| Charity Model Search | Jackson – 3 Year Old Portraits |

Hello Everyone! Meet Jackson, our first little model in the International Charity Model Search. Jackson is 3 years old, going on 18! He was working it and letting his personality shine during his session. We captured serious, mischievous, darling, ornery, hilarious, rock star, and so much more during his mini-session. 

His mom and I were laughing by the end of his session and all through their premier. Check out a few images from his session and be sure to click here and VOTE for him. 

This is the image we chose to submit. You can vote (once it goes live very soon) here: www.charitymodelsearch.org  Just search for ‘Sarah Gaughan’ in the Photographers section.

 

Everyone gets some free votes so be sure to help our kids do well! Plus, all your paid votes raise money for this awesome charity. 

Monica and I laughed and laughed at this one! We both decided this was a ‘have to have’ image for work because you just cannot have a bad day looking at this face!

| Senior Year Review | Check out some of our seniors from this past year!

| Kylee | Senior 2011 |

Yes, 2011 … No we are not that behind in posting. But, Kylee did graduate last year and we took her senior portraits this year! Senior year is BUSY to say the least and sometimes senior portraits never get checked off the To Do list, and that’s okay. There is no reason why you can’t still have these images created at this unique time in your life. Show off who you are, whether you graduated last year, this year or next, we can fit this is your schedule!

| Ally | Senior 2012 |

| Heath | Senior 2012 |

| Courtney | Senior 2012 |

| Bailey | WLHS Senior 2012 |

| Britney | WLHS Senior 2012 |

| Brittley | Senior 2012 |

| Cameron | WLHS Senior 2012 |

| Bridget | Senior 2012 |

| Taylor | WHLS Senior 2012 |

| Carina  | Senior 2012 |

Behind the Lens | Sarah Jane Photography | One of THOSE Days!

Hello All… This afternoon I am very much in need of a little break, and if any of you had the type of Monday I had I thought you might enjoy a little laugh and the comedy show that was my day. 

Before I tell you the story of my day I want to preface it by saying, I did NOT look at this as a bad day at all, and the little things that went ‘wrong’ were at most an inconvenience and at the very least gave me a little giggle. I’m sharing, not to complain, but to entertain because let me just tell you someone (up there) decided I was not going to get a thing done today no matter what I tried to do! 

So lets begin… The journey of my Monday: 

• Oops 1: I forgot to turn my alarm clock off after getting out of bed… Now, did it decide to go off while I went downstairs, let the dogs out, fixed my coffee, and picked out my clothes? NOPE. It decided to go off after I was already in the shower and it was plugged into my iHome playing music, so after about 90 seconds of iTunes bliss I was serenaded for the entirety of my shower with iPhone ‘Harp’ alarm (thank God it was Harp not ‘Old Phone’). 
• Oops 2: Running a bit late, I decided I needed to do what I never do and dress prepared for the cold weather so I wouldn’t be grumpy and cold later. So I grabbed a couple matching gloves (first mistake… why waste the time to find the matching one??), one of which was completely balled up and inside out and it fought me along the way as I tried to pry out all of the fingers…. 
• Oops 3: Glove FINALLY on! Ready to leave… Keys – CHECK (ya the only oops I didn’t have today was locking my keys in my house), Purse – CHECK, iPad – CHECK, Bank Deposits – CHECK, HUGE bucket of change I am taking to the bank that weighs a TON – CHECK… gloves on…….. AND I CAN’T OPEN OUR DOOR WITH THE GLOVES ON!!! Stupid door knob we didn’t get around to changing this weekend is picking a fight with me! I am determined not to have to take off the glove I just put on and I struggled with the knob for at least five minutes before throwing in the towel (glove) and ripping it off with my teeth without putting down the 50 lb bucket of change. 
• Oops 4: Pulling out of the driveway… relief that I am finally on the way. And “oh look.. what is that in the driveway?” YES, it is my evil glove which I dropped along the way. Well, guess what, it was mean to me so I abandoned it and drove off with some weird satisfaction that this evil piece of material would be at the mercy of mother nature until my return. HA
• Oops 5: Oh wait, I forgot my breakfast, my coffee, and the carpet cleaner (the entire purpose for my trip). So defeated and giggling at this morning I returned (did NOT pick up the glove) and got the rest of what I needed. 
• Oops 6: Shampooing carpet at the old house went smoothly and just when I thought my day was looking up, I went to empty the tank of dirty water from the shampooer so I could pack up and leave and get back to the office… and THERE IS A HUGE OPENING AT THE TOP TO MAKE EMPTYING EASIER… Do NOT turn the container upside down/sideways before getting to the sink… Trying to multi-task and empty both containers at the same time I held one, reached down for the other and dumped the DIRTY water all over my t-shirt and jeans. YUK… I repeat YUK! Like this is full of water plus all the nasty stuff you just vacuumed up! Well, it’s only half full now since I am now wearing the rest. PS, I still have to go to the bank like this!

