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!
November 6, 2019
I loved “working” with Tyler + Jenna because they trust me 100% to deliver. They’ll do whatever I ask with NO questions – including spending 15 minutes FREEZING in the middle of the dark parking lot at 9 o’clock at night. JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THOSE.
July 17, 2019
A Modern Blush Wedding at University Place Church + iHotel, Champaign, IL So this wedding has been sitting in my drafts for a hot minute! Second shooting images always get put on the back burner, but today I wanted to feature this gorgeous wedding I assisted with a while back! I haven’t shot with my […]
June 12, 2019
Inspiring Rustic Wedding at Ford County Fairgrounds So you’re probably wondering why the word inspiring is in the title….well let me tell ya! This was hands down the MOST in-love couple I have captured to date. For warning: I don’t think I have ever posted this many photos for #weddingwednesday but I just couldn’t narrow […]
June 5, 2019
Timeless Blush Wedding at Champaign Country Club Saturday’s wedding was one for the books for many reasons, but what sticks out to me is that this was a rare time in which I was able to capture the weddings for not one, not two, but three weddings in the same family! So, here’s how it […]
May 22, 2019
Springtime Navy + Pink Wedding at Allerton Park + Holiday Inn Champaign, IL Kortnie is a good family friend of mine, so when asked to do her and Joe’s wedding, it was a no brainer! Even though I know Kortnie, this was a wedding of firsts for me – her and Joe (he did choose […]
May 15, 2019
Small Town Blue Fairground Wedding at Iroquois County Fairgrounds in Crescent City, IL In the wedding industry you have to roll with the punches and work with what you have and that is exactly what we did Saturday with the gloomy skies and rain. We met the bride and her girls (and later, the guys) […]
May 8, 2019
Blush + Sage Green Spring Wedding at DiNolfo’s Banquets in Homer Glen, IL Wedding season started off with a big bang – which means #weddingwednesday is BACK baby! When Rachel + Bryan booked me for their spring wedding, I was thrilled to travel north to Homer Glen for their reception at DiNolfo’s Banquets. Ladies and […]
April 25, 2019
Y’all know it. I love second shooting! I have made so many great friends through shooting weddings with other photographers, and that includes Christi. Christi is a wedding photographer now based out of Missouri who is AMAZING at what she does. Her work blows my mind (Christie Chambers Photography) and it has been an honor […]
January 16, 2019
For the third year running, I’m taking a day to look back on some of my favorite moments of each day I had been blessed enough to be able to capture. Each one of my Mager Image Couples mean the world to me, and I consider it a great honor to be trusted with such […]
January 9, 2019
A downtown winter wedding at The Majestic Theatre, Kankakee, IL Happy #weddingwednesday everyone! My 2019 started off with a big bang as we celebrated the marriage of Ellie + Austin. I’ll admit when they booked their wedding date for early January, we planned for cold weather knowing there was a good chance of snow or […]
January 4, 2019
Welp! That’s a wrap! My FIFTH official year is complete and in the books! WOW. It’s hard to wrap my head around. This year has been a great one if you ask me! I’ve been fortunate enough to not only work doing a job I love, but have great clients who support me and show […]
December 31, 2018
A Cozy Winter Wedding at Urbana FUMC + Pear Tree Estates, Champaign, Illinois From the moment I met with Anna and her mom, I knew this day was going to be special. We talked for hours about all aspects of Ben + Anna’s wedding day vision, from timeline to decor to the menu, it all […]
December 24, 2018
Christmas season in the Magers’ household is always a bit crazy. We usually have around 8 gatherings to attempt to attend, along with one of our own hosting. We may sound crazy, but last year we hosted my mom and sister over for Christmas eve breakfast and gingerbread house decorating. It was so much fun, […]
December 20, 2018
Las Vegas Desert, Nevada Earlier this year, we hopped on a plane headed for Las Vegas, Nevada! As if that wasn’t exciting enough, I had been planning an amazing session from many states away in the Las Vegas desert, and it was about to happen! With the help of an amazing team of professionals, and amazing […]
December 3, 2018
A Stunning Purple Wedding at Wesley United Methodist Church – NOVEMBER SEVENTEENTH, TWO-THOUSAND EIGHTEEN – When Megan + Caleb were first engaged, it was on the top of the to-do list to find a photographer. With the help of sister-in-law Kaula (who you all probably know of by now) they had their blind pick of people, […]
