| 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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| Morgan | Pageant Headshot Portrait Session |

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Checkout Morgan’s latest headshots! (And for fun, checkout her first headshot session with me HERE). I absolutely love the beauty and elegance and personality we try to create in these pageant headshot sessions. Portrait sessions are often just for you and your loved ones, to capture both the big milestones and everyday moments of your lives.

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But branding, commercial and headshot sessions like this are about portraying a message (personality, style, products, etc) to an audience who doesn’t already love you (like your family does!) so the pressure is on! My hope with pageant images is always to create a portrait that makes these gals stand out. An image where the model, Morgan in this case, is the most important element in the image with lighting and background selection choices here to enhance the mood and message we want to tell. We’re hoping these images grab the attention of some judges in her upcoming pageants. Good luck Morgan, we’re rooting for you!!

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Hair & Makeup by Laci

| Oladipupo Family | Beautiful Winter Sunset Family Portrait Session |

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With kids that don’t all live at home any longer scheduling family sessions can get complicated. We had a small window of time to get in the Oladipupo’s family portraits and with that window being in the first week of January we knew we were gambling on the weather… was it going to be a blizzard? Negative 12* outside? Windy? Well, honestly it could not have been any better! I’m not sure how we lucked out into the unseasonably warm sunny day we got but it was absolutely perfect!

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We just had Kolapo’s senior session earlier this year on their property and having the family session there was a no brainer. I always encourage families to think about having their sessions at home. The backyard, front porch, heck even the driveway can be perfect for your images and best of all it’s personal. It’s the place that’s a part of your family right now (or from the beginning, or forever!).

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And, of course, when we have everyone dressed up and together we always take a few minutes to photograph everyone solo (and mom and dad together too!).

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Don’t worry if it’s been a few years or a decade since your last family portrait. I know scheduling will be tough (I joke that it’s about 80% of my job!)… but finding the perfect time to photograph your whole family and working hard to take any and all stress out of the process is absolutely my job.

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| Christian Family | Decatur IL Family Portrait Session |

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Happy New Year ya’ll! It’s the first SJP blog post of 2020… new year, new decade! Does it feel like a fresh start for you? Does it feel like just another day? I’m a big fan of the ‘blank page’ feeling of the new year. And after busy busy busy season here with fall-Christmas sessions with all you beautiful people I enjoy the solo time in the office to catch my breath and work on the back end of things as well.

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I’m excited today to kick things off sharing one of our beautiful class of 2020 models, Alleson’s, family with you! They joined us for our ‘fall’ Limited Edition session this year (you know in the fall that never came, thanks 2019… hence all the beautiful greenery). I will seriously never forget this season when October started at 94* and looked/felt nothing like fall and then we got our first snow before Thanksgiving! #crazy

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We’ve had so many of you request early booking this year that I’ve just set our 2020 Limited Edition dates and booking is open now HERE. Our LE sessions are 15 or 30 minutes starting at just $45 and are available 4x a year:

  • Saturday, February 15th – Morning/Mid-Day In-Studio
  • Sunday, May 17th – Afternoon On-Location
  • Saturday, September 12th – Morning/Mid-Day On-Location
  • Saturday, October 17th – FALL Prime Date (Only 6 Sessions Available)

And coming soon we’ll have a bonus Christmas weekend with both Santa Experience sessions (we have a very special experience planned with Santa this year that’s far more than just a photo session!) as well as themed indoor and outdoor Christmas sets.