Hockaday Highlights

Lifestyle Photography

Welcome! I'm so glad you're here. I hope you take a moment to explore my photography style and see if it resonates with you.

I specialize in using natural light to capture elegant, candid, and heartfelt moments. My goal is for your gallery to radiate warmth and personality, with the connection between you and your loved ones shining through every image. While I provide plenty of direction, my focus is always on keeping things feeling natural—nothing too posed or forced.

If you're a busy mama looking to capture those special fleeting moments with your little ones (maybe in precious matching outfits while everyone is smiling at the same time, I relate.) Life moves fast, but I’m here to help you attempt to freeze time with beautiful photos that you'll be proud to frame and share.

I have lots of ideas, but I am open to yours, too! Let’s be friends, and we’ll call it a collab. Head over to my contact page to reach out and book your session.

For the latest gallery highlights, check out my Instagram: tesshockaday_photography.

The Photographer

My name is Tessa Hockaday, most of my loved ones call me Tess.. This is an exception from the extra loved littles who call me Mommy.. (except for my 3 year old does call me Tessa quite a bit.)

I have lived in Forsyth, IL most of my life, except for an exciting 5 year stint in St Louis when I went to school and got to dance in front of large crowds. (I hope I didn’t just make myself sound like a stripper).

I came back to the farmland to marry my dreamboat of a husband and we now share custody of 4 gorgeous heck raisers, picture posted for reference.

I spent 11 fulfilling years in high pressure corporate sales, but I gave up the quotas and work trips to be completely available for all things Hockaday children.

It was at this point that I was lucky enough to stumble into an extremely rewarding passion of photography. It has been almost 2 years since I got started, and I feel so lucky to be included in wonderful people’s moments, big and small.

Hockaday Highlights was legally born 9/2024 through my best friend who filed it and who is a lawyer, so it’s as legit as you can get. As of 3/2025, I have a stunning studio in Forsyth… & ya know what, we just getting started baby.