BLOG – Page 30 – the latest in-studio & on-location MO, IL and beyond

April 26, 2018April 25, 2018

| The ArtFarm | Decatur IL Small Business |

The Details: Peggy S. Baity, Owner | The ArtFarm | In Business: January 16, 2018

Office Hours: Tuesday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm | Saturday 10:00am-2:00pm | Location: 252 N Park Street, Decatur IL 62523 | Phone: (217) 330-9664 | Website: https://www.facebook.com/artfarmdecatur/

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What do you do: I own and operate The ArtFarm and the 11:11 Ankrom Gallery.

What makes your business unique/special? I feature handmade goods by Midwestern artisans with a concentration on as local as possible. I also curate monthly gallery shows that showcase local artists as well. I’m all about promoting the magic that happens right here under everyone’s noses.

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What item/service on your menu or in your shop do you just LOVE and think everyone needs? Anything locally made, which is everything in here! When you support local artists, you’re making the world turn in your community.

What is the coolest thing you’ve ever had a client do for you? I had one of my artists make and deliver my family dinner! I was in the process of opening, she knew how stretched for time I was, but still like to have my family seated around the dinner table every night. She made that happen for me. I also had a friend bring me breakfast on a very busy Saturday, not to mention friends and family that have stepped up to help without even being asked.

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What tool/equipment/or other vendor could you not imagine doing business without? Why? My camera. People in far-off places have seen my photos online and purchase items. I love coloring outside of the lines.

What other local business do you just LOVE? Why? I’m enamored by Decatur Brew Works, Blue Brew, The River, Speakeasy Records, and good ol’ GB’s. The first are new and looking to fill a void in our community, and GB’s has been a staple in my life since they opened within walking distance of my childhood home!

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Tell us about YOU: I began my research by producing a couple pf pop up markets, PopLocal, just to get a feel for what was missing in the area. Turns out, everything was! There is SO much local talent with little or no outlet to be seen and so much regional talent that a big part of Decatur isn’t aware of, so I am filling both of those voids!

When did you know you wanted to go into this business? High school. Really.

What are you passionate about outside of your business? My kids, gardening, music, cooking, nature.

Describe your PERFECT day: Being off on a travel adventure exploring different communities!

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See our other past small business features to connect with more businesses in our area:

See more on our Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter @sjanephotog, Instagram @sjanephotograhy, and Snapchat @sjanephotog

If you’d like to have YOUR small business featured for FREE on the SJP blog (or know a small business we should feature) you can find details HERE! These features are 100% free and we’d love to feature you next.

April 24, 2018

| Logan | Maroa-Forsyth High School | Senior Portraits |

Today it’s time to show off Logan! I’ve had the chance to work with his family a couple times over the past few years to create their family portraits as well as his sister’s senior portraits. And this year it was Logan’s turn. Being a tri-sport athlete we worked in a few sessions over the past year to fall within each sport season.

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We also included his girlfriend during our spring session and they are just adorable together! Ryan and I dated in high school and I SO wish we’d gotten images together at one of our senior sessions (but so glad we have all our formal dance portraits to giggle at now!).

April 20, 2018

| Parrott Girls | Headshots | Decatur IL Studio Session |

I’m excited today to show off these two beautiful sisters. Their momma contacted me to get a session booked quickly as they both were home on spring break and Victoria needed some updated professional portraits as she’ll be graduating soon and going on to get her law degree. She currently needed some updated images for her LinkedIn profile as she’ll be working to get internships and such in the coming years. And it was the perfect chance to get some headshots of her younger sister while we were at it too. We were one gal short as their other sister’s spring break didn’t match up so she was still away at school but I hope to get to meet her for family portraits soon.

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Be sure to head over to our Facebook page and IG to give these girls some love!

April 18, 2018

| TaNia | MacArthur High School Senior Model Portraits | Class of 2018 |

Today I get to share the lovely Ms. TaNia with you all! She and her momma have been so fun to work with this year and I’ve loved having her on our model team. You may remember some of her BFF session images as well as her model debut but today I get to share the whole shebang!

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We started her session in downtown Decatur. I just love the classic and elegant look of columns and limestone and downtown offers so much variety we mixed in some brick, glass for some fun reflections and even some more natural looks in central park! Check out TaNia’s style too. I love the bright bold colors of her first outfit and the striking red dress looks like something right out of Hollywood.

Once we finished up downtown we headed out to the always beautiful Allerton! Be sure to head over to our Facebook Page and IG to give TaNia some love and see her album design soon!

April 12, 2018

| Violet | Pageant Headshots |

Today I get to share a recent session with the lovely Violet! If you’ve been around the blog recently you’ve seen we’ve been busy with professional headshots for some upcoming graduates at Richland Community College and the Decatur professional community and even the senior class at Warrensburg-Latham High School. Well, another really fun headshot session I get to do every so often are pageant headshots (like these last fall with Rebekah).

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Ms. Violet needed some updated images for a pageant coming up this summer so we brought her into the studio for our quick and simple 15-minute headshot session. My favorite part about these sessions is that they are an all-inclusive one hour appointment. Of course, we start with a quick phone consult so we can plan outfits/backdrops/hair & makeup, etc and then the day of the session we have 15 minutes of camera time (which usually allows for 1-2 outfits!) and then in just a few minutes we’re viewing those images on our 106″ projection screen to select your favorites and design your order! And just like that, you’re work is done and I get to work editing and artworking your selections.

With our and our kiddos busy schedules this is the perfect way to get a quick updated portrait all in one day!

Good luck to Violet in her upcoming pageants! Be sure to give her some love on our facebook page & IG!