The Blog

Mr and Mrs. McCuistion

July 24, 2025 0 Photography, Wedding

Imagine waking up on a summer day, getting ready with your girls, driving to your beautifully decorated venue the sky is dark and cloudy, but who cares…you’re about to get married. Squeaks of excitement, you are eagerly anticipating your wedding. It’s just a few hours away now. You get into your dress and the activities begin…. Mom helps you button the last buttons. You put your grandmothers earrings in and then the veil. A little jump of excitement, ahhh it’s staring to feel more real!

Your favorite ladies are waiting for you outside, they haven’t seen you in your dress yet, GASP, “you look so beautiful!” The sun peeks out just in time…Hugs all around, you pray together before the celebrations being full swing. But wait…your twin brother decides last minute that he wants to do a first look with you 🥹 How sweet…there may have been a few tears. Dad comes around the corner and gives you a big hug…is his baby girl really getting married?!

The ladies are all done with their photos and they go back in to spend the last hour with the bride before she says I do. Meanwhile the boyz are chilling in their cabin. It’s time for photos but were missing a groomsmen, you’d never guess he’d be found chainsawing something down around the corner 😂 Oh well he’ll be here in a minute. The groomsmen are all assembled, they have one job…get the groom hyped up, he’s about to get married! Some thunder and a tiny bit of sprinkling rain and a sun shower accompany the grooms hype squad as we document memories. Success.

The groom is in his place, back turned, eyes closed, eagerly awaiting his bride, but he doesn’t get to see her yet. The bride walks around the corner and does a little happy dance. She’s nervous and so so excited! Back to back they read their vows, lots of tears, the happiest and sweetest kind of tears 🥹 We’re down to minutes now, just a few more short minutes. Some trusty friends are wiping all the rain off of the chairs by the pond. There’s some thunder but we’re stepping out in faith. The sky is a little dark but who cares when the bride and groom are this excited and this happy!

The music begins. Grandparents, parents, the bridal party, and the most adorable little ring bearer and flower walk down, almost stealing the show. The music stops. The crowd takes a deep breath. The doors open and the bride comes through the doors. The groom turns around and his eyes quickly fill up with tears, the biggest smile on his face. The moment his been waiting for for so long is finally here. The bride is crying too. The whole range of emotions accompany a beautiful ceremony “I do”, “you may kiss the bride” “Introducing Mr. and Mrs McCuistion”, the crowd erupts, the best ever, just married smile on the bride and grooms faces. Time to celebrate!

The guest line up and welcome the bride and groom into the reception, bubbles flying everywhere and cheers all around. The bride and groom have the most perfect first dance, the groom kisses her hand murmurs of “Awh” surge through the crowd…how sweet 🥹 The celebrations continue all throughout the evening. The bride and groom slip out for a few moments alone in the quiet to soak in the golden hour light.

They did it, they’re married now, ahh. The light is hitting perfectly. The whole day was perfect despite the rain and the storms, they brought their own kind of sunshine to the unpredictable weather. A few more hours and it will all be over, a long anticipated day full of tears and joy and laughter, but it’s all preserved in their memories and in a gallery full of images. The day will live on for years as a sweet memory. The things that didn’t go as planned will turn into funny memories (what was he chainsawing anyway? Ah who knows 😂)

The light dim and the guest one by one drive away, the day is over but memories live on…The bride and groom have forever to go! What an honor to be a part of new beginnings what an honor to document stories and retell them through images.

As alway thanks for tagging along!

~Emilia Joy

Aniston~ Senior Portrait Session

July 3, 2025 0 Uncategorized

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to do a senior photo session? Guess what?! None of my clients are professional models (although maybe some of them should be 🤪😍) you know what that means for you?! Yep you guessed it, your gallery can look just like this gallery of Aniston. You might feel a little uncomfortable in front of the camera at first but you’ll get warmed up. I’ll give you lots of instructions, I keep you moving (none of that frozen smiling and staring into the camera, no one likes that). My goal is to make you feel comfortable in front of the camera and I’ve never had disappointed clients. Basically, if you book a senior session with me, you get to come hangout with me for an hour on our farm or wherever fits your vibe. You’d be surprised how quickly an hour can go by. And who doesn’t want golden photos like this?!

