I love it when a session takes me to a new place I’ve not been before, or at least somewhere I’ve not been that often. As I talked with Carters about their upcoming 1-year session. They wanted to do something a little different and do a downtown session. They like downtown Champaign and all the unique, fun shops. I arrived a bit early to see the downtown area because I’m not that familiar with downtown Champaign. I’ve done pictures in on place downtown but it’s been so long ago I didn’t really remember how it looked. I was instantly inspired! Downtown Champaign is really nice and I knew it would make for some great images. We met up with the Carters when they arrived and got to the pictures. Isla just turned one, but this time for the session was also a time to get family pictures too. We explored a little downtown, taking pictures as we saw some creative spots. There were so many! I seriously could have taken a lot more pictures, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in 10 years of photography, it’s that you can’t photograph every spot you see. Otherwise, you spend less time at each spot not really maximizing the production level. After a time of family pictures, it was time to celebrate Isla’s birthday with a cupcake from Cream and Flutter. I couldn’t take pictures of people enjoying a cupcake and not get one too! Plus, we brought our kids with us and Liam was really counting on that cupcake! 🙂 This was such a fun session. Carters are such a great family and they are ones that value pictures so much that they print a lot of them to hang around their home. I not only feel inspired when I walk into their home and see my pictures all over, but I feel incredibly grateful that they have allowed me to photograph the story of their life for so many years. It’s pretty special and feels incredibly amazing seeing the story of their life printed out and displayed in their home.
