Tag: Hampton Roads photographer

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

    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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  • Whitfield | Family Photographer Hampton Roads

    Can this family GET any cuter?!?!  I had so much photographing CJ’s first birthday portraits as well as their family portraits.  They haven’t done family portraits yet AND mom and dad hadn’t done any portraits together ever, so this was an extra special shoot for them.  And when I say they ROCKED this session, I meant it!  Denise and Christopher are a stunning couple and made my job so easy!  The light was perfect and CJ was such a little model and his adorable smile melted my heart!  I would have shot for another hour if it hadn’t gotten dark and chilly.  

    The images that resulted from this shoot are STUNNING!  Denise cried when she saw them and honestly, that is one of the favorite parts of my job. I know it sounds terrible, “I like making my clients cry” but when they are crying tears of joy because they have never had such beautiful images of themselves… well, I might have shed a tear or two myself!

    Denise and Christopher, thank you so much for allowing me to capture your family.  It truly was an honor and I can’t wait for our next session! 

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  • Spring Adventures 2016 | Children Photographer Hampton Raods

    My annual Spring Adventures sessions are always so much fun!  This year was our fourth year and the cuteness was on overload!  I love all my little woodland fairies and adventuresome boys.

    During this session, you might see my beautiful little clients with singing with birds, jumping with frogs, smelling the flowers and going on adventures and even fishing!  

    We do this session every year so if you missed it this year, send me your e-mail and I will make sure you aren’t left out next year! 

     

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  • Ring Dance Morgan | High School Portraits Virginia Beach

    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.photography_722 photography_723 photography_724 photography_725 photography_726 photography_727 photography_728 photography_729 photography_730 photography_732 photography_733 photography_734 photography_735 photography_736 photography_737 photography_738 photography_739 photography_740

    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!

  • Stretching Myself as a Photographer | Personal

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    I just returned from The Mid-Atlantic Regional School of Professional Photography (MARS)  in New Jersey.  It is a school I have been attending for the last seven years to stretch and grow myself as a family and portrait photographer.  I love spending time with other professional photographers.  Often, we will talk about WHY we became photographers and I have found that my story into becoming a professional photographer is often different than others.   Most of my peers fell in love with the ART of photography.  They began taking pictures at a young age and learned to develop film in a darkroom, excited by the process of photography.  They often began by taking pictures of flowers, sunsets, landscapes, etc.  Often that love of photography transferred into taking pictures of people.  They seem to all have a deep appreciation and love for art of all kinds.  They love visiting museums and often are skilled as artists with a pen, paper or paintbrush as well as behind a camera.  They are passionate about art.

    My story is different.   I didn’t have a camera in my hand growing up and I’ve never developed film in a darkroom.  I don’t often visit museums and I never did very well in art class.  If you ask me to draw a dog, it might end up looking more like a horse… or a bunny.  I fell in love with photography as a TOOL to capture love.  I LOVE people.  I am passionate about people and the connections between them.  I began photography because I wanted to capture the love of family, the strength and passion in a marriage, the love of parents for their children, the connections between siblings, the transition of a young man or woman as they graduate high school and the beauty of new life in a newborn.  THAT for me is the art I am passionate about. Photography for me is so exciting because it allows to to take those moments and preserve them forever. 

    That being said, I don’t shoot landscapes, flowers, trees, inanimate objects very often. I often will see a beautiful landscape and think “That is beautiful, I wish I had a family or couple here so I could create a beautiful portrait.”  I notice the beauty, but to me, it would be made more beautiful if I could incorporate the love and connection of people into the scene.  

    Recently, I reconnected with an old friend who is an amazing artist in multiple different mediums.   We had some long discussions about art and the definition of an “artist.”  He inspired me to stretch myself and try to expand my view of art through my own photography.  Don’t get me wrong, I see so much beauty and talent in landscape photographers, I have some friends who are incredibly talented in that field!  I am in awe of what they capture!  I just have a hard time myself bringing that same beauty to life behind my own camera.  

    Like I said, my friend encouraged me to try and stretch myself, and see beauty, vision and perspective in way that DON’T include people.  Since I was going to be at MARS in Cape May NJ, a gorgeous place to photograph landscapes, old Victorian homes, animals, boats, etc, I decided to take him up on the challenge. 

    IT WAS HARD!  I am so used to having a vision of what I want to photograph before I start, a vision that ALWAYS includes people.  To just walk around and try to find inspiration in the objects around me… that was hard!  I only really had one day to work on this personal project, and that day, it was raining and foggy. So my go-to sunrise or sunset pictures were out.  

    I’m definitely not ready to start selling postcards, but thought I’d share a little piece of myself with you.  I feel like a brand new photographer again, as I definitely have a lot of room to grow here, but it’s important to stretch yourself and grow.  Here’s me growing… 

     

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  • My New Office | Hampton Roads Photographer

    What a year this has been.  Last year was a pretty terrible year for me personally and I was so ready for 2016.  I was expecting a much better year, but I didn’t expect this!!!  

    Less than two weeks ago, I signed a lease on my new office space.  It has been dream of mine, to get out of my home office, for such a long time but I have been so afraid to take the leap.  With a HUGE nudge from my husband, I finally took jumped off the ledge and did it!