Intermission… Bank = success and I’m not home to get to work and have the Culligan dude install water softener. 

• Oops 7: Oh Culligan Man … The prior Culligan man had said that installation would be super simple since we had water pipe, drain and plug-in all in one area of the basement. Oh how you were wrong dude! First: That is NOT the main water pipe…. sooo we have to move this to near the main water pipe. CHECK. Second: Oh there is no drain next to that main water valve… uh so we have to pipe it over to the only drain in the basement? Guess what that’s more $$$. Third: There is NO plug-in near the main water valve either! Ok so 3 for 3, he said we had all three where they needed to be and turns out we have 0 of 3 where they need to be. 
• Oops 8: K finally back in the office to work…. Unauthorized charge on my credit card UG …. Have to stop work to deal with this. 
• Oops 9: Entourage FAILS… will not reopen and cannot fix it … I have no idea what is up. 
• Oops 10: Try to set up Mail through Mac and avoid Entourage… cPanel password to the website is MIA and reset failed 3 times. SOOOO….. what to do, what to do. (Write a blog post about this unproductive crazy day- CHECK)

Portrait Session With Disk…. OR MORE?? The SJP Experience

Talked to a lovely lady today who has a family of 18 she would like photographed! We talked briefly on the phone so I could get an idea of what she was looking for and answer her questions, but we will meet in person soon for her consultation.

I talked to her a bit about the SJP experience and as clients often do, she asked if I offer a CD. Which, of course, I do but I explained that this is not a popular option with my clients. She was one of those who it immediately clicked with that the CD would offer her Walmart quality personal snap shots, of the beautiful images she had paid so much for…. Instead I went on to explain to her a little about the SJP portrait experience and that after her session her and her family would be invited in for an in-person premier where they could see their family images and their story live on our big screen television. 

Then we would work together to design wall art and possibly and album for their home and to create a family heirloom that would last through many generations. I also explained that she could even take an image (or two) of her home and where she might like to hang these portraits when they are finished. And with these images I will custom design a display piece to fit her particular space, home style and decor. 

It was such a pleasure to talk with her and after the conversion was over I was excited and confident in my product. I often wonder if it would just be easier to offer a disk of images and let my clients handle the printing (because after all this means less retouching time, less lab expense, less color correction, calibration, less packaging expenses, etc, etc) but knowing that I get to work with each client to create beautiful finished art pieces and having clients who see and appreciate the difference makes me know that creating these products is staying true to myself and my brand.  

It was a wonderful phone conversation and I can tell this family will be a lot of fun to work with!

 

We’ve MOVED! | SJP Relocation Oreana IL

Good morning everyone! As many of you already know Ryan and I are excited to now be first time homeowners. We sort of ‘impulse bought’ a home in Oreana. I say it was an impulse buy because we weren’t actively looking for a home when a friend of Ryan’s mentioned there was one for sale in his neighborhood. Ryan called to set up a walk-through and though that home wasn’t the one for us, he had seen one just a couple blocks over. After some phone calls we were able to see this one that same morning and the rest is history. 

We saw the house on a Saturday morning and by Monday were in making an offer. By the end of the week we had gone through a couple rounds of back and fourth offers and were waiting for our final offer to be approved. In less than a week we had signed a contract on our house and were lining up inspections and I think I looked up one day and asked ‘uh did we just buy a house?’ Yes, yes we did! 

Anyways… I’m excited to now be moved in, to have a few rooms repainted already and be actively on our way to making all our little improvements to make this home ours. So what does this new space mean for you (SJP clients)? I’m very excited to now have a bigger studio, designated solely for studio space! No more shooting around the table or couch and TV. Plus, we have a beautiful, and HUGE, new office that will help with our expanded client base and work load. And new livingroom/viewing room complete with a new 55 inch (soon-to-be wall mounted) flat screen TV. A separate client meeting space for consultations and deliveries. And behind the scenes we now also have a full prop room which will make finding and using all the props and accessories we have much much easier. 

I’m excited to already have my first clients booked in the new space next week! Yes, I have a LOT of work to do to be ready for you all by then but we are making good progress and with Lindsey in the office the rest of the week we should have the office back up and running in no time. 

