Sonshine Portrait Design is a second generation portrait studio operating out of Germantown Hills Illinois. Christie's passion for photography started at an early age working with her mother Barb who established the studio in 1977. Christie took over the shooting in 2002. Growing up surrounded by the love of photography, Christie is proud to carry on her mother's dream and now owns the business.

The studio, "Sonshine Portrait Design", was relocated to Germantown Hills in 2006 and in 2021 Christie's husband and stepdad built an addition on to the home. While newborns were Christie's specialty, she has developed a love for empowering women through boudoir portraiture. Christie feels that by getting to know each client individually, she can create a product as unique as they are. The end result is a portrait tailor made for each client. Christie's talent for design, light, and final composition to her art work sets her apart from her competition. Personality and attention to detail keeps clients coming back. 

Christie, holds the Professional Photographers of America, "Master of Photography" degree, "Photographic Craftsman" degree and is a Certified Professional Photographer. She is a member of Professional Photographers of America. She has served on many committees through PPA over the past several years.

Since 2006, Christie has won numerous awards for her photography on a local, state, district and international level. These awards include the prestigious Fuji Masterpiece Award, 3 Kodak Gallery Awards, 2 CPP awards, 2 Lexjet awards and many others. She has been part of team USA competing in the World Photographic Cup!! Her work has been featured and published in the PPA International Loan Collection, PPA magazine and Lensational magazine. She has also been named in the top ten photographers for Illinois several years.

Christie is now speaking and sharing the studio's success with other photographers across the country. Giving back to the profession that has given her so much.