Georgetown Fair Queen behind the scenes with our final queen portrait of Heather Simpson

So after spending an entire year photographing Heather Simpson we wanted to do one last portrait prior to the pageant, plus we needed to photograph each of the contestant in their business suits. The contestants spend the afternoon doing interviews with the judges at a local church in Georgetown, and the queen is the official hostess and introduces each one the contestants to the judges. We occasionally get questions about our pictures so for this one we'll take you behind the scenes to see how we shot our last portrait with Heather Simpson.

After searching the church for option we mostly found solid color cement block walls and low ceilings, so we ended up going to the opposite end of the church where we found some great windows and a little bit of natural light. We thought about taking the contestants outside, but it was a hot and humid day so we really wanted to keep everyone indoors. The idea was to do these pictures as simply as possible - we'd brought in backgrounds and multiple lights in previous years but were determined to keep in simple this time.

For our portrait of Heather Simpson we positioned her with her back to the windows and then framed the shot to use the windows as the background and even a little bit of a graphic element. We liked the way the colors of the windows matched Heather's suit, plus it was a neutral background for the contestants. We used the sunlight coming through the open windows to create a bit of hair light on Heather while Joe held a single speedlight that bounced into the opposite wall for our main light. We got two vertical portraits and then grabbed this one horizontally framed composition specifically for the blog. The entire process of photographing Heather probably took less then five minutes. We actually pre-metered the exposure and practiced the composition with Heather's sister in advance so we'd only need a couple minutes.

We had an amazing year photographing Heather Simpson and we are very appreciative of how hard she worked at our sessions to get some many great pictures. We love doing pictures of the Georgetown Fair Queen, and we can't wait to show you more right here with Josh and Joe Travels!

2018 Georgetown Fair Queen Pageant

Billi Jo Shank was crowned the 2018 Georgetown Fair Queen at the fair queen pageant this week, and Heather Simpson completed her official duties when she crowned the new queen. Earlier in the year we did a photo session with Heather to produce marketing pictures for the queen pageant, and you might have already seen some of them online, in local newspapers or in the pageant program. And if you were at the pageant on Monday night you saw Heather's 007 theme come to life on stage.

As the official photographers of the Georgetown Fair Queen we'll soon have lots of new pictures of Billi Jo Shank to share with you, but until then check out these pictures from the 2018 queen pageant, and if you see us at the fair be sure to stop and say hello to Josh and Joe Travels!

Billi Jo Shank crowned Miss Georgetown Fair 2018

Billi Jo Shank of Danville was crowned Miss Georgetown Fair 2018 during the Monday night Georgetown Fair Queen Pageant, emerging from a field of 9 contestants to earn the right to represent Georgetown at the Illinois state fair queen pageant in January. Miss Georgetown Fair 2018 Billi Jo Shank was crowned by outgoing queen Heather Simpson.

We were thrilled to be there as the official photographers of the Georgetown Fair Queen, and with the crowning of Billi Jo Shank we have now photographed the crowning of the Georgetown Fair Queen ten consecutive times.

Here are some of the very first official pictures from Billi's crowning moment and a sneak peak at our first portrait session with Billi on the midway following the pageant. We've got lots more to show you, so keep checking back for more pictures of the Georgetown Fair Queen right here with Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen Contestant Fair Walk with Queen Heather Simpson

Today we were at the Georgetown Fair with the Heather Simpson and the queen pageant contestants as they visited the fair and toured the exhibit buildings. Contestant Fair Walk is a chance for all of the contestants to see the fair in person, and even try their hand at washing a cow. Monday night at the fair Heather Simpson will crown the 2019 Miss Georgetown Fair Queen, so keep checking back all week for exclusive pictures right here with Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen Turn Back Time with Heather Simpson

Heather Simpson will crown the winner of the 2018 Miss Georgetown Fair Queen Pageant coming up in just a couple days, and we can't believe how fast the past year has flown by with Queen Heather. These pictures are some of our favorite moments with Heather Simpson and if you are at the pageant on Monday night of the fair we bet you'll get to hear Heather talk about a few of them. Queen Heather's year has been more about the journey than the destination, but now that we're here we can't help but think about how Heather embraced her job as queen to make her year an unforgettable adventure. And pretty cool we got to be there to take pictures of some of it.

Earlier this year we had a chance to do a special photo session with a few of the former Georgetown fair queens, and Heather is soon to join that club (if you missed those pictures online you might stick you head in the fair office and look for them on the wall). We hope Heather's year inspires the next Georgetown Fair Queen to make the most of her year of service, because if you've seen anything from Heather, being Miss Georgetown Fair is probably the best job in Illinois. And if you want to see who follows in Heather's footsteps to become the next Georgetown Fair Queen, keep checking back right here with Josh and Joe Travels!