A huge thank you goes out to my current clients who have been scheduling deliveries around my move and being patient with me as I went without phone connection for a couple days and am still not reconnected to all your files with the main computer. 

I will post a few images of our progress so far and please check back in as I know we will want to invite you all out to help us break in the new space very soon! 

New Studio Space (before)

Covering up red paint!

| Update | Sarah Jane Photography Studio News |

Hello All… Anyone still here?? I know it has been so so long since I have been able to keep up with the blog and I sincerely apologize. The good news is that all of my amazing clients are the reason for the delay and lack of blog posts. When looking at the to do list, ‘design album, retouch portraits, complete order’ always seems 100% more important than ‘update blog’ which is the lonely last sentence at the bottom of the ever-growing list. 

But alas (take a moment to be excited about that word, we don’t use often enough!)… anyways ALAS, I am here now. While waiting on my next client in Starbucks and enjoying a nice cup of coffee I am taking some time to check in with you all and let you know that past blog posts WILL come and new ones as well. 

I’d love to do a quick bullet list of all the amazing things that have been going on for any of you who haven’t been able to keep up on Facebook (I can hardly keep up on most days so how any of you can baffles me). So what’s new? What happened in 2011? And whats coming in 2012… GO

THANK YOU

• WOW First and foremost a HUGE GARGANTUAN ENORMOUS Thank you from the bottom of my heart goes out to all my 2011 (and past) clients! You guys never stop amazing me. 2011 was our first full year of business in central Illinois and can I just tell you that you people ROCK. Really! This year surpassed all my expectations and more and I cannot wait to give you all I can give in 2012. 
•       On this topic I want to share a little story:  I talked to one of my brides today and when working out delivery for her portraits she mentioned something along the lines of not wanting to add to my workload because she knows I’m so busy… I quickly replied that she and her fiancé WERE my work and that making her experience easy, convenient and more was my job and I LOVE my job! You guys are all what let me do what I love every day so I will always figure out a way to give you the best possible portrait and experience

WHATS NEW?

• WE ARE MOVING! Yes, not far, but Ryan and I are excited to now be home-owners of a beautiful home in Oreana. The studio will be coming with us out there and I think you will all be excited to see what we have planned for the space. Lindsey and I are excited for a larger office, and I can’t wait to shoot in the new larger studio space. Plus, (Ryan’s Idea) we have added a new 55 inch flat screen television to take your premier and viewing experience to the next level. How about seeing your 30×40 portrait on the wall instantly! Stay connected with us her and on Facebook to get details on when we will be inviting everyone to come out to see the new space. 
• IMAGING USA! I am very excited to be heading down to New Orleans this Saturday and spending about a week there for the super bowl of Photography Conferences. This will be my third or fourth time attending and the education, inspiration and networking available there is unparalleled. I am sorry to have to take a week away from my clients, but it is worth it as I will go and bring back ideas and information on all the latest trends in the industry. To be the best photographer for all of you, I continue my education constantly with webcasts weekly, if not daily, mini-seminars and large conferences. I hope to check in a bit while I’m there to give you all a taste of our time there. I will be going with Katie Weber of Kay Web Photography in St. Charles and Julie Carter of Julie Carter Photography here in Decatur. 

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?

• BRIDAL SHOW I spent last Sunday visiting will hundreds of brides at the WDBR Bridal Extravaganza and it was a blast. Lindsey can tell you, those shows put me in a fantastic mood. And why would they not? I love my job and when I get to share what I love with so many excited brides, you cannot have a bad day! We offered some amazing show specials with savings up to $885 off wedding collections as LIndsey said “WOW so shows are the place to book huh?” YES! That is definitely true. Come see us newt month at the Mt Zion Bridal Expo at the Convention Center on February 26th and see what show specials we have to offer then (you definitely won’t want to miss them). 
• NEW ASSISTANT. So now that I have mentioned Lindsey about 20 times let me introduce you to her. Lindsey is my new office assistant and some of you may have already had the chance to speak with her and/or meet with her. She is a senior and will be graduating this year and then heading to college locally and continuing to work for me. You can expect to hear from her when you call and she will be keeping you all posted on the status of your orders!
• CHARITY MODEL SEARCH. Oh yes, those of you know participated last year know this is by far the BEST time to have your little one photographed at SJP. This year the deals are even better! Our session collection, valued at over $100, is only $35! Plus, I have gone even further and put together some Portrait Collections that are only available to my Charity Model Search clients and are at a huge discount. This is about earning money for an amazing charity (NILMDTS.org) and in the meantime letting your child shine in this National Competition. Sessions run February- March and I’m so please to see you all getting so excited about them. 

| BLACK FRIDAY DEALS | Sarah Jane Photography |

| Best Deal in Decatur, IL | One Day Only Sale |

It’s time! This is your chance to get the Unique SJP Portrait Experience at just a fraction of the price! Plus, current clients, have you been thinking about adding that CD so you can print more of your images? Now, is the best time! Add web disks for as low as $79 and high resolution disks for as little at $189. That’s over $410 in savings!

