Joyce – Come Together
A few weeks ago I had the chance to do a very quick photo session with Joyce for Thrive Entertainment Guide. Joyce came by the studio decked out in one of her own T-shirt creations showing off the Come Together logo. We had about a five minute quick head shot session and spent the following 30 minutes having a great conversation and getting to know each other.
In that short amount of time I can tell you that I learned for certain that Joyce is an amazing woman and one I hope to get to know and work with much more in the future.
Pick up the June issue of Thrive to see more plus check out this article to learn more about Joyce and this organization/event: http://www.herald-review.com/news/local/article_5c8716a9-afb4-51c6-9a95-8b2a3a617b2d.html
Here is one of my favorite images from our session!
Pageant Photography – Decatur IL
The Adorable Miss Haylei
I am always looking for fun new ways to meet new clients so when Candy approached me about sponsoring her beautiful daughter Haylei I was excited for the new experience! Having not been a pageant girl myself I was intrigued and interested to learn all I could! Candy, Haylei and I met before the session so they could introduce me to the world of pageants and show me Haylei’s current portfolio.
A few weeks later, we had Haylei’s session. It was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the nice weather by starting the session downtown, then taking a quick trip to the wildflower field and then ending up back at the studio!
I may not know much about pageants, but this little cutie has my vote! She was so fun to photograph and get to know and her personality is just so so sweet! She was so much fun to work with and I can’t wait until she gets to show off these new images at her next pageant!
Last, but not least, I want to send out a big thanks to Hannah Shaw of La Petite Salon who donated her hair and makeup services to Haylei as well.
Here are some of my favorite images of Haylei (It was so hard to choose!!)
Cyber Monday Gift Card Sale! – HUGE DEALS
Hello All! I am so excited to announce our first ever Cyber Monday Gift Certificate SALE. Monday, November 29th log on to www.sjanephotography.com to take advantage of our huge savings – up to $100 per gift card!
Sign on early to be eligible for our bonus items. No limits, stock up for your own family or for friends.
Daily Studio News – Sarah Jane Photography Decatur, IL – Thrive Magazine!
Yesterday, I met a couple AMAZING people at Thrive Magazine! I am so excited to start working with them and contributing to the magazine. Jay, managing editor, and Kat, publisher, both have HUGE dreams/plans just like me and I know we can find ways in the future to help each other reach those goals!
It is always amazing to have the opportunity to partner with other creative minds. I went in to pick up a few copies of the magazine, a press pass and to introduce myself and we all ended up talking for over an hour! It was GREAT. The magazine is free so check them out online and pick up a copy to find out what is up in Decatur. I will be covering the bridesmaid bar crawl tonight along with Crusin’ Eldo.
Daily Studio News – Sarah Jane Photography Decatur, IL
OH MY! I have two words for the past two days: “Extreme Portraiture” … I really felt like I was on a “reality” TV show or being Punked! Here is why…
Yesterday evening I hosted a second Business+Beauty Photography night here for another Mary Kay unit in the area. We did a quick business session for each of the consultants who came to create some headshots for them to use on their websites and in other advertising and branding for their businesses. We had about 11 sessions scheduled between 6:00-8:00. At about 6:05, once all the ladies had arrived and begun their meeting upstairs while I took the first client down stairs to the studio for their session, THE POWER WENT OUT! Yes, no joke!
The whole west end lost power!!! It, of course, did not cross my mind to send all these lovely women home (their time is much to valuable to have wasted that evening for them) so we lit candles and candles and candles. The ladies up stairs had it easy with my large bay window allowing in enough of the evening light to make their meeting possible until about 7:30, but downstairs in the studio our only window is about 2 feet square – NOT ENOUGH!
Luckily, all of my lighting systems are battery powered since you don’t want to be searching for an AC plug on a wedding day, but there was no way my camera was going to focus on them in the next to no light. So each woman had to hold a candle just out of view of the camera for her headshot!!!
I could honestly say that was one of the most interesting night of photography I have ever had… until today when the same thing happened during a boudoir session! And again in the studio we had to problem solve to create the studio images for Kalle… so in each image she was spotlighted with a flashlight so that the camera could focus. Now we each have an interesting story to tell!
I really wish I would have taken a photo of our candle setup! It would be worth a laugh… So don’t take your electricity for granted today 
Daily Studio News – SJ Photography Decatur 1Oct2010
So this week the “daily” studio updates have definitely NOT been so daily! I have an excuse (of course) for yesterday – IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY!!!
