Alida Duff Sullivan

Alison + Nick {Engaged} :: Decatur, IL Wedding Photography

Alida — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:52:18 +0000

Hugh and I have known Alison since our days at Millikin. Alison was an art major, just like us, and her brother and his wife were part of our graduating class, and great friends, too! We were sooooo excited when Alison told us she was engaged to Nick, and we were even more excited when she asked us to be a part of her special day. We took their engagement photos a few months ago, and their wedding is today. I can’t wait to report back on how awesome this day is going to be! Congrats Alison and Nick!!!

Laura {Senior 2011} :: Decatur, IL Senior Photography

Alida — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 16:40:03 +0000

This summer has been packed with photo sessions, and one of my favorites was photographing Laura. If you’ve never met Laura, you should! She is awesome, energetic, and completely genuine. I loved working with her on her senior portrait session. We had a great time exploring new locations together, and finding some really cool backdrops for her session. Here are a few favorites from her day:

Keller {Month 7} :: Decatur, IL Baby Photography

Alida — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:50:25 +0000

I can’t believe how fast time has flown! I’ve been photographing Baby Keller each month for the past 8 months. He’s getting so big, and he’s really starting to develop his personality! For month #7, we went with a rock-and-roll theme, which was really fitting since Keller’s daddy loves guitars. We worked with 4 of his dad’s guitars, an amp, and some of my mom’s 45rpm records. The results were pretty cool:

Alex + Molly {Engaged} :: Decatur, IL Wedding Photography

Alida — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:18:22 +0000

I am sooooo excited to be photographing Alex and Molly’s wedding in November. These two are not only uber-cute together, but they both are a riot. Hugh and I spent their entire engagement session cracking up! The four of us had a great time walking around downtown, and finding new locations to photograph (and a few old favorites too, including the Methodist Church where Hugh and I had some of our wedding photos taken by the amazing Brett Jarnagin). We absolutely can’t wait for their wedding!

Ryan + Melody :: Decatur, IL Wedding Photography

Alida — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:57:17 +0000

I had the pleasure of getting to know Melody during an indescribable 2-week trip to China. She was an awesome part of the Millikin University Choir, and I was along to document the trip photographically. Melody was super-sweet and a blast to get to know, and when the time came for her to get married 2 years later, she and her fiance’ Ryan called me! These two are amazingly fun, and Hugh and I had a great time getting to know them better over their 400+ day engagement. They were married in June, and the ceremony and day were both gorgeous. We can only keep our fingers crossed that each wedding is as exciting, beautiful, and full of love and emotion as theirs! Congratulations Ryan and Melody! Here are a few shots from their big day!

New Product and Promotion :: Wedding Guest Book

Alida — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:45:38 +0000

Long time, no blog…but for good reason! Hugh and I have been booking weddings like crazy! We’re so excited for our latest additions to the client/friend base, with all the new couples we’ve met along the way. And pretty soon we’ll be posting lots of engagement photos. It’s going to be a busy summer, and Hugh and I can’t wait!

Today, I’m really excited to share an idea I’ve had for some time: a custom wedding guest book. I really wanted to do this project for my own wedding, but ended up so swamped with the other plans, that I didn’t find time. One of the many cool things about being a photographer is I get a second chance to create all kinds of fun, unique products for my clients. And who knows, maybe Hugh and I will renew our vows some day

Anyway, below are some samples of the wedding guest book. It comes with 20 custom-designed pages, featuring selected engagement photos. The book is a “layflat” style, so it can rest flat, for easier guest signing. In addition, the pages have a matte finish, which works well for ink and felt-tip pens.

Mention this blog entry, and get 50% your custom wedding guest book! And don’t forget to check back soon. I’ve got tons of new studio samples coming my way, and I’ll be posting them in the very near future.

