Hi guys!

I'm Emily Martinez, founder of Ivy Impressions. I come from a family of photographers and we rarely go anywhere without a camera, because you never know where you may stumble upon 'that perfect image'. 

I fell in love with photography at a very young age, consumed all the film I could get my hands on and ended up working in a custom photo lab as a teenager. I loved that job so much that I stayed there for over a decade! I studied photography in college, earning my degree in Media and Design from the Illinois Institute of Art. I went on to a career as a Marketing Manager, all the while shooting in my spare time, turning my family and children into my subjects. I reached a point in my marketing career where I needed to make a change...the day to day was becoming suffocating and I needed to do something meaningful with my time and energy...something that fed my soul.

In my heart I knew that something was creating images, and Ivy Impressions was born. 

I'm a very lucky girl to have a super supportive family, and my husband Marc is my number one supporter. He's my tech guy, researching the latest and greatest in camera equipment, lighting, and computers. He also knows his way around a camera, and has an especially keen eye for capturing candid moments. Marc is typically our behind-the-scenes dude, but you may just see him out at your session behind a camera too! Otherwise, you'll find him behind a guitar, or the piano, or maybe a harmonica...because along with images, our lives are filled with music.

Together, Marc and I have three wonderful, adorable, crazy kiddos and one exceptionally crazy lab-dog...they keep our lives full and exciting! We live the small town of Genoa, Illinois and adore our cool little community. As a family, we love the outdoors - kayaking, camping and bonfires. Our house is filled with love, pictures and let's be real...a fair amount of dog hair, and we wouldn't have it any other way!