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.