December 3, 2018
November 28, 2018
A Cozy Winter Barn Wedding at Bloomfield Barn, Chrisman, IL Hello to another #weddingwednesday! With winter just around the corner, I thought it was a perfect time to share one of the last winter weddings I shot earlier this year alongside Kaula with Kaula Marie Photography. We ventured over to Chrisman Illinois for the big day […]
November 21, 2018
Moulin Events, St. Louis, Missouri Happy #weddingwednesday! Boy, this wedding has been one I’ve been so excited to share on the blog! I headed for a mini road trip with my super fun friend Kaula who runs Kaula Marie Photography as we headed to St. Louis for the day. The venue, Moulin Events, was breathtaking and […]
November 7, 2018
THE VERY ANTICIPATED FALL PLUM-COLORED WEDDING AT First Lutheran Church + The Refinery, Champaign, IL – NOVEMBER 3RD, 2018 – On October 29th, 2017, I opened my phone to an amazing photo of some gorgeous left-hand bling with a simple “sooo, is the first weekend in November available?!” and it’s one of the very few […]
November 3, 2018
A Rustic + Romantic Wedding at Willow Creek Farm, Urbana, Illinois – SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28TH, 2018 – As I arrived for the ceremony the morning of Bethany + Larry‘s wedding, I spoke a little bit with Larry, who was giddy with excitement. “I’ve been waiting way too long to marry this woman, I can’t wait…” […]
October 24, 2018
Stone Creek Golf Course, Champaign, IL You all know I love second shooting, especially with my dear friend Holly, who owns and runs Holly Birch Photography. She’s a spunky, fun-loving, lobster lover who has been a great friend and you may recall she took our maternity and birth photos of Bexley! Anyways, I first was […]
October 10, 2018
A Rainy Day Fall Wedding at Timber Creek Bed + Breakfast, Paxton, IL I feel like there’s always some point in the year that I talk about how crazy ridiculous Mother Nature is making the weather, but for real, this fall weather has been cray cray. All week I was sure that the forecast would […]
October 3, 2018
A Romantic + Rustic Barn-Side Wedding in Paxton, IL SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2018 I always love a barn wedding, but a fall barn wedding at Engelbrect Farms is always a treat! It’s a nice 5 minute commute from our home, which came in very handy later in the night – we’ll talk about that later. Anyways, […]
September 19, 2018
A Lively African Wedding at Prairie Glass House CHAMPAIGN, IL | AUGUST 25TH, 2018 Admittedly, I was a bit nervous about Saturday’s wedding. At Marlyse and Lucien’s engagement session we talked about some of the elements of their wedding day that would make it unique, mainly that they would be intertwining a traditional African wedding […]
September 12, 2018
A Rainy Day Rustic Wedding in Teutopolis SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2018 If rain on your wedding day means good luck, then Dallas and Courtney should be set for life! In fact, due to the wannabe monsoon that occured all over central Illinois on Saturday, I’m guessing most couples were blessed with good luck. Driving that morning […]
September 5, 2018
A Burgundy + Blush Wedding by the Pond SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2018 Labor Day weekends aren’t often wedding weekends for me, but for Jordan + Dalton, I made an exception. Boy am I glad I did! I met with the girls for the morning details and to get Jordan into her gown, which was a stunning […]
August 15, 2018
An Elegant and Relaxed Wedding at the iHotel – J U L Y 7 T H , 2 0 1 8 – When I first met Erin, she was a bridesmaid in a wedding I photographed way back when, but I still remembered her when she emailed to tell me she was finally planning her […]
July 18, 2018
iHotel and Conference Center, Champaign, IL Man! It’s been a quick minute since these two tied the knot – almost one entire year! You may ask – then what in the world are you doing blogging them?! Welp, since I was working alongside Kathy of T-Stagg Photography as her second shooter, these images got lost […]
July 10, 2018
A Country Chic Wedding at the Kankakee County Fairgrounds and Exposition Center, Kankakee, Illinois – J U L Y 7 T H , 2 0 1 8 – Hello to another #weddingwednesday! Last weekend, Brandon and I had the privilege of photographing the wedding day of two of the most genuine people, Gabbi + Klinton. […]
July 4, 2018
Happy Independence Day! With summer in full swing, weddings almost every weekend, and a June bride myself, I thought we’d take a minute to talk about the downfall of summer, the overwhelming heat. Sure, in winter, hot summer days are all we dream about, but if we’re realistic, we’re really looking for days in the […]
