family pictures

June 30, 2021June 29, 2021

Decatur Illinois Families | Summer Portrait Sessions with Sarah Jane

Well SJP summers are usually chock full of the latest senior class (hey class of 2022, we see you!), but whew boy is summer 2021 all about these stunning Central Illinois (and Missouri…. yes, even though I said I wasn’t staring work in Missouri until 2022, oooops… I did!) families!

I’ve gotten to celebrate not one, but TWO, 50th wedding anniversaries this summer by creating brand new family portraits for these lovely couples and the generations they’ve grown. Plus, I created my first ever 4th of July ‘Christmas’ cards for a brand new SJP family.

First up, to share today are a few of my favorites from the Kuhn family. I am just so grateful and thankful for them trusting me over the years. They have two seriously great kids, who are I guess really not ‘kids’ anymore now! And they are always such a pleasure to work with and create for. We just put the finishing touches on their family album which we selected to match Alex & Lindy’s senior albums. Plus, I cannot wait to see their final canvas selection above their mantle soon.

I’m so excited for the three image collection we designed for this next family’s wall. My favorite part is the little surprise in the palm of the littest’s hand…. a daddy long leg she found got to join them for the session. Dad says she loves them so it was a perfect little dose of personality that only a knowing eye could find! And we ended up with almost perfectly mirrored images of both girls that worked perfectly on either side of the main family portrait.

Last up today I get to share the Anderson/Jones family! These guys were all laughs on session and their energy was infectious. I’m excited to get their whole family portrait framed up in the next week so it can make it to it’s home on their walls.

March 28, 2017March 28, 2017

| Jamie + Mike Engagement & Family Portraits | Decatur, IL |

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OMG you guys! I cannot tell you how much I’ve been chomping at the bit to show off this snowy session. I’m honored to be photographing Jamie & Mike’s wedding day this year and this gal wanted a snowy engagement session SO BAD and we were almost certain it just wasn’t going to happen for us. After some disappointing snow flurries early in the season which amounted to little more than a dusting that was melting by the time either of us was on the phone to begin planning logistics we both resigned ourselves to hope for a late season snow but things were looking pretty bleak (ie sunny and WARM). I knew how much Jamie really wanted a snow session so I had even started calling around to my photography friends in other northern cities to call me if any snow hit their area and we’d just make a road trip…. it wasn’t looking promising.

But then….. this lovely and random one-day blizzard arrived in true mid-western style! And it was just what we needed! The stars really aligned for this with both Jamie and Mike off work that day already and the opening in my schedule falling right after school these two were able to pick up their little guy and make it over to the park in the midst of a gorgeous snowfall! After that perfect session we’re all so happy we hadn’t jumped the gun and tried to make a session work with a tiny bit of snow because our patience was rewarded with this BLIZZARD!

And from a kid’s point of view how cool is it you get to PLAY IN THE SNOW for your portrait session?!?!

I’m so excited these guys have opted to share their wedding day with me and have me be a part of creating their family legacy and even more thrilled we were able to create exactly what Jamie envisioned for their engagement/family session. We have ONE opening left for a 2017 wedding and are currently booking 2018 (only 8 openings left) so don’t hesitate to call to schedule a time when we can chat about creating your portrait vision. And be sure to pop over to Jamie & Mike’s facebook album to give them some love.

January 13, 2017January 11, 2017

| 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!).

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!

December 20, 2016December 13, 2016

| Mullen Family Portraits | Decatur IL Family Photographer |

You guys might remember Kayle one of our class of 2017 senior models! Well this fall I had the chance to get her whole family in for their session. I absolutely loved working with Kayle and her mom for her senior portraits and it was even more fun to get her sister and dad in front of the camera too for these family images.

Some of you might have gotten this little treat in the mail from them! Their Christmas cards were one of my favorites. I just loved working in their favorite family portrait with just a subtle foil border on the front and a little reminder of the reason for the season on the back.

Now this design you’ll find hung on their wall soon! For Kayle’s senior portraits we created a wall collage with 3 separate canvases so they wanted to do something a bit different for the family portraits and decided on a digital collage to feature all their favorite images in a single canvas piece.

As happens often with our senior families, Kayle now has feature images in the home but poor Mahala (who’s not a senior yet) was a bit underrepresented. So the solution?! We took a few minutes during their family session to create some individual portraits for Mahala! While, of course, we’ll create LOTS more come her senior year this will tide them over until then.

Don’t forget to head over to the Facebook Page to check out their full session proof video to see all the images we created for them AND give them some love with your likes/comments!

August 30, 2016August 28, 2016

| Boyd Family Portraits | Rock Springs Nature Center | Decatur IL |

I’m so excited to show off some of the Boyd Family’s portraits! You might remember Holden, one of our 2016 WLHS Seniors. One of my favorite times to create family portraits is before seniors (or new college freshmen now!!) go off to the next chapter of their lives.

While I now know first hand that your kids will ALWAYS be your babies there is a real transition after they graduate college and go off into the world. That time is the PERFECT time for an updated family portrait to celebrate your family before your little birds leave the nest.

And, of course, as part of all family sessions we have to get just mom and day (like when’s the last time you had couple’s portraits done solo?!?!). These two were so sweet and I absolutely love this image and am so glad it made it into their wall collage too!
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Be sure to check out the Boyd Family’s album on our Facebook Page to give them some love!