Georgetown Fair Queen Portrait Session Behind the Scenes with Sarah Sigmon

As the official photographers of the Georgetown Fair Queen in Georgetown, Illinois, we photograph the annual pageant and do most of the queen's official portraits and promotional images. Everything we shoot for the Georgetown Fair Queen is done on location in Illinois, which means we travel with a lot of gear and build out lighting sets for pretty much every "studio" picture you see of the queen. We do a lot of photography in the main building at the Georgetown fairgrounds, but we've set up on location all over the county. We've built out sets in a farm building with the help our good friend Queen Danielle and her family, and we've done production shoots outdoors in just about every park in the area. Basically: have lights, will travel.

For a production shoot it takes us about an hour to organize, pack and load out all the gear. When we shoot white seamless, which is one of our bigger setups, our car is just about a full as we can pack it. Travel time from door to door is about two hours. This means with travel time, load out, and load in, we are in for four hours before we even get started. Once on location, it takes us about two hours to get everything inside, unpacked and setup for white seamless. When we shoot the queen's official headshot and state portrait, we generally set up two or three sets in the fair building. In cases like this we try to have the sets ready to go for the queen so we can keep moving all day, but we do spend some time moving lights and reconfiguring setups throughout the day. We often rent extra stands and grip gear so we can build out the extra sets.

Because we shoot on location and try to travel as light as possible, we photograph the fair queen with speedlights. This might surprise a few of you, and it might surprise you even more to know that we routinely travel with six of them. With six speedlights, softboxes, umbrellas, grids and some of our favorite Kupo grip gear, so far these hasn't been much the fair queen has dreamed up that we haven't been able to deliver. Our style is to light, so we cling to our radio controlled flash units the way available light shooters cling to their fast lenses.

We hope these pictures give you a sneak peak behind the scenes of what it takes to photograph the Georgetown Fair Queen, and if you are a contestant this summer, we hope this gives you an idea of what you have in store for when you step in front of the camera with Josh and Joe Travels!

Key West Historic Seaport

The Historic Seaport has got to be one of the coolest places in Key West and it is home to some of our favorite restaurants and shops. You can walk the seaport from Front Street all the way around to Caroline to the ferry terminal. If you want to take pictures, a morning stroll along the docks is a sure thing if you walk with your sun to your back. Not far from the ferry terminal is Half Shell Raw Bar where Josh loves the group po boy topped with munster cheese and cole slaw. Joe is more likely to get the broiled seafood combo, but you're sure to find something you'll love on the menu. If you do head to Half Shell, there are a few parking spots right out front, but you are more likely to find parking in the big lot on Caroline or even at the city parking garage. And if you do go, be sure to stop and say hi to Josh and Joe Travels!

Pepe's Cafe Key West Florida

Caroline Street by the seaport is filled with great shops and restaurants and one of the oldest in the Keys has got to be Pepe's Cafe. Pepe's is nearby several of our other favorites, and there patio is a good place to be during happy hour. Pepe's also serves a full breakfast which we think is one of the best times to try a new restaurant in Key West. Thursdays are normally turkey special nights, and Sundays are bar-b-que. Duval is full of a lot of action, but we think you should walk over to Caroline one night and check out the menu at Pepe's, and be sure to say hi if you see Josh and Joe Travels!

BO's Fish Wagon Key West Florida

One of the best parts of being in the Florida Keys is all the fresh seafood, and if you are visiting Key West for the first time one of the best places to try for lunch is BO's Fish Wagon. BO's has been around for a long time and you'll find them at the corner of Caroline and William not far from the historic seaport area. BO's has a simple menu and all outdoor seating, so this is a great pick for lunch on a nice day. So the next time you are in Key West stop by BO's Fish Wagon, and order the grouper grilled and fried shrimp just like Josh and Joe Travels!

Woodruff Place Flea Market Indianapolis Indiana

The first weekend in spring is a great time in Indianapolis because there are so many events happening around town. One of our favorites is the Woodruff Place flea market, which is an annual community yard sale on the near east side of Indianapolis. The flea market is on Saturday and Sunday, and the historic neighborhood can become a congested area when the yard sale crowds show up, but if you look around you can normally find street parking within a few blocks. You can find a lot of the typical yard sale items at the Woodruff Flea Market, but there is also normally a good selection of furniture. We saw a set of mid century chairs for sale, and later that week we saw the exact same chairs in a remodeled home on HGTV, so you can find some cool stuff. And if you want to make a day out of it, start at Woodruff, then hit the Indy Urban Flea and the Midland Antique Market which are both nearby. Be sure to say hello if you happen to see a great mid century find being loaded in the car by Josh and Joe Travels!

Miss Georgetown Fair Queen Sarah Sigmon Spring Portrait Session in Danville

We've had a lot of fun doing pictures with Miss Georgetown Fair 2016 Sarah Sigmon, and pretty soon you'll start seeing pictures from our spring portrait session being used in the Vermilion County area to promote the Georgetown Fair and the Georgetown Fair Queen Pageant coming up in August. Queen Sarah has a busy summer ahead of her, and one of her biggest responsibilities is to be part of the search for the next queen.

Think you've got what it takes to be the next Georgetown Fair Queen? Want to sponsor one of the best programs for young women in Illinois? Look for the Georgetown Fair Queen Pageant on facebook, contact the Georgetown Fair or get in touch with pageant directors Jill Pope and Karen Thornsbrough.

This picture is a preview from our spring portrait session with Queen Sarah, and some of you might recognize the location in Danville. Look for more pictures of Queen Sarah coming this summer, and be sure to tell us which ones you like most when you see Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen Sarah Sigmon at the D102 Mother Daughter Contest in Danville

On Saturday, May 13, 2017, we were in Danville, IL, with Miss Georgetown Fair Sarah Sigmon for the D102 Mother Daughter Look-A-Like Contest. It was great to see Tommy B and the D102 crew at the contest, and Queen Sarah was right up front because she was one of the judges. Making appearances with D102 is just part of how the Georgetown Fair Queen is active in the Vermilion County area, and she'll be especially busy this summer promoting the Georgetown Fair coming up in August. Queen Sarah has a lot planning this summer so be sure to wave if you see her official photographers Josh and Joe Travels!