the latest in-studio & on-location MO, IL and beyond
I have such a soft spot in my heart (and a HUGE burst of gratitude) for the families that have been with me for years. I’m thrilled to say that I’ve been working with Myra since before this little lady existed! It’s been a treat to watch her grow (check out her first birthday session here) and we had such fun on her session this year playing in the dandelions.
Today, I get to share the Beckman family with you. Though I hadn’t had a chance to meet them more than a couple times in passing over our almost decade here I can tell you that these folks (Chris in particular) are a huge part of our story and life/business trajectory. How/why?!? Well, Chris is the man who hired my husband right out of college. That job brought him (and my extension, myself and SJP) to Decatur and we are both so thankful for that. We’ve found so much here including a wonderful community, friends, success in both our careers and it’s amazing to think about how much that one little yes that Chris gave my husband (who was not the first or last person he’s hired over the years I’m sure) effected the story we’ve written so far. But, this post is NOT about us or our story (just had to give the appreciation we feel while we had the chance!), instead today’s post is really about them and their family and their journey here in Decatur and their next chapter as well.
I was honored when Donna called me to be a part of creating their last family portraits in their home. The home where they’ve raised their children, celebrated milestones and invited friends to share in them for years. This last milestone was both a graduation and a going away part and the place was packed with their friends and family here to celebrate them!
With our busy schedules it makes sense to combine occasions like these when everyone’s coming together already with a family portrait session to create images for everyone too. We not only did a session for the Beckman’s but also were there for their guests and extended family to get portraits too, plus to photograph candids of the guests enjoying themselves and it was an absolute blast.
Happy New Year ya’ll! It’s the first SJP blog post of 2020… new year, new decade! Does it feel like a fresh start for you? Does it feel like just another day? I’m a big fan of the ‘blank page’ feeling of the new year. And after busy busy busy season here with fall-Christmas sessions with all you beautiful people I enjoy the solo time in the office to catch my breath and work on the back end of things as well.
I’m excited today to kick things off sharing one of our beautiful class of 2020 models, Alleson’s, family with you! They joined us for our ‘fall’ Limited Edition session this year (you know in the fall that never came, thanks 2019… hence all the beautiful greenery). I will seriously never forget this season when October started at 94* and looked/felt nothing like fall and then we got our first snow before Thanksgiving! #crazy
We’ve had so many of you request early booking this year that I’ve just set our 2020 Limited Edition dates and booking is open now HERE. Our LE sessions are 15 or 30 minutes starting at just $45 and are available 4x a year:
And coming soon we’ll have a bonus Christmas weekend with both Santa Experience sessions (we have a very special experience planned with Santa this year that’s far more than just a photo session!) as well as themed indoor and outdoor Christmas sets.
Marie & Ernie are getting married next month and I’m so excited to be a part of their big day. We had their engagement session earlier this summer and we had a perfect day for it out at Allerton. I’m so excited to show off some of their favorite images and my absolute favorite engagement session product, our guestbook. This is the perfect way to combine your favorite engagement images with the keepsake of all the signatures and well wishes of the guests at your wedding day.
Guestbooks have been around forever, that’s not new. But I remember finding my parents’ in a box in our basement once and opening it to the first page to find out what it was. My mom told me it was their guestbook (in a box in the basement) and I didn’t look past the first page. Why? Because it was just signatures. But, imagine this book (hopefully not in a box in a basement, but even then) 30 years from now discovered by a friend or kiddo of these two filled with images of them looking so young and in-love and full signatures from all their loved ones… I bet those kiddos make it past just the first page! 
Today I get to meet with these two beautiful people to finalize plans for their wedding day coming up in less than a month! They are just beyond sweet and I am so honored to be a part of their amazing day. I laughed so much on this session, Trey is quite the comedian and kept me on my toes. They are just adorable together and to pour some sugar on top we added in their itty bitty pup who may be small but his personality makes up for it (it might have stollen the show for a few).
One thing I always encourage clients to think about is including places and things that are important to them on their session and Chelsea and Trey did that in the most amazing ways. Of course we included their fur baby but also our second location was their family farm complete with farmhouse that will not be with us much longer. It gives me chills to think about them having these images for life, long after the farmhouse is gone they’ll be able to show it to future generations and let the legacy live on.
There’s nothing quite like a country front porch.
I’m taking a VERY limited number of weddings for 2019 so if you’re planning to tie the knot next year I’d love to talk with you soon. Let’s create something memorable like this for YOU!