| Beckman Family Portraits & Graduation/Going Away Party | Forsyth IL |

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Today, I get to share the Beckman family with you. Though I hadn’t had a chance to meet them more than a couple times in passing over our almost decade here I can tell you that these folks (Chris in particular) are a huge part of our story and life/business trajectory. How/why?!? Well, Chris is the man who hired my husband right out of college. That job brought him (and my extension, myself and SJP) to Decatur and we are both so thankful for that. We’ve found so much here including a wonderful community, friends, success in both our careers and it’s amazing to think about how much that one little yes that Chris gave my husband (who was not the first or last person he’s hired over the years I’m sure) effected the story we’ve written so far. But, this post is NOT about us or our story (just had to give the appreciation we feel while we had the chance!), instead today’s post is really about them and their family and their journey here in Decatur and their next chapter as well.

I was honored when Donna called me to be a part of creating their last family portraits in their home. The home where they’ve raised their children, celebrated milestones and invited friends to share in them for years. This last milestone was both a graduation and a going away part and the place was packed with their friends and family here to celebrate them! 

With our busy schedules it makes sense to combine occasions like these when everyone’s coming together already with a family portrait session to create images for everyone too. We not only did a session for the Beckman’s but also were there for their guests and extended family to get portraits too, plus to photograph candids of the guests enjoying themselves and it was an absolute blast. 

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| Marie + Ernie | Decatur IL Wedding Photographer |

Guys, I get to share with you a simply GORGEOUS wedding today! I hadn’t photographed at the beautiful Holy Family Church since Marie’s cousins wedding so it was a treat to be back. Every wedding I’ve done there has been so elegant.

Though Marie & Ernie selected a mostly digital collection, I decided the style of their wedding was perfect to showcase a brand new album style we’ve created that is a throwback to more classic albums. Fully customizable, of course, with beautiful cover materials these albums combine 2-3 images per page to tell the story of the most important moments of your wedding day.

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For this sample album we selected a combo of a wood grain as a nod to the floral and natural vibe but in contrasting light/dark tones on the album/box to pull in the modern and elegant edge.

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| Kolapo | Senior Guy Portraits | Class of 2019 | Decatur IL |

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It’s Kolapo’s day in the spotlight on the blog! One fun things about senior guy sessions is that their wardrobe changes are typically a little quicker than our senior gals, so we tend to be able to fit a LOT of work into a single session! We kicked things off with Kolapo at his home (they have some gorgeous land with a fun red barn) and that’s always a great plan for the family pets so they are comfortable in their own space. And can I just tell you I fell in love with Winston.

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| Williams Winter Family Portrait Session in the SNOW | Decatur IL Photographer |

Random, bonus Monday blog post because I didn’t catch an error in this publishing last week as usual. But this is fitting today as we all try to unthaw in this 1* icy and snowy morning. I might be finally coming around to all you guys lamenting the snow and begging for spring (my feet are freezing today and my car doors froze closed!). Anyways, the snow IS still pretty…. see!!!

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I got to photograph Kelly & Jacob’s wedding this past year and they decided to hang on to their free engagement session to use this winter as a family session and I’m so glad they did. Roger and I had a blast playing in the snow (mini snow dust fight may have gone down). And even though it was cold, it was so pretty!

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I’m excited for their full image box to be headed home this week so they can share all their favorite images with friends and family. Our image box is a really fun twist on an album which we recommend often to make sure you have a beautiful space to keep/share all your favorite images in one place. The image box is a custom box featuring your favorite image on the cover/inside which we fill with 40 of your favorite images! These you can then rotate through image frames in your home while still having a special place to keep everything together.

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Our 2019 calendar is OPEN for your family sessions! No matter the season you have envisioned for your family portraits you can call us now to book your consultation so we can work with you to design your session and reserve your spot on the calendar (especially if you like the idea of a sunset session like these guys!).

| Lynch Family Portraits | Decatur IL | Sarah Jane Photography |

Omg the session I have to share with you today has me grinning again just uploading the images (you’ll see why when you get a load of these faces!). We had SO much fun on Tiffanie’s session. I mean playing with these kiddos how could you not have a great time?!?!

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I met Tiffanie when we featured the Mt. Zion Convention Center as one of our featured small businesses and not long after that she got in touch to schedule a session for her kiddos and I’m so glad she did.

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We got her in for a quick session as part of our Limited Edition session event. These sessions are perfect bite-sized versions of our full portrait experiences. We know you don’t always need over an hour of portrait time (I mean even my kids who are no stranger to the camera don’t have nearly an hour’s worth of good behavior in them … #toddlermom #truth). So 4 times a year we offer our Limited Edition 15 or 30 minute sessions which are designed to be simple, quick and still full of everything you’d expect from an SJP session! PLUS, these sessions include a whopping 50% off (yes, you heard that right!) of our Limited product line.

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If you’d like a taste of the SJP portrait experience this year and like the idea of getting everything you want in less time than it takes to watch your favorite TV drama, then head on over to sjanephotography.com to BOOK NOW!

2019 Limited Edition Session dates: Saturday, May 4 | Saturday, Sept 14 | Saturday, Nov 16th!