside, but North Avenue Beach and the South Pond are a short walk away for portraits. Weekends in spring and fall get busier.