Springfield area candy shop Pease's Candy celebrates the month of August in a very kind way, by hosting an annual Month of Giving. They choose four causes, and each cause gets a week in which they are the recipient of 5% of that weeks sales. Sweet deal! We are happy to announce they have chosen the Evan Hoffman Children's Fund as their beneficiary for next week, August 22nd-28th. As if we needed any more reason to visit our favorite candy store! Evan's mother Myra suggests that everyone treats themselves to a chocolate covered pretzel rod, one for you and one for him! What a delcious and fun way to honor his memory. For more information of Evan, visit www.weloveevan.com, and to find the nearest Pease's, visit www.peasescandy.com. Online orders also benefit the fund!

But they aren't attacking....it's a Fashion TAKE OVER! We had a blast photographing this lovely group of women for our good friends and neighbors Apricot Lane, our fave local women's boutique. Their billboard has just gone up and we are so excited to see it on Wabash Avenue here in Springfield!

A few images from a recent fun and wacky session! We love all the CARDINAL red, especially the team jersey!

Our fresh and bright foyer is so nice, sometimes we just sit out there while we have lunch or make phone calls! We love how the senior images and bright custom frames really pop off the white wall. So fun and summery!

Our seniors have been flipping out over our completely custom senior books. Each one is designed by our graphic designer to the specifications of the senior, and filled with all their favorite images from their session. We love working with our high schoolers to get their input about favorite quotes and song lyrics, colors and design etc. The possiblities are endless and only limited by YOUR imagination!

We love when we get to see what our rising star of the modeling world, Anna Speckhart, has been doing! We took Anna's senior portraits back in 2006, before she graduated in 2007. It was those images that launched her career in modeling, and have since taking her all over the world....we couldn't be happier for her! Her mother stopped in the other day and told us she is currently living in Paris. She recently shot this cover (along with many other images) for Sephora. We LOVE the pink wig!

Along with many other print and runway jobs, Anna was also featured on the cover of Italian magazine Flair. I believe her mother said this is her first magazine cover so MANY congrats to her! We know that with Anna's obvious good looks, talent and most of all fantastic personality that she will continue to rise to great heights as a model. We will be cheering for her along the way!

More congratulations are in order for the ladies of Sarah Petty Photography! This time senior photographer Andria Crawford-Whitehead is the recipient of the praise. She completed the requirements of testing and an image review and has earned her Certified Professional Photographer designation from the Professional Photographers of America. PPA currently recognizes less than 2,000 Certified Professional Photographers. Both Sarah and Andria have achieved artistic and technical competence and are proud to be among this group. Andria also holds a Bachelors degree in Fine Art specializing in Photography. We here at Sarah Petty Photography are constantly striving to excel through education so that we can provide our clients with the best possible images and experience!

Every January, we attend our industry's annual convention, the Professional Photographers of America Imaging event. Usually the event is held in a sunny, warm locale. In years past we have attended the event in Florida, Texas, Arizona, etc. This year they chose Nashville Tennessee.....and it was COLD. But we were delighted to be in Music City regardless! Imaging 2010 was a big event for Sarah, who after many years, earned her Photographic Masters from PPA. A small amount of professional photographers will earn this honor, which is acheived by earning high marks in print competitions, attending educational events and workshops, and speaking. Sarah was also honored as one of the Photographers of the Year for her high scores in the 2009 print competitions. Congrats to Sarah!

Pictured here from left to right:

Andria, Erin, Sarah, Cyndi, Betsy

Woohoo! Let's cut loose!

Another happening that made Imaging 2010 so special was the contribution we were able to make to PPA Charities. We hosted a webinar with many other photographers that helped educate thousands of small business owners and photographers all over the world, right from their computer. We put a call out to all the webinar educators and attendees to join us in raising money for Operation Smile, PPA Charities beneficiary, by making donations. Our goal was to raise enough money to fund the cleft lip/cleft palate surgeries for 100 children...and we were so glad to present this check for $21,000 when we reached that goal! Overall PPA was able to donate $100,000 to Operation Smile. We couldn't have been happier to be a part of that.

We are thrilled to anounce the engagement of one of our own, Cyndi! She has found a wonderful guy in Andy, we couldn't ask for anyone better for her. We are so excited to watch their relationship grow, we know they will enjoy every second of it. So where does this bitter come into this sweet? This means Cyndi is leaving us! She will be moving to Andy's town about an hour away. We will hate to see Cyndi go in a few weeks and can't imagine this place with out her! We will miss your sense of humor and your skills at being probably the hardest working gal in this joint. Best wishes to you both....and visit often!

Classic Cyndi and Andy! : )

We are absolutey positively in LOVE with our holiday window display this year! Our favorite college art student/summer intern Maggie Day visited us over Thanksgiving break and took our concept and made it happen! It turned out better than we imagined. We like to stand in the foyer and eat our lunch just so we can look at it. : )

This quote from the movie Elf fits perfectly with the canvas of a little girl jumping on the bed the we have hanging on this wall...all hopped up on holiday treats!

We were all absolutely delighted this year for Sarah to win The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce award for Small Business Owner of the Year! We love being a part of our local chamber of commerce and are delighted to accept this award. Small business ownership is such a rewarding experience on so many levels!

Joe and Sarah Petty

Sarah with her dad, Joel Tjelmeland, who won this exact same award many years before! Small business success is a family affair!