Our last blog post took a look at the very end of our Baby Grows Portrait Plan. Today, we get to take a look at the very beginnings with two families! This beautiful family had one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever photographed (and I mean the could all be super models!) so I was so thrilled when Britnie got in touch and let me know they were expected to welcome the newest member to the family in June and they wanted me to create the portraits to celebrate. This little lady is expected to arrive in just a few days and I cannot wait to meet her soon.
Remember Jase from the last blog post!?!? Well this is his beautiful new little sister, Stella! Not to brag, but I get to hang out with her through the next two years and I cannot wait to see her little personality blossom and grow. It’s so much fun to see these little lives begin. We created a canvas series like this for Jase’s newborn so, of course, we designed one with Stella to match!
Nothing can pull at my heartstrings more than the final client pickup as a kiddo ‘graduates’ from their baby grows series. It feels like we’re taking them out of the precious little toddler bubble and sending them out into childhood to take on a bit more of the world and as we all know to keep on growing faster and faster.
The birth of my own little ladies led to a quick expansion of our ‘Baby Grows’ series because I realized that one year was not enough. SO much changes from 1-2 years old. They seem to become themselves in that time, morphing from a little squishy baby literally toddling through the world bouncing off one thing or another into a little person making choices and testing the limits of their world. They get taller, their little baby cheeks get a bit slimmer and their eyes get a whole lot ornerier (<<< spelled it right the first time, no lie).
This spring not only did I have TWO little boys finishing up their entire series but one of them has a new little sister who just started hers. These kids, and their families, are quite literally my own family’s roots in this community. We planted SJP here 10 years ago and ya’ll have helped grow this little dream into this career and I love you all for it. Keep bringing me these perfect little squishy babies to cuddle too because we are done done done making our own. 😉
Take a look at Jase! I’ve been photographing his family since his older brother Grant was born and I just got to do their largest family portrait yet when they welcomed his litter sister Stella to the family too! It’s been such a joy to watch this family grow. They make some seriously cute kids!
And Hudson…. well omg can I just tell you this kid makes me smile every single time. He’s been smiling from his very first session and I swear it just melts your dang soul! Plus, I’m totally in love with his love for his big sis, she’s got the magic touch and always the best assistant in getting the laughs on session.
And after hanging out with these kids for TWO years we even gift them something special for the wall so they never forget these tiny little moments/expressions.
Today on the blog we’re going to pop in a bit of an introduction. It’s something I work in from time to time on our instagram but haven’t done here for awhile! And I’m thrilled today to be getting around to not only another peek at ME (Sarah Jane), but also to introduce you to the two newest members of the SJP team, Lisa and Kat! That’s right, it’s not just SJ around here anymore.
But to start, how about we take a page (literally) out of our new catalog to introduce you to ME!
Next up… I’m thrilled to bring on two team members who have honestly been vital in getting us transitioned into the new studio space and keeping you all well taken care of. On the image side of things SJP has almost always been a one-woman-show. I’ve had some great production help in the past (the lovely Ms. Payton being our longest running box-opener, product-packager and project-doer!) but when it came to getting your images done and your designs made it’s always been me me me. It’s a hard thing to let go of as a creative but to take the absolute best care of you all I needed to bring in a couple in-house hands (to maintain SJP quality and style) while also encouraging and inviting in outside creative perspectives too.
Kat is a seriously dynamic talent. She’s like me in that she’s an idea person. I LOVE our conversations about anything from bees to murder to podcasts and space… there are really no topics we can’t seem to spin some wild ideas about and it’s super interesting to see her wheels turn on something. She’s a really great connector and was honestly pivotal in getting SJP off the ground in Decatur and me out into the community. As she and Jay (who were team Thrive Entertainment Guide at the time I moved to the area 10 years ago) were my first YES in a series of cold calls trying to get some freelance work and meet new folks in this brand new place! It’s an honor to have her hands on deck now at SJP and I hope for another decade of involvement in each other’s projects whatever they may be (guys do we have some ideas hahaha).
Kat’s working now on a lot of our design work, website updates, album designs, catalog design and plenty of studio projects too!
Lisa has also come on board to take on much of our image processing work. She’s owner of her own photography business and came on for a few assistant jobs for me in the past and the universe kept us in each other’s circles in various ways via church, local photographer groups and more and as we transitioned into the new studio I was thrilled to bring her onboard to help get your images delivered faster (without sacrificing quality, of course).
Lisa will be working a lot on preparing your image Premiere’s, perfecting your final images (getting rid of those pesky fly aways or heaven forbid blemishes #theyhappen!) and she may be popping in here on the blog soon so we can share/show off more of your images without waiting on me to be free to blog!
**Fun side note to add to Lisa’s headshot… her fiancé and I schemed a bit for that session and told her I needed to grab a couple headshots of her and could use a family model for our Christmas set last season so we got her in the studio photo-ready and AJ had a surprise question to ask. Spoiler alert #shesaidyes !!!
I’m so thankful to have these two talented women working alongside me to help continue to bring you the best possible portrait experience with top quality without delay. I am beyond thankful for each of you wonderful clients of mine who’ve been with me through the last decade from my small little basement in our sweet west end home to our Oreana home studio to our new studio space here to bring you more in every way that I can. You will never know how much you mean to our family when you trust me to create for you and I hope you’ll help me give these two ladies a very warm welcome to the SJP family as well.
I really cannot believe that I’ve finished up sessions for our class of 2020 senior model/influencers. This class has been phenomenal and so much fun to work with and my favorite part is how many of them have been in the program for, not one, but TWO years.
One of those early add-ins to the group was Courtney and it’s been a real pleasure to create her photographs over this time and to get to watch her really blossom in her last few years of high school right in front of the camera. Ok I’m getting mushy but I swear these girls become young women right in front of my lens and it’s really such a wonderful part of my job that I get to be a part of that.
Alright, on with the images!!! Let’s take a look back at Courtney’s time over the past two years and a look inside her album which is now being beautifully printed and hand-bound and will be headed our way in just days.
Congratulations on graduation Courtney, I know you’ll do great in the next chapter too.
Folasadé’s session is my third at her family home and I love the chance to create images at a place that’s important to her to close the chapter on her childhood as she begins her journey as an adult. Plus… Winston! I swear this pup is the most chill and is constantly unphased by me and it makes me giggle. And he’s huge and just handsome as heck. And, obviously, Sadé is stunning!
And for some variety, we headed downtown for a more urban look too. I’m so excited the loved so many of her images and I’m a big fan of her final album design! The class of 2020 really was a fun class to work with despite all these curveballs at the end of their year.
Ready for your senior portrait experience? Learn more and book our most popular session directly online HERE.
