I think it was the early 80′s when I first heard Madonna. I saw her mixed-dance-attire-sudo-street clothes, black rubber bracelets, rags tying her hair back… it was the Borderline video… and I was hooked. Apparently, as a little girl, I thought that dancing down the street looking like you just rolled out of bed was the thing to attain to. I proceeded to memorize and copy every single dance move & lyric I could behind the security of my closed bedroom door. And I’m pretty sure I was really good. No really. I mean, I still have some of them memorized (not that I would still do it to know of course) ;) For some reason (the painfully shy part of me most likely) I never actually asked to go to a dance class or entered a dance studio more than once in my childhood. Yep, it was kept for me alone (& my poor little sister that I made join in when back-up dancers were necessary). As I grew older I kept my love for dance. Read books & drooled over pictures of Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey… so, of course, when I had my own little girl I assumed (k- kinda hoped & prayed) that she would love dance like I did. As soon as she hit the magic age of 3 we signed up for ballet. All I can say is that seeing that little 3 year old cutie with her buns, leotard & leg warmers was all I ever needed and I was good then & there. And, lucky us, she had the most fabulous teacher- Ms. Candace. So, you can’t imagine how excited I was when Ms. Candace emailed telling me her daughter needed Senior pictures aaaand… yes- she is a dancer. And yes.. she arrived with leg warmers & a tutu in hand. Me? oh-so-happy (mighta done a little dance even) ;)
Fun little Senior session with a long time family friend. Between those freckles & gorgeous blue eyes… the girl set off alarms. Really… she did. We moved on to our next location before we met any men in blue though so I’d call it a successful day.
Ah… the joys of choosing me as your photographer ;)
Rose: She is adorable! :D The photos are stunning, and I really love the location! Beautiful session. (04.02.2010 10:34pm)
Sunny: Sometimes people's inside sweetness shines through their eyes. She is one of those people. Stunning eyes. I love the picture (second one) where she is holding her fingers. A little nervous, but ever so beautiful. (04.02.2010 10:51pm)
stephanie mcbride: umm to go along with those beautiful eyes... is that beautiful red-ish hair. im coveting. beautiful girl!. (04.04.2010 06:04pm)
Judie: I love them Shannon!! Just love them. You have always done such a great job with the kids - the ones a couple years ago are my true treasures. I love how you got Jo - I mean really got her. The first one you show on the blog - the one with her against the white wall - that is THE one! I love it in color - but it's simply stunning in B/W as well. THANK YOU! (04.05.2010 09:51am)
Jennifer Sparaco: Shannon, she is beautiful! I'm completely in love with that first image!!! Those eyes are to die for!! (04.05.2010 10:38am)
KaraRL: She is beautiful!! I absolutely love those funky purple boots!!! Looks like you had a blast...you must share more about the alarm! :) Love those B/W! (04.05.2010 11:06am)
Corey Sewell: What a beautiful girl! Love that first one and the first one on the steps. (04.05.2010 01:45pm)
Chrissi: Great job, Shannon. She looks so comfortable, so beautiful. Love the wall shot. (04.05.2010 11:16pm)
Lina: Those are gorgeous shots of a gorgeous girl. Beautiful captures. Love your bw conversions. (04.06.2010 09:45am)
Whitley Pollet: Wow Shannon! She is gorgeous!! I love the locations. :) (04.07.2010 06:33am)
Cari Enticknap: Wow, lovely girl! My fave is the second set of collage (storyboard of 3). You captured such genuine smiles from her and great eye contact! Love that wooded location and the color of her skirt and boots! (04.09.2010 11:26pm)
Janee: What beautiful girls!! (09.26.2009 09:54pm)
Kelley Jordan: OMG! Shannon, these pic's of Jaida and Quinci are AWESOME!!!!!! You did such a great job!!!!!!!! Thank you so much! (09.27.2009 07:08am)
Susan Dodd: Beeeeeeuuuuutiful!!! (09.27.2009 02:02pm)
Paula: You just have a way of making beautiful people even more beautiful with your ability to work an angle. You rock and thanks for the love over on my blog. (09.27.2009 05:59pm)
Danielle Kneebone: I proudly stand up and say... These beautiful girls are my neices!! Gorgeous!! :) (09.28.2009 12:42am)
Gail Zeak: Talk about a couple of gorgeous girls! These are incredible, Shannon! (09.28.2009 10:29am)
stephanie mcbride: man you are kicking these out so fast i can hardly keep up with new posts :) that Kyle Barnes shoot... oh my..... can they both be any cuter and could you possibly capture them in any better way... love, love. and these girls... my goodness. gorgeous. your work is truly wonderful. (09.28.2009 11:35am)
janice: Goodness. Two gorgeous, gorgeous girls. Yes. Loving all the new posts. So many lately!! --janice (09.28.2009 03:59pm)
KaraRL: WOW! Your amazing! These girls are beautiful! (09.30.2009 07:07am)
Jamie Sampson: holy fabulous gene pool! Can I please take dip? Love them... them being the photos and the subjects. Adore the fourth one down, it speaks to me (the light rocks) although they all pretty much speak to me. :) (09.30.2009 02:59pm)
Early this week I got to head up to Seattle for one of my one on one consults. Jeannine trekked all the way down from Canada to meet me half way and spend the day chatting it up in a coffee shop, playing in/under/thru Pike’s Place Market with our gorgeous model and, well basically, just having way too much to be called work ;) I also want to give a BIG thank you to Lindsay for finding me our lovely model… she knows how to pick ‘em huh?
