Category Archives: Relationships

Apr 04 2012

Get Em While You Can!

Penny and I have been talking together for two years before we were able to make a session work.  She is the mother of six children and when they would get together, it would often be out of state or somebody would be missing.  Finally, she just decided, “there are four kids in town, let’s just do it!”  Hopefully one day we can get everybody together.  I’ve realized if we wait for perfection, we may miss an opportunity for something really great to happen now.  All of us had a great time showcasing the closeness and fun outlook this family has.

Everyone was relaxed and we had such a blast.


This old depot is a great location for it’s worn wood and deck around three sides making it great for images both morning and afternoon.  Of course, we got had a pretty overcast day making pretty much any location usable.



This building was perfect for these guys.  What a great color to show off their vibrant personalities!


We could have shown an entire sessions worth of fun and cool images with these four siblings standing right in this very spot.



We were cracking up just before this shot when Marcus {on the right} takes his gum and puts it behind his ear!  He says, “I learned that trick from “Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory”.  These looks here are perfectly representing their personalities. 


These two look so much alike.  Seeing the sisterly love makes me miss my sisters who all live far away.  Sisters really do have a special bond.


A fun shot using some on location flash to add drama.


This is probably my favorite shot in months.  I love the way the colors and setting all combined with a great naturally engaging expression all came together.


As moms we don’t often get an image us us by ourselves.  But here, Maria, is in her moms session to capture her moms kids and ends up with her own shot.  We should all get in some images by ourselves.  Both our parents and our kids would love to see just us.


Talk about at ease in front of the camera.  Place. Focus. Snap.  Done.  Repeat in a new spot.  :-)


Teens are so much fun to photograph.  It is a great time of life and most have a joy in the present.


Would you have guessed this sweet family is also dealing with dad battling cancer?  No, you wouldn’t.  They have such an amazingly positive spirit of hope and love.  I hope his battles are triumphant and they make many happy memories even during this time of trial.

~ Shannon
Posted in Families, Relationships
Mar 04 2012

My boys in fog

The greatest part of being a photographer is being able to capture my family and life in images.  When beautiful spots appear with the perfect weather we can take full advantage.  The other morning there was some beautiful fog.  We got out of the house too late to get the images I’ve been waiting to get of this property with a cool barn and a cool pair of trees in the middle of a field.  BUT, this tree lined drive was perfect and accessible to use.  We made a little pit stop on the way to school to grab a few images.  Madison was feeling ill which we found out the next day was a bad urinary infection {my poor girl} so she was definitely not up for being in more then a couple images.  The boys cooperated nicely!

I’ve been waiting very impatiently for Landon to get big enough so that we can take a lot of fun images of the boys playing and interacting together.  This way we can do a really fun wall collage in the boys room featuring mostly the boys.

The boys even had matching hairdos.  One really cute thing they do is hold hands in the car while we’re on long drives.  It is so adorable.

Landon now walks way more then he crawls.  Since he is a 30 pound 10 month old that is amazing!

Landon’s face lights up whenever he see’s his big brother.  They love to play, wrestle {oh my} and do things together.  It is so fun to watch and one of the best parts of having more then one kid.

~ Shannon
Posted in My Family, Relationships
Feb 13 2012

The importance of connections

Our emotional connections in life are what make it so sweet.  When we lose a person who is a vital connection in our life the thing that helps us heal and remember them are the images taken during their life.  Even a blurry bad image becomes a treasure if it contains that person with you.

My friend Brandi of B4 Photography {Website – Facebook} marked the first anniversary of her mothers passing from cancer yesterday.  Like me, she isn’t much of a crier.  She cried much of yesterday.

A few months ago I talked to her about doing a guest blog post for me.  My charitable program, Ella’s Touch, provides a session and CD of images for families with an immediate family member who is terminally ill.  Brandi took the time to do a family session with her mother before she passed. Another friend, Melissa Zihlman, of Melissa Zihlman Photography {Website - Facebook} took beautiful simple images showing their family connection.  I wanted to share these images along with Brandi’s words here on my blog to inspire others to capture these special family relationships before losing their loved one.

Q: What inspired you to have the session with your mom?

