the latest in-studio & on-location MO, IL and beyond
There’s SO much cuteness on the blog for you today. This little angel belongs to one of my past wedding couples, Myra & Tyler. I was beyond excited to meet her and be able to create her portraits in celebration of a very big day, her first birthday! She’s absolutely the sweetest and with the biggest grin, complete with adorable nose scrunch. Hope you’ll join me in wishing her a very happy birthday!
Today I get to show off all Shelby’s favorite images with you today. This lovely gal is one of our class of 2017 senior models and will be graduating from Argenta-Oreana High School this spring. She’s been a blast to have as part of our senior model program and I loved working with her to create her senior portraits.
We had some fun exploring a few new little pockets of the downtown area and though it was a little gusty we got some fun hair blowing images along with our usuals too!
Here’s what Shelby herself had to say about her SJP portrait experience:
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Tell us about your experience about SJP. What did you like best? * |
i loved all the options i got to have with my senior pictures. even though we got the shorter session i still loved it and i know the pictures will turn out great! |
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What would you tell a friend who was considering coming to SJP for their portraits? * |
not to be upset about gettin he cheaper package (like i was) because it seems like no time at all, but the time was well used and it seems longer than it says it lasts. |
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What made you choose SJP for your portraits? |
i loved the other pictures she had taken for families i know and other people i knew. |
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What could we have done differently to improve your portrait experience? * |
i don’t think i would change anything! i loved everything. sarah is very sweet and very polite and patient. |
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Please rate your Session Experience * |
Perfectly Happy |
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Please rate the Product Selection & Quality * |
Perfect |
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Please rate the Product Value * |
Great Deal |
Look who’s up on the blog today! I’m so excited to share this beautiful family with you. I’ve had the privilege to photograph Melanie and her girls a few times over the past few years (you can check out last year’s session HERE) and this year we welcomed Chuck and Ethan into the fun.
I’ll be missing Melanie this year as we’ve worked together for the Warrensburg-Latham High School yearbook images for years now but she’s taken a great Librarian job in another district so I won’t be seeing as much of her as usual but wish her good luck in the new job.
I have had so much fun watching Savannah and Sophie grow up so much over the last few years. They have such unique personalities and I always look forward to what we create for them both individually and together. I sort of get excited to think about them flipping through these photos a decade or two from now seeing how much they changed every year.
And these three were SO sweet together. This may have been the first session I jumped WHILE shooting to get that smile on the left (thank God for image stabilization!). We knew going into the session we’d have to watch for forced smiles on Ethan so I had to up the silliness just a bit and worked perfectly!
And, of course, we had to round out the session with some individual combinations. Every family relationship is unique and I love to show not only the whole family but all the little micro relationships too.
I know this will be an exciting year for this family and I cannot wait to see them even more grown up next year!
The first of our class of 2018 senior models to make their debut on the blog is our very own Ms. Payton!
You may remember her first moment in the SJP spotlight way back for her sophomore year prom when she won the Neuhoff media prom package which included a prom-day shoot with her date Austin (and we included him in a few of her senior portraits too)!
From there it wasn’t long before Payton was working as my assistant and modeling for me on a few projects including our parachute dress class in downtown Indianapolis with the Reset Conference. She’s even charmed our own little #BabyB and got to be her swim lesson teacher at fairview pool this summer!
So basically Payton has become a pretty awesome part of the SJP family (at home and work!) so it seemed fitting she be the first one up on the blog to kick off the class of 2018’s senior year.
Do you guys remember the ‘trash can image’ ?!? Austin joked when we got out of the car at the park that we had a great location right by the dumpster soooo I accepted that as a challenge to create something fun by it and this was the result:
Things have been BUSY around here all summer and I have SO many awesome things to show you from all our seniors… so let’s not wait! Check out all of Payton’s favorite images right here right now.
This year Payton was even named All American Cheerleader! Big congrats for kicking off your senior year with such an achievement.
And don’t forget to head over to her facebook album to give her some love.
Oh boy guys it’s been BUSY around here this summer and that means it has unfortunately been quiet here on the blog. But not to worry we are back up and running and I promise there are some fun sessions headed this way, starting today with a very unique local business located right in downtown Decatur!
The Details: Decatur Coin & Jewelry (Facebook Page) | Bennie & Samantha, Co-Owner | In Business: 44 years (started in 1973)
Hours: Monday 9-4, Tuesday 9-4, Wednesday, 9-4, Thursday 9-7, Friday 9-4 (closed on weekends & closed every day 1-1:30 for lunch) | Location: 104 N Main St, Decatur IL
This shop is full of really unique and interesting pieces both for authentic collectors and those looking for fun and interesting gifts. Who wouldn’t want a one million dollar bill this Christmas!
