small business

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019

| Food Photography | Perfectly Protein Oreana IL |

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Sorry guys but today’s blog post is going to make you hella hungry! I’ve been trying to take better care of myself seriously for the past 6 months but I’m a lover of SWEETS especially chocolate. So Annie and her Perfectly Protein treats entered my life at just the right time.

Honestly, I was skeptical. I mean I LOVE dessert, and substitutes have always tasted like just that, a lesser version that absolutely did not take the place in the long term of my want for the real thing. Well ya’ll, I swear this is some kind of voodoo magic and everything we’ve tasted from Annie has been fabulous and I have no need to go back to any of that junk I wanted before. My all time favorites are these donuts (like mouth watering just writing that).

But today I’m sharing her keto snickers with you! The nature of photographing food is once I photograph it, it’s mine (you really don’t want it after I’ve handled it for the shoot I promise) and even just licking my fingers while working with these had me close to diving in before I finished up. The family was a fan of me bringing my work home after this too.

Annie says she’s passionate about feeding others and it makes her happy to feed people with her healthy local ingredients! She’s gone from making protein fat bombs to now a whole line of keto desserts.

Now, want to know the deets?!? >>>>>>>>>

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.

October 11, 2018October 11, 2018

| The Avon Theater | Annual Staff Portrait | Decatur IL |

Does your business take annual staff photos? The practice of this has gotten less and less common in recent years but I love that Skip at the Avon still holds this tradition dear. He likes to celebrate their staff now, feature them every day on the walls of the theater AND think forward to what will be left behind if/when the theater is no longer there. This is their legacy, what could be pulled out of a storeroom 50 years from now and returned to a place of honor to pay homage to those who have graced the halls of this historic theater. I just love that mindset. That is why I do what I do. It’s about us now, to show love and support for those people that are most important to us but also to leave our legacy. This is why I love both digital and print images. Sure the digitals are here for the NOW, the sharing/showing with our friends and family from all around the world quickly and easily. But the prints…. those are for us for decades and centuries to come. Those are for the legacy boxes that end up in the hands of your grand children, or great grandchildren (I’m lucky enough to have my families legacy images).

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You may be capturing these images well for your family but this is important for your businesses as well. Do your employees feel celebrated and valued (I can help you do that in a variety of ways)? Are you capturing the history/growth/legacy of your business now? Our businesses are our babies too and I’m so excited to get to celebrate this one each and every year. Keep it up Avon, you guys are doing a wonderful job.