As always, thanks for tagging along!

~Emilia Joy

Derek + Alexa

March 12, 2025 0 Engagement

Alexa called me less than a week after she got engaged and booked her wedding with me. I was amazed by how much she already had planned out after only one week. Alexa, by far, had more planned than any bride I have talked to yet, you go girl! She even said that she was going to get her dress the next day.

We did their engagement session in the freezing cold but they braved it and my “Suffer with your clients” policy, caused many regrets for me since I didn’t wear a coat😂. We survived though and they were the sweetest and I’m so happy with all of their photos.

My sisters are staring a videography business and they came along with me and made a sweet video of Derek and Alexa’s engagement. Check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMK_6mMF04A

As always thanks for Taggin’ Along

~Emilia Joy

PS: Wait until you see the next post where they had their own special idea, incorporating into their session some detail of how they met. ❤️

Mark + Micah

February 5, 2025 0 Engagement

It’s EXTRA EXTRA special when I get to photograph big seasons of life like this for friends. Mark and Micah are both very dear friends who I have shared a lot of special memories with over the years. I know everyone likes to claim they “called it” after people get in a relationship but TBH I’ve been waiting for them to get together for a while now. I thought surely they would be a perfect fit for each other. At some point back in the summer, Micah called me to tell me she was in a relationship and then proceeded to ask if I wanted to guess who it was, well I chose not to guess but I would have been right if I did. 😂 Let’s just say I wasn’t the least bit surprised.

Well anyway I flew down to Texas a few weeks ago to spend the week with my Texan pals, I spent most of the time hanging out with Micah and Mark and we went out one night to take these engagement pictures. We also did night photos which I’m obsessed with but they did not fit into this blog post. I will be posting them sooooon (or never depending on if I remember or not 🤭)

People always ask me if I actually enjoy taking photos for friends…and the answer is YES I do! It’s more meaningful to me when it’s people I have shared life with that are on the other side of my camera. Also it’s just extra time to get to hangout with them. I loved this session even more since I live hundreds of miles away and haven’t got to be around to spy on them while they’ve been falling in love. 🤭 May can’t come to soon!

As Always thanks for tagging along!

~Emilia Joy

PS: I don’t know if anyone actually reads these blog post but I’m just here to dump photos and also to spew random facts 🤪….

Miley ~Senior Portrait Session

October 4, 2024 0 Senior

I almost wanted to title this session “110 Reasons to Book as Session at Golden Hour” You can NOT get colors like these at any other time of the day. This was the first session of the year that really felt like fall! Everything was so golden and it was a perfect cool night! Miley came out to our farm…literally one of my favorite spot to photograph (have you noticed?). I was googly eyed over these and have been dying to finish editing so I could post them! I dream of these kinds of colors ! ✨✨✨ ALSO my seniors this year have been KILLING it!

Here’s to an insanely busy fall full of more beautiful session like this one… Cheers 🥂🥂

Thanks for taggin’ along,

~Emilia Joy

Ellie Kate

September 27, 2024 0 Senior

I have dreamed of doing a session like this ever since I bought this vintage row boat back in January. When I suggested the idea to my sweet friend Ellie Kate she was so ready for it! I spent the afternoon roaming our fields on the farm for flowers and picked buckets and buckets full. I was a little nervous about how it was going to turn out but once I saw the boat filled with flowers I knew it was going to be great!

It was the perfect summer evening and God even sent us a beautiful sunset and literally made all my dreams come true for how I envisioned this session! I mean how can it get better than this, friends, wildflowers, a summer sunset and magical golden light!

As always, thanks for taggin’ along!