Tell us about your business….what do you do? We are coin dealers or as we like to say in our industry…Numismatists. We study any and all things about money. We buy and sell money literally! We look at coin collections daily. We help determine value based on age, condition, content and quantity. Maybe try googling numismatics to help you better understand what a numismatist is. We also buy and sell any jewelry that is made of a precious metal: Gold, platinum and silver. We buy diamonds, turquoise jewelry, old vintage costume jewelry, sterling flatware, silver plated flatware, wrist watches, old pocket watches. We have even bought old test mortar rounds before. We were able to find a buyer so we bought them from the client. You just never know what we will buy. We make a living at buying stuff. So, maybe you have some neat old cool stuff laying around your house. Bring it on in and we’ll take a look.
What makes your business unique/special? We buy and sell actual money! We are coin and jewelry dealers. There is nobody else like us around. We explain everything in depth so you get a clear understanding of what is going on. We are qualified traders in medium to high dollar assets.
What item/service on your menu or in your shop do you just love and think everyone needs? Sam says “everyone needs help in understanding what all their stuff is worth. Too many folks just throw stuff out thinking it’s worth nothing. She thinks giving knowledge is what everyone really needs and “A right hand ring of course! Bennie says “investment quality Morgan dollars” Doug says “everybody should have some artistic antique paper money”.
In what way have you gone above /beyond in the past for a customer? Bennie says “we pay out a lot of money. We’ve gone to folk’s houses and looked at their stuff because they couldn’t drive or were too ill to come in”. Doug says “we always help carry in boxes and bags from their vehicles because the stuff is too heavy…so WE GOT THE MUSCLE LOL” Sam says “I’ve fetched someone’s range rover and drove it around to the front of the shop because she was worried she couldn’t get out of the original parking place due to someone parking so close to her”.
What was the coolest thing you’ve ever had a client do for you? Sam says “people have bought my newborn son stuffed animals or clothes. I get hugs often too from some of my regulars OR even strangers”. Doug says “people have brought him in food coupons”. I always call Doug a growing boy still LOL He sure can eat. People will bring in chocolate for Bennie. He is patiently waiting for chocolate covered pretzels from Dells by the way. <<< Yum, me too!
What tool/equipment/or other vendor could you not imagine doing business without? Why? Our customers. They supply us with stuff to either sell into the network, online or across the counter. They provide jobs for us and for the others that work with us. Everybody wins in the end. Without our customers life would be pretty boring! Couldn’t imagine Coney McKanes not being down the street from us. Their pie and cookies are amazing.
What other local businesses do you love? Why? Coney McKanes feeds us often. Really all the local restaurants do☺ All downtown local businesses are great.
STAFF: Samantha is funny and loving but very serious when she needs to be. Doug is referred to as the professor. Don’t call Bennie the boss he doesn’t like that. He prefers to be called the Captain. All the ladies that work with us are leaders.
Tell us about you? Why did you choose to do what you do? I am speaking for us all here when I say we all love and enjoy it because we love serving the community for the greater good. We want to give the people as much money as we can for their stuff.
When did you know you wanted to go into the business? Bennie says “after I found my first Indian head penny while delivering the Grit newspaper door to door years ago when I was just a kid. That is when it all started. Back in those days the ladies at the bank would let me look through all their bags of silver dollars. I probably was a nuisance after a while. My father also used to bring home his pay for the day and put it on the kitchen table. The sound of those silver coins always sparked my interest. I have been driven since then to learn all about numismatics”. Doug says he got into paper money for the art. And an added benefit was investment potential. Sam says” I’ve been looking at coins and jewelry since I was a kid. It was always in me through my father and now we run the business together.
What are you passionate about outside of your business? This is Samantha answering for her father because he is, as usual, extremely busy. He is passionate about teaching. He will give knowledge and wisdom to anyone with an open ear. He likes being physically fit eating healthy and enjoys spending time with his new grandson Jaxon. Sam likes to work in the garden and watch things grow☺ Aside from all the duties that go along with being a happy wife and mother now.
Describe your perfect day… Sam says the beach, a large umbrella, the ocean minus the sharks and being surrounded by the people I love. Bennie says hitting the grand slam in the stock market, making a big trade or riding on a real steam train with my grandson.
See the latest news and items available from Decatur Coin and Jewelry HERE!
See our other past small business features to connect with more businesses in our area:
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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.