BLOG – Page 28 – the latest in-studio & on-location MO, IL and beyond

June 19, 2018June 10, 2018

| Jacey | Meridian High School Senior Portraits | Decatur IL |

I cannot tell you how much I LOVED Jacey’s session! Of course Katie did a perfect job on her hair and makeup and we kicked things off downtown for a little urban grunge look which I loved with her volleyball net and her classy urban styles. Her and her momma were so much fun to hang out with and the session flew by, PLUS at her second location I got to meet her two super sweet and polar opposite pups!!

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One little thing I LOVE about being a photographer who favors additional lighting on our sessions is that it gives us a chance to create a variety of looks in one location. The next two sets of images were taken basically in the same place on the same white brick wall but with some flash we were able to completely mix up the look to make things a bit darker and edgier for her volleyball uniform and make things a little more light and airy and natural to fit her next look. All without needing to spend 20 minutes to walk to a different location! We even used the same rolled fence in the below left and above left image with completely different lighting to achieve a good variety in her volleyball team photos. One of my favorite things to do on session is shoot as many unique looks as we can in just a few hours. Most of my seniors choose our 2 or 4 hour sessions and we get a TON of variety in that time to show off all their eclectic personalities.

Plus we worked in images with her super fun car (I sure wish my first car had been half this cool but I definitely loved it just as much!).

We are now booking summer and fall senior sessions and our calendar is filling faster than ever. Sessions can be reserved HERE and you can call/email/message us anytime to setup your consultation to learn more about what we can create for YOUR senior session!

June 14, 2018June 8, 2018

| Prom Portraits | Decatur IL | Sarah Jane Photography |

This year we joined in with some other wonderful local businesses to provide an epic prom prize for one lucky high schooler and Ms. Morgan was the winner! Our part of her prize was a 30 minute prom-day session with her friends. We met this gorgeous group at the beautiful Scovill Gardens and it was fun to have two of my past seniors (Kaitlyn and Holly) in the group too!

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June 12, 2018June 8, 2018

| Hannah | Senior Portraits Class of 2018 | Decatur IL |

Well technology issues are absolutely NO fun but I supposed it was about time after years and years of nothing but little blips for us to have a major melt down crash of epic proportions and that’s exactly what happened last month to our blog and then website (which super fun perk, includes our email!). Luckily, a couple friends of mine from college have a small business web/design business so I was able to get them on the job and let them work their magic. And I’m so so so excited to say that this week we are back up and running and I have a TON of sessions to share with you from the weeks we missed starting today with Hannah’s first half of her senior session!

We kicked off Hannah’s session at her beautiful home. I LOVE having senior (and family) sessions at client’s homes because it adds a level of personalization that we just cannot get anywhere else. Even if we aren’t showcasing the home (like we often do for family sessions) you’ll still always know that those were your trees, garden, yard, etc even decades later when you look back on the images.

Plus, these guys kept a little hidden gem up their sleeves and when I pulled in and saw this beautiful classic car I knew we had to work it into the session. It wasn’t originally planned but it worked so so well with Hannah’s outfit and added one more unique element to her session.

After finishing up at her home we headed down the street for a bit more urban look and I love the locations we found!

One super fun thing for me with parents on session is creating something they saw happening but had no idea was actually happening! The below images was a fun example of that. To start this shot I went back into the alley behind Hannah to setup the light… to the untrained eye I was basically meddling around in a dirty back corner of an alleyway. Then at Hannah’s premiere here mom saw these images and goes “OOOOOO that’s what you were doing back there!” and she loved them. We laughed about how she could not figure out what in the world I was doing back in the corner before shooting this.

We’ve got the second half of Hannah’s session scheduled later this summer but we wanted to fit in the first half before she graduated. Stay tuned for more later this summer! And as always a big thank you to the talented Katie at Mint Salon for the beautiful hair/makeup.

June 7, 2018June 7, 2018

| Chris Bradley | Decatur IL Music Performer |

I’m excited to share a few recent images of Chris Bradley who is a local lawyer and musican I’ve been working with for a couple years to create promo images for. This year we not only created the new promo images for his posters and website but also a headshot for him to use in his law practice. It’s always great to collaborate with Chris as he’s always got a plan/vision in mind for what we want to create and then I get to put my spin on things and add in my pose/positioning thoughts to really make it a duel collaboration.

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You can see some past images for Chris here. And check out some of his upcoming performances:

5/18/2018 8:00 PM Walnut Street Winery, 309 S. Walnut Street, Rochester, IL

6/8/2018 7:00 PM New Moon Café, 3755 E. William Street Road, Decatur, IL

6/9/2018 TBA Warrensburg Fire Department Chicken Fry, Warrensburg, IL

7/13/2018 7:00 PM New Moon Café, 3755 E. William Street Road, Decatur, IL

7/20/2018 8:00 PM Walnut Street Winery, 309 S. Walnut Street, Rochester, IL

7/27/2018 8:00 PM Monarch Brewing Co., 212 S. Independence, Monticello, IL

8/10/2013 7:00 PM New Moon Café, 3755 E. William Street Road, Decatur, IL

8/24/2018 8:00 PM Walnut Street Winery, 309 S. Walnut Street, Rochester, IL

9/14/2018 7:00 PM New Moon Café, 3755 E. William Street Road, Decatur, IL

May 17, 2018

| Carly + Tyler | Engagement Portraits | Decatur IL |

Take a look at Carly & Tyler! I’m so excited to be photographing their wedding this coming fall and today I get to share a few of their favorite engagement images with you all. I met Carly a couple years ago when I created her senior images and I was thrilled when she called to talk about her wedding day.

We wanted a sunset look for their session but timing wasn’t working out with our schedules so instead we opted for SUNRISE! While not many clients brave the early morning hours for this look I just LOVE it and it lets us get really unique looks including the first ever sunrise I’ve photographed over this field at sandscreek.. the light is just not the same here any other time of day!

But as you can tell by their first outfits this session was a bit chilly so we opted to spend the second half of their session here in the studio where we could all stay much warmer! There’s always something so classic and timeless in studio portraits, especially black and white.