    My space is located at 1642 Pleasure House Rd.  Suite 108, Virginia Beach.  The downstairs space is Synergy Space, an amazing multi-use space that can be rented for multiple different uses (parties, classes, networking, meetings, etc) and the upstairs space is ALL MINE!

    It’s not a huge space, I’ll shoot newborns and professional portraits/headshots here, but I’ll still rent my other studio space for larger studio work. It is an AMAZING space though to work, edit, meet with clients and have my viewing sessions!

    It’s been a long two weeks getting it ready and I am SO THANKFUL to everyone who helped me.  Jeris at Smartgiraffe (www.smartgiraffecs.com) was amazing at helping me get my computer up and running and a new screen projector installed and working.  My friends were amazing and stepped up helping me paint, decorate, rewrite and organize.  My husband Brett did a majority of the work while I was out of town and did all the heavy lifting!  I may run this business alone, but I am SO VERY thankful to those who lift me up and surround me with support.

    Here is a progression of our before and after images!!

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    My Olivia helping put up my curtains and touch up all the paint! 

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    My handsome bandyman.  I wouldn’t be here without his support and encouragement!

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    ALL DONE!!!  A few little tweaks here and there BUT I’m officially open for business!!! 

     

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     Soon, I’ll be announcing my open house date and I can’t wait to celebrate with you as I embark on this new adventure… but don’t feel you need to wait.  I’d love it if you’d stop by and say hello.  I love visitors!

     

  • Announcing Baby Mack! | Baby’s First Year Photographer Hampton Roads

    Nigel and Tia are expecting!!!!  I photographed Nigel and Tia’s engagement and am so very excited to be continuing our relationship as we head into photographing the Baby’s First Year!  

    I was SO excited to get the call from Tia telling me the news…. they are expecting a HONEYMOON baby! YAY!!!

    I LOVE that I was one of the first to know as they wanted me to photograph the announcement.  Nigel is deployed so we wanted to do a shoot that incorporated him across all the miles, you’ll see him in the phone pointing at a picture of the ultrasound!   I love how the images turned out and am so excited to do a maternity session in six months or so.  Tia is already glowing and I can’t wait to see how she transforms into the amazing mom God has called her to be.

    Congrats Nigel and Tia!  So very excited for you and can’t wit to meet your little blessing.  photography_653 photography_654 photography_655 photography_657 photography_658 photography_660

     

  • Welcome Shiloh | Newborn Photographer Virginia Beach

    She’s HERE… Welcome baby Shiloh!  Even though she was born in December, for me, she was my New Year’s baby!  Why?  Well- she was my first client of the new year!   What a way to start 2016!

    Shiloh has been a member of the Devon Shanor Photography family for years… as I have been photographing her mommy and daddy before I was even in business!  Jared and Haley are wonderful friends and clients and they have trusted me for years to capture their memories!  We’ve gone from their engagement to their wedding, from professional headshots to maternity portraits! We have walked through many ups and downs together and I was very excited to hear that they welcomed little Shiloh just after Christmas!  

    Shiloh is such a perfect little girl.  I wanted to cuddle her as much as photograph her during her session!  She’s blessed with such wonderful parents and extended family and I can’t wait to see her grow into the amazing little girl she is destined to become.

    Thanks Jared and Haley for sharing her with me.  She is such a beautiful little lady and I am so excited to see your little family growing! 

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  • Tough Siblings | Virginia Beach Photographer

    Meet Kenneth, Hunter and Ethan… three tough brothers you don’t want to mess with!  Last year, Kenny began wrestling at Great Neck Middle school with my son Logan.  Our families became friends and we have enjoyed watching Kenny move onto high school and continuing to excel in the sport.  So I wasn’t surprised when I heard his little brothers followed in his footsteps and began wrestling too!    Today they all wrestle with the Great Neck Wrestling Club in Virginia Beach.  Since it’s not often you find three brothers all excited about the same sport, we wanted to capture all of them together in some great portraits.  

    I love these boys and they kept me laughing through the whole session.  Can’t wait to see how the next few years mold and change these boys into men! 

     

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  • “Quirky” Author Headshots | Virginia Beach Photographer

    I LOVE when I get calls asking for something a bit different than what I normally do!  Erin called and asked me for professional portraits to use as she promotes the new teen novel she wrote.  Not so different, right?  She mentioned “quirky” and “fun” and then she mentioned “Dinosaur park” and I got excited!!!  

    We headed out to Pungo and braved the cold to capture these fun portraits!  She mothered the baby dinos and climbed through fields (okay, bushes) trying to stay out of the way of the T-Rex.  He found her though and she had no choice but to take him out with her bow and arrows!  She  blew kisses to a Brontosaurus and ran with Veloso Raptures! 

    If Erin’s book as as fun as she is, I can’t wait to buy it for myself and my daughter!  As soon as I find out where you can buy it, I’ll let you know.  As for now, enjoy these portraits and remember, your professional portraits need to reflect YOU!  If you are quirky, fun and a little silly… your portraits should be too!

     

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