“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

My name is Shanna, like Banana, and I have always been the Girl with the camera. I started making photographs in school and continued to shoot while on road trip hikes or at the beach with my best friend and fellow photographer, Mark. We are married now, and we make a pretty rad team.

Despite the fact that I have always enjoyed photography immensely, it would take almost 10 years to convince myself that I was “good enough” to build a business around my love for the art.

At the age of 18, I got a mall job and thought that I could find success in a paycheck, so, I worked instead of starting college. I thought the key holder position was the right goal to have, and so I worked hard at it and quickly got the promotion. I got quite a few promotions, and quite a few years went by.

I remember one Christmas Eve morning, it was raining. I was waiting for the light to turn green after working all night. My window was broken, water was splashing me in the face between my attempts to ash my damp, crooked cigarette. I remember being so tired that the weight of my own head was overwhelming to my neck. I sat there lost somewhere between the white noise of the rain on the windshield, the beat of the wipers, and the sheer exhaustion pulling at my eyelids. I interrupted the hum by asking aloud “Is this all there really is? Is this my life? There has got to be more.” I remember the feeling was so certain.

That traffic light did eventually change, and so did I.

Some time later, Mark and I moved to middle-of-nowhere northern Indiana. The closest mall was over an hour away, and I had no idea how to drive in the snow. We had decided that we would simplify our life to give me some time to figure out what I could maybe do with my photography. Within a few weeks I received a Facebook message from Paisley, wanting to know if I would be willing to shoot her wedding. I had told myself that I could never be a wedding photographer. But, she is my friend, she believes in me, and I could think of no other gift that I could give her that would be so fitting for her support of me, so I agreed.

Looking back, I can see now, that it was from that wedding that my entire business was born. Soon after I started educating myself in every aspect of the wedding and portrait photography world that I could find. I took business and marketing classes. I went to photography workshops led by industry leaders. I bought books on photoshop and lighting and posing and the list goes on. Most importantly, I never stopped shooting, I’m still developing my photographic voice, still learning even today; I'm still growing, ever changing, and I'm totally in love with the process.

The beauty of the process is that I am not just taking pictures. It is not just that I get to travel to new places and photograph people on their wedding day or a high school senior before she graduates. Its not just that I get to document new mothers holding their baby for the first time, or an empowering boudoir session. The beauty is in the very real and very present struggle as well.

There are some dark days. There is a loneliness that is part of working from home and building a thing from the ground up. Its hard to really put your finger on it, but it is there. I have had so many occasions to throw in the towel and just...go work for somebody else. I almost went running right back into the thick of the retail grind because I was afraid to get out of my own way. I have watched months of planning go right out the window because, that’s just how it goes. There are definitely days where I forget that success is just as the tide coming in. You don't see it happen. It is gradual and natural. Yet it completely changes the landscape.

There are days where I am fully panicked by the idea that it is that tide coming in that surely will drown me, or a rogue wave will sweep me off of my feet and into the surf.

And there she is. The Girl with the camera.

Sooner or later, we all fall down. We get hurt, we get burnt, we experience loss, we go the wrong way, or we just plain lose faith. Sooner or later we all fall down and its the getting up that makes us.

It is in my struggle that my hunger lives. It is where the urge to help other people resides. Its the gut feeling that I can make a difference with this camera, I can share what I know. I have such goals for myself and my business to jump wildly out of my comfort zone and reach a little higher. Everyday I take one step toward making my bliss a reality and celebrating with community.

My success has not been just a paycheck for a long time now. My success right now is making art for people to hang on their walls. It is traveling. It is making my own schedule. It is documenting love, beauty and promoting discovery in the process with my clients. It is spending time with family. It is helping a friend. Having time to myself. It is my business continuing to grow, and nurturing new relationships. Sometimes my success is just remembering to move the laundry over. But my success always has been, and always will be making photographs.

After reading this, and knowing that I am so grateful for your time, you should know that I want the world for you. I hope that you are inspired to define your own success. I hope that you know that you are totally capable of moving mountains. I wish for you know that you are not alone in the struggle. I feel that you should be aware that you are so loved. And above all else, I encourage you to listen to whatever it is that your seedling of success in your heart whispers “I have always wanted to start/open/design/build/create or be...” It is all yours Girl. All you have to do is show up. 

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Sending love, luck & calm vibes.