Calotype Photography bio picture
  • Welcome to Calotype!

    Calotype Photography is a portrait studio located in the tiny town of Anderson, Missouri. We specialize in creating beautiful, style-conscious portraits of children, families and high-school seniors.

    I'm Julie Stephens, and together with my husband, Jonathan (that's us with our son Jack, left) we operate Calotype Photography. I'm the artist behind the camera, and Jonathan manages portrait sales. Baby Jack is the Calotype Poster Child, modeling in exchange for room and board. Watch out for him— he has an affinity for two-year-old girls in pettiskirts!

    Do you absolutely love your family and children? Do you think pudgy baby hands and toes are marvelous? Maybe you cried on your son's first (and second) day of kindergarten, or maybe you're the mom that gives your daughter a standing ovation at every dance recital. If you believe your children are the best thing ever, then call us at 417.845.1151 to schedule a Portrait Session. We may not be able to bottle up all that childhood sweetness, but we can capture it on canvas, and you'll be filled with joy each time you see it!

    PS: Browse our blog and leave a comment. We would LOVE to hear from you!

    Special thanks to Richardson Studio in Bloomington, IN for our family portrait.

At Home with the Wilson Family in Joplin, MO

Here’s what Sara had to say about her experience with Calotype:

“What an absolute joy it was to work with you all!  Julie, we just love your enthusiasm, passion, and of course amazing talent.  You have quite the knack for working with babies! You captured very beautiful moments of our little family that we will treasure always.  Thank you!!”

Thank you, Sara!  How wonderful to have these images… babies grow too fast and your family changes before you can blink… but portraits like these keep those memories forever.

Amy RyderAugust 25, 2010 - 8:34 am

Oh my goodness Brett and Sarah, they are beautiful!!! Baby Hutch is the cutest thing ever. What a beautiful family. :)

JulieAugust 26, 2010 - 8:13 am

Love these! My favorite is of Sara and Hutch in the nursery… Great pics for a great family!

Let’s Get Together

The Harrell family, at home in northwest Arkansas.

Now Booking Fall Portraits

Don’t let another autumn go by without gorgeous outdoor portraits from Calotype Photography! It’s our favorite season: we love color, we love cooler temperatures… and… did we say we love COLOR???

Estimated prime time for gorgeous fall color is somewhere around October 13th through October 27.


Many of our forward-thinking clients have already scheduled their fall Portrait Sessions! WE CAN ONLY ACCEPT 9 MORE CLIENTS DURING THESE TIMES. Book now to guarantee your fabulous fall portraits!

Here’s three options:

  1. A special location of your choice— your home or other special place that’s important to your family. Choose a unique location and your portraits will be different from anyone else!
  2. Outside the studio— simple fields and nearby trees yield a basic autumn appearance. Mid-morning and late afternoon work best for lighting.
  3. Inside the studio- wear your sweaters and scarves and enjoy our new, hand-scraped wooden floor, along with other new backgrounds for this fall! No need to wait until October— you can get your fall fix now!

You will LOVE your Calotype experience!

As always, we guarantee you will be THRILLED, not just satisfied, with your portrait experience, or we’ll refund your money, no hassle! (Yes, we know we say that a lot, but that’s because we get many phone calls from unhappy people who have wasted time and money with a discounted photo-enthusiast— we hate to even call them photographers— and we just want to save you the trouble).

Most people who value photography can plan on investing somewhere between $700-$900 for a complete experience; receiving not only a great experience in creative photography, but a large Signature Canvas for their wall, and a lovely assortment of smaller prints for themselves and for gifts. We’re not rigid with our package collections… we understand that your tastes in sizes and display are unique and we’re happy to customize a collection just for you. Only the Session fee ($99-$250) is paid in advance to book.

Book now! Call the studio at 417.845.1151

Have your calendar handy, and a credit card ready to pay the Session fee and reserve your exclusive Session date and time.  Hurry, before the best dates are gone!

Almost Two

Our little family of three will celebrate our three birthdays in September.  Jack will be two, Jon will be a lot older than that, and I will be slightly younger than Jon.:)

Okay, okay, I’ll tell our ages!  I’m actually not ashamed of my age, at all.  In fact, I love growing older.  I love the experience I’ve gained, the joy I’ve had, and the memories I’ve made.  My life is a long testimony to the goodness of God, and because of His faithfulness  I look forward to each moment the future brings.  I’ll be 29 years old on September 9th; Jack will be 2 on the 20th; and Jon will be 38 on the 22nd.  HAHAHA!  Actually, he’ll be 33. :)  More amazingly, we’ll be married TEN YEARS in October.  WOW.  But that’s another sappy blog post!

Here’s my big little toddler, 23 months, in his everyday cuteness.  Happy almost-two birthday, baby Jack!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD…. Jeremiah 29:11-14

Weekends Make Us Happy