Plus, give your family and friends something personal and 100% unique this Holiday season with an SJP gift cards. They can use the gift card for anything from family portraits to seniors and even weddings. And each gift comes with a fun frame and special note from me!

Don’t wait this sale is ONLY one day and ONLY on Black Friday. Shop online at www.sjanephotography.com.

Check out a list of the sale items below (click the link above to start shopping and see the prices too low to show here!)

Unique Custom Christmas Cards | Sarah Jane Photography | Decatur, IL Portraits

| It’s not too late! One-of-a-kind Christmas Cards | Sarah Jane Photography |

Check out the two newest Christmas Card designs for the Paradee and Miller families! Remember, you don’t have to have a new session just to have unique Holiday cards that will wow your friends and family this year. If you have had a session with SJP in the last 18 months OR if you have had a portrait session with another photographer and you own the printing rights to your images, you can have your very own personally designed Christmas Card from Sarah Jane!

Card sets of 24 start at only $39 and include envelopes! SPECIAL: Want to be sure the cards get out? for $35/set we will address and mail each of your cards too (extra postage applies for large cards). Talk about care-free Holiday cards.

I LOVE my job | Decatur Portrait Wedding Photography

Somedays it really hits me how absolutely blessed I am to get to follow my passion and do what I love as my career. With 2:30 AM work nights and 7 day work weeks and little time for sleep or relaxation it’s often really easy to get lost in the hectic day-to-day of running the business. But the joy of being able to create beautiful images for each of my clients and seeing the impact these pieces create makes every 17 hour work day completely worth it. Having a mom cry when she sees my images for the first time, whether it is of her newborn infant, her senior or her grown up daughter on her wedding day, it’s priceless.

And knowing that my images hang and will hang in my clients homes for years is such an honor. Thank you to every client who has gifted me with the joy of photographing your family, your memories and being a part of your legacy.

I wouldn’t trade my 17 hour day doing what I love for even a year off on vacation (or doing anything else).

| Allerton Park Senior Portraits | Decatur Wedding Photos | MORE |

| Saturday Wedding Photography | Sunday Fall Senior Portraits | AND MORE |

My weekend was packed this week, but nothing compared to the upcoming week. I spent Saturday with Amy & Aaron on their special day and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. We had the cutest little ones for flower girl and ring bearer and a great bridal party too! With Aaron and many of his friends being avid photography hobbyist there was no shortage of cameras at the event. It was fun for me to get a different angle showing off all the others as they captured the bride and groom.

And yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Hunter (who you may remember is a senior model) doing a bonus fall session she earned. We took Hannah Shaw along for hair and make up and just a little added fun and had a blast hanging out for what turned into hours exploring Allerton Park with Hunter, Hannah, Kathy (Hunter’s mom) and Dillon (Hunters boyfriend). We had a great time and captured some beautiful images for Hunter. Plus, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing at the Bailey’s having a little bonfire which was a great way to enjoy the nice weather.

Started the week full steam ahead with a mini session for this adorable little pup this morning. He is precious and up for adoption! I wanted so badly just to keep him because he is so sweet and calm and just absolutely the cutest. If anyone is interested in giving this little one a good home contact me.

Enjoy your week everyone!

 

UPDATE: This cute little pup was adopted less than a week after these images went up! I’m so excited he found a great home (though I was hoping my mother would take him home!!!)

| Bad Luck | Just Laugh | Decatur IL Senior Photographer | Bloopers |

| My Day | Behind the Lens Stories |

With the afternoon I had, I have to share… I really felt like this afternoon someone should have had a camera rolling because if I had images of half the things that happened to me from 4:00-6:00 this post would be far more entertaining. Let me walk you through poor Kyler’s Senior session.

4:02 … Camera bag on shoulder, camera loaded up with 70-200 lens with fully charged battery and full CF card (I’m ready, let me tell you!), and grab the purse and we are out the door!