Do you ever feel like your life is in Fast Forward? That has been my week (and seems to be a trend with each week)… maybe some of us are perpetual “runners” (metaphorically of course – if you have seen me you can attest to the fact that I am NOT a runner!). To me this week was only about two days long, I think I fast forwarded through the other three!
Well, anyways… we are up for a HUGE week next week. I have six full sessions and my second shoot night with Mary Kay (for another unit in town) to do business headshots. That night will likely be filled with about 7-10 small sessions so I will have my work cut out for me next week with sessions alone, but we also have orders to fill and some upcoming events to organize.
Again, I am searching for an assistant so if you are interested please contact me soon!
Have a great weekend!!!
Sarah Jane – Now a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant
I am proud to announce that last month I became an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics! I know this doesn’t have much to do with photography, and this is my Photography/business blog, but part of the goal behind the blog is to give my SJP family of clients a little glimpse into who I am – the girl behind the camera, so-to-speak.
Well as of last month, who I am now includes an avid Mary Kay cosmetics fan AND a new consultant. Though I say this has “little” to do with photography, the truth is that for me the two are related. My skill and knowledge in each compliments the other. For one, I am so happy to be able to include “mini beauty shoots” in each of my Mary Kay parties so that each lady gets a professional image of her new amazing Mary Kay look. This works great right now as Mary Kay recently announced a Make Over contest with an impressive $4000 DREAM VACATION grand prize!!! (call/text/email to find out how you can win)
There is so much that I absolutely love about Mary Kay products that I could go on and on (and only a couple months ago I would have told you Mary Kay was makeup for your grandma)… I have fallen in love with superior products that in only a couple weeks transformed my skin. I have never had the perfect complexion and always struggled to reduce the appearance of my pores, control excess oil and prevent both over dry patches and breakouts – AHHH. Mine was not a simple skin solution – or so I thought. I do admit that my medicine cabinet went from a collection of about 5-10 products ranging from Clean & Clear to Oil of Olay and everything in between, to MARY KAY MARY KAY MARY KAY (and my tooth brush)! I use everything from the classic Timewise Miracle Set to the oil matifier, oil free eye makeup remover, acne cream, microdermabrasion set and the full color line! AND THEY WORK – Yes, I was as surprised as I sound here.
I never thought there was a difference as nothing had ever really worked for me before. I have also started giving the product as gifts to my closest girlfriends/family as I know that these products need to be in all my girls’ cabinets. The best text I got this week, was one of my best friends texting me to tell me I had her hooked on the moisturizer I had given her for her birthday. She couldn’t believe how great it worked and my response was “I know!!! I told you. It only gets better from there!” Needless to say, she has her own party booked next week so she can earn some FREE product.
Though the blog will still feature my photography and images of my amazing SJP clients, look for a few Mary Kay updates mixed in as well. I will also be toying around with some product reviews and makeup application tips (videos perhaps). I would love your feedback on what you would like to see, and if you use Mary Kay I would love to know what your favorite products are!
Sarah
Daycare Portrait Sessions!!!
Obviously inspired by my last portrait session, I have decided to start offering more daycare portrait sessions!! YAY.
If you missed my last post you should check it out below… I spent just a couple hours at at an in-home daycare last week photographing each of the children and I had a blast!!! So it got me thinking why not do some more! The sessions are fast and fun and really very easy, for parents that is! And, lets face it, easy is NOT the word most parents think of when thinking of getting their children ready for a portrait session.
But parents think about this, you get your child ready for daycare just like any other day except maybe you pick out a special outfit and pack an extra outfit too. That’s it! When you pick up your little one and go home, you have an image gallery full of beautiful images of your precious baby! Done!!!
And daycare providers, this is a great way to offer your parents a little extra service. You can choose to pay for the session as a gift to the parents for giving your their business, OR have them cover their session and have the gift be the convenience of you organizing the day! And don’t worry, I do most of the work … You just coordinate with the parents to get contact information for me, session payments and to relay session details to each parent.
Plus, as a thanks for being the coordinator of the event, I will also take a group image of all your little ones and you (and any other daycare staff members) … the whole gang! And I give you a FREE 4×6 of my favorite group blooper image… and I promise there will be one! This is a great way to market your daycare if you are expanding or create memories of the children you care for over the years!
Call, email or text me to book your session today!
