When the Last leaves the Nest | Family Portrait Photographer Hampton Roads

• July 21st, 2016 •

I met Latrice when she attended my open house in May. Her youngest son was graduating from high school and she talked to me about senior portraits. Her son, Emmanuel was not super excited about Senior portraits, so I talked with her about combining a family session with his Senior portraits. That way the focus wouldn’t be on him the whole time and we’d get those family portraits she’d been putting off for way too long. It’s important to capture the family when the last graduates, especially if there haven’t been any marriages yet. Capture the family unit as it has been for so long… because before you know it it will be growing again!

Once I met her stunningly handsome sons, (Devonta, Marquis and Emmanuel) I realized my job was going to be very easy. They could easily model, each one of them! I had such a great time meeting them and getting to know as little about each one of them. Handsome, talented, kind and compassionate… Latrice- you’ve done a great job raising these young men!

We did our shoot in the neon district in Norfolk and it was the perfect background for this family! We got some great brothers shots, some senior portraits for Emmanuel and some beautiful family portraits for mom! I can’t wait to see this family grow in the future… I see a few future daughter- in- laws someday!

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Ring Dance Morgan | High School Portraits Virginia Beach

• May 24th, 2016 •

It is ALWAYS an honor to photograph the Myers family. Recently, I was honored to photograph the beautiful Morgan for her Junior Ring Dance, with her handsome date Brandon.

I have been photographing Morgan for years, I think she was in elementary school when we began, and this summer we will be scheduling her SENIOR PORTRAITS!

I have been so blessed by the Myers family and to see Morgan all grown up and so beautiful, well it’s like seeing my own daughter growing up. Once so insecure and camera shy, it is so nice to see her, not just comfortable in her own skin, but ROCKING who she is becoming!

I love my job and people like the Myers family are a big reason why! Check out Morgan and Brandon’s pictures and then read below a testimony from Morgan’s mom Christy.

SENIOR PICTURES are coming up for Morgan and I can’t believe its already time to plan for this moment! Wow, so thankful one more of my kids making moves towards her dreams.
With that said I need to brag about our family photographer Devon who owns Devon Shanor Photography.
She has been there for our family’s every move; family pictures when we started over from divorce, back to school pictures, becoming sessions, ring dance, Prom, Senior pictures, Santa pictures on the beach every year, and we are currently working a cake bash for my 40th birthday… you name it she can do it and make it happen. We would be lost without Devon.
She knows my kids inside and out when it comes to pictures, she know my divas, my shy kid, my I don’t want to do this kid and she works with them all and makes it fun every time.
If you have a senior coming up Devon should be your FIRST Choice. I get this question a lot “Is she expensive?” Well I’m gonna answer that “NO SHE ISNT!” Some may think so, BUT I will say this the people that do are used to places like Olan Mills, Walmart, Portrait Innovations, etc where you have to go to a studio, get a few pre-made backdrops, set poses and prices. With Devon we get to pick location (and even poses if we want to do something crazy!) we’ve had so many differnt nature locations; just when I think we’ve done them all we find somewhere new! We’ve done the beach, Norfolk Pagoda, fields, and state parks… the possibilities are endless.
My other reason for choosing Devon, and only her, is I’ve personally have two very bad experiences with going to another photographer. one of them being for senior pictures for my daughter Katie. We hired a cheaper person for her senior pictures, thinking maybe we would get some amazing portraits art a cheaper price. Well, let me just say um…. it was awful! The pictures were blurry, the poses were horrible, she was a mom with a camera nothing more! Needless to say, we begged Devon to fit Katie in and we had them done right. Devon was wonderful about the whole thing. She did an amazing job and while I spent more than I wanted, I learned that I will never again trust anyone with my families memories except Devon.
*Side note: We had a house fire in 2014, the year my daughter graduated and we lost all of our flash drives (digital images) from every one of our sessions. Yes all of them, including those senior pictures. When I called Devon Shanor Photography crying she reminded me all my images were safe she had them all. I lost nothing and wasn’t out all the money for pictures that I could never replace. Well, I was out all of the images I had taken BEFORE Devon, the ones from Walmart and Portrait innovations, they were burned up in the fire and I had no way to replace them. But I didn’t lose the last 10 years of my family growing.
ALL OF THIS TO SAY THANK YOU MY FRIEND WE LOVE YOU!!!!! SENIORS THIS IS THE LIFE PHOTOGRAPHER YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR MEMORIES!

