| Lucas | 1 Month Old Portraits | Jefferson City MO |

BONUS Friday post! And what better way to end your week (before a cold/icy weekend) than with cuddly baby photos?!?!

Being a single momma has to be one of the toughest jobs on the planet and the ladies who are raising their little ones solo are some of the strongest, smartest, most loving and hard-working people I’ve met. But though they want/love/cherish photographs of their perfect little ones it’s often something they have to do without so they can provide the other more-essential items.

Well I was lucky enough to be able to gift this lovely new momma and her little man Lucas a session while I was back home in Missouri this fall. And in 2017 I’m excited to be working on a project to gift other single moms family portraits… the project is just in the beginning stages but I will be planning something around early August in memory of my own momma (stay tuned I hope we are able to create something really special!).

1 month portraits, newborn portrait, photos, sarah jane photography, sjanephotography, jefferson city mo portraits, jefferson city mo photographer, on location, outdoor photos, fall portraits, family pictures, 1 month portraits, newborn portrait, photos, sarah jane photography, sjanephotography, jefferson city mo portraits, jefferson city mo photographer, on location, outdoor photos, fall portraits, family pictures, 1 month portraits, newborn portrait, photos, sarah jane photography, sjanephotography, jefferson city mo portraits, jefferson city mo photographer, on location, outdoor photos, fall portraits, family pictures,

If you follow me on instagram (@sjanephotography) you may remember seeing some behind the scenes from this session. Knowing we were shooting on a cool morning and on location (since I was just passing through Missouri for the day) I decided to crank the heat in the car and create a little studio spot right there! This is definitely my first time in over 12 years of work that I’ve shot in my trunk but it worked out great and we were able to keep Lucas warm and comfy!

1 month portraits, newborn portrait, photos, sarah jane photography, sjanephotography, jefferson city mo portraits, jefferson city mo photographer, on location, outdoor photos, fall portraits, family pictures,

 

| Smith Family Portraits | Decatur IL Limited Edition Sessions | Sarah Jane Photography |

family photos mini sessions, fairview park, sunrise session, outdoor portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, family, family poses, siblings, what to wear family session, what to wear, outfit ideas photos, blue yellow coordination, wall art, decatur il, morning photos, sunrise, outside images, best photographer, best family photos, family photo ideas, decatur il studio, mini sessions, limited edition sessions, best family photographer central illinois

It’s time to show off the Smith family today! We fit this gorgeous family into an EARLY morning Limited Edition session this fall and I’m so glad we did. We were working to find time to fit them in before a day full of activities/games and it came together perfectly with this beautiful sunrise light.

While I loved this session, I’m most excited about how this family decided to display their images! This was the first time this family had worked with us and Aimee was excited to not only have professional images created but also to display them in their home. She came in with a number of wall images so we could design something perfect for their space (one that already featured a gorgeous shabby chic door hung right on their wall – real statement piece!). While she wasn’t opposed to moving that large piece to replace it with a portrait similar in size (60″ +) we instead decided to design with it in mind and create a smaller series of images that could be hung together or moved around as they like.

Doing a number of canvases also allowed us to feature each of the kids’ favorite portraits of themselves and a couple different family poses for different spaces in the house.

By far my favorite thing to create for families are their personal home galleries! We wake up to 3 of our wedding images each day, and walk down stairs past 60 inches of portraits of ourselves (which will soon be growing with the addition of at least 5 new wall art pieces in our gallery to show off BabyB). And while writing this it seems a bit narcissistic, in reality it doesn’t feel that way at all. It instead fills my heart with love and joy for my family each day when I get to see us happy, loving and together on our walls. And the best part is little BabyB points and says ‘mommy, daddy, bear, lily’ when she sees them too!

