Fall is a beautiful time to get outside and enjoy all that the season has to offer. Whether you prefer to get out in nature, or to stay in the city explore the shops and attractions downtown, now is the time to get out of the house before winter weather makes it difficult.

With the leaves changing and a cool breeze blowing through almost every sunny day, fall is also a great time to take photos or get portraits. Family portraits for Christmas cards and photo albums look great when surrounded by bright fall colors and seniors in almost every high school choose this time to get their senior photos done.

Downtown Cape Girardeau is host to a multitude of fantastic photographers who specialize in everything from weddings to newborns, meeting any needs you may have for photos this fall. These photographers take photos in beautiful and scenic locations all around the cape area.

Katie Blattel, of Katie Blattel Photography at 221 Independence St., specializes in newborns and high school seniors. Throughout her career she’s done almost every kind of photography there is, but she says that newborns and seniors will always be her favorites. She enjoys doing newborn sessions in her studio, judging which props and backdrops would fit best with each child’s personality and look. When she photographs seniors, she likes to take them outside into more natural settings. With her high school senior sessions, she decides which locations and setting, urban or rural, to use based on the clients preferences, personalities and style. Though there are many fantastic places in the area to take portrait photos, Blattel says that her favorite is the yellow doors at Port Cape, which add the perfect pop of color to any senior photo.

Shannon Duggan Photography, located at 42 N. Main St., mostly sticks to wedding and engagement photos and portraits of high school seniors; however, she likes to build a relationship with her clients and many of them return for anniversary photos, newborn sessions, and family portraits. Duggan will meet her clients in her office space, which she shares with Annie-Em’s At Home, but prefers to get outside and utilize natural light for her shoots. Annie-Em’s At Home does a lot of styling for Duggan’s shoots, providing furniture and props to give a unique style and feel to every session. Although she travels all over the Midwest for wedding shoots, Duggan says that she loves working in Cape Girardeau because it offers, as she says, the best of both worlds. It has beautiful locations both in the city and on the backroads just outside city limits, perfect for capturing the mood for any shoot. She can take a photo of groomsmen on certain streets downtown for an edgier city look, then drive a few minutes outside of the city to a beautiful backroad location to give a bride a softer, more natural styled photo.  Her favorite location in downtown Cape to take portrait clients is an ivy covered wall at Annie Laurie’s Antiques, which offers a beautiful and unique backdrop for any occasion.

Deanna Arevalo, with Arevalo photography at 151 N. Fountain St., specializes in high school senior portraits and family portraits. While fall is her busiest season for high school seniors, she has quite a few families who return to her every year for their family portrait its around this time as well. Arevalo is known for always shooting on location and using natural  lighting in her shoots. She tries to customize each session to the personality and look of her clients, choosing city or natural locations based on what fits the clients best. She always chooses her locations based on where there is the best natural light. Because she always follows the light, she could never choose one location in Cape Girardeau as her favorite, as every location has unique qualities which suit it best at different times and on different days.

All of the photographers in Downtown Cape Girardeau have worked for years to find the best locations, settings and light all around the city for every photo-shoot that they do. Each one offers a unique style and individualized sessions for each of their clients. Whether you are looking for senior photos, a family portrait for your Christmas card or a photo-shoot for a fall engagement or wedding, downtown Cape has the photographer and settings perfect for you.

This post was written by guest blogger and Old Town Cape Intern, Colleen Drewes. Please note, this list is not comprehensive nor representative of every downtown photographer. For a full list, check out the directory on our website.

This post is written by guest blogger Steven Amrhein, Intern at Old Town Cape.

As some of you may know, I recently got engaged! One of the perks of getting engaged is the photographs that you get to take with your significant other to announce the engagement. Instead of going back home to O'Fallon for the photographs, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous scenery in Cape Girardeau. Now, according to my fiancé, these have to be "lively, fun, loving...they have to be perfect!" It's what everyone sees when you send out the announcements and apparently if they are bad, then no one will show up to the wedding...or so she says. I did some digging around and came across someone that I believe is perfect for capturing and sharing the special moment in our lives.

Stacey Thompson, a fashion and portrait photographer, that lives in downtown Cape has some of the best work that I have ever seen. She strives to create a sense of timelessness in her images by avoiding trends and incorporating vintage and retro themes. We were pleased to find out that she has been in this area for her entire life and enjoys living downtown because she has the opportunity to scout out quiet corners that most people wouldn't consider shooting in - she wouldn't disclose where though! Stacey enjoys the sense of community in downtown Cape and explained that "people are a close-knit bunch; they value their neighborhood and strive to make it the best it can be."

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing her work, you are truly missing out. She has promised to turn my fiancé and myself into models...after all, she is used to working with them! Models are referred to her through agencies who are in need of current portfolio photos. Occasionally Stacey can even request a model that is a good fit for an upcoming photo concept that she is working on. Several models have came from out of town with the furthest coming from a five hour drive away. Every time someone new comes to the area, they comment to Stacey how picturesque downtown Cape is, especially the Riverfront area. She enjoys working with clients who are expressive and at ease in front of the camera, but also finds joy in working with those who aren't used to having their picture taken.

Several publications, including two international magazines, have featured her work. She even has pictures on PhotoVogue, a portfolio section of the VogueIT website. Solis Magazine also decided to do a print feature on her work after she submitted samples to them. She admitted that she is a little worried though because Solis only allowed her to write 2,000 words to explain her work and she fears that she may have turned it into a rant about Doctor Who, Jim Butcher and Legos. While she is receiving international exposure, some of her favorite pieces still come from downtown scenes, one of which was taken in conjunction with Annie Laurie's Antiques. "I frequently shop at Annie Laurie's Antiques because she has such a great selection of vintage clothing and home decorations. A year or two ago, Laurie began a blog featuring models in clothing from her shop. We got in touch and I've had the opportunity to work with her on some incredible vintage fashion projects," Stacey explained. She also began collaborating with Deb for some work through Pastimes Antiques when she was approached to shoot the 2014 Fashion Faces calendar to benefit the Safe House for Women. They both share a love of vintage themes, and Stacey has since photographed several of her concepts with clothing from the store.

One of the best things about reaching out to Stacey for our engagement photos is that she knows how to work with you. I'm looking forward to our session in late May that we strategically chose in order to have warmer weather and blossomed trees - they'll make for a beautiful background. Before we even had a chance to discuss location, she informed us that she had the perfect place in mind. Check back in early June for a sneak peek at the pictures.