kristin cook: Oh so fab :) (08.09.2009 08:48am)
Kathy Carlisle: Great light, styling is impeccable as always. She is gorgeous and I know Jeannine is more than pleased to have made the trek to learn from your inspiring heart! (08.09.2009 09:41am)
Kelley WC: What a cutie! And that hair is to die for! And the boots too... :) (08.09.2009 10:10am)
Jeannine: Thank you SO much Shannon. Had a blast and learned so much. Our business will greatly benefit from your expert advice. We will definitely want a shoot when we travel down your way! (08.09.2009 11:19am)
grandma frederiksen: what a beautiful girl. great lighting and color. (08.09.2009 11:39am)
Willow: seriously...LOVE...all of them... i keep coming back to five, so very confident. and of course that green at the end, poppin'... (08.09.2009 10:24pm)
stephanie mcbride: couldn't sleep and what a treat to find a new post :) love, love the styling. my fav is the one of her against the wall of many pics and the one of her in front of the guitar players.... gorgeous, gorgeous. (08.10.2009 02:45am)
Janna: Wow.. What a knock out, she's got that natural beauty about her.. Luv her Aunt.. (08.10.2009 08:08am)
lindsay: LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!! amazing work as always shan. i adore her hair off to the side.. (08.10.2009 08:50am)
Susan Dodd: And these? Yeah, absolutely LOVE them too! :-) (08.11.2009 08:16am)
kari: these are stunning! (08.12.2009 02:06pm)
elizabeth: uhhhh wow.. these are awesome Shannon (08.13.2009 06:55am)
Janee: WOW!!! These are rockin! I love them all but the last two in the cutest white dress every are my favorites. (08.14.2009 02:01pm)
Robin Long: OH MY GOODNESS!! She is absolutely GORGEOUS!! (08.27.2009 03:47pm)
Wendy Hyde: I love these pics of Madison My son Laine Roller is friends with her they attend church together. Very sweet girl and makes a perfect model :) (09.02.2010 02:38am)
I have photographed this lovely lady before.. and her sister.. and on my most recent trip to Cali, her cousin. And I have to say, if you get your choice in what gene pool to jump into, I’d pick this one. They are AMAZINGLY beautiful. and sweet. and adorable. and lovely. and.. and.. and.. well you get the point ;) Let’s just say- getting them in front of my camera makes me look like a much better photographer…
Sharla: WOW! these are stunning you are extremely talented! What an adorable model I love all her outfits:) (07.19.2009 04:18pm)
kristin cook: I'm in love w/ the first shot...beautiful!! What a great model :) Our little boy arrived last week! I just posted some pics of him to my blog...I'm in love :) (07.19.2009 04:32pm)
Josh Solar: What an adorable set of images!!! I've been missing your posts lately :) (07.19.2009 06:31pm)
Jenny: omigosh shannon! these are my fave shots ever! so amazing, and she is gorgeous and your styling is awesome. can i be younger and cuter so you can style me? ha! (07.19.2009 08:38pm)
elizabeth: Oh MYYYYY... Shannon what have you done here?? these are just AMAZING.. she is GORGEOUS.. wow. (07.19.2009 09:01pm)
Kyla Hornberger: Yep, you still take my breath away. I feel like am hit afresh every time a see a new post. I LOVE IT!!!!! (07.19.2009 09:10pm)
Amy: Awesome!!!! YOU ROCK!!!! (07.19.2009 09:21pm)
cindy cieluch: what what?!?!?!?! i can't pick out a fave. all i can say is this shoot is THE BOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (07.19.2009 10:39pm)
Sarah Wheeler: my goodness she's pretty! awesome variety shannon, and i especially love the silly sting ones :) (07.20.2009 11:50am)
Jess Kamm: What beautiful images, you have such great style!! (07.20.2009 01:35pm)
Heather Cole: WOW WOW and WOW. You are amazing Shannon. END OF STORY!!! (07.20.2009 04:19pm)