Family + Children Photography :: Decatur, IL

Alida — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:25:21 +0000

One of the best parts of my job is the diversity. Though I spend the majority of my time photographing weddings and seniors, I do have some really awesome family photo sessions. This year, Hugh and I have met some of the cutest families! We have a blast photographing families, especially the children. And even though he probably won’t admit it, Hugh is definitely the baby charmer of the family. Every time we’ve had a family session, he gets the kids laughing and smiling in no time! I’m pretty lucky to have him around with me for the shoots. Here are a few of our families from the last year.

Check back soon for more photos of Baby Keller. I’ll be photographing him each month for his first year, and Hugh and I are super excited to watch him grow over the next few months.

Limited: Decatur Weddings Photographer

Alida — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 04:39:49 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of Limited Magazine. It’s an awesome publication that focuses on all of the great things about Decatur, including its people, culture, arts, and more. Each year around this time, Limited Magazine has a special Wedding Edition, which is always a great resource for the Central Illinois bride. Packed with awesome articles, the special edition chronicles the stories of local brides and grooms, provides helpful wedding day hints and tips, and is just a really fun read. Since Hugh and I started dating (don’t let him know), I’ve picked up a copy of this magazine, read all the stories, and took in a good portion of the advice.

Two years ago, managing editor of the Limited (awesome bassist of The Still, and friend), Ralf Pansch, asked me to write about my experiences as a bride, and to my surprise, Hugh and I were featured on the cover! I didn’t think it could get any better than that – but I was wrong! This year’s edition featured two stories about weddings that Hugh and I had the pleasure of documenting. My photos accompanied awesome stories about the experiences of September 4th wedding: Ryan and Stephanie, and October 23rd wedding: Brady and Emily.

Check out the articles here:
Stephanie and Ryan
Brady and Emily

Both couples were absolutely awesome to photograph: super-fun, laid-back, and not to mention photogenic The couples not only had those qualities in common, but both weddings had strong ties to the Decatur community and both were at St. James Catholic Church. Hugh and I had a blast getting to know each couple better throughout the process, and it is completely an honor to have had our photographs published with their stories. I plan to blog about each couple in the coming weeks, so for now, I’ll just share a few photos that were featured in the Limited.

And please don’t mind the awful scans of the magazine. I think my scanner is on its way out

A Few Favorites

Alida — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 03:06:39 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! I’ve never been one to make resolutions, but after the absolutely AWESOME 2010 we’ve had, I made my resolution to start blogging more. Hugh and I have had the most amazing year, from my new job at Richland, to all of the awesome experiences with weddings, seniors, and families. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to write about, just never enough hours in the day to sit down and blog. But hopefully my loyal readers out there can send me some ‘friendly’ reminders if I start to slip off the blogging bandwagon.

I have tons and tons of shoots that I plan to write about, but for now, here are a few (non-wedding) highlights from a very busy 2010:

RFK, Jr. at Millikin

Alida — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:00:46 +0000

As many of you may already know, I’m a proud graduate of Millikin University. I loved going to school at Millikin, so much that they can’t keep me away almost 5 years later…wait, have I really been out of college almost 5 years??? I’m going to try to avoid remembering that last fact. Anyway, being part of the Millikin family has provided me so many great experiences over the last few years: a trip to China, a photo exhibit featuring the likes of Dorothea Lange and Edward Weston, and even the opportunity to teach a few classes at my alma mater. A few weeks ago, I was able to add another great experience to the list: photographing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Even before I was asked to photograph RFK, Jr., I was excited about the idea of him even being on campus (and yes, it’s probably partly because I drive a Prius). I had already planned on seeing his lecture on his vision for energy independence, so getting asked to document this event was truly an honor for me. Since I was part of the Millikin media that day, I was able to walk around the auditorium and get various angles of the presentation. I was enamored by his passion and dedication to finding solutions to our energy problems in America. As he concluded his presentation, I was allowed backstage as part of the media, where I was given an up-close perspective to Mr. Kennedy, as local reporters from the Herald & Review, WAND, and the State Journal Register interviewed him. Being allowed back with the media was by far one of my most memorable photography moments. As I took the photographs, the light from WAND’s video camera provided just the right ambiance for that political documentary feel. My favorite image from the night was the last photo, where RFK, Jr. was surrounded by those reporters.