We’ve all been tested over and over again these last couple of years. It’s been especially difficult to grow a business, but thanks to all of our amazing clients we’ve been successful. Even with the struggles of the world we’ve happily achieved so much which has made each accomplishment even more rewarding. In last year’s recap we said something that I want to reiterate again this year as it still rings true–“We want to remind you of the growth we have all made even during these hard times—because we know we have all learned so much, changed so much, and accomplished more than we could have imagined in this past year.” This blog post is dedicated to all of you who helped support us in 2021 and continued to give us hope for achieving our dreams.

Here’s some of what we accomplished in 2021:

23 beautiful weddings

Weddings are the biggest part of our business! It’s what we love to do, and the stories we love to tell. Our goal is never the amount sessions or weddings we have scheduled, but rather to beautifully capture the moments of these weddings in the best way that we can. This year we focused even more on serving our clients in away that felt like above and beyond. We wanted to ensure that every single one of our wedding couples have the most perfect wedding day ever, but also get stunning images and a beautiful video out of it in return.

We traveled all over Indiana, worked a wedding in Illinois, as well as continued to serve our small home town as well. We hired associates to work weddings on our behalf when we had a really popular date with multiple inquiries and when we were on maternity leave after our son was born. We could not have done all of this if it wasn’t for our assistants, associates, and supporting team members.

You can view all of our weddings here. I’ve linked some of our more popular weddings and a few favorites below.

Sami & Bryce | A wedding at White Willow Farms in Arcadia, Indiana

Sami & Bryce booked us for an All Day package. Our All Day package offers the most peace of mind to couples as we don’t have a time limit on when we need to arrive or leave. All Day means that we can be there for all of the moments no matter how early or late. We love working with couples who book the All Day package because it allows us to truly capture so much of your special day. From getting ready, to sparkler send offs, we’re there for it all! We love documenting so many amazing memories.

Ashley & Austin | A wedding at Shiloh Christian Church in Logansport, Indiana

A warm summer wedding at their family church, Shiloh Christian Church, in Logansport, Indiana, where they gifted one another with hand written notes and a new bible before walked down the aisle to see each other for the first time surrounded by some of their closest friends and family, then ending the night at the Cass County Fairgrounds with good food, tear-jerking speeches, the best company, and plenty of dancing—this was Ashley & Austin’s special day.

Hayli & Bryce | A summer wedding at The Legacy Barn in Kokomo, Indiana

Hayli & Bryce’s entire wedding day was so fun! The laughter started as soon as we showed up. Hayli spent the morning getting ready with her bridesmaids while Bryce had fun getting ready with his groomsmen as well. After they were all dressed and prepped for their big day, Hayli & Bryce had intended to share a first look together; however, unbeknownst to him, Bryce was about to be greated by one of his groomsmen in a wedding gown. As we pretended that Hayli was approaching him, Bryce had butterflies in his stomach. And after a few posed pictures to share in the suspense, Bryce finally turned around to see his friend wearing a gown. You can see a reel of this moment on our Instagram.

Tara & David | A black tie wedding at Indiana’s Fair Oaks Farmhouse

We are so glad that Tara & David entrusted LVP Studios to capture their wedding day with photo and video. It was such a beautiful wedding day, and we are so very thankful that we got to be a part of memorializing their love for one another. We truly enjoyed being their wedding photographer and videographer. Another huge congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Harretos! We know they loved their photos and the highlight film from their wedding.

over 28 other sessions with new friends and old

At LVP Studios, we strive to serve primarily couples and families, but that doesn’t mean we don’t dabble in all kinds of photos and videos for our clients when needed. This year, we loved documenting family moments, seniors in their final year of high school, tons of engagement sessions, some cute newborns, and more! We were also able to accomplish more sessions in our studio this year and grow with those opportunities into the cold months which is something we were not usually blessed to do.

Below are a few of our recent sessions, but you can view our full archive of blog posts here.

Ashton & Christopher | Steamy engagement session at France Park

This engagement session was just amazing!! We started at sunrise at France Park in Logansport, IN and the fog on the quarry was to die for!! It was so steamy and added to the vibes of their intimate engagement. Then as the sun continued to rise over the trees we were able to get the most dreamy photos ever. Thank you Ashton & Christopher for waking up early and bearing the cold with me.

Michaela & Parker | An engagement session at Tippecanoe River State Park with photos and video

Michaela & Parker met us at the Tippecanoe River State Park in Winamac, Indiana for their engagement session photos and video. They have chosen LVP Studios to document their wedding day with video. Some of our video packages include amazing engagement videos that allow our couples to tell their story. Michaela & Parker also chose to add on photo to their engagement session.

At LVP Studios we offer photography, videography, and package bundles to all of our couples who are getting married. We often book weddings for simply just videography, and when we do we still like to take the time to do an engagement session if possible. This is a great time for us to get to know our couples a bit more. It also allows each of our couples the chance to get comfortable in front of the camera.

Charlotte Faye Swartzell | Minimal and bright newborn photoshoot at The LVP Studios in Winamac, Indiana

Welcome to the world Charlotte Faye Swartzell. She was born strong and healthy on November 17th, 2021, weighing 8 lbs. 12 oz. and measuring 22.5 inches to an excited momma, Alexis, and proud dad, Dylan Swartzell. After birth, they shared, “Momma and little miss are doing well. Dad is a rockstar.” About a week after her birth, the Swartzell family came into the LVP Studios for a newborn session. We love having the opportunity to document these tiny little babies like Charlotte in minimal and simplistic ways. We focus on bright and clean backdrops that don’t distract from the precious and natural look of your little bundle of joy.