Deyla Huss Photography: WOW shes is beautiful and such a natural in front of the camera! I absolutely love how you styled her! your so great at that! (07.20.2009 04:52pm)
Alisia: wow!! what a gorgoeus girl. and amazing photo shoot. love all of these!!! (07.20.2009 10:53pm)
Carmen: Shannon .... INCREDIBLE! love looking at your work :) (07.21.2009 07:52am)
Fara Smith: Oh Shannon...she is lovely! You are an amazing photographer! Nice Job!! (07.21.2009 09:35am)
Hannie: Wow!! These really take my breath away! (07.21.2009 12:15pm)
KaraRL: Seriously awesome! She's beautiful and you certainly captured her spirit! (07.22.2009 07:04am)
Susan Dodd: Wow! Fabulous!! Where are these clothes from?? I LOVE every outfit, and need some recommendations for a teen and her horse that I will be doing soon. Love these clothes!!!!!! (07.22.2009 10:42am)
alison: That first image is Stu-uh-uh-uh-nning! (07.22.2009 09:22pm)
Dina: She's a beauty! Coupled with your great poses and angles and lighting and, well...everything! these are just perfect! I love coming here for inspiration! (07.23.2009 06:42pm)
heavenesque: Stunning work -- enough said:) (07.24.2009 07:12am)
Vickey Weiss: oh my goodness...these are fabulous!!! (07.27.2009 11:54am)
Laurie: Beautiful images of this lovely young lady! I have been wanting to do some silly string shots too! FUN.. (07.28.2009 12:31pm)
Carla: WOW, this young lady is beautiful!! And of course the photographer ROCKS too!!! I love your work, you're a huge inspiration to me (a small town SC photographer) :> (07.30.2009 07:48am)
amy free: Holy moly hotnessssss! (08.07.2009 02:00pm)
jennifer: You are brilliant at getting people to pose and look natural. Love these. The color, the location, the EVERYthing! (01.03.2010 10:43am)
Jason: WOW! Amazing work! She is gorgeous and the photos are so well done. (03.06.2012 03:36pm)
ryan: what a fun shoot...and intro story too. (09.09.2010 02:28am)
AmyC: Absolutely stunning!!! Love the ALL! (is there a video of said dance? hehe) (09.09.2010 03:21am)
julie brazeau: Very cool the ballet shots! That tutu is something to write home about. Where did it come from? I'm a fan...like always! (09.09.2010 03:25am)
Anna: How do you manage to infuse such a sense of style and whimsy into EVERY session you do? I keep waiting for you to have clients that look just the slightest bit unknowing--simply bc everyone you shoot seems so at ease by you! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. (09.09.2010 03:39am)
lroah: Me thinks your daughter just got life long dance lessons. :) Awesome. That tutu is AWESOME!!!! (09.09.2010 03:51am)
ajja: as a happy dancer myself i just love the fire hydrant image....yes, yes, yes. that tutu is very special esp with the earphones...she could grace the cover of dance magazine anyday! (09.09.2010 01:42pm)
Kathy Carlisle: Stunning! I love that tutu. I keep trying to find a favorite....just can't do it. I like the reflection of you in the glasses:) (09.09.2010 03:17pm)
zalaine: I am always looking forward to what you are going to do next and now, this masterpiece. The two of you together are way too cha cha. The spunk, the angles, the attitude. You have got it going on Girl! These are over the top. I magine Ms Candace is a very happy mom and Ms Candace Jr is too. FABulous my friend! (09.09.2010 03:38pm)
Susan Dodd: WONDERFUL!! (09.09.2010 03:58pm)
oneshotbeyond: just beautiful! Love the 1st black n white of her in her dance outfit. (09.09.2010 06:28pm)
Kelly: LOVE! Gorgeous shots as always - you can do no wrong Shannon. And that tutu is awesome! (09.09.2010 07:20pm)
Bunn Salarzon: That's THE cutest ballerina outfit ever! (09.09.2010 07:24pm)
ray: simply put...awesome work! (09.09.2010 07:53pm)
janice: love!!! (09.10.2010 05:04am)