4:03 … Pull the door shut (gotta pull hard this is an old house)… Keep thinking I’m missing something: Camera (CHECK), Bag (CHECK), Purse (CHECK), Battery Pack in hand (CHECK)… hmm … Door clicks latched. KEYS (NOT CHECK)… Seriously, KEYS? Anyone? Do I have my keys? … In the purse, NO… Oh wait, I put them where they are supposed to go on the hook inside the door. DUN DUN DUN (dramatic music, hang with me here).

4:05 … Uh don’t panic yet. Check side door (LOCKED), Check back door (LOCKED), Call Ryan (IN A MEETING), Call Hannah (COMING RIGHT OVER WITH HAMMER AND DRILL – yes seriously we were going to get in this house!)

4:10 … Final effort before the troops (Hannah and Jason and Dennis) arrive. Me (please picture this, it’s a shame there are not images) … squeezing through the bushes in front of my house to the side porch (which is about 3 feet above the ground with a railing that is about at eye level when you are standing, in the bushes, on the ground). Yup, I’m going over. PS: Added obstacle… railing is rotted and now completely not attached to the column. Though in all fairness, the railing is likely not designed to hold a chunky woman as she attempts to break into her own home.

4:_ (who knows people, I just braved the jungle of bushes and climbed up my porch I forgot to check my watch!)

IM IN! Well sort of.. door unlocked! Problem: Couch is in front of this door! Um, lovely because why would their not be a large piece of furniture in front of this door. (Yes, I put it there. Back off).

Fast forward: Rush to session, get there 5 minutes before we are suppose to start shooting. Apologize. Explain break-in story. Hurry to setup equipment. (Side note with all the equipment malfunctions: 1) TINY bracket that I need to attache flash to the soft box dislodged in my trunk on the drive over and my trunk ate it, literally it’s MIA. Solution: improvise and trade bracket out with an alternative spare I carry for crazy days like this. 2) My quick stands which are now probably fit for the junk yard have knobs that don’t work and one finally decides to actually completely come off during the session so my stand is perpetually falling or having to be held up. And this quickly defeats the purpose of a s-t-a-n-d when all it does is fall. 3) Face/Eyes + Pine Tree. Enough Said. 4) Activate car alarm while leaving first location. I’m glad I didn’t choose to rob a bank today, I’m guessing I would have gotten caught. 5) I feel like there were more things because this just doesn’t seem to be enough but by the end of the session we were really just laughing at everything that kept happening.)

Moral of the story, it’s ALL ok! In the end, my clients didn’t get stood up because I was able to break into the house (with no power tools needed) and, most importantly, we created some great images for Kyler! But wow, it was a journey. We will have to do a family session with Kyler’s family because they should have the opportunity to have a not crazy, bad luck day session!

PS: Thanks guys for being AWESOME as karma had fun with me today.

| Branding | SJP Marketing | Logos | Decatur, IL |

| Photography Branding | Logos | Marketing |

As a person, I am pretty much always in motion. I have never quite mastered the art of relaxation and complacent isn’t really in my vocabulary (metaphorically that is, obviously I just wrote it so it’s in the word arsenal…anyways). So as my imagery, art and design evolve it is often difficult for me to reign in the creative exploration of the SJP brand. For the past seven years I have come from ‘Portraits by Sarah’ to ‘SMG Photography’ and then finally landing on Sarah Jane Photography (to the disappointment of my mother who points out that this is NOT my name).

And in the past four years SJP has searched for a look, and trust me each time landing on the new look appears to be the final destination, so I make no claims that we have arrived at our iconic “Coca-cola” red BUT with the help of Miss Hannah Shaw of La Petite Salon (who offered some fresh eyes on the original design and offered a little direction which led to this final product) I am excited to show off the new look for my cards, signs, and blog!

The cards in person! Arrived today (literally in about a day and a half from overnightprints.com)… and yes this was taken on my iPhone, and yes I do own a multi-thousand  dollar camera which could have been used to take this image and make it look MUCH better, but um… NA this works.

AND side note, though most of my time is devoted to the creation of images and custom artwork for my portrait and wedding clients I do love design and have a lot of fun working with other small businesses so if anyone reading this blog (IF there is anyone reading this blog) is a small business owner struggling to create a look or brand give me a call! I hope you all love the design as much as I do (in this moment when it is new and shiny … as the Thrive team would say “Oh look, a Nickel”)

 

Thanks for reading! (or at least looking at the pictures – that’s what really matters)

Good night world.

| Family Portraits Decatur Illinois | Sarah Jane Photography |

| Holiday Cards & Family Portraits |

It’s TIME! I can’t believe it but it is time to start thinking about Family Portraits and your Holiday cards! Now, if you are like me, you are the ‘Man, we should really send out Christmas cards this year!’ It sounds like a great idea and with that fleeting quote, it disapears and before you know it it’s the new year and those Christmas cards are a no-show.

Well, not this year! Fall is the perfect time to update your family portraits and at the same time have some fresh images for your Holiday cards. With the SJP Wall Art and Card Collections there isn’t a better time to create these family images and SAVE!

Collection options are below. Spaces are limited (especially for the mini sessions) so call early! Plus, your mini session is FREE with your collection purchase and your full session is 50% OFF!

 

BONUS: Bring in this AD found in your October copy of Thrive Entertainment Guide for an additional $45 Gift Print Credit*.

*Use credit toward the purchase of your choice of 8×10, 5×7 or 4×6 size Luster Gift Print. Valid only on NEW sessions.

 

 

 

| Decatur IL Senior Photography | Sarah Jane Photography |

| Lulcrisha | 2012 Cerro Gordo Senior |

Lulcrisha and her mom were so much fun to hang out with during the session. We were laughing and joking and Lulcrisha made my job easy she was so photogenic. She even brought some awesome fun props like her bright pink umbrella which we used for what ended up being one of my favorite images!

Here are some of our favorites from Lulcrisha’s senior session…

Now normally the more classic/traditional images I take are not normally grouped within my favorites, but I loved this images of Lulcrisha.

This ended up being one of their favorite images and we had great luck with a colorful train passing by when we are out on location.

Both Lulcrisha and her mom were excited about doing some fun images on the zebra background … I love it, it has so much personality and sas.

 This image was one we kept coming back to at their premier as a crowd favorite and it is definitely one of mine and will be featured in a few of the newest SJP ads.

Sandy Puc’ Creative Kids Tour | St. Louis, MO

| Creative Kids Tour | Emotion of Images … Some Stories |

I spent a few days this last week/weekend in St. Louis doing some work at Kay Web Photography with friend and fellow photography Katie Weber and attended Sandy Puc’s Creative Kids Photography Tour last night. I have gone to one of Sandy’s major tours every year for the last five (so every year she has been touring!) and I always take home new ideas and get inspired. Photographers, I would highly encourage you checking out her education opportunities. Sandy is a photographer who is passionate about our field and passionate about helping the industry not only survive but grow, evolve and prosper. In the last five years I have seen a huge change in Sandy’s brand, style, and so much more and she is an open book sharing her journey with other photographers.

It was great to see her again and inspiring to hear some of her latest ideas, tips and struggles. But by far the most touching moment of the evening came during one of her anecdotes. She shared a very emotional story about  missing an opportunity to photograph a friend with her daughter because as we all know, life happens and they were forced to keep postponing this session. Creating these images was a chance she never got because of a horrible accident which took the life of her friend. When talking about this, she spoke not from the parents typical point of view of wanting beautiful images of their precious children but instead she asked about their view as children. As adults, how precious are the images you have of your childhood, not just the images of you, but those of you in you mother’s arms or on your father’s lap. The images that show your parents growing along side you…

In hearing her speak, the images that came to my mind were vivid. The first was an image of myself on my grandfathers lab as a baby. This is one of the only images ever taken of the two of us and my only true memory of my grandfather who passed away not long after it was taken. I never knew the man, but I knew the stories of the love he had for all his children and grandchildren and I will always have that image. The next image that came to mind for me, was an image of myself and about 6 other journalism students taken in high school at my senior prom with my teacher, mentor and inspiration, Mr. Bill Currie. This October ‘Currie’ as we called him, will have been gone two years and this image hangs in my office and always will. I can’t imagine the loss I would feel if that image were to be taken away.

Now, this blog post is not intended to be morbid or even sad, but when Sandy spoke of images this way it touched my heart and reminded me the reason why I love what I do. Images are not about the paper they are on, or the ink used to print them. But rather they are about who we are in them and the relationships they capture. Sandy pleaded to the audience to give a friend our cameras and head out and get in images with our families (because as the ‘photographer’ we are notoriously missing from those family images) and I do the same to any and all of you reading… While I would love to see you in the studio so that we can create some beautiful family portraits for you, but in the meantime go out and have a friend take some images of you and your family and do the same for her. There is no time to waste your children grow every day and no one knows how long we all have together.