~Emilia Joy

Kristin and Drew ~ Summer Engagement Session

September 9, 2024 0 Engagement

Kristin and Drew had the perfect summer engagement session. Kristin contacted me several months ago, asking about having me photograph her wedding. I set up a client consultation call we her and knew immediately that we would get along so well. When we met in person I knew their session would be a breeze.

What a joy it was to photograph these two and their sweet young love! We hit it off right from the start and they got super comfortable in front of the camera, super fast! It’s summer sessions like this one that give me a fresh reminder of why I love my job soooo much. The green and the golds from this day were amazing and the weather turned out perfect. The joy and the laughter between these to is unmatched! Y’all are welcome in front of my camera anytime! June can’t come soon enough, I know your wedding will be even better than this!

If you want to see more of the beautiful clients I’ve been able to serve this summer check this out!

As always, thanks for tagging along,

~Emilia Joy

Hannah ~ Senior Portrait Session

August 5, 2024 0 Photography

My seniors this year have been making my job so easy. Every time I photograph a senior I’m amazed by how much easier it is than a family session 😂. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good family session but they can be exhausting. There’s something super chill and fun about spending an hour photographing and getting to know one person.

You literally can not beat the sunset glow on our farm I mean look at those greens and golds. Every time I finish editing a summer gallery I remember why I love the summer so much. The greens, the flowers, the blue skys, the golden sunsets…Kentucky summers are the best! Here’s to soaking up the last few sunsets of the summer, it is flying by!

Thanks for tagging along!

~Emilia Joy

Mama + Me~ Lifestyle Session

June 6, 2024 0 Family, Photography

A few weeks ago I got to do a really fun Mama + Me session.  We photographers call these lifestyle sessions. For those of you who don’t know what this means, a lifestyle session is a laid back photography experience, where I come in and take photos of you and your family doing a fun activity. There’s a lot less posing and a lot less “look here and smile”. I focus more on capturing genuine emotions and interactions that happen naturally. None of that making goofy noises from behind my camera because for the most part I want your family to be totally absorbed in the moment. 

If you have really little kids choosing a lifestyle session over a typical session is a great option. Choosing an activity that you love to do as a family is such a fun way to make a memory and to keep your littles happy. Not only will your kids “tolerate” this, it’s actually something that your kids will get really excited about! This option helps to keep the kids entertained, focused, smiling, happy and it provides a great way for me to capture the genuine interactions of your family. 

When it comes to doing a lifestyle session there’s so many options of fun things to do! Have a campfire and smores together, get giant ice cream cones  and eat them together, have a water balloon fight, eat watermelon, bake cookies together, or explore a park. There are really endless options and what makes it so special is that YOU choose what would be fun for your family! 

If your family is not a “smile at the camera and give each other big hugs”  kinda family, or if your kids are just too stir crazy for a typical photo session I really recommend talking to me about a lifestyle session. It’s a perfect way to capture YOUR family personality on camera and to have photos to hang on the wall forever! 

#westernkyphotographer #paducahkylifestylephotography #lifestylephotography #paducahky #calvertcityky #westernkentuckyphotographer #murraykyphotographer #happy #emiliajoyphotography #blessed #familyphotography 

Jenna + Rex ~ Kuttawa, Kentucky

May 28, 2024 0 Photography, Uncategorized

At the beginning of this year I bought a vintage boat. Let’s just say I was SUPER excited about it! I’ve dreamed for years of having a cool boat to use for a couples photo session and now I finally had it, but then it was winter and cold and all the trees were dead 😂 (not ideal for a beautiful boat session) I pulled the boat out once in the winter and my nieces and sister almost got blown away in the wind, oops. So I waited and waited for spring and I finally got to do a few session with some sweet kids but I was still waiting for the perfect couple.

Two weeks ago I found the perfect couple and I finally got to do this dreamy session! Looking through the gallery for me feels magical and dreamy like a scene in a movie. Needless to say, I can’t wait to pull the boat out again for a session. Kuttawa Ky, was the perfect little lakeside town to do this dreamy session in, I can’t wait to go back!

As always, thanks for tagging along!

~Emilia Joy