I love Google (not what you were expecting, eh?).  Why?  Because it's finally starting to work for HGP, and I'm getting fantastic clients like Angel and Kerrick, and their newborn, Wesley.  Mom and Dad walked in, handed me baby, and said "do my thing".  Their only previous discussed request was to incorporate a suitcase since his nursery is travel themed.  I just acquired my mom's travel set from the 70's that fit their theme perfectly.  Since their house is decorated mostly primary colors, the vivid red was embraced as perfect.

Check out the gallery with more of Wesley's images (starting at second row, second image).

When planning for newborn sessions, I always ask if there are any special requests, or images the parents would like to see.  Their only request was the suitcase picture.  However, once there they shared the general color scheme, I planned the rest of the shoot accordingly. 

Shawn and Jessica had every detail planned out to make their day amazing.  There were special elements contributed to the wedding day by family members all over the place, particularly, Jessica's grandmother officiated the ceremony, and her grandfather actually made Shawn's ring!  How cool is that?

The couple has the cutest ring bearer, who also happened to be their son, Blake.  While unsure of all the people watching him walk up the aisle to Daddy, he was a ham the rest of the day (and no worries, grandma saved the little guy!)!  Check out the gallery for more pictures of the Maffett's!

There are plenty of places to go around Decatur for wedding photography.  We kept our shot list pretty simple and went downtown to an abandoned building, and then to Rock Springs since it's location was conveniently located to Decatur Conference Center, where the couple received their guests. 

It's no secret that newborn sessions are some of my favorite sessions.  I get even more excited when the newborn's mommy that comes to see me is one of my brides from last year.  I photographed Keli and Marcus' wedding on a gorgeous afternoon with just closest family present.  It was a perfect day, and their love and joy was contagious!

Kole was a tad older than the typical newborn you'll see in my studio.  Typically, newborn sessions are done between four and 14 days.  We got Kole in when he was a few days shy of four weeks.  Turns out three weekers are amazing sleepers and he ROCKED his whole session.  Literally.  The little dude slept the whole time.  We could barely get him awake enough to eat so his belly would be full.  Keli may have mentioned he kept her up a significant part of the night- thus basically passing out for the duration of his session, but we'll just say I have the magic touch (lol). 

Maternity photography is not a type of photography I do all the time. When I was pregnant, the last thing I could ever imagine doing was get in front of the camera, so I guess I have a silly stigma in my head that everyone is nuts like me (and I so wish I had pictures of that time in my life). Considering how much I love newborn photography, you’d think I’d do more maternity, and make a bigger effort to market it since they kind of go hand in hand. Luckily, Stefanie still sought me out and commissioned me for the session, and brought a ton of ideas to the table that I had fun photographing, and hope they love. In case it was going to rain, we had decided to start the session at their home and end at Rock Springs if the day allowed. Check out the gallery to see more of the images from the day.

So this post was supposed to go live yesterday for their 2 month anniversary, however, my internet hates me, and I couldn’t upload their images (turns out lightning was the culprit). A photographer’s blog isn’t too helpful without actual images, eh? Anywho, know I’m up and running.

These images are special to me (and my sister who helped). Obviously, all my sessions are special, but this one was for close family. It is so important to capture wedding day festivities, so when Matt & Kara asked me to photograph their day, I was honored and excited (and honestly, slightly terrified to not disappoint family).  Check out the gallery for more of Matt & Kara's wedding pictures (they start on the second row).

While most of my weddings are based in central Illinois/Decatur, I went home to Oak Lawn to photograph their gorgeous wedding day.