Sarah Jane Photography – Now on MySpace & Twitter
You can now find us on Twitter and MySpace as well as here on wordpress, facebook and at our home site!!! This is truly a world based in technology as we now have 5 web presences!
I am also excited about being on google maps and in their business directory where you can write a review of our products and services! You can also find special offers and coupons here throughout the year! Keep checking back as the coupons will change.
Through these online resources I intend to connect with my clients in a new way. Photography is a very personal field and I hope to build a relationship with each and every client! PLUS our online pages contain special offers and announcements to keep you up to date on studio updates, new promotions and SAVINGS!!!
Recent Photo Shoot – Megan Snow
This is one image from a recent photoshoot with the beautiful Megan Snow (whom you may recognize as Ms. December from last year’s “Undergrads” swimsuit calendar). This is one image I took some time to play with. Though I have way to much work to do, I needed some photographic time to myself, and it manifested itself in the following image:
Customize your SJP experience!!!
The most recent wordpress update allows polls so here is my first (hopefully of many more to come). My business is for all of you! It is my job to create the images you have dreamed of and I can only do this with your help!
Help me customize your experience with this first poll!
Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Maureen’s Model Session – Jefferson City
These are some of my favorite images from a recent session I had with Maureen, who is looking to enter the world of modeling. We spent about 5 hours around downtown Jefferson City and we found some great places to shoot. In fact, we found so many amazing places to shoot downtown that we didn’t even go any where else!! We ended the shoot with over 1000 images and it was almost impossible for me to pick just a few to post here so these are the few I have completed and you will probably see more from Maureen’s shoot very soon!!!
Who says you need a studio to do high key??? This image was taken in front of a dirty white garage door!!
This is my new favorite location in Jefferson City!!!
A little something simple and traditional to supplement the EDGY stuff we did!
This was the second of the two July SJP session give aways.
First of two SJP Model Sessions – Kylynn Hill
The following are some of my favorite images from a fantastic model session I had this Friday with Kylynn Hill in Columbia, Missouri. The shoot was for me to test out the Columbia area and try some new shooting locations and I ended up with 700 of some of my favorite images. Kylynn trusted me enough to get a little wet toward the end of her shoot when I asked her to pose in the lake at Stephen’s Park.
There will be more images from this shoot and my second model shoot with Maureen Miller and upcoming Hickman High School 2009 senior Derek Hartley coming soon!!!
More Images from Mid-America Race @ Lasoski POSTED!
Click HERE to go directly to my ONLINE STORE!
The new images start on page five of the online gallery! There are now about 700 of the 800 total images posted, and I am doing my best to get more up daily.
Plus, keep an eye out for a new gallery in the store that will showcase your finishing options. This will include examples of all the text styles you can choose from if you want to add your name/track name etc to your image plus this gallery will also so some of the special effects you can choose to add to your images! Look for this to be up by the middle of next week!!!
Mid-America Speedway Nationals Comes to Lasoski Speedway
Click HERE to go directly to my ONLINE STORE!
This weekend the Mid-America Speedway Nationals brought some great go-kart racing to our own Lasoski Speedway in Warrensburg! Saturday was a beautiful day to race and photograph! The hot news from the day includes the spectacular showing from two young LADIES out of North Carolina. There was a resounding “Did you see that GIRL? She is fast!!!” from crowds of Mid-America racers who are not accustomed to seeing many ladies on the tracks. (One of these ladies is seen below sitting on the pole for the feature race in her fittingly marked “Hammer Time” kart)
Wendell Shorthose also had a great day, picking up the fast lap time of the day (and unofficially in track history) with a “blazingly” fast lap time of 10.127 second lap during his qualifying race in his Killam Racing Engines powered Icon.
And unfortunately each big race seems to need a bit of excitement that usually ends with a bit of damage, and this race was no different, as you can see below a flip out of turn two gave the crowd quite a show. The driver, being the eternal racer, kept the kart running through the flip in hope of hopping back in to finish the race.
Click HERE to see more images from the May 31 race day at my ONLINE STORE!
There are about 800 images total (with only about 120 posted now) so check back soon as I will do my best to get them up as quick as possible!
Also, keep an eye out for my “effects” post where you can see the different available effects to add to your images FREE to get more than just the traditional racing images!!! These are unlike anything you have ever seen.
