Leah Islinger Photography has some BIG BIG NEWS!

After being in this business for many, many years and solely being an on-location photographer the entire time I have decided to 'settle down' and open up a studio space! I have come to realize & accept that I am not getting any younger and packing up and unpacking and packing up and unpacking again for just one session has gotten to be a lot on not only me but also my equipment. I am so excited to design and furnish my new space for my clients. It will be quite different having everything on hand during my sessions and I can imagine it being pretty wonderful as well! I will still be pre-planning all of my sessions but it will be much easier to swap things out as needed or if anyone changes their minds. 

I know that my past in-home newborn clients really loved having me come straight to them but I hope that everyone can appreciate that sometimes things must change in order to grow and this is just the stage where my business is at in my life. Hopefully, you'll give this type of session a try, I promise I will still be giving you the utmost quality newborn session experience! AND I will also not only be utilizing the studio for my newborn clients but my babies, toddlers, maternity, and even my Senior clients as well! I am actually quite excited to be able to offer some studio-type images for my Seniors! I was even granted permission for your pets!

I cannot even begin to explain the emotions that went into making this decision. I waffled back and forth for many months with the pros & cons. I looked on Facebook Marketplace for months and searched MLS listings. I did find one initial location that I thought would work but then one day I just happened to do a quick Craigslist search - I wasn't aware Craigslist was still even a thing! And there it was, the cutest room I had ever seen and far bigger than the original location I had been considering. Even though I was skeptical I sent a message and got the nicest reply! I took this as a sign to make the leap.....a scary leap! I knew almost immediately that I could make this space into a cozy little studio and my brain started making all of the plans. And here we are today. 

I cannot wait to show some before and afters of what I plan to do! The photos you see below are from either the original listing or photos I took the first time I went to look at the space. The green walls will be painted 'bone' (cream) to match one of my most popular backdrops for my family images - I love that I will be able to use an entire wall as a backdrop! The wood wall has been fixed since that photo was taken - I am keeping it as a fun backdrop as well! There will of course be my backdrop stands with all of my other backdrop options and also the table that I use for my newborn posing. I just purchased all of my storage shelving and ordered a bunch of things that I'll need to make the studio cozy and inviting.

The middle room with the white plank I will mostly be using as my parent lounge. It will be furnished with a little coffee bar and mini-fridge, along with a bottle warmer for the babies. I will have a small couch and coffee table for my parents to relax on and also more storage shelving. I may from time to time move some of those things out to use it as a space to shoot in, because those walls are pretty cool!

From that room, you can see into the ample storage area of the THIRD room! My husband is pretty excited that I will be emptying our basement storage out from all of my props. I can fill those walls with shelving to house my huge collection of baskets, buckets, beds, crates & more! 

 If you are familiar with the Little Chute area this building is right down the street from the Windmill & conveniently located across the street from Seth's Coffee! The studio itself is inside the building where Vanderloop Shoes used to be, with free street parking right out front or private parking in the back.

My hope is to spend most of May painting, putting together storage and in general making this space an awesome place to hold all of my indoor sessions! I hope that my past & present clients love it as much as I do and I hope to be ready to start holding sessions there by June :)

As a fun 'Welcome To My Studio' incentive, I am offering anyone who books a newborn or indoor maternity session between now and June 1st a complimentary mounted 11x14 wall portrait and 10% off your session order. Please contact me for all new pricing!