family portraits fairview par,family photos mini sessions, fairview park, sunrise session, outdoor portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, family, family poses, siblings, what to wear family session, what to wear, outfit ideas photos, blue yellow coordination, wall art, decatur il, morning photos, sunrise, outside images, best photographer, best family photos, family photo ideas, decatur il studio, mini sessions, limited edition sessions,family photos mini sessions, fairview park, sunrise session, outdoor portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, family, family poses, siblings, what to wear family session, what to wear, outfit ideas photos, blue yellow coordination, wall art, decatur il, morning photos, sunrise, outside images, best photographer, best family photos, family photo ideas, decatur il studio, mini sessions, limited edition sessionsfamily photos mini sessions, fairview park, sunrise session, outdoor portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, family, family poses, siblings, what to wear family session, what to wear, outfit ideas photos, blue yellow coordination, wall art, decatur il, morning photos, sunrise, outside images, best photographer, best family photos, family photo ideas, decatur il studio, mini sessions, limited edition sessions, siblings portraits outdoor sunrise decatur ilfamily photos mini sessions, fairview park, sunrise session, outdoor portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, family, family poses, siblings, what to wear family session, what to wear, outfit ideas photos, blue yellow coordination, wall art, decatur il, morning photos, sunrise, outside images, best photographer, best family photos, family photo ideas, decatur il studio, mini sessions, limited edition sessions, best family photographer central illinois

Full family sessions are often tough to fit into your busy schedules (I know, scheduling acrobatics is a bit part of my job!) but imagine what we can create for your family and for your home with just 15/30 minutes… just a single Limited Edition in 2017 could add a little love and light to your home and I’d love to be a part of creating that for you.

Booking is open NOW for our 2017 Limited Edition Session dates and full sessions are already filling fast (sunset spaces in for fall especially!). You can book your Limited Edition Session right HERE right NOW!

mini sessions limited edition sarah jane photography

| The Allen Gals Annual Family Portrait | Decatur IL | Christmas Photos |

I absolutely LOVE working with this beautiful family! I get to work with Melanie every year for the senior yearbook, dances and organizational photos for Warrensburg-Latham High School. And for the last couple years I’ve had the chance to photograph both Melanie and her lovely girls, Savannah & Sophie.

This year we did an in-studio session for a little change and created a Christmas look on our fireplace, something a little traditional and classic and then finished up with a little personality with our very own BoxDropsbySJP Sweet Scarves backdrop (a personal favorite).

sisters portraits, siblings, annual family pictures, family photos, christmas portraits, family photographer, best family photographer, family poses, single mom, children photographer, christmas card designs, christmas cards, sarah jane photography, sjp families, boxdropsbysjp, box drops backdrops, best photo backdrops, studio portraits, studio photossisters portraits, siblings, annual family pictures, family photos, christmas portraits, family photographer, best family photographer, family poses, single mom, children photographer, christmas card designs, christmas cards, sarah jane photography, sjp families, boxdropsbysjp, box drops backdrops, best photo backdrops, studio portraits, studio photos

I think this family image below ended up being my favorite. The laughs and cuddles with just a tiny hint of tween ‘ew do I have to’ mixed in made that one the most genuine to me and I just love it!

sisters portraits, siblings, annual family pictures, family photos, christmas portraits, family photographer, best family photographer, family poses, single mom, children photographer, christmas card designs, christmas cards, sarah jane photography, sjp families, boxdropsbysjp, box drops backdrops, best photo backdrops, studio portraits, studio photossisters portraits, siblings, annual family pictures, family photos, christmas portraits, family photographer, best family photographer, family poses, single mom, children photographer, christmas card designs, christmas cards, sarah jane photography, sjp families, boxdropsbysjp, box drops backdrops, best photo backdrops, studio portraits, studio photos

Head on over to our Facebook Page to give this family some love with your likes & comments!

| Beery Family Portraits | Christmas 2016 | Decatur IL |

holiday card, christmas card design, family photos, families, family portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjp families, decatur il, central illinois, outdoor portraits

BONUS Friday blog post, whoop whoop! Ya’ll kept me BUSY the last quarter of 2016 and I wouldn’t have it any other way… but that means I have so many sessions waiting in the wings for their moment in the sun here on the blog. Doing our usual 2 a week features we’d be still posting fall photos come summer (seriously I have them scheduled out to APRIL already)…. so it’s time to amp up the blog with some bonus post Fridays (and heck we might get real crazy for a few weeks with a Monday or two).

antique couch props, outdoor family photos, family portraits, best family photographer, child photographer, children's portraits, little boy photos, siblings, brothers, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjanephotography, decatur il photographer, decatur il, macon il, pine tree lane, christmas photos, christmas cards, best photographer, central illinois,And I can’t think of a better way to end your week than with this adorable family! How cute is Mila?!?!? She is just a year or so older that our very own BabyB and I see my future in this gal who is 100% energy and giggles (with maybe a dash of sas). I had a blast photographing, playing (and chasing) her around for their fall Limited Edition Session.

