Earlier this year, my fiancé at the time (now husband!!) and I bought a house in a nice little neighborhood on the north end of Fostoria. Now that we had permanent roots, I immediately began looking for a new studio space in town. From 2009-2012 I shot in my home- near big windows or in clients home. In 2012, I had a studio built on my country property and shot in that from 2012-the beginning of 2021.
Since the early 2021 house fire in North Baltimore (that will be another post eventually) and we had moved into a rental house in Bradner, I started shooting out of a studio in Findlay my best friend Juniper Lane Photography rented. We shared the space for about 2 years but the drive was exhausting and didn’t let me get much else done the days I had sessions. I will forever be grateful to her, for welcoming me with open arms during such a hard adjustment for me. She’s truly my best friend ❤️
Fast forward to March 2023 and we closed on our house. I began the studio hunt and found the perfect spot downtown in the Town Square Arts & Business building owned by Don & Mary Hanson! They’re honestly the nicest couple, and I’ve had nothing but an amazing experience here since signing the lease and moving in this April.
Why this long backstory when I’m blogging about an engagement session? Well, I actually booked this adorable couple because Eve’s mom, who works upstairs at Serenity Christian Counseling, discovered me through us working in the same building! She reached out about photographing a super small and short wedding ceremony/celebration at the Hancock Hotel for her daughter, and a quick engagement photo to print for announcements/decor. The wedding is still in my massive editing queue, but I’ll get to it soon! They were the SWEETEST young couple and I wish them the best most beautiful life of love and happiness.
If you have the chance, I highly suggest checking out my building! There are so many great businesses inside, including the BANKquet Hall run by Don & Mary. I’ll blog about this when I talk about our wedding too, because that’s where we had the reception! It was a great experience! ❤️
Serenity Christian Counseling is on the top floor and has a great staff. My middle daughter went there for a while for help with anxiety and she has been doing well.
There’s also an attorney (I’m not super familiar with him but I’ll update with his link if I can get it!)
There’s the Fostoria Arts Council and I believe they do all kinds of fun classes and activities for the community! They actually have the space upstairs on the 2nd floor that I desperately wanted a couple years ago when we lived in Bradner, lol
Fun fact, this building used to be an old Huntington Bank before being converted to suites for businesses like me- but back in the day it was a First National Bank and was robbed of $18,000 by the infamous John Dillinger in 1934! There are still some bullet holes preserved for history, which is right up my husband’s alley lol. He loves history.
Till next time!