Decatur Illinois Families | Summer Portrait Sessions with Sarah Jane

Well SJP summers are usually chock full of the latest senior class (hey class of 2022, we see you!), but whew boy is summer 2021 all about these stunning Central Illinois (and Missouri…. yes, even though I said I wasn’t staring work in Missouri until 2022, oooops… I did!) families!

I’ve gotten to celebrate not one, but TWO, 50th wedding anniversaries this summer by creating brand new family portraits for these lovely couples and the generations they’ve grown. Plus, I created my first ever 4th of July ‘Christmas’ cards for a brand new SJP family.

First up, to share today are a few of my favorites from the Kuhn family. I am just so grateful and thankful for them trusting me over the years. They have two seriously great kids, who are I guess really not ‘kids’ anymore now! And they are always such a pleasure to work with and create for. We just put the finishing touches on their family album which we selected to match Alex & Lindy’s senior albums. Plus, I cannot wait to see their final canvas selection above their mantle soon.

I’m so excited for the three image collection we designed for this next family’s wall. My favorite part is the little surprise in the palm of the littest’s hand…. a daddy long leg she found got to join them for the session. Dad says she loves them so it was a perfect little dose of personality that only a knowing eye could find! And we ended up with almost perfectly mirrored images of both girls that worked perfectly on either side of the main family portrait.

Last up today I get to share the Anderson/Jones family! These guys were all laughs on session and their energy was infectious. I’m excited to get their whole family portrait framed up in the next week so it can make it to it’s home on their walls.

| Miller Family | Central IL Family Portrait Studio |

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Today I get to share this beautiful family with you. I finished up their album design this week (check out the time lapse video of that below!) so their stunning metal wall collage and custom album will be headed home with them soon.

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I loved giving each kiddo their own time in the spotlight on session. Plus, giving all three siblings a chance to snuggle up and how adorable is that!?!?

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I love that the Miller’s chose our modern metal portraits for their wall. They will make these colors sing and mimic the backlit screens we spend our days looking at so have a bold rich look that is unique to our metal/glass options.

| Lemons Fall Family Portraits | Jefferson City, Missouri Photographer |

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Once or twice a year I make it a point to come back to my hometown to work. I was born and raised in Jefferson City, Missouri and while I don’t see us ever moving back it will always have a huge piece of my heart. It is, after all, the town that helped make me ME. It’s also where I started my photography business at the ripe old age of 16. It’s been a very long time since I’d done a session back at one of my original go-to locations the beautiful Governor’s garden so when we set the Lemons’ family session I knew that’s where I wanted to shoot.

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While your family session is all about the full family, we always make sure to take time to show off everyone in the family and all your relationships to each other because each one of you is kind of a big deal!

I’m an only child but am absolutely loving seeing the relationship of sisterhood between our two girls, so showing it off on session is a must.

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And at the end of every session I always make sure to ask if there’s anything at all that we haven’t done that YOU want to do. While it’s definitely my job to come up with the ideas and my goal is for you to not have to work on session one little bit, these are your images and if you have an idea we for sure will do it! And below was the girls’ idea for an image with their adorable pup and it’s just so fun I love it.

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If you’re a mid-Missouri family and would like portraits this year (or senior, couple, pet, etc) I will be coming back to your area at least once this summer. Email for date specifics and to reserve your time.

| Thomas Family Portraits in the SNOW | Decatur IL Photographer |

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Can you guys believe it’s SNOWING again today… At least it’s not full blown blizzard 368327 of the year. I’ve said it earlier in the season, I was for sure one of the ones LOVING all this snow. I haven’t worked in the snow this much for YEARS and we had the big fluffy beautiful fluffy kind that stuck around for days which let me just keep shooting in the snow which was SO much fun. But… now I’ve gone over to the dark side with everyone who’s absolutely tired of winter and ready for spring. After 60* this week and SUNSHINE which let me get out and go for a run outside for the first time this year now I’m so over winter and ready for all the sun and warmth (you know until it’s like 82* and I start complaining about being hot hahaha).

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The Thomas family was up for an adventure in the snow and I’m so glad they ventured out to join this day of sessions. This was attempt two as the first day we had scheduled sessions was literally snowmageddon and I made the call that everyone needed to stay home safe and we tried again the next day and with perfect results. Not only was there less wind but we got treated with a little bit more snow fall for a gorgeous winter wonderland look.

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Is warm weather more up your alley? Do you want a unique look for your family portraits? Spring is the perfect time for BEAUTIFUL family portraits with gorgeous outfits available as Easter looks hit the stores and with fall being the #1 season for portraits, spring gives your family a unique look (like the Thomas family) only far less cold! Our April/May calendars are already filling so give us a call now to start designing your session and feel free to pre-book online HERE.

| 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!).