This was part of our Christmas Limited Edition event so we, of course, created some curated holiday images but with such beautiful fall color on the ground we couldn’t pass up the chance to create a few more timeless images for them.

antique couch props, outdoor family photos, family portraits, best family photographer, child photographer, children's portraits, little boy photos, siblings, brothers, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjanephotography, decatur il photographer, decatur il, macon il, pine tree lane, christmas photos, christmas cards, best photographer, central illinois,antique couch props, outdoor family photos, family portraits, best family photographer, child photographer, children's portraits, little boy photos, siblings, brothers, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjanephotography, decatur il photographer, decatur il, macon il, pine tree lane, christmas photos, christmas cards, best photographer, central illinois,antique couch props, outdoor family photos, family portraits, best family photographer, child photographer, children's portraits, little boy photos, siblings, brothers, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjanephotography, decatur il photographer, decatur il, macon il, pine tree lane, christmas photos, christmas cards, best photographer, central illinois,

I’m in love with the card design we created for this family too. It’s fun classy with just a little love and whimsy! PLUS check out these custom address labels to add a really unique touch:

custom address labels, unique christmas cards

holiday card, christmas card design, family photos, families, family portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjp families, decatur il, central illinois, outdoor portraits

antique couch props, outdoor family photos, family portraits, best family photographer, child photographer, children's portraits, little boy photos, siblings, brothers, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjanephotography, decatur il photographer, decatur il, macon il, pine tree lane, christmas photos, christmas cards, best photographer, central illinois,

Our Limited Edition Sessions are a bit different than our full boutique sessions especially in that we do not begin with our design consultation (where we customize/design/plan your session and discuss the final destination for where we want these portraits to land: on the wall, in an album, gifts, card, etc etc). So though we hadn’t pre-planned to create some custom artwork for the Beery’s homes, Lindsay fell in love with the image below (on the left) which is just such a clear depiction of life with a toddler. I love that it shows her and her husband, Robert, walking together and looking lovingly at their beautiful daughter as she runs unbridled through the park (that’s about what our life looks like with a toddler!).

antique couch props, outdoor family photos, family portraits, best family photographer, child photographer, children's portraits, little boy photos, siblings, brothers, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjanephotography, decatur il photographer, decatur il, macon il, pine tree lane, christmas photos, christmas cards, best photographer, central illinois,

Don’t forget we have already announced and opened out Limited Edition sessions for 2017. These filled very quickly last year and we want to give you plenty of time to plan ahead. These sessions are NOT themed (though we’ll have a Christmas set available in November) but we’ve positioned them to allow for Holiday portraits coinciding with Easter in April and of course our November date is in time for Christmas. May is a great time for some spring color outside and will be PROM time for you high schoolers and our goal for August is to fit in all those extended family portrait sessions ESPECIALLY for any college students who will head back to school. mini sessions limited edition sarah jane photography

| Miller Annual Fall Family Portraits | Decatur IL |

Oh my goodness! This week is my first week back in the office and I don’t know about you but after a few weeks off it’s taking me a bit to get settled back into the flow of things SO our usual Tuesday blog is coming to you today, on Wednesday, because I forgot what day it was! I hope you all had a wonderful break and are getting settled into the new year as we are… bear with me as I attempt to get back on schedule and let’s pretend it’s Tuesday. Don’t worry our Thursday blog with be back as usual and maybe even a bonus post or two to show off all the beautiful people we were working with this fall. And NOW, it’s time to check out the Miller family:

I’ve had the chance to photograph this beautiful family nearly every year since Grant was a baby with their first session being one of the first in our home studio on the west side of Decatur! This year these troopers hung in there for a cold snap and super windy evening so we could get their annual portraits updated for their Christmas cards.

I’m hoping we treat these kiddos to warm weather for their next session!

holiday card, christmas card design, family photos, families, family portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjp families, decatur il, central illinois, outdoor portraitsholiday card, christmas card design, family photos, families, family portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjp families, decatur il, central illinois, outdoor portraits

If you’re considering a Limited Edition session in 2017 we’ve now opened these 4 dates: April 8 (in time for Easter), May 6, August 5 and November 4 (in time for Christmas). These are short 15 or 30 minute sessions at a preselected location. You can find out more details and book online HERE! These sessions are first come, first serve and when they’re full, they’re full. mini sessions limited edition sarah jane photography