Side Note: I learned last night in talking to her after the show that she has a very similar tattoo to mine. One we both got to remind ourselves to keep on going. I may tell you more about this later…

| Outdoor Senior Portraits | Decatur IL Boutique Photography | 2012 Senior |

| Carina | 2012 Senior |

Carina’s session was so much fun. We started in the morning, trying to avoid some heat, at a wildflower field located not far from the studio. Many of my existing clients may know this field from the golden panoramic canvas I have hanging in the studio of Heather & Travis, but it looks very different this time of year with lush greens and purples some very tall ‘cat tail’ type weeds.

Carina was fearless and hopped right in the weeds so we could create some beautiful portraits. And all the ‘senior portrait gods’ came together that morning and we kept joking how she could not have been having a more perfect hair day and the wind always seemed to be blowing it in just the right direction for the images. It was a great session and with a variety of images at the wildflower field and around some of the more urban grunge areas close to downtown Decatur we got a wide variety of images for her, even including a couple with mom (those are always a blast).

So here are some of our picks from her session… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

| Senior Boy Portraits | High School Senior Sports Portraits | Decatur IL | SJP |

| Keith | Warrensburg-Latham Senior 2012 | Sarah Jane Photography

I’m still working on catching up on my blog posts so I have to admit that this session is from earlier this summer. Keith was a lot of fun to photograph and I was excited to be able to really feature who he is as a high school senior… an athlete! I joked throughout the session about if there was a sport he didn’t play as we worked to feature everything. In the choices below, you will see that soccer was a staple in some of my favorite images but don’t be fooled, we worked in basketball and track in his images as well!

Check out a few of our favorite images from his session…

| Outdoor Family Portraits | Decatur IL | Sarah Jane Photography

| Glenn Family | In-Home Family Portraits | SJP |

Not only do I love photographing at new locations, I am always excited to photograph at a clients home because I know we can create images that go beyond ordinary and become pieces that are truly personal to each family. The Glenn Family Session did just that. H.R. and her husband have a beautiful home with stunning garden and beating the heat with a morning session and gathered the whole family for a fun an personalized session.

It is often difficult to bring whole families together but big family events like weddings, birthdays, reunions and more offer great opportunities for family portraits. The Glenn family were all in town for Kris’s birthday so it was the perfect chance to capture these images.

Here are a few images from their session including a couple that will soon be focal pieces on the client’s walls! I love it when my work can become an important part of my client’s homes.

Note: The cat that is happily participating in our family walk here is not a part of the Glenn family but just a neighbor’s cat who decided to hang out with us during the session. He posed like quite the little professional!

| Sarah Jane Photography | Central Illinois Boudoir Portraits | Decatur

| Michelle | Beautiful Boudoir Portraits |

An in-home studio is perfect for my boutique boudoir sessions. By being able to use every room, window, staircase, doorway, and piece of furniture each of my clients can get a variety of intimate looks that go beyond just the look of a traditional studio. Michelle’s session was one of my favorite boudoir sessions, she is a very fun person and though she said she was a little nervous you would have never guessed it. Excitement and adventurousness definitely overshadowed any nervousness as far as I could tell.

Because Michelle was excited to try a variety of different looks we pushed the envelope a bit with her session and tried some things I hadn’t even done before … like the ‘belt’ image below that is by far one of my favorites and the future cover of her beautiful designer album! Well enough talking from me, take a look for yourself at just how awesome Michelle’s session was!

 

When I saw the hat that Michelle brought in I knew I wanted to take this image and when I suggested it to her she was more than excited to give it a try!

 

 

Michelle was the very first client to be photographed on my craigslist find (the vanity). She loved the reflections and so did I.

Sarah Jane Photography | Thrive Decatur | McGorrays | Wildflower

| Thrive Shoots – August |

As a photographer, I often work for compensation that comes outside the form of money. This month, I got a call from Thrive’s publisher, and friend,  Katrina Smalley asking how I felt about working for beer and coffee. My reply was something along the lines of ‘LOVE IT, tell me more!’

The result was that I got to spend a couple hours over the course of a couple days at both McGorrays Golf & Grill and Wildflower Artisan Bakery photographing (and then drinking) both beer and coffee.

Below are just a few images from these fun sessions.

Decatur Illinois Photographer | Sarah Jane Photography | Updates

MIA | Studio Updates |

**CLIENT THANK YOUS**

Wow, sorry it has been almost a MONTH since my last blog post. August has been my busiest month yet and I couldn’t be happier with the continued growth of the business here in Decatur!

