It’s Hunter’s moment in the spotlight on the SJP blog today! She’s a senior at Central A & M and is super talented. Not only does she play both school and club volleyball and cheer but is also a fantastic artist! She brought in a selection of her favorite art pieces for her session so I was able to create a few images that combined her art with mine.
Check out that game face!
This sunset image was probably my favorite combination. It completely took this image to a different level and my favorite part is that it made it much more unique and personal to her.
I did also really like the combo of the wolf and eye with this BoxDropsbySJP backdrop in a similar tone. Two of Hunter’s art pieces, plus a backdrop design by Punch & Sizzle all combined for my image… it’s like art overload!
Hunter’s also a big fan of mixing up her lip color so I loved the idea of doing a series of images to highlight that. My favorite ended up being the dark lip in black and white which is so bold yet a bit classic.
And don’t forget to check out her Facebook Album where you can get a closer look and give her some love with your likes/comments.
I’m thrilled to show off Macy and Tyler to you today! With our recent warm up in temperatures I am itching for some greenery like this soon. I had a blast photographing these two on a beautiful morning out at Allerton Park. Since they’ll be getting married in downtown Decatur and we know we’ll have a lot of urban scenery on the wedding day we decided to get some variety and get out into the greenery of Allerton for their engagement session (plus, added bonus was we worked in a bit of brick/stone textures with the mansion area too!).
These two are so sweet together and their session was super relaxed and fun but I just LOVE how they both rock that model face (see below). Smiles, cuddles and giggles are fun but whew they are owning that serious face.
When Macy pulled out their second outfit for the session I knew immediately I wanted to get them in the greenhouse where the bright white and windows always give a subtle blue hue which was perfect with Tyler’s polo. Plus the ivy around the greenhouse was perfect that day!
Don’t forget to head over to their Facebook Album to give them some love with your likes/comments and stay tuned this July to see their wedding images!!!
Today I get to share a HUGE small business based right here in Decatur. Just this last month I had the privilege to photograph their 50th anniversary celebration complete with a open house banquet/dinner party and a Bose giveaway contest which all their attendees could participate. And I have to tell you that spending time with them over those two days of festivities I just LOVE the atmosphere they’ve cultivated. There is an attention to detail that I haven’t seen in a lot of places with trucks, a warehouse and offices that are pristine.
Being very goal driven myself I also loved seeing their goals for the year/month broken down and posted throughout the offices as well as their overall visions for each department displayed largely (like 8 feet tall guys) in their meeting room. There’s a pride and fellowship among the employees and owners that cannot be overlooked and it makes it a pleasure to work with them.
The Details: Skeff Distributing Company, Inc. | In Business: We’ve been in business since January 6, 1967. Over 50 years!
Hours: Office Hours are Monday-Thursday 8am-5pm, Friday 8am-4pm. | Location: We distribute to 5 markets in East Central Illinois: Decatur, Springfield,Champaign, Danville, and Taylorville.| Phone: 217-877-3774
Tell us about your business… What do you do? Skeff Distributing Company, Inc. was incorporated on January 6, 1967 to serve as the distributor for Anheuser-Busch, Inc. products. 48 years later, we have expanded our footprint to include the counties of Macon, Menard, Piatt, Champaign, Vermilion, portions of Logan and Christian, DeWitt, Sangamon, Moultrie, Macoupin, Montgomery, Morgan, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, and Iroquois in Central Illinois.
The company currently has 27 delivery routes in the Decatur, Springfield, Danville, Champaign-Urbana, and Taylorville markets to service around 1,800 customers. Team Skeff has expanded to include over 100 employees (both union and non-union) and distributes 70+ brand families.
What makes your business unique/special? Skeff Distributing is in a special position in business and industry because the product by its very nature is centered on good times and social gatherings. Not too many other businesses can say the same!
What tool/equipment/or other vendor could you not imagine doing business without? We could not do business without our suppliers, especially Anheuser-Busch our main supplier, or our customers. Without them, we would lack products to sell to our retail accounts and, by extension, their customers would have nothing to consume!
A few years ago I had the chance to work with Skeff for the first time to create the large (6 feet tall) red focal canvas you see in their lobby (pictured below). This was a fun and different project for me though I often design large pieces and collages for my client homes this was the first in a while for a commercial office.
One of the coolest things to see as a consumer is the massive Skeff warehouse with stacks and stacks and stacks (and stacks…..) of beverages literally as far as you can see! I know I take for granted the fact that I can walk into any grocery store or gas station and pick up my drink of choice… well this, my friends, is what makes that possible!
And you cannot overlook the amazing memorabilia that adorns nearly every space at Skeff. This is an amazing look back through this history of some of their main suppliers:
Lastly, I’m excited to share with you the Skeff 50th anniversary video:
It’s time to show off Hannah’s senior portraits! We had some pretty stellar ivy (some still green and some already changing for the fall) for Hannah’s session and this girl rocked every pose. What made Hannah’s session the most fun for me was her excitement.. I’m not sure who had more fun on session, her or me, but it was a blast.
After exploring a bit of the urban areas for some great texture and the ivy we popped into the studio to create a few classic looks for her too, including a few on some of my absolute favorite BoxDropsbySJP backdrops too!
Big thanks to Katie at Mint Salon too for another beautiful hair/makeup job! Be sure to pop over to Hannah’s Facebook Album to give her some love with your likes/comments.
Bonus Friday POST!!! I’m so ready to show off Abbey & Andrew to you guys that I couldn’t wait until next Tuesday for the usual post. These two were referred over by the Beasley’s and I’m so glad they were. We had a great time on quite a chilly fall day creating engagement portraits for them.
While I like what we created for them downtown (especially love that they showed up with Coffee Connection coffee in hand!) I absolutely love what we found/created down at Lake Decatur. Believe it or not we found all this lovely fall color at their DECEMBER session.
Check out how perfectly these two coordinated their outfits… heck even her eyes match it!
Since I knew when we pulled into the parking lot that the best color I saw was at the top of this very steep hill, I decided to make the best of that climb up and try something a little out of the box with a little silhouette image.
You can head over to their Facebook Album to give them some love with your likes/comments.
It’s time to show off Hannah’s senior portraits! We had some pretty stellar ivy (some still green and some already changing for the fall) for Hannah’s session and this girl rocked every pose. What made Hannah’s session the most fun for me was her excitement.. I’m not sure who had more fun on session, her or me, but it was a blast.
Big thanks to Katie at 
Bonus Friday POST!!! I’m so ready to show off Abbey & Andrew to you guys that I couldn’t wait until next Tuesday for the usual post. These two were referred over by the 
