Decatur – Page 12

March 3, 2017February 23, 2017

| Abby S | LSA Senior Model Class of 2017 | Decatur IL |

I’m so glad the time has come to show off and share Abby’s full senior portrait experience with you! The lovely Ms. Abby is a senior at LSA high school here in Decatur and she was one of our class of 2017 senior models. That means that her portrait experience with us started small, with a quick 5 minute debut session here in the studio….

and it grew and grew…. That individual quick session was followed by our model session event in the beautiful (but WINDY) spring weather at Ryder’s Garden center. The yellow blooms were perfect with her golden blond hair and I love the Greek goddess look that the floral crown by The Secret Garden gave her! ryder's garden center, mt. zion il garden center, senior photos, senior photographer, senior portraits, high school seniors, siblings, outdoor portraits, outside, sun flare, sunshine, forest, trees, decatur il photographer, photographer, photography studio, lsa, lsa seniors, spring flowers, yellow flowers

After those two model sessions, which were really about creating fun looks I loved, it was time for HER senior sessions which are all about creating looks that SHE loves. We hopped back in the studio for a few more looks in the early spring but the real magic happened in the summer when we hit the town…

We started downtown before hitting some backroads in search of something fresh and new and we found it. A perfect little one-lane-gravel road where we had a great sunset and some wild tall weeds! I love so many of Abby’s portraits and am so glad that she did too.

Don’t forget you can still apply for your chance to be a class of 2018 senior model for a full year portrait experience just like this! Model applications are accepted from now until March 31st so don’t wait!

And be sure to head over to Abby’s Facebook Album to give her some likes/comments.

** Some images edited using BoxDropsbySJP overlays and most backdrops used are available to purchase at www.boxdropsbysjp.com!

February 28, 2017February 22, 2017

| Macy + Tyler | Decatur IL Engagement Portraits |

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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!!!

February 23, 2017April 16, 2018

| Skeff Distributing | Small Business Feature | Decatur IL |

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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:

See the latest news at: http://www.skeffdist.com/

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!

February 17, 2017February 17, 2017

| Andrew + Abbey | Fall Engagement Portraits Decatur IL |

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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.

February 14, 2017

| Tiara | Senior Portraits | Class of 2017 | LSA High School |

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Today I get to show off and share Tiara’s senior session with you! Tiara is a class of 2017 senior at LSA here in Decatur and we had not just one but TWO sessions for her so we could highlight both some summer looks and greenery plus some fall leaves (and even a pumpkin!). Plus she’s an LSA cheerleader so we hopped in the studio to highlight that along with recreating an image that her mom had done her senior year too!
This is one of my favorite pages from her album design which featured all her favorite images! It’s off to print this week so I cannot wait to see it in person.

And we even included her sister which I love! Your senior portraits are definitely about YOU but they are also about who you are and that includes the people important to you!
Be sure to head over to her Facebook Album to see MORE and give her some love with your likes/comments. And if you’re a 2018 senior there is still time to apply to be a SJP Senior Model for the BEST senior portrait experience with so much more (exclusive BFF session event, one-of-a-kind concept session, Indy trip for just a couple of our models, hair and makeup and the chance to earn a over $1000 off your senior order AND a $500 scholarship). Click HERE to apply to be a class of 2018 senior model!