In the last month I have …

• Traveled to southern Missouri to the quant little railroad/river town of Glasgow to photograph a very unique wedding for a very fun couple. (This would be why you didn’t see me out and about photographing at the Decatur Celebration).
• Had a day of beer/coffee/photography at McGorray’s and Wildflower Cafe photographing Ads for Thrive.
• Hosted the first of our two Senior Portrait Evenings at Warrensburg-Latham High School  to photograph the senior’s yearbook images.
• Launched an exciting rewards program in partnership with Hannah Shaw at La Petite Salon.
• And, of course, photographed a number of area high school seniors, families, couples and boudoir ladies. Plus, I am so excited to have also planned a few amazing sessions for the coming months including a football themed engagement session (you won’t want to miss the feature on that one).

I am so blessed and each time I stop to think, wow that was a better month than I could have ever hoped for, the following month surpasses all expectations yet again. I want to take a second here (before I start posting some features you missed over the last month) to thank each of my amazing clients. You are the reason I am able to get up every day and do what I always dreamed of doing. I couldn’t have asked for better clients and I truly enjoy working with all of you and look forward to each time you come in. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for choosing me and SJP for your photography.

Ok… now lets get to some of the images you missed over the last month!

Summer Engagement Portraits | Sarah Jane Photography

| Amy + Aaron | Engaged

I met this couple when I was invited to speak at one of the Decatur Camera Club’s monthly meetings.  Just a few months after hearing me speak they called to book their wedding. There consultation was a breeze and it was great to have a couple in who had gotten a glimpse behind the scenes of what I do already through attending my portrait lighting and posing talk.

As a photographer, anytime you photograph a photographer its gives you just the little extra challenge to stay on top of your game. And, on the other hand, when you would with creative people like Amy and Aaron it is like having three heads come up with great ideas for the session. The picnic scene is one of my favorites, Amy brought all the needed accessories and with a great location with the beautiful lake in the background I think it worked out so well.

I cannot wait to photograph Amy & Aaron’s wedding day. I know we will be coming up with some amazing concepts.

 

 

Boutique Senior Photography | Albums Wall Art & More | Decatur, IL

Sarah Jane Photography | More than just 8x10s!

The old senior ‘packages’ of 8x10s, folios, proof books and pose limits are things of the past. Contemporary senior portrait artists and boutique studios (like SJP) are now offering clients much more stylish options to show off many more of their images in a dramatic way… ALBUMS.

Books are not just for weddings anymore, I offer designer books and albums for families, babies, seniors, boudoir ladies and of course weddings. Plus, my favorite product: guestbooks. There is no better way to wow your guests on your wedding day than by having them sign their best wishes to you in a book filled with images from your engagement session!

But I probably have the most fun designing books for my senior clients… with seniors its about style and a little bit of edge and I try to pour that into every page of the album. Check out one of my most recent albums for the lovely Miss Hunter!

COVER

Session Stats | Hunter | 2012 Senior | Cerro Gordo High School | Senior Rock Star Session | 10×10 Chicago Album |

First Birthday Portraits – FREEBIES + Session Deals

It has been my experience that in running a small business many great ideas and marketing pieces develop out of imediate need. I have been collecting my client’s birthdays and the birthdays of their children since nearly the beginning of my business all with the idea to someday launch a birthday promotion to give each client a special gift on their birthday each year. Well, just last week a wonderful client of mine called me because her daughter Khloe (which some of you may remember seeing as I have photographed her before) is turning ONE in August!

She would like for me to take images that she can display at Khloe’s birthday party and was curious if I had a birthday promotion. I was completely honest with her and I think my reply was something like “Well, I want to… but just have not quite gotten there yet!” So I told her to give me the weekend to coral all my ideas (kept in my nice little jam packet marketing notebook) into a finished Birthday promotion which I would unveil Monday…. So… Its MONDAY! And as promised, I am done!

So below is my First Birthday Promotion Card that will go out to all my clients with little ones who will turn one soon.

I’m equally excited about the birthday promotion that will extend to all those celebrating their 2nd-18th birthdays. I love the look of the First Birthday Monogram Display and it seemed just the item begin a series. So if it is your birthday, and your not turning one, I am happy to offer you 30% off the session of your choice (featuring only the birthday girl/boy) PLUS a 4×10 “It’s My Birthday” Portrait. Each year this art piece will feature the child’s age creating a beautiful wall series that shows your child grow up through the years! And you can customize this portrait art display by adding a 4×10 Designer Name Print to begin the series, or adding a beautiful designer portrait ledge in the color of your choice and even upgrade to 5×15 size to really make an impact!