Well hot damn, i'm excited you're here. I'm Emily - you can call me em.
welcome to the blog!
I love taking adventures all over the world, photographing weddings. seniors, boudoir, and helping other photographers perfect their craft. When I have my shit together, I blog about them using way too many exclamation points. What can I say, I love my job! Grab a coffee and stay a while!
March 9, 2018
Downtown + Football Field, Hoopeston, IL Sam had recently moved from Paxton to Hoopeston right before his senior year. For his senior session, I asked where he wanted to have them done and we decided on the streets of Hoopeston, which aside from driving through once or twice, I’d never been. As with most new […]
March 4, 2018
Dogtown, Paxton, IL It’s not possible. He cannot be a senior! Time flies, but it was just yesterday that Cole’s sister and I were playing around in the yard while Cole was barely old enough to walk! I consider Cole to be “an honorary cousin” as his dad has always been known to me as […]
February 8, 2018
Dogtown, Paxton, IL Stunning. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I look back at Sage’s senior session. If you follow me at all, you know Sage. She’s been a family friend for years, and when we had Bexley was the first person we called to come nanny for us. So we spend […]
January 23, 2018
Family Farm, Roberts, IL This has been the year for senior guys! I’ve still had many girls on my editing block, but this year definitely more guys for sure. I try and make senior sessions for guys short, sweet, and to the point, and Drew’s session was every bit of sweet. We started with his […]
January 19, 2018
Ten Mile Grove, Paxton, IL So, I’m going to jump out of order here for a minute, because in true blogger style (ok, maybe it’s just me) I procrastinated, and haven’t been able to blog Kalista’s first session we did over the summer. BUT. I’m going to jump forward a bit and skip the summer […]
January 17, 2018
Ten Mile Grove, Paxton, IL Snowfall is a hard thing to catch for photographers. It’s unpredictable, meaning if we want to catch it falling, we have to be “on call” and keep our fingers crossed our clients are available. This year especially, I wasn’t honestly sure if we were going to see snow at all. […]
January 7, 2018
Green Acres Sporstman’s Club, Roberts, IL I love shooting at Green Acres all year round, but nothing compares to shooting there in the fall specifically. When Alec’s mom came to me to do his senior photos, I was honestly thinking of their family farm. It’s where we did Alec’s brother Austin’s senior photos just a […]
December 21, 2017
This fall was a crazy one! One day it was cold and rainy and the next it was warm and sunny. Combine that with a photographer’s crazy fall schedule (seriously, if you’re thinking fall, plan in summer!) and it’s a chaotic mess in the making. But Chloe wanted to risk it, despite the crappy weather […]
December 3, 2017
Meadowbrook Park, Urbana, IL I am so excited to finally have the time to share Daisy’s senior session with you all! Her session at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana was such a fun adventure, and to boot, past Spokesmodel Ashlyn came along to help out! We started at my home in Paxton where Brittany worked her […]
November 24, 2017
“Dogtown” – Paxton, IL Guys. YOU GUYS. This has been the most anticipated blog post of the year. My baby brother is a SENIOR. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?! He’s your typical senior guy, so I’m going to try and keep the sappy stuff to a minimum and I’m also using this blog post to wish him […]
October 22, 2017
Family Farm, Melvin, Illinois Oh Estelle. She is probably one of my sweetest, bubbliest spokesmodels, and I am so happy to finally get to share her senior session with you! Blogging is a tough gig you guys, seriously. Each blog post takes hours from editing images, resizing, writing, sharing, linking social media, and more, it’s almost […]
September 15, 2017
Downtown Paxton, IL Catie’s session was the very first senior session of my 2017 season, and we started out with a bang! She wanted a mix of downtown brick wall with a little bit of greenery snuck in, so I knew the perfect spots! She brought a friend along for the ride, and what a […]
September 6, 2017
Sunflower Feild, Roberts, IL “I’ll just shut up” is a phrase I rarely say while behind the camera. With most sessions, clients tend to love having more direction, and I nit pick about things like hair beards (yep, that’s a thing), lines of symmetry, and HAIR TIES. But once in a while, clients take my […]
August 1, 2017
Crystal Lake Park, Urbana, IL This years’ spokesmodel team is such an incredible group of girls, and I’m excited to introduce Sidney to you! Technically, you’ve already met, as she took part in our spring spokesmodel pop-up earlier this year. She’s a sweet girl with a reserved nature, though her smile can light up a room! […]
June 20, 2017
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hanging out with Kaylee once again. You remember her from the numerous times I’ve photographed her, from the campfire photoshoot, to her gorgeous senior session last year, and she even made an appearance at our spring pop-up shoot! She’s also good friends of my sister, so […]