Beca: Class of 2016 | Senior Portrait Photographer Hampton Roads

• January 27th, 2016 •

Stunning. Energetic. Happy. Athletic. Fun. Beautiful. All words to describe the lovely Beca.
We had such a great time on both of our sessions! Why more than one session? Well sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t check with me and she does her own thing! Halfway though our beach session, the wind went CRAZY and Beca’s beautiful hair was everywhere, sand was flying into my camera and we were being blown over!! We just weren’t going to get the beautiful sunset pictures we wanted, so we scheduled a second shoot that thankfully provided a beautiful, windless, sunset.

Beca, I can’t wait to see how your last year in high school goes and what next year holds for you. I haven’t know you long but I do know you are a dedicated, beautiful, hard working soul and I know you will achieve whatever goals you set your mind too! Work hard this year, but enjoy every last minute of high school while you can, you deserve it!

Chris- Class of 2015 | Virginia Beach HS Senior Photographer

• May 21st, 2015 •

I have been waiting to photograph Chris for almost year and I am so excited we finally managed to get it on the schedule! Chris had an insanely busy Senior year and he killed it on the Cox High School football team. I even got to go out for a few games and I have to say, I feel so much pride seeing my Seniors excel in what they do! Next year, Chris is heading off to East Carolina University and I couldn’t be more proud of him!

For our session, we headed to what Virginia Beach is known for… the beach! We started off in the trees and Chris rocked his pride for his upcoming college days! Mom, Donna, and dad, Matt, stuck around for a few pictures as well, rocking their pirate gear too. 🙂 We then moved down to the beach and had an incredible time. As always, Virginia Beach provided and incredible sunset and Chris pulled out his inner model and we created some incredible images.

Chris, enjoy your last few weeks of high school. Enjoy your next four years of college (but not too much- you still have to go to classes!) Never give up chasing your dreams and occasionally take time to look back at these images and remember who you were, what you wanted in life, how you saw your future, etc. You are officially an adult now- but you still have so much life left to live and lessons to learn. I have confidence you’ll do an amazing job and I can’t wait to see what your future holds. Thanks for trusting me with your Senior Portraits. I have so enjoyed getting to know you this past year! 🙂

The beautiful Rayna: Class of 2015 | Senior Portrait Photographer Virginia Beach

• May 1st, 2015 •

I love my job and I adore meeting the amazing, talented young people of Virginia Beach. Rayna is such an amazing young lady, super talented , sweet, caring, kind, funny and GORGEOUS! It was simply an honor to photograph her and she rocked her session. Her very early, very chilly session! We were up and shooting around 6:00 am and it was pretty windy and chilly, but you cannot tell in her pictures cause she is a rock star!

Thanks Rayna for trusting me again with your portraits. I loved spending more time with you and hearing about all your future plans! I am glad you won’t be far and know ODU is blessed to have you as a freshman next year!

Josh: Class of 2015 | Virginia Beach Senior Portrait Photography

• January 13th, 2015 •

It took us over two months to do Josh’s portraits!! We haven’t had any snow but we have had lots of cold rainey days this winter! We had to reschedule Josh’s Senior Portraits three times before we actually got to do his session. Like some high school guys, Josh wasn’t thrilled to to do his portraits, but agreed to them anyway because he loves his mom! So on a chilly, but rain free, new 2015 day we met at his home and got started in the backyard. After some great shots in his yard, we moved to a local water source and had some fun with the geese. (The geese looked great floating on the water behind Josh, but they sure did stink… WHEW!!! Be glad pictures don’t carry scents!)

Josh may not love the camera but the camera loves him! He rocked his session and we had a great time!! I especially loved Josh’s comment at the end when he said “I actually had some fun, it wasn’t that bad!” AWESOME! I’ll take it!

Thanks Josh for being a great sport and I am so happy we got some great portraits for mom. Someday you’ll be very glad you captured these moments of yourself at the cusp of adulthood. I hope the rest of this year is amazing and next year bring lots of amazing, wonderful new experiences!

Xavier Senior Portraits | Virginia Beach HS Senior Portrait Photographer

• December 4th, 2014 •

I met Xavier for the first time right before our session and by the end we were fast friends! He knew right away what I meant by “Smize” (America’s Next Top Model) and was Ah- May- Zing to photograph!

We had a blast exploring First Landing State Park and I could have photographed him all night.

Thanks Xavier for trusting me with your portraits. Have a great Senior year, make it memorable!!!

