| Allen Family | Annual Family Portraits | Summer Decatur, IL |

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I’ll be missing Melanie this year as we’ve worked together for the Warrensburg-Latham High School yearbook images for years now but she’s taken a great Librarian job in another district so I won’t be seeing as much of her as usual but wish her good luck in the new job.

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I have had so much fun watching Savannah and Sophie grow up so much over the last few years. They have such unique personalities and I always look forward to what we create for them both individually and together. I sort of get excited to think about them flipping through these photos a decade or two from now seeing how much they changed every year.

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And these three were SO sweet together. This may have been the first session I jumped WHILE shooting to get that smile on the left (thank God for image stabilization!). We knew going into the session we’d have to watch for forced smiles on Ethan so I had to up the silliness just a bit and worked perfectly!

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And, of course, we had to round out the session with some individual combinations. Every family relationship is unique and I love to show not only the whole family but all the little micro relationships too.

I know this will be an exciting year for this family and I cannot wait to see them even more grown up next year!

| Bauer Siblings Portraits | Mother’s Day Gift | Decatur IL Family Photographer |

Earlier this month I got to help Rachel and her brother surprise their mom with new portraits of themselves! It can often be logistically challenging to pull off a portrait surprise since there are a lot of things to explain (like why you’re dressed up, matching outfits, gone for an hour, etc) but we were able to time this perfectly so that we completed the session when their parents were away on an anniversary trip. Then came time for the surprise reveal. I often suggest using the Premiere day as the reveal for surprise sessions. This way not only do we get to make the unveiling a bit of an event in itself but this also gave their mother a chance to select what she wanted most.

Though she was convinced initially they were surprising her with a session she had to be in which ladies you can imagine how stressful that can be (wondering if your hair looks good, makeup is done well and if you wore something you’d want to be photographed in!).

I was so happy to get to be a part of creating this unique surprise to celebrate and appreciate their momma and now I’m excited to be able to share the images with you all too!

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| Paw Prints Ministries | Comfort Dogs Get a Close Up | Pet Portraits |

This year I’m really excited to be adding a charity aspect to our Senior Model Program! I remember high school being a time when my world revolved around the halls of my own school, the volleyball court, weight room, homework, grades (college applications/ACT scores) and Friday night plans. And the bulk of my community and the rest of the world was unknown, or at least went unthought of most of my days.

Yet that was also a time when I COULD have made a lot of impact on my world. For at least 1/2 my high school career I wasn’t working and at least my summers were fairly unscheduled so I had a lot of time I could have been using to learn more about my community and create impact where needed. So this year I thought I’d try to give my senior models the chance to do just that this summer! And the most eager charity I reached out to was one run by one of my very own family clients the Dahns.

Though we haven’t had our work days for them yet we did just host a few session days in the studio to get some of their comfort dogs updated headshots (#corporatelife). Our goal was just a single headshot of each pup but OMG I was overloaded with cuteness and just couldn’t stop!

Ms. Mabel was the first up and she was quite the model, posing perfectly even with the fabulous little head tilt and hand in her paws poses all on her own!

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Then it was time for Finn! This guy has the smile AND puppy dog eyes down pat.

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And next it was time for Zoe to make me WORK. Check out her outtakes which will show you what she thought of our plans to start… look at those sly puppy dog eyes, attempt to ignore the treat and escape plans… finally just one big yawn before she put on her model face for some PERFECT puppy portraits!

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And then Mr. Enzo! This guy was a little shy to start and didn’t let his personality shine until we cleared out Hazel to give him his own stage but then those ears finally came up and he was a champ!

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And we ended everything with the lovely Ms. Hazel who just like Mabel was quite the natural in front of the camera with perfect smile and head tilt she was done in about 30 seconds with plenty of options!

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My favorite thing about pet sessions is that, just like toddler sessions, they are ALL personality and 100% unique. Sure all these sessions were in the same place on the same backdrop but not a single one was the same. These pups brought a big smile to my face on session day and I’m so glad to know they are out working in our community daily to bring smiles to all of you. New transmittable diseases are becoming more common with our canine companions, top rated dna test can usually predict if you have an at risk dog. You can find out MORE about Paw Prints Ministries, what they do, who they help and how YOU can help support them on their website here! And linked above each official PawPrintsPup has their very own facebook page you can follow.

I look forward to getting our seniors involved with them this summer and sharing more of that fun with all of you here.

| Stewart Boys First Year Albums | Children’s Portraits |

Today I get to share a dear long-time client’s family with you guys! This gorgeous couple started out with me with their engagement and wedding portraits and I was honored to be there as their family grew to welcome their first adorable little man. But before ‘C’ turned one these guys relocated to Arkansas and though they made the trek back a couple times to finish out his milestone sessions that first year it was understandably time to find a local photographer once ‘K’ was on the way.

I was so excited when Maggi said they were expecting again but sad to know that practically it would be another photographer who would be there along the first year this time around. BUT I got my excitement back when Maggi emailed to ask if I’d design an album for them to showcase their first year images of ‘K’ like I’d done for ‘C’. Well of course!! I just finished up the design this week and it was great to see the boys grow up through these images! ‘C’ is THREE now guys, I’m pretty sure it was just yesterday he was in the studio on that saddle!

To start how about a throwback to ‘C’s album….

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And now to debut ‘K’ … (***please note below photos are by Lazer Lee Photography, album design by Sarah Jane Photography)

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Have you had a session, recently or even years ago, and only gotten digital images? Did you plan to print them and just haven’t yet? Would you like a custom-designed album to showcase your images in a timeless way? Give us a call and schedule a consult to come in and take a look at our array of albums and let us design something perfect for you!

| Macy + Tyler | Decatur IL Engagement Portraits |

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I’m thrilled to show off Macy and Tyler to you today! With our recent warm up in temperatures I am itching for some greenery like this soon. I had a blast photographing these two on a beautiful morning out at Allerton Park. Since they’ll be getting married in downtown Decatur and we know we’ll have a lot of urban scenery on the wedding day we decided to get some variety and get out into the greenery of Allerton for their engagement session (plus, added bonus was we worked in a bit of brick/stone textures with the mansion area too!).

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These two are so sweet together and their session was super relaxed and fun but I just LOVE how they both rock that model face (see below). Smiles, cuddles and giggles are fun but whew they are owning that serious face.

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When Macy pulled out their second outfit for the session I knew immediately I wanted to get them in the greenhouse where the bright white and windows always give a subtle blue hue which was perfect with Tyler’s polo. Plus the ivy around the greenhouse was perfect that day!

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Don’t forget to head over to their Facebook Album to give them some love with your likes/comments and stay tuned this July to see their wedding images!!!