June 1, 2017
Oh boy! I can’t believe it’s already been another year! Senior sessions are hands down some of my favorite, most fun, least stressful sessions and I believe they keep me young! Since my senior seasons go from June 1st to May 31st each year, I skip the yearly recap (senior edition) blog post for June, […]
May 2, 2017
Sara Shively Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School – Class of 2017 When Brandon finished college, he very quickly accepted a job with a local family selling seed. In his many years of service for Todd Shively, we got to know his family as well. Stephanie, Todd’s wife, spoiled Brandon most days with homemade gourmet lunches and was […]
April 30, 2017
Grace + Gabe Armstrong Class of 2017 I often make a fool out of myself. The combination of my goldfish-like-memory along with my incredible ability to make any situation awkward has once again worked it’s magic. Grace is one of my 2017 spokesmodels, and not only is she gorgeous and smart, but she’s also a […]
April 25, 2017
Japan House + U of I Arboretum, Urbana, IL Spring can be hit or miss. When the flowers come in bloom, they can last for weeks or days, depending on weather. So when the trees began to bloom at the U of I Arboretum, I knew I wanted to spend as much time there as […]
April 18, 2017
U of I Arboretum + Japan House, Urbana, Illinois Mornings are so not my thing. Not. At. All. However, when it was proving impossible to find a time for Sophie’s senior session (when it wasn’t raining!), we knew sunrise was going to be our only option. I’ve done sunrise sessions before, but this one is a […]
April 11, 2017
Being the oldest child, I get constant reminders of how old I’m getting. One of those moments was when I took my sister’s senior photos this past weekend. She wanted spring photos, so when the trees at the Japan House on the University of Illinois’ campus (U of I Arboretum) finally went into bloom, we knew we […]
April 9, 2017
All of this crazy up and down weather really has me itching for summer. Seriously, Illinois is crazy! One day it’s seventy degrees, the next day it’s snowing! Anyways, I’ve been prepping for this summer, and looking back at some past sessions and want to share another one of my favorites with you. Morgan’s spring […]
April 2, 2017
PBL Senior Spokesmodel 2017 Ten Mile Grove, Paxton IL I woke up one day to snowfall. There was just a dusting on the ground, but big flakes were falling out of the cloudy skies. The day before, it was 60 degrees. SIXTY. I didn’t even know snow was in the forecast! With such unpredictable weather […]
March 9, 2017
Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School Senior Ten Mile Grove, Paxton, IL This year in Illinois, snow was scarce! When we finally had news of snow, Kelsie’s mom wanted to try and get in for a quick session with the snowfall! We met outside of Paxton where I knew there would be some evergreens for color and mom […]
February 9, 2017
Ashlyn is one of my senior spokesmodels for the class of 2017. Going through the archives, I realize now that I completely spaced to blog her senior session! Ashlyn wanted to go somewhere a little different for her session, so we explored downtown Urbana. I cannot get over how much she reminds me of Taylor […]
January 26, 2017
It’s finally time! After much anticipation, countless posts, messages, emails, and a slight mishap with a website crash, it’s finally time. I am officially opening up applications to find seniors for the 2018 Mager Image Spokesmodel Team!!! My spokesmodel team for 2017 has been amazing. They’re a fabulous group of girls from local schools who […]
November 19, 2016
Downtown Champaign, Illinois Mariah emailed me months ago, hoping to schedule her senior session with me. She was way ahead of schedule, but for good reason. Although she’s originally from Watseka and her family lives there, she goes to school hours away in Aurora, IL at the Illinois Math and Science Academy. Holy smarts! Since […]
November 17, 2016
Nancy has been a friend of the family for years! I did her older brother, JT’s senior photos a few years back, but this year it’s Nancy’s turn. Nancy also chose to add on professional makeup to round out her senior experience, and as usual, Brittany didn’t disappoint! We headed outside of Paxton to explore […]
November 14, 2016
Green Acres Sportsman’s Club, Roberts, Illinois This has been a long time coming. For so long, I have dreamed of putting together a perfectly styled photo session, collaborating with some of the best in the area, and pulling off a fun and successful photoshoot. It finally happened. This year, I promised my spokesmodel team that […]
September 19, 2016
Paxton, IL I’m at such a loss for words you guys. In talking with Kaylee to prep for her senior session I could tell she was a sweetheart, but had no idea she was also a rockstar! When I met up with her at Brittany’s house for makeup, Brittany had made the comment that Kaylee […]