A: Having lost twins in the 5th month of pregnancy, I was led to volunteer for “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep”-an organization who gathers photographers around the nation to offer free bereavement photography for babies/children who are terminally ill, dying, and, in some cases, already passed.  I knew how important it was for me to give to these parents because I knew how they felt.  I think that was the first time I ever thought about “what would I do if…”  I just never imagined I would be there again.  Through my work for this organization, I met families who reached out to me with terminally ill moms, dads and grandparents.  I began to gift photo sessions to them as well.  When my mom became terminally ill, it just seemed natural that we would document that last stage of her life just as we did all the other stages of her life.

Q: Was your mom receptive to the session at first?

A: She was.  She admired me for the volunteer work I did.  She thought very highly of me for that.  She knew how important those photos were to those families.  I approached her and she did groan a bit because she had lost some hair, weight, etc.  She didn’t look like herself.  She did them for us and also for herself.  We didn’t have any photos of her with my youngest daughter.  One would think we would have several with me being a photographer, but, as most photographers know, you spend a great deal of your time working for others and you often forget to pick up the camera for yourself.  She was so happy when she saw the final product!  She kept saying over and over how happy she was that we did them.

Q:  Did you or Melissa have a specific vision for the session?

A:  Not really-I know from experience that you don’t get a lot of time to shoot these sessions.  It is very emotional work and I didn’t want to overload Melissa with any “we MUST have this or that”.  I think I told her-”she won’t sit for long-we need a family pic, one of her with the kids, each kid and with her sister”.  The whole process took maybe 20 minutes.  Really, I just wanted her to capture us loving my mom.  You cannot plan those kinds of shots.  Those just happen.  Melissa did an amazing job of capturing the love and the heartache in the room that day.

Q:  Were the images captured what you thought they would be?

A: They were everything I hoped for and so much more.

Q: I know it has been a short time since your mom has passed, and hope this question isn’t too hard for you to answer. How do these images make you feel when you see them now?

A: I cry each time I see them–even now, writing this, thinking back to that morning, I am crying.  It is so very painful to lose someone you love and still need in your life.  I also smile when I see them.  I remember how it felt to put my arms around her that morning.  I remember her hand and how it felt on mine.  I see her strength and wisdom in her photos…and I also see her humor-as she did a special shot for us and it makes us giggle every time I see it.  Most of all, I think of the love we shared.  That journey was hard on everyone in my home but I would do it all over again, year after year, if it meant my mom would be here for me to talk to and take care of.

Brandi:  More than anything, these photos aid us in our healing.  She will never come back but we have these memories preserved forever–and they aren’t HER, but they ARE the next best thing!

Brandi has been in my thoughts and prayers especially as she has hit this one year anniversary.   Thank you so much to both Brandi and Melissa for sharing their time, talent and emotions with us!   Both of them are wonderful photographers in Roanoak and Grapevine Texas.  Please consider using them if you live in or visit this area.

If you know anyone who would qualify for an Ella’s Touch session please speak to them {or yourself} about getting a session.  Facing loss one knows is coming will never easy, but we can capture those special family connections to treasure.

As an update: Ella who inspired Ella’s Touch passed away September 15th, 2011.  I will write about the experience in a couple months.  She is a special little girl who really touched so many lives.  My family is forever changed because of her life.

For more information about Ella’s Touch including the submission form to request an Ella’s Touch session, please visit the Ella’s Touch page:  Ella’s Touch

~ Shannon
Posted in Ella's Touch, Information, Relationships
Jan 22 2012

Newborns rock!

Oh, I love newborn photography.  They are easily the most time consuming and difficult session, but the rewards are amazing.  Those precious new humans Heavenly Father has entrusted a family with are sweet reminders of the joy and miracle of life.  They are completely innocent and dependent on us big people for all of their needs.

Being a mom of three now, I have witnessed how incredible and necessary each one of my children are.  All of them individually take my breath away regularly.  Their little quirks make me laugh.  They wake up looking for love and cuddles.  We have a great morning ritual.  The kids will come into our room and climb into bed with me or us if Guy is still home.  We’ll greet each other happily and sing a good morning song to each other.  I miss these mornings on the days when we have to rush to get ready.

With each passing day and year these three children of mine grow and develop as unique individuals becoming more interesting and fun.  With each newborn I get to photograph, there is a glimpse of his or her amazing future as they develop and grow building bonds with their family.


Baby Kaeli has two adorable big sisters excited for her to join the family.


