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 :)

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:

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!

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.)

Remember this little cutie? 

That was him exactly one year ago.  I caught up with his family again last weekend to see how much he had grown.  

He’s definitely bigger, but still just as cute as ever :)  I adore the way his hands are laying with his momma’s hands.  Precious.  And don’t even get me started on those cuffed jeans.  ADORABLE.  We had the most beautiful evening for photos.  I love photographing this family - they are one of my faves :)  

Thanks Brandon &  Amy for a gorgeous session.  I’ll have your CD to you very soon!

Interested in a mini session like this family had?  30 minutes + CD of all of your images within 2 weeks after your session.  Visit the links above for more details, or shoot me an email and we’ll make it happen :)

I’ve had the privilege of watching this family grow from 1 baby to 3.  What a gift to be able to follow their journey and be a part of their lives for the past 3 years.  After two beautiful girls, they have welcomed a handsome baby boy – Niko.  Don’t you just love his name?   The momma also happens to be Katie, who has done administrative assistant work for me for the past couple years.  I am truly blessed to be a part of their lives, both personally & professionally.   I loved how true to life these images were – especially how sweet & innocent his two big sisters were.  It was a joy capturing these images for them.

I remember babysitting Summer when she was just a baby – and now she’s all grown up and heading off to college in the fall.  Not only does she have a great first name {wink}, but she also happens to be one of the most genuine, down to earth, and sweetest people you’ll ever meet.  It’s hard not to smile when you’re around her, and her joy for the Lord is contagious.  We had a blast trying some new locations.  I’m excited to be offering senior photography even more this year, and Summer was the perfect senior rep!  As you’ll soon see, her sense of style is killer :)  She was a little nervous on our way to the session, as she’s much more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it – but obviously she got over that quickly  :)  Here’s a few of my favorites: