fall – BLOG

February 28, 2019March 4, 2019

| Williams Winter Family Portrait Session in the SNOW | Decatur IL Photographer |

Random, bonus Monday blog post because I didn’t catch an error in this publishing last week as usual. But this is fitting today as we all try to unthaw in this 1* icy and snowy morning. I might be finally coming around to all you guys lamenting the snow and begging for spring (my feet are freezing today and my car doors froze closed!). Anyways, the snow IS still pretty…. see!!!

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I got to photograph Kelly & Jacob’s wedding this past year and they decided to hang on to their free engagement session to use this winter as a family session and I’m so glad they did. Roger and I had a blast playing in the snow (mini snow dust fight may have gone down). And even though it was cold, it was so pretty!

I’m excited for their full image box to be headed home this week so they can share all their favorite images with friends and family. Our image box is a really fun twist on an album which we recommend often to make sure you have a beautiful space to keep/share all your favorite images in one place. The image box is a custom box featuring your favorite image on the cover/inside which we fill with 40 of your favorite images! These you can then rotate through image frames in your home while still having a special place to keep everything together.

Our 2019 calendar is OPEN for your family sessions! No matter the season you have envisioned for your family portraits you can call us now to book your consultation so we can work with you to design your session and reserve your spot on the calendar (especially if you like the idea of a sunset session like these guys!).

February 22, 2019February 20, 2019

| Lynch Family Portraits | Decatur IL | Sarah Jane Photography |

Omg the session I have to share with you today has me grinning again just uploading the images (you’ll see why when you get a load of these faces!). We had SO much fun on Tiffanie’s session. I mean playing with these kiddos how could you not have a great time?!?!

I met Tiffanie when we featured the Mt. Zion Convention Center as one of our featured small businesses and not long after that she got in touch to schedule a session for her kiddos and I’m so glad she did.

We got her in for a quick session as part of our Limited Edition session event. These sessions are perfect bite-sized versions of our full portrait experiences. We know you don’t always need over an hour of portrait time (I mean even my kids who are no stranger to the camera don’t have nearly an hour’s worth of good behavior in them … #toddlermom #truth). So 4 times a year we offer our Limited Edition 15 or 30 minute sessions which are designed to be simple, quick and still full of everything you’d expect from an SJP session! PLUS, these sessions include a whopping 50% off (yes, you heard that right!) of our Limited product line.

If you’d like a taste of the SJP portrait experience this year and like the idea of getting everything you want in less time than it takes to watch your favorite TV drama, then head on over to sjanephotography.com to BOOK NOW!

2019 Limited Edition Session dates: Saturday, May 4 | Saturday, Sept 14 | Saturday, Nov 16th!

February 21, 2019February 20, 2019

| Muirheid Fall Family Limited Edition Session | Decatur IL |

It’s time for some ‘bonus blog posts’ since I have LOTS of sessions to share with you from the past few months and not enough days in the week to fit them all in if we don’t start adding in some extras. So our first BONUS post this week is of this beautiful family who lucked out with scheduling and landed perfectly on the best, most beautiful, fall week of our entire year. Just look at that stunning fall color we had for their day!

I hear from mommas all the time who haven’t had family portraits taken in a year, 5 years, a decade or more and it always comes with a tone of guilt… ladies, let me be the first to tell you I 100% do not judge you for not having family portraits taken! It’s hard work, it’s stressful and the #1 reason I do it every year is simply so I do not ever forget how freaking hard it is to be on the other side of the camera. I get it! And we all have enough mom-guilt about EVERYTHING (literally I just posted on my IG yesterday about having it about not grocery shopping <eye roll>). Melissa mentioned that it had been quite some time since they’d had family portraits taken and she wanted to be sure to get one while they had the chance to celebrate their family before the next chapters and additions with her son going on to create his own life as an adult.

As we’ve started along the path as parents recently, I’ve grown more and more fond of photographing families at all stages because I can so appreciate the ever-changing fabric of our families. This guy is grown, he’s venturing out to create his own life but he’s still their baby boy (ok mushy mom moment) and it was important to all of us to create a final family portrait of JUST their family before any future additions.

I’ve been doing this long enough to have been able to share in creating family portraits for my past senior clients as they welcome new babies and I SO look forward to the day when I start to photograph my senior’s senior kids (boy will that make me feel old), but that’s the dream right?!? I’m a decade and a half into this so bring on the next decade and more.

I’m so excited for a fun year of family portraits this year including families of brand new babies and families with their babies headed out of the nest! If you’d like to join us this year I’d love to work with YOU to create the portraits that celebrate the ones you love.

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 21, 2017February 21, 2017

| Hannah T | Senior Portraits Class of 2017 | Decatur IL |

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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.