Like Guy and I the family moved into a new home right around her birth.  Crazy times.  While we were doing the session dad and another guy were tearing down & replacing the stair railing.  Once they are done with a few modern refinishes their home will be amazing.


The day was unexpectedly a bit gloomy with just enough light to create a little space for these shots.  Kaeli cooperated nicely doing a great job with being moved and even smiled a little for us.


We pulled dad away from work for a few shots of the three of them.


Such a sweet trusting baby held in dads arms.  Notice the Love is Bald wristband?  Each year he leads an effort to raise money for children’s cancer and shaves the old noggin.  Check out the Love is Bald Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57169628230.  I’m sure they would love help!


This is my favorite image from the day.  These two are so stinkin cute together and you can tell they adore each other.  Kaeli is totally missing out on this joke as she happily sleeps.  This is exactly the type of image she will love most when she gets older.  Kids absolutely love seeing images of them with their parents and when those parents are showing genuine emotions of love, laughter or hope.


Mother.  The most important person in Kaeli’s life as a newborn.  She does the lions share of the day to day care during the first few months all while lacking the full rested sleep our bodies crave.  Kaeli is in beautiful hands.

~ Shannon
Posted in Babies, Relationships
Jun 24 2011

Personal Shooting

I haven’t talked a lot on this website about personal shooting.  As an artist first and foremost it is very important to be inspired continually.  When we drive anywhere my mind is constantly taking in the scenes and lighting conditions that pass before us.  Most of the time I imagine how these scenes we pass will look with people in them.  I love to photograph people most of all.  When I meet people, and even when chatting with friends, my mind is often using an imaginary camera to capture the best of that person.  Looking for the good, the pretty and most importantly the personality.

While it is currently very popular among photographers to capture sultry looks from their subjects I will undoubtedly continue to endeavor o capture the real smile and joyful personality in every subject.  Most people have a cheerful and cheeky side that is just waiting to be captured.  This certainly doesn’t mean I want to pass up any tender emotional moments that convey the genuine love families have for each other.

But I digress from my original topic.  Capturing images just for my personal inspiration.  When I am being personally inspired the whole world just seems to be a better and more enjoyable place.  This is why I decided to accomplish a 365 project where I take an image a day.  It has been a bit impossible to post those images lately on my blog, but I am still taking them daily.  They inspire me many days.

This last week we spend in Atlanta visiting some of my family.  As we were driving to the house the second day we were there, I noticed a really cool shabby barn surrounded by some beautiful trees.  My first thought was that it would make a great place to capture some family images.  Since my family there is pretty camera shy I knew we probably wouldn’t get to capture everyone, but the kids would work great there too.  I capture images of them all the time, but we rarely go out with the intent to capture images like a real session.

I rummaged around my parents house to see what we could use for the impromptu session.  Guy & Madison had her dressed in a rather eclectic outfit and I liked the colors Blake was dressed in.  We didn’t bring any clothes with us other then everyday play clothes.  With all the items gathered my sister and I jumped in the SUV with the twins and headed over to the barn.


And here we begin!  Just after they sit down they are both enthralled by the water in Madison’s cup only it wasn’t just water in there.  There was a small black bug swimming for all he was worth to escape.  I quickly dumped the water and we reloaded with some fresh water.  Ha ha.


After I got the bug out of her water and they switched sides a few times we got down to the ‘serious’ business of shooting.


Clients are always asking me what they should bring to a session.  When kids are involved there are so many options right from your own home.  All of these items were just around my parents home.  The hydrangea bush on the side of the house provided the flowers.  The bottle came from an Australian ginger beer I got when Guy got his meat pie and sausage roll fix from the Australian bakery the day before {Guy is from Australia}.  The “table top” is a book with one giant pull out page I remember seeing as a kid.  The “table base” is a family heirloom handed down to my step mom from her grandmother.  Madison and Blake’s “chairs” were grabbed as I was walking around perusing the house contents.  My step mom has a thing for dishes and china so at the last moment I grabbed a couple plates and cups to take with us.  I didn’t have any plan on what to use where, but it all came together when we got there.  We also brought a black umbrella.


My husband, Guy, says this one should be titled Mars – Venus!  We love it.



Back at home from our trip the last two days they have played tea party in their room.  As I was editing the images both of them excitedly relived their photo session describing all the stuff they did while pointing to their images.


She looks so pretty to me.


LOVE


She started laughing at me as I was teasing her to coax out different looks.