2007 Tulsa Shootout Images Posted
While sorting through and processing the photographs from the 2008 Tulsa Shootout races, I uncovered a folder of 2007 Tulsa Shootout Images! So I am “cleaning out my closet” so to say and finally posting these images.
You can find images from both the 2007 and 2008 Tulsa Shootout at my ONLINE STORE!
2008 Tulsa Shootout Photos – GoKarts, Winged Karts & More
Better late than never! I have finally begun to sort through the THOUSANDS of images I took at this year’s Tulsa Shootout, and this is the first of what will be many uploads of images to my online gallery/store.
Click HERE to go directly to my ONLINE STORE to view these images!
Most of the images I took in Tulsa were in the pit area, but keep an eye out for my future uploads because there are some images during races and I have most of the classes represented.
Here are my favorites from my first batch:
More 5/5/2008 Lasoski Race Images Now on Sarah Jane Photography Online Store
Hello Racers!
I appologize for the delay, I encountered some computer problems in the middle of posting your images but I worked out the kinks and now more images from the Lasoski Speedway race are posted on my online store. There is still one more batch to come (including the wreck that shook up one young driver).
Click HERE to go directly to my ONLINE STORE!
Also, check out our new designs to add a little flare to your race display. Impress everyone as you show of that incredible pass through a “Series View.” Don’t have a series of three images to use in this display, just pick your three favorites! This design comes in three sizes and can be either vertical or horizontal: 4×10, 5×15, and 5×30 (The 5×15 and 5×30 images come framed and ready to hang).
Go Kart Photographs from Race at Lasoski Speedway May 3, 2008
Click HERE to view images from the most recent race at Lasoski Speedway.
Currently, there are about 100 images of the 500 that I took so keep checking back to see more. Hopefully the rest will be up by the middle of the week!
Also, I will soon be posting images from the 2007 Tulsa Shootout, including images from the kart and quad races.
Jefferson City High School Seniors – Great Special from Sarah Jane Photography
Hey Seniors!
It’s time… time to take those great senior portraits, and Sarah Jane Photography is here to make sure you have the best senior portrait experience possible! Getting started in simple and easy. Simply call Sarah at (573) 690-7427 or e-mail her at sarahjanephotos@aol.com to schedule your session or request a senior brochure!
Plus, check out these great specials:
2009 Seniors: Schedule your session before July 4th to get 25% off your session fee PLUS 8 FREE wallets!!!
2008 Seniors: It’s not too late, you can still get the once in a lifetime senior portrait experience! Get the above specials on your senior portraits also!
Bellies & Babies Tour w/ Sandy “Sam” Puc’
Seven to Eight hours in a room with 450 professional photographers with one of the best baby photographer’s of our time sharing her secrets to a great baby plan…HEAVEN! I spent my afternoon, evening and most of the night yesterday in Kansas City at the Bellies & Babies Tour with Sandy (Sam) Puc’ and aside from Imaging USA this was one of the greatest learning experiences of my photographic life.
For those of you who are not photographers, or those photographers who do not share the absolute passion and love for the field that I do, this may seem an extreme statement. But for the handful of you that share my passion for photography and have been to a similar conference you know that you leave the program with a regenerated drive, a desire to try most if not all the ideas you were shown, and simply feel the need to go shoot.
For those of you who get the chance to see Sandy Puc’… her show is worth the ticket price and more, she offers great ideas, shares her tirals and “what not to do” stories and walks the audience through a successful baby plan. She will be returning on tour next year with a maternity plan, then a child plan, and the following year with a family plan.
For those of you that are interested in viewing Sandy’s work and/or signing up to see her on tour here are some websites that might be of interest to you:
http://bellies-babies.com/index.html
http://www.expressionsphotos.com/home.shtml
For my clients: You will all be happy to know that with the inspiration from this program I will be designing a baby plan this summer and looking for models to use in the creation of my promotional products and studio samples. Look for an AD in the Jefferson City News Tribune and for more information to come here on my blog!
Senior Portraits – Jefferson City Missouri – Advanced Color Portrait Senior Assignment
My most recent advanced color portrait assignment was one of the most fun. Senior portraits are my true passion and my first love in photography. I had a blast hanging out with Danielle (and my new assistant Allysa). We spend the afternoon checking out new shooting locations in the Jefferson City area, starting with the basics of the governor’s garden, railroad station, and then heading down to the industrial park to get some edgier portraits (my favorite).
Here are a few of my favorite images from the session (it was hard to pick just a few favorites). Click here to view more images from this session!