paveiphotos: Love it!! Great work! (09.10.2010 01:00pm)
Natalie Clayshulte: Wow! She is an awesome ballerina. I love the last shots where you can see your reflection in the sunglasses. Such a fun session!! (09.10.2010 03:09pm)
Paige Butcher: Love! These dance photos are fantastic. That is one stylish tutu. I'm in love with the one of her sitting at the cafe table :) (09.10.2010 03:33pm)
Corey Sewell: These are awesome! Love the ones in the tutu - so fun! (09.10.2010 04:01pm)
Sarah: These are just beautiful! (09.10.2010 05:47pm)
Rianne: Woow! Beautiful pictures! (09.10.2010 06:51pm)
Deyla Huss Photography: Beautiful Session Shannon! I ADORE her tutu!!! (09.11.2010 05:19am)
jennie gaskins: STUNNING!! I took dance classes when I was young and made it all the way to point!! Wish I had these images to look back on!! NICE work!! (09.11.2010 06:54pm)
stephanie mcbride: we are drooling over this shoot. fantastic in every way. this one we will definitely have to print and put in the "shannon sewell" file cabinet;) saving this for my girl's senior shoot in 3 years. you knock our socks off Shannon in every way :) (09.12.2010 06:38pm)
stephanie mcbride: wait! the fire hydrant picture... thats our favorite!! (09.12.2010 06:40pm)
darcie elliott: LOVE that session! Kiernan, is dear to my heart, I've loved watching her grow up and I can't even believe she is already a senior, and so grown up! You captured her essence, Shannon, beautiful job! (09.13.2010 07:19am)
Miss Candace: Shannon, we cannot thank you enough!! What a glorious way for Kiernan to begin her senior year. She is thrilled beyond words. And, I tear up every time I read the intro. This shoot is sooo HER! You know, It's never too late for dance classes! P.S. I also have white, sapphire and red platter tutus : ) (09.13.2010 05:46pm)
willow: if i thought it would be ok the only word that this comment would have is F. just one after the other all in caps. but i wont so i'll just say stop wit yo bad self! those are awesome!! that tutu is off the hook, i love how its all spikey. that is totally the outfit one would wear out for coffee, right? (09.13.2010 07:13pm)
Sunny: Just so you know...I SUPER fat heart the tutu shots. The hydrant one is canvas art baby! (09.13.2010 10:30pm)
Chrissi Richards: Perfect. just perfect. (09.14.2010 03:51am)
KELLI TRONTELL: Perfect....in every way. I love this! (09.16.2010 02:05am)
heather mann: um. these are fabulous! i totally was a dancer growing up and wish i had pictures like these! oh man. completely fabulous! would it be weird if i did a session like this now? i am 27, have had 3 kids and look like i have had 3 kids. but i still have my point shoes, tutu's, and legwarmers!!! oh, and haven't danced in like 6 years!!! (09.16.2010 02:15pm)
kamonwan: I love the last one she has really nice smile! (09.18.2010 10:02am)
Michele Houston: WOW, these are such cool photos!! Our Daughter has Teacher C for a teacher too. Some day I can't wait for yout to take photos of our girls!! (09.22.2010 10:00pm)
LEticia: Hi ... I have watched your photo style and I LOVE IT!!! I m i I am an inspiring photgrapher, and would like to upgrade my canon 40 d. What type of camera, and lenses are your favorite...what is your GO TO all time favorite lens...?? THanks for your help! I love your work!!!! (10.06.2010 11:47pm)
Breanna: Gorgeous!!!! :D (10.18.2010 06:58pm)
kristin: God, I love these images! The juxtaposition of something that is usually done inside a studio being brought out into the street is fabulous. i love all the sides of personality this young girl brought. Great capture, Shannon. (10.21.2010 01:57pm)
Jess: I am completely amazed by your talent. (10.23.2010 05:50pm)
Trudy: beautiful, Shannon! love seeing you in her sunglasses, too! (: (10.05.2012 05:22am)