My baby sister, Grace, was helping out by moving the kids here and there, filling their water and adjusting whatever needed adjusting.   Blake is inspecting his cup to ensure it was filled properly by her.  lol


Then he ran off.  Typical boy.


No worries.  Madison carried on the tea party without him.



She decided it was time for her to get in some good play time too.  She gave me this adorable look and body pose before heading off.


I love this shot.  It is definitely time to get some of my favorite images together to sell as fine art images people can display in their homes.


I need to braid her hair more often.  It goes together well and looks so cute.


Another fine art image.  So sweet and nostalgic.


Grammy’s china photographs beautifully.


Detail shots are always a favorite of mine.  One of these days I want to publish a book of my detail images with cool stories and funny saying calling it Pieces.


Blake gave Maddie some flowers.  Giving them actions generally helps them to have more fun and gives me cool images that tell a story.  This evening, Blake was talking on the phone to Nanny {Guy’s mum}.  He turns to the computer just after saying hello and sees this image.  He tells her, “Did you see the pictures of Blake and Maddie on mom computer?  We were playing.”  Well honey, she will see them soon enough when this post gets published.


Girls need to run off and have a different kind of fun sometimes.  Blake liked to get out of the shady area where the location wasn’t quite as cool anymore.  She’s off to join him here.


After some smooth talking they came back into the ‘scene’ and agreed to hug each other.  This quickly became a giggly mess of let’s see who can knock the other one down first.


Madison got a scratch & not sure why Blake looks sad too.  This is one of my favorite images from the session.


This girl loves to pout.  I don’t think we go a day without her pouting over something.


Blake came over to help her up.


She loved it until…


Yep, neck grab and she stopped helping herself up thinking her same size three year old brother would be able to lift her dead weight up off the ground.  Sure Maddie.  She has a thing or two to learn about physics.


The wind kept knocking our wold history pull out over which I ended up liking better anyway.  She brought the pot back over to the tea table.  It’s such a cute image of a little girl at play.


We got this adorable image before he was fired from the umbrella for a while.


This session turned into something much more about Madison then Blake.  There are so many images I love.  She cracks me up and I love this quirky outfit her dad put her in that morning.


Both of my twins love to tease us, and playing hide and seek is one of their favorite tricks.


I love how quickly their attention turns in different directions.



After capturing some images of Maddie with the umbrella we walked over to see if Blake was ready to join us for some close ups of the two of them together.  I turned around to see this…  My sweet girl was busy walking behind me dragging the umbrella while blowing bubbles.  lol


This one makes me laugh.

This is so sweet.  They really love each other.  I’m so glad Blake consented to rejoin us for some close ups under the umbrella together.  The first time we tried it he kept dragging her by walking away and pulling the umbrella.  This time he got really into the affectionate and fun moments with his twin sister.


Check out the love in that look.


I love these moments and am so thankful to be blessed with the talent to capture these precious moments of my kids as they grow and develop.


I inherited this same upside down smile thing from my grandma who passed away last summer.  She is the first one I thought of when this image popped up.  Miss her.


Another look at Mars and Venus here.  Madison is all angelic looking right at the camera, while Blake is doing his own thing and looking bored with it all.

I love everything about this last shot I got of them.  It was the perfect note to end on.  Pretty much since this session ended I’ve been on an emotional high.

~ Shannon
Posted in My Family, Relationships
Jan 13 2011

Baby love

You may remember the amazing Chloe from her session this summer found here.  The image of her in the alley holding the flowers and a suitcase graces the cover of my studio sample album.  I see it each and every time I leave my office and never tire of the image.  She just welcomed an adorable baby sister to her family.

~ Shannon
Posted in Babies, Families, Kids, Relationships
Jan 05 2011

Ginourmous 365 project update

I’ve organized all of my 365 images today.   There were only 3 days of missing images which was waaaayyy less then I thought there would be.  I don’t know about you, but I tend to exagerate my shortcomings, missteps or failings in my mind.

Here are images from the first 20 days with comments.  They may not be the exact same images I chose the first time, but a girl can change her mind.

1st 365 project 001/365

I loved this image of Cora.  It actually didn’t make the cut to be included in the proofs from the families mini session, but I kept coming back to it as one of my favorite shots of the day.  There is just something so sweet in her expression.

