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!
September 13, 2016
Downtown Champaign, IL This year, each of my spokesmodels gets to enjoy not only their senior session, but a second mini session to be shared with a friend or their family members. Since Sophie was hoping for senior photos in the snow, we decided to do her mini session first, and she brought along Emma. […]
September 4, 2016
Downtown Champaign, Illinois Senior season is in full swing! With sessions filling up almost every day of my calendar these last few weeks, rain has not been welcome. Luckily for Grace, there was not a bad spot in the sky the day of her session. We started with makeup in Paxton by the ever magnificent […]
September 1, 2016
Paxton, Illinois Alright folks, here we go again with another #throwbackthursday post, in my never ending attempt to catch up on my blogging! Before last year, I hadn’t had too many seniors from the Iroquois West school district. Turns out, I didn’t know what I was missing! Every single senior I have met from Iroquois […]
August 22, 2016
Whew! What a busy summer it’s been! With a wedding every weekend since May, it’s put a lot of things on the back burner. Last week though, I met with 2017 Senior Spokesmodel Kelsey for her senior session. Kelsey and her mom met with Brittany of Brittany Koryanis Makeup Artistry to glam up prior to […]
June 30, 2016
Ford County Fair, Melvin, IL Every year, when the local county fairs begin, I secretly wish I had photos with all the pretty lights and colors. So this year, as I was volunteering every night at the fair, I decided to make it happen. I called out to my spokesmodels for the class of 2017 to see […]
June 26, 2016
Buckley Fall Session + Alice Campbell Alumni Center and Arboretum, Urbana, IL Many people wonder what good it is for a photographer to specialize. Well, for me, there are many pros and cons, and maybe someday I’ll blog about it, but one of the main reasons is the time and attention I can put towards […]
April 21, 2016
University of Illinois Campus, Champaign, IL You’ve met Savannah. She’s one of my incredible spokesmodels for the class of 2016! If you haven’t met Savannah, take a look at her junior mini session we did last spring! Today I’m going to show you photos from her full senior session we did last summer. It’s #throwbackthursday! […]
April 14, 2016
Happy Thursday folks! Since my website is finally back online, I have A LOT of catching up to do. So I’m going to start my first Throwback Thursday post with Andrea’s senior session! Andrea is currently a senior at Iroquois West High School in Gilman, IL. We met for her photos right outside of town […]
April 11, 2016
Downtown Paxton, IL I first met Natalie years ago, when her boyfriend Aaron met me for his senior pictures! She was super sweet and polite, and even jumped in for a few photos with Aaron. When Natalie contacted me for her very own senior photos, I was so excited! We met up in downtown Paxton, went […]
April 10, 2016
Green Acres Sportsman’s Club | Roberts, IL When Austin’s mom first contacted me, it was to begin planning her twin boys’ senior sessions. Austin’s twin, Riley, went first. He wanted a fall session. Austin, however, wanted to wait for snow. So as with most winter sessions, we waited. Finally, snow fell and our schedules aligned so […]
December 15, 2015
I can’t believe it’s already the last day to apply to be a senior spokesmodel! Over the last 15 days, I have been reading and studying through multiple applications for my 2017 Senior Spokesmodel Program. It’s been amazing to read about multiple seniors from so many different areas and schools, and with so many changes […]
December 10, 2015
The biggest compliment to any photographer is repeat clients. As our businesses grow and change, we always love seeing those clients who will stick with us through it all. The Carleys are just that, and I always have a fantastic time working for them. This year is Cody’s year. Last year, Cody’s older brother was […]
November 18, 2015
One of the first things I do when I meet up with each senior at our location is go through their wardrobe pieces that they bring with them. This allows for me to see what colors I’m working with and helps me better map out their senior session. When Livia and her mom started to […]
October 28, 2015
Last year, I put out the search to find 10 high school juniors from around Central Illinois who would best represent Mager Image Photography for their senior year. After reading through tons of applications, and submitting them to a panel to vote, we finally narrowed it down to the top 10. See that journey here! Each […]
October 26, 2015
Last year, I put out the search to find 10 high school juniors from around Central Illinois who would best represent Mager Image Photography for their senior year. After reading through tons of applications, and submitting them to a panel to vote, we finally narrowed it down to the top 10. See that journey here! Each […]