Kaitlynn Senior Portraits | Senior Portrait Photographer Virginia Beach

• November 24th, 2014 •

Kaitlynn, I know you are going to great things and I am so glad I have gotten to know you over these past years! I have had a blast photographing you… Just for fun, let’s share some of the first images I took of you way back when! 🙂

Yep, you’ve always been amazing! 🙂

And now… Class of 2015!!!!! Wow!

I love photographing this girl. Of course, she is gorgeous and stunning in front of the camera, but she is also such a sweet girl! I love that next year she wants to do a year or two at a school close to home because she’s not ready to leave her mom! (Awww, all of us moms of teens are weeping right now!) Stay sweet K, thanks for always trusting me with your portraits. 🙂 <3

Sedale: Class of 2015 | Virginia Beach Senior Portrait Photographer

• October 13th, 2014 •

What an honor it was to photograph Sedale. I have been facebook friends with his mom, Ellen, for many years. She and I were first “introduced” when I was in my first year of business almost five years ago! She had seen some portraits I did for a friend of hers, and she told me way back then that I would photograph her family someday! She doesn’t live in Hampton Roads though, so we knew it might be a while til we could manage the logistics. It is such an honor when people drive such a long distance just to have their portraits made by me so my heart was overflowing when we finally made it work! <3

I was able to photograph her son Sedale, a high school senior this year! (We also did some family portraits but we’re saving those images for Christmas cards so no sharing!) Sedale rocked his session and we had a blast. We had a great sunset and a perfect shoot!

Congratulations Sedale. Have a great Senior year. Kick some butt on the ball field and I can’t wait to hear what college I need to root for next year! Thanks so much Ellen for staying such a fan of my work. It truly was a blessing meeting you and capturing these portraits for your family!

Senior Rep Crew: Stephanie | Senior Portrait Photographer Virginia Beach

• October 8th, 2014 •

I LOVE my Crew Members who help me spread the word about my High School Senior Portrait business to their peers. I am working hard to grow that part of Devon Shanor Photography and my Crew Members are working hard to earn some great benefits too! My Crew Members get two portrait sessions. One is a model session, where I plan the session so we can use the images for their marketing materials and the second is their regular senior portrait session. I will be sharing each of my Crew Members Model Sessions this month as well as doing a small interview with them so you, too, can get to know them! Our 2015 Seniors are so amazing with such talent and inspiration. I would love for you to get to know them a little and keep them in your thoughts/prayers as they work through this last year of school and prepare for chasing all their dreams after high school!

Meet Stephanie K. Help her earn benefits (even a college scholarship) and contact me for your own Senior Portrait/Family session! Just tell me she referred you!

What school do you attend?

I am a senior at Hickory High School and a 4-year at The Governors School for the Arts in the Musical Theatre Department.

What are you enjoying most about being a Senior?

Even though senior year is stressful with college apps and scholarships, its just really a really exciting time. Your life is changing in such a big way, but even the small things like getting to drive my car to school are exciting!

Describe yourself in 10 words or less.

This is going to be hard, so I got a little help from my friends! Sassy, funny, loving, smart, powerful, creative, unique, ambitious, artistic and independent.

What activities are you involved in?

I go to a perfoming arts high school, which I’m very involved in. Last year I was on prom committee, I am a performance intern with Virginia Musical Theatre, I am a member of OperationSmile, National Honor Society and The National Society of High School Scholars.

Where Was your Session?

My model session was in downtown Ghent and Hague Lock Bridge.

Tell everyone a little about your session.

My session was definitely memorable! Because we were on the bridge, many people walked by and were really intrigued by what was going on, but none more than a few skateboarders who actually ended up IN one of my shots! It was spontaneous but it ended came out so cool looking!

What did you think of your portraits?

I ADORE my portraits! It was actually hard narrowing them down, but I loved the portraits with my blue guitar in the sunset, they came out incredible.

How was it working with Devon?

Devon made me feel so at ease the entire session. Nothing was ever uncomfortable or awkward, it felt really natural and fun. She kept things really upbeat the entire time.

What did your friends think about your portraits?

My friends keep asking me how Devon got the shot with my guitar above my head! I was actually up on a bench with a light behind me, but none of them could tell! My friends have been so sweet about my pictures, I think they love them just as much as I do!

Tell everyone about being a Crew Member.

Being a Crew Member for Devon has been awesome! I am loving it so far, and I’m so glad Devon is giving me this opportunity. I always wanted a little something different for my senior pictures, and thats exactly whats happening, so I’m ecstatic.

What ideas do you have in mind for your full senior session?

I am SO hype for my for my full session! I’m very open to ideas, but so far I would love to do an edgy, urban session, or an autumnal session when fall is in full swing!

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