1st 365 project 002/365

Newborn photo shoots!  They pretty much all make my heart swoon in delight at the artsy and precious images we photographers are able to capture in those first few days of life.  If it weren’t for the potential ‘up all night’ thing birth photography can mean I’d be all over it.  Maybe when my kids get a little older I’ll want to tackle the logistics of birth photography.

1st 365 project 003/365

My girl just standing there as she models the hat and scarf I made her.  Too bad it is yet again too big as the yarn settles.  I even took out quite a few stitches from the pattern while making it to make it smaller.  It will still be cute in a few years when her head is bigger!

1st 365 project 004/365

Part of the absolutely amazing view we have when we stay in Miami!  We like the area more and more each time we go.

1st 365 project 005/365

The kids HAD to have a birthday party for my mom who met us in Miami.  They {mostly Maddie} talked about it non stop whenever we talked about going.  We got party favors, a cake and some balloons to surprise her with.  They even went the whole time from meeting her at the airport to walking in the door with her without telling my mom about her surprise party.  Pretty impressive for 2 year olds.   The image of them is a Christmas tree ornament for her from us.

1st 365 project 006/365

Blake was in love with the 5 monster trucks my mom brought him though he consented to let Madison play with the pink one.  He is telling me here he doesn’t want to put them down for whatever I wanted him to do instead {probably eat}.

1st 365 project 007/365

We let the kids do the driving on the Disney Magic Kingdom raceway.  Both of them did great until they got distracted.  It was the one ride we went on twice during our visit that day.  My girl was so thrilled to be racing along.

1st 365 project 008/365

While I was letting the kids nap in one spot of shade about 2 feet wide at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Guy created his own shade a few feet away for his own siesta. I’m pretty sure that fake rock was about a 1000 degrees under his back. Whatever works…

1st 365 project 009/365

It would be amazing to live in a climate where I could grow orchids easily.  They are such wonderful flowers.

1st 365 project 010/365

I love to see the way Guy reacts to the kids every day activities.  There is no doubt my man adores his children.  Maybe because we had so much trouble having children we tend to appreciate and cherish the time we get to spend with our kids.  We’d rather take them to dinner and the movies then hire a sitter for us to go alone.  The same for going on trips.  We love to spend time together as a family.  We had years of spending time doing things with just us as a couple.

1st 365 project 011/365

When I booked this session I didn’t realize they spoke mostly Spanish at home.  I definitely would have learned a few pertinant phrases ahead of time to capture their attention as I normally do.  These boys were adorable and definitely ended up responding to me.  I loved both the parents open and direct personalities {my favorite kind of people!}.

1st 365 project 012/365

This image was a great moment caught of the girls playing around when they thought they weren’t going to be in any images.  I love playing with color and textures, but only on certain images that capture my imagination.  This one definitely did.

1st 365 project 013/365

She doesn’t give me this smile all the time so it was a blessing to capture it during one of our drives home {we split it into two days}.

1st 365 project 014/365

My boy messin around with a hat.  He thinks they are really cool.

1st 365 project 015/365

We put up our tree the day after getting home from Florida.  The kids loved helping put on the ornaments and we only had 2 or 3 break during the whole season.  They were delighted with the tree each and every day.

1st 365 project 016/365

Our tickets to Harry Potter.  Blake stood up when the credits started to tell the audience {yes turned and faced the rest of the audience} that it was a great movie, it was time to go and to move it.  And to think, sometimes he plays shy with people.

1st 365 project 017/365

The kids came along on a photo shoot with me and patiently waited off to the side while we took the kids images.  It was a shoot for a friend and the only time we could schedule it ASAP to get her Christmas cards back in time to send out.  I loved Madison’s outfit that day.  Blake’s outfit is makeshift because he peed his pants right as we pulled up to the location.

1st 365 project 018/365

Their first real snow experience.  From this moment on Madison has been in love with the snow and wants to make snowballs anytime we’ve been around snow since.  I think we have a real winter lover in her.

1st 365 project 019/365

I love being able to teach at church.  Last year my kids were all 4 turning 5 and this year we are still going to be together.  Here are the girls coloring about the lesson we learned that day.

1st 365 project 020/365

Madison was having a bad day {hence the lack of pants}, and talking on the phone to her grandma and nanny cheered her right up.

~ Shannon
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Posted in 365 Project, Babies, Families, Fine Art, My Family, Relationships

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