July 30, 2015
Guys! I swear I am still alive! I know I have been really, REALLY bad about updating my blog lately. Shame on me. With baby Magers on the way, a full shooting schedule, renovating our nursery, and preparing for maternity leave, it’s left little room for blogging. But I have a couple hours this morning that I […]
June 10, 2015
Haley’s spring mini session is one for the books! We ventured down to the Japanese Gardens in Champaign for her first session and got some great shots. I love to incorporate things that each senior loves into their session. Not only does it personalize their session just that much more, but when we look back […]
June 9, 2015
Last November, I put out the search to find 10 high school juniors from around Central Illinois who would best represent Mager Image Photography for their senior year. After reading through tons of applications, and submitting them to a panel to vote, we finally narrowed it down to the top 10. See that journey here! […]
June 5, 2015
Each spring, the senior class has a lot to do before they leave out their high school doors for the last time. From finals and awards ceremonies to walking down the aisle in their cap and gown, each moment is one to remember. Trey didn’t want miss the opportunity to capture these last moments in […]
June 4, 2015
We first met Ally Phillips last fall for her first senior session. We traveled all around Paxton to explore some new spots and had a blast! You can see that session H E R E. For Ally’s spring mini session, she wanted to mix things up and head to downtown Champaign for a different look. […]
May 5, 2015
Last November, I put out the search to find 10 high school juniors from around Central Illinois who would best represent Mager Image Photography for their senior year. After reading through tons of applications, and submitting them to a panel to vote, we finally narrowed it down to the top 10. See that journey here! […]
April 28, 2015
Ohmy. Where to start with this girl. Kaitlyn Camp first blew me away with her first session last fall. See that HERE. We started in town Paxton, then ended the session out at a beautiful barn location outside of Paxton. This time around, we were headed for Champaign. Being early spring, there were some trees in bloom, […]
April 28, 2015
Once again, Brock S. is a familiar face to the Mager Image Senior experience! We first met Brock at his fall senior session in Paxton, in which you can see HERE. We covered the barn & country scene, and finished up on the football field with some awesome shots! This time around, we were going […]
April 27, 2015
Now that spring is rolling around, it’s senior spring mini session time. My 2015 spokesmodels received a complimentary mini session with their spokesmodel membership, so you’ve seen Brianna V. before! Click here to see her fall session photos! This time around, Brianna wanted to venture around the University of Illinois campus, since that’s where she […]
April 23, 2015
Last November, I put out the search to find 10 high school juniors from around Central Illinois who would best represent Mager Image Photography for their senior year. After reading through tons of applications, and submitting them to a panel to vote, we finally narrowed it down to the top 10. See that journey here! […]
April 17, 2015
I have been planning this post for some time now, and am excited to finally share with you some tips + tricks on prepping for your senior session with Mager Image! As part of my job being your photographer, I want to make your experience as amazing and stress-free as possible! For many of my […]
April 12, 2015
Each spring, as the senior class prepares for the next phase of their life, they are asked to submit photos to document the phase they are currently in. That’s where I come in, providing photos that mark this last year of high school for them with something other than those stuffy sit and smile in […]
April 10, 2015
I love shooting high school seniors. It’s probably one of my favorite subjects to photograph, aside from weddings. Senior sessions are fun, spontaneous, and with a senior like Lauren M., fabulous! Lauren is one of my 2015 Senior Spokesmodels for Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School. You may remember this blog post on her summer session last year. […]
March 23, 2015
Meet Kamri! Kamri is a beautiful, smart, fun loving girl from Fisher High School and asked me a while back to do her senior photos! We tried a few times to get pictures in the snow, and every time it snowed we had SNOW. Not the light and fluffy cute snow that just dusts the […]
March 17, 2015
Last November, I put out the search to find 10 high school juniors from around Central Illinois who would best represent Mager Image Photography for their senior year. After reading through tons of applications, and submitting them to a panel to vote, we finally narrowed it down to the top 10. See that journey here! […]