Halle’s 1st Birthday | A pink cow print session at The LVP Studios in Winamac, Indiana

Little Halle came by the studio for some absolutely adorable 1yo pictures. Of course she came sporting her favorite bell bottom pants and tons of pink & cow print. She showed us how she could stand and even let me play with her little stuffed cow. Milestone sessions are all about documenting the moments as your baby grows during their first year. You can schedule sessions for fresh 48, newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and one year! Commemorating these important milestones with beautiful pictures (and even amazing video) is something that you will cherish for a lifetime.

Mr. & Mrs. Singleton | One year anniversary session at France Park in Logansport, Indiana

We love all of our couples, but we especially love when we get to work with them over and over again. We’ve been able to do family photos, engagement photos, wedding photos, and more for these two!! Before the new year, we got together again with Mandy and Coty Singleton for their complimentary anniversary session to celebrate one year of marriage!

The Smiths | A winter sunset family session at the Tippecanoe River State Park in Winamac, Indiana

Often people shy away from winter photos (unless there’s snow on the ground), but this year we have been lucky because the beginning of the season weather has been quite mild. We were able to get together with this big bunch, the Smith family, for family photos. They were such a fun, loving, and care free group which made this winter sunset session a breeze.

a new assistant (aka our son was born)

We were so excited to announce the birth of our baby boy. Greysen James Lang was born on September 2, 2021. We were induced at the hospital, and while labor and delivery didn’t go as planned, we wound up with a happy healthy baby in the end. We wrote a blog post which includes all of his Fresh48 images from the hospital that we took ourselves–you can read that and see those images here. We also shared all of the details of his birth story on our personal YouTube channel. If you haven’t already, we would like you to meet Greysen James Lang–our newest little LVP Studios Assistant.

3 super sexy boudoir sessions

Boudoir has been something so fun that we are introducing more and more. It’s not something you will see heavily advertised on our social media or really anywhere on our website, but we do love doing it. We help amazing and gorgeous women feel confident in their bodies by taking stunning photos of them that show off each of their individual physiques. A lot of our sessions lately have been for friends, as well as, future brides who want this as a gift for their husband on their wedding day.

If you’re interested in learning more about boudoir and seeing some photos, be sure to request to join our private Facebook Group called “Boudoir | by LVP Studios”. We haven’t yet had the opportunity to showcase much from these sessions for privacy reasons, but we plan to do more and more.

treated countless new clients to coffee

After reaching out to us on our website about booking a session, the first step is for us to get in touch and meet for coffee to chat in person or virtually. Wedding consultations are first on our list and are totally complimentary to all brides. We spend this time talking about their big day and how we can help capture every moment. After our little coffee chat, and if we both decide that we’re a good match for each other, then we want to get booking. We’ll move on to the next steps where each client will receive a ton of helpful information and guides that will walk everyone through everything that is needed to know about wedding photos & videos!

This year, we met with countless potential brides, bought tons of coffees, and sent out numerous pdf guides to provide all of the information we could to our new couples. During the whole process leading up to a wedding day we share information and keeping in touch about all of the details. This means that each of our couples can rest easy knowing we are the experts and will ensure your day runs smoothly. One of our best resources gets sent about two months before a wedding day. Clients receive a 25+ page Timeline Guide which will help them understand the flow of the average wedding day. But don’t fret–we do all the hard work with each timeline design at a final meeting a few weeks before their wedding! Our couples can sit back and relax because we offer complimentary timeline drafting to help create the perfect wedding day.

new gear, including another new camera

Buying new equipment is always fun and cool. We have been slowly scaling up our gear to professional level stuff. In 2020 we bough our first ever full-frame camera which you can watch us unbox on our personal YouTube channel here. And in 2021 we purchased ANOTHER full-frame canon R series camera… the R5. So, we now own the R6 and the R5 mirrorless cameras and love them. On top of the exciting new cameras, we have upgraded numerous lenses, purchased an absurd amount of batteries, bought new camera bags, tripods, monopods, and tons of little things that you wouldn’t even think about. I said this in last year’s recap post, but “we truly cannot wait to see what the future holds as our pictures and videos continue to get so much better.”

We made this fun little reel on Instagram when our new gear finally came in! Check it out.

supporting our family full time for another year

In 2020 we was blessed with the opportunity to have so many sessions and weddings consuming our time that I (Danyell) could quit all other work and focus full-time on LVP Studios. This year, in 2021, we were able to continue supporting our family and new little baby full-time with LVP Studios work. We have continued to build up and business savings, can pay ourselves well each month, and keep a consistent busy schedule. This business of ours has continued to be successful for us, and brings me so much joy every day that I get to wake up and do what I love.

and more, all thanks to you!!

And it’s all thanks to you!! We understand how fortunate we are to continue to have work, to have support in our community, and to have so many amazing accomplishments during a year that was challenging for so many. We want to thank you truly from the bottom of our hearts for all you have done for us, and we can’t wait to work with you all again in this coming year too!!