It couldn’t have been a more beautiful autumn evening for this family’s session!  After seeing the cold rain coming through today, I’m thinking this might have been the last of our warm fall weather.  I’m so glad we got this session done just in time :) 

Here’s some my of faves from this session.  We love you,  Bennett fam, and Happy First Birthday, Graham :)

I have been blessed this fall with getting to photograph many of our close friends. Normally I am too busy with clients to fit in any of our friends (sad, I know), but this year since I am not taking any new clients and have turned down a lot of work in order to homeschool, I actually have a few weeknights free for once! While I miss seeing new faces, I absolutely love getting to capture my friends & their growing families. The J family has quickly become dear to us.  They are the kind of friends you know you will have for a lifetime.  :)

Here’s just a few favorites from my session with Josh & Diana’s family:

Little E’s face just cracks me up here – such cuteness going on with these two little girls :)

It’s that time of year again…time for our Annual Digital File Clear Out!  I’m purging all of my 2010 client images to make room for my 2011 & 2012 clients.  Now is the time to purchase your images before they are gone!  I’ve added an additional option this year of purchasing a single file.  So if you’re just looking for that one image from your 2010 session that was your favorite so that you can blow it up for your wall (finally!) – you have that option.  And as always, if you want your entire session so that  you can have an album printed (finally!) :)  – that option is there as usual. 

Just use the paypal button below to make your purchase and your CD will be hand-delivered or shipped to you within 2 weeks!

File Type

Single File $20.00 Complete Session $75.00

I had a beautiful session this weekend at Starved Rock.   We hiked to a beautiful canyon where the majority of these images were captured.  Then we spent some time by a gorgeous old bridge, lovely rusitc fences, and of course – trees everywhere.  It was a perfect fall day.  This family also happens to be dear friends of ours, so it was a pleasure to photograph them!

First up, their beautiful 4 children:

Thanks W fam for a fun session! xox

I had the awesome privilege to swap sessions with another local photographer.  She photographed my family last week, and tonight was her night to be in front of the camera.  We had a ton of fun playing in a beautiful field near their home.  This family is special to me for many reasons.  Here’s a sampling of some of my favorites from this evening:

My little girl turned 5 last month, and so it was perfect timing when I was once again asked by Sarah + Abraham to do some product photography on their new personalized banners.
These banners are very high quality, beautiful, and are the perfect way to celebrate all the birthdays in our house. We’ve already used ours twice – hung on the wall the night before the birthday person’s big day :) Looking forward to making this banner part of our family tradition for years to come! The best party about these banners is that you can personalize then with any phrase/name – so the options really are endless. Some other ideas: above a crib in a nursery (“Sweet Dreams” or baby’s name), draped over a headboard, hanging on a wall above a gallery of frames (family’s name) – some great possibilities! Here’s some shots I did for Sarah + Abraham of my birthday girl and our new banner:

(To get your own banner, go here!)

Disclaimer – These thoughts and opinions are my own and I was in no way compensated for my review/opinion. I just love the product :)

It was a gorgeous evening for a session, although a little bit humid & buggy – of course you’d never know it by these images!  This family was so at ease with having their picture taken, and the love they have for their little girl just spills out of them – I could have photographed them for hours.  I even told my husband when I got home from their session that I loved how sweet & affectionate they were with their daughter – it is obvious that she is very, very loved.  They really are a beautiful family – inside and out.  Here’s a few of my favorites from their session.

p.s. If you loved this family’s images – please tell them so.  If they receive 25 love notes, I’ll gift them an 8×10 mounted print :)

I’ve had the good fortune of being this family’s photographer for 4 years now. I remember when the oldest brother was just 7 months old at his very first session :)  Now there is another little guy in the bunch.  We met up on one of the hottest evenings of the summer so far – but thankfully, little boys with sweaty hair and pink cheeks are pretty stinkin cute :)   Mom warned me that the boys would not want to sit still for anything – so we met at an ice cream shoppe to see if putting something sweet into their mouth would make them pause long enough for a couple shots :)  Sure enough, it was maybe a minute or two before they were up and running – in opposite directions of course – but we still managed to get a few fun shots for this family’s mini session.  I always tell clients to not get discouraged if around this season of life photos are just hard – its SO, so normal :)  Between the ages of 2.5-4, it is almost impossible to get little ones to do exactly what you want to do – it just goes against their nature, ha!  But for every tricky stage, there is a great stage close behind it – in fact, around 4.5 is when little ones often begin to LOVE having their photo taken – so it doesn’t last too long :) 

Here’s a couple keepers from their session:

p.s.  The photo above was taken outside a rad new store called The Pod in uptown Normal – and this is just part of a huge mural that local artists are creating.  Go check out The Pod if you’re in the area!

I really enjoy doing commercial shoots now & then!  I was so pleased when Sara – the CEO and creative genius behind Sarah & Abraham – asked me to photograph my kiddos using these adorable placemats.  Sara has a Chicago-based business that is known throughout the world.  She’s even landed a feature in a pretty popular magazine – Real Simple!  You may have heard of it ;)  My kiddos LOVE these placemats – we use them all.the.time.  My daughter loves that her “character” matches her perfectly, and I love that I can leave these sitting out all the time because they really are just that cute.

Sara personalizes them for you right down to the last detail – even eye color.  You can get your very own here: www.sarahandabraham.com Beware though – her entire shop is full of loveliness.  If you have little ones nearby, you may need to close your browser, because it’s guaranteed they will want everything they see.  On second thought, go ahead and leave that browser open…  :)

Clive loves to point at his “chest” and say “C!”  :)  and that superhero outfit?  SOOOO awesome.

The side ponytail on Charlotte’s is so perfect – this is her favorite way to wear her hair lately.  So fun!

Go check it out!

You may recognize this family from one of the slideshow images above – the only difference now is the size of their baby :)  Sweet Graham is changing and growing at lightning speed – and is it possible? – getting even cuter :)  His mommy & daddy are dear friends of ours.  We started off at our house, ate some good food, then went to one of our favorite spots, played with Graham until the sun started to set, then back to our house for coffee and more snuggles with Graham.  It was a pretty perfect evening :) 

Here’s a few of my favorites: (warning – the following images contain baby + bow tie.  serious cuteness overload is very possible.)