Tag: Missouri Photographer

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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.

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| 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.

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| Jessie + Derek | Engagement Session | Columbia, MO |

Guess what?!?! My beautiful cousin got MARRIED! I had the honor of photographing these two tie the knot last year and now that all their guests got to enjoy their guestbook I get to share/show it off to you here (and you’ll get to see their wedding images soon too).

I’ve said it before (and I’ll likely say it again) but I LOVE our guestbook albums for wedding days. We designed one for our big day and just this past week I got it out to show a client and had fun flipping back through it to see not only our images but all the sweet notes left by our friends and family on those pages too. This is a product that lets you share and enjoy your engagement images for years and to remember not only your sweet relationship but also all those who shared in your wedding day.

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| Decatur IL Small Business | SoundCheck Music Center|

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sarah jane photography small business feature, soundcheck music, music store, music supply, decatur il, central Illinois,

It’s time to feature yet another amazing small business right here in Decatur, IL: Sound Check Music! I was introduced to Sound Check a couple months ago when an assignment for Thrive Entertainment Guide called for me to get my hands on some music equipment. I posed the question to my facebook friends/fans to find out who they recommended and Sound Check and their staff received raving recommendations and I can see why. Everyone I encountered at Sound Check was helpful, polite, professional and inviting. I felt right at home and was very well taken care of and was honestly blown away by the selection they offer.

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The Details:  Bill Cunningham, Owners at SoundCheck Music Center | In Business: 25 Years

Hours: Monday – Friday 10:00-6:00, Saturday 10:00-5:00, Closed Sunday | Location: 1481 W King St, Decatur, IL 62552 | Phone: (217) 422-4455

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Tell us about your business… What do you do? We offer Decatur area musicians a wide variety of services including sales, service, rentals & lessons. Our Showroom has a large selection of items including: Guitars (Electric & Classical), Drums, Amps, Keyboards, Digital Pianos, Band Instruments, Pro Audio & Video Recording Equipment, Software, Lighting, Sheet Music, & much more. Private lessons are our specialty with comfortable waiting areas for parents!

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What makes your business unique/special? We are family owned and care about each and every customer that comes through our doors. 

That care is absolutely felt when you walk through the doors at SoundCheck. Every time I walked in I was greeted with a smile, welcomed and helped promptly. They provided GREAT customer service even when I wasn’t purchasing a thing! 

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What item/service on your menu or in your shop do you just LOVE and think everyone needs? Keyboards!  We are the largest keyboard dealer for miles and we are a one-stop shop for musicians.   We teach, sell and care for the musicians of Central Illinois.

In what way have you gone above/beyond in the past for a customer?  As a store we have tried our best to always put our customers first.  This means making home visits for sales to making sure that a customer is happy with the service from SoundCheck.  I remember times some of our associates have come in after hours for customers so that they are able to buy a cable for a gig. 

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What tool/equipment/or other vendor could you not imagine doing business without? Why? We have a great relationship with some of the leading manufacturers in the industry but one of our favorites is Craig from the Music People.  He assists us day in and day out with a large list of different companies.  He is a great friend and a great mentor for us and we would not know where we would be without Craig.

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What other local business do you just LOVE? Why?  The Brass Horn in Downtown Decatur, we try to have the same mind set on customer service.

Introduce us to your STAFF… 

Bill Cunningham, Owner

Adam Cunningham, Bass Instructor/Sales Associate

Alex Kidd, Sales Associate

John Patrick, Sales Associate

Tyler Bethard, Sales Associate

Graig Statsitcky, Drum Instructor

Terry Ledbetter, Guitar Instructor/ Sales Associate

Gay McCoy, Voice/Piano Instructor

Kristi Crawford, Violin Instructor

Alex Manfredo, Commercial Voice

sarah jane photography small business feature, soundcheck music, music store, music supply, decatur il, central Illinois,

What are you passionate about outside of your business? 

SoundCheck would not be successful if it was not for our extreme Christian beliefs.  We are a Christian store and many of our employees are passionate about a church in the central Illinois area.  

Describe your PERFECT day… 

My perfect day starts when a new musician comes in our store and decides to begin a new instrument.  This means taking lessons from one of our highly trained instructor and picking out the instrument of their dreams.  I love these days because it is a day where we have discovered a new customer and most importantly we found a new musician.  At SoundCheck we are developing our customers to be successful musicians.  This could range from playing on the big stage to learning to have fun and be a musician!

 sarah jane photography small business feature, soundcheck music, music store, music supply, decatur il, central Illinois,

SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS:  If you’d like to have your business featured on the SJP blog please visit the following link to download the information/questionnaire form which you can email back to mail@sjanephotography.com. We are now booking for 2014 features and showcase one business each month. Your feature includes FREE 20 minute location shoot by Sarah Jane Photography, blog and facebook feature and web images to use on your online spaces (facebook/website/etc).  Our business features are now also being published monthly at www.redecatur.com!

Download the information here:https://www.dropbox.com/s/urr7zdkh64szon7/MarketingBusinessFeatures.doc