Lovely Ember Photography

05/06/2025

Goodman Community Center is such an awesome place doing amazing things for the Madison community. Always happy to do photography for them!

02/16/2024

I very much thought I already shared photos from this session, but apparently I did not.
Very excited to see this family this weekend, and capture all FOUR of their faces together. Every time I drive away from their house my face hurts from smiling so much, it’s the best. ❤️

Obligatory mention of how thankful I am every time I get to return to capture the same family again. Sometimes I wonder how long I’ll be welcomed back to do it- what if it’s for 10 or 20, even 30 years? Imagining the kind of photo legacy that could be made makes me all sort of emotional. Who knows if that’ll happen with any one family, but mannnn that’d be amazing if it did.

Either way, don’t forget to pick up a camera and photograph your own family (yourself included!), or hire me/someone to come over and take them. ☺️ I sometimes get worried about the lack of real life pictures the next generations will have to look at- anyone else?

01/26/2024

A late fall walk with Audre, Luke, and Elijah. ❤️

01/25/2024

We were only there for a few hours on the day these two threw a jamboree to celebrate getting married, but man what fun it was.
Honestly, we knew it would be a blast when we first got the inquiry, and when asked what they were most looking forward to, the response was “A laid-back atmosphere, with good friends, supportive families and a fair amount of reveling!”
It’s such an honor to be brought to witness these days that are SO filled with excitement, love, and emotion.

01/22/2024

It’s nice to look at summertime pictures in the middle of winter, especially ones where I can remember how toasty it was outside, and how much fun I had during this shoot.

A glimpse of a morning with Claire, Kyle, and Edy - at home on a hot summer day. ❤️

01/04/2024

Seemingly one million years ago Eric and I teamed up with some friends and started an online journal ( ) to document local makers and craftsmen. It was such a blast to work on, and before the project fell by the wayside (hello children!) I was hoping to get a chance to document a sign painter or muralist. Alas, it never panned out.

Last summer, when our friend reached out to let us know she was in town working on a mural at and wondering if I was interested in taking some photos for her, I said of course!! The mural is 50’ long, and full of native plants and pollinators. It was so neat to see Natalie in her element, creating art on such a large scale.

Madison friends, if you’re on the West side and haven’t noticed it before, keep your eyes peeled. It’s located where Highland Ave meets University.

PS. If you’re ever thinking to yourself “I know Sarah is busy but I wonder if she’d be interested in photographing me doing this thing that I love…” PLEASE message me! Last year there were a few sessions I shot for people where they all started out saying pretty much that to me. I may or may not be busy, but I love capturing folks doing things they love and can usually squeeze stuff in. (Especially if it’s not the height of wedding season!)

01/03/2024

We photographed Jessica and Tim’s wedding a handful of years ago, and this fall I got to go back to that same house I captured Jessica getting ready in on their wedding day. Their home, now filled with two adorable kiddos who were so much fun to meet and photograph. Forever grateful for couples that invite me back, allowing me to capture their lives and safe places.

12/11/2023

Here’s our yearly post to show our faces, after neglecting this platform for months once again. ( hi! I’m Sarah, that’s Eric )

Planning to share more photos from this past season but now that all of our galleries are delivered, we’re focusing on more family time for the rest of the year.

We’re still open a good handful of weekends for the 2024 season! Also, winter family sessions can be fun- plenty of time in Wisconsin for that still. Link on our website to contact us if you’re interested.

Sending big love and thanks to everyone who hired and supported us this year. So thankful for you all. ❤️

05/02/2023

https://www.lovelyember.com/blog/claireandkyle
We've been meaning to put up a new blog post for... years now. The photos from Claire & Kyle's 2020 wedding have been sitting in a folder just waiting, so today I finally got around to getting them uploaded. Hoping to share far more weddings and family sessions from the past couple years on our blog soon- it's such a lovely way to be able to see the story of a day.

Claire and Kyle’s church and backyard wedding celebration in Madison, WI.

09/25/2022

At every wedding we ask our couples how long they’d like to spend for portrait time, and we let them know they can do whatever they’d like.

Leah & Nick wanted to chill and talk about their day, so Eric and I happily photographed them quietly relaxing together.

08/22/2022

Rhy + Benjamin were finally, finally able to have their wedding celebration this summer.

After going through all the logistics of trying to plan a wedding whilst living overseas and then having to postpone the whole thing numerous times (thanks covid), I’m so happy that it finally happened and that we were able to be there to witness it.

Benjamin has been a close friend of ours for nearly 15 years, so being able to take some photos of him and Rhy on their wedding day for real warmed my heart. I’ve truly never seen Benjamin so stinkin’ happy, and am so glad that the two of them found each other. ❤️

07/21/2022

Walking back up the aisle after the ceremony is done is absolutely one of my favorite parts of a wedding day!
Congrats to Hannah + Jack, their (much awaited- thanks covid) wedding day was pretty much perfect.