Today we’d like to introduce you to Shauna Devenport.
Hi Shauna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve loved photography for as long as I could remember. I have owned countless point and shoot film cameras; my walls were covered in images taken in my teen years of friends and family. Once I could drive, I was constantly driving to and from Walmart getting film developed from school, work, and just hanging out with friends. It was a source of joy for me, seeing my friends and family on my walls in images I’d taken of them.
While I was in high school nearly 20 years ago (yikes, does that age me or what, haha!), I took a photography course my junior year. I loved every single second of it. I got to take pictures on film, develop the film in a dark room (even mixing the chemicals all by myself!) and learned the whole process of photography from start to finish. Developing my own pictures made every step that much more meaningful to me, and having to shoot on film made every picture I took something I needed to really be thoughtful about. I still try to keep those practices in mind while shooting digitally and then while editing in Lightroom and Photoshop.
In college, I continued to photograph and chronicle my life, but I never thought I could make it a career. I chose teaching English as my major in college and had a great time photographing my Adventure Club kids in the before and after school programs to remember our fun times together. I also became a camp counselor at the YMCA for two summers and did a summer camp on photography, which was SO fun! The campers got to take pictures at all sorts of different destinations, then we sent off the film cameras and they made scrapbooks. I loved it, and my campers did as well.
Once I married my high school sweetheart in 2008, the summer that I graduated college with my Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, one of the first things he purchased for me as a birthday present was a brand new digital camera. I was instantly in love! I took countless photographs and taught myself how to edit images on the free software called GIMP. I would post my pictures online for friends and family to see, and then people began asking me to take pictures of them or for them. I was so surprised–I was NOT a professional. But in 2009, I photographed an engagement, several family sessions, and maternity. In 2010, I made a Facebook business page for my photography, which felt like a HUGE leap for me. Somehow, people liked my early work enough to book me, and with each session I grew in confidence, in ability, and in photography itself.
I poured into my teaching career every ounce I could because I loved my students and my job, but photography was a huge creative outlet for me. It helped to supplement my teaching pay so that we could afford daycare and the occasional vacation. My business has flourished thanks to friends and family who book me, tell others about me and spread the word on who I am. Because I was teaching full time, I didn’t have the ability to attend conventions or create ads for my small business, so the organic word of mouth was absolutely the only way I managed to continue SLD Photography.
In 2020, I hung my hat as an educator to stay home with my youngest baby because even with a teaching salary and photography income, it still wasn’t enough to cover daycare expenses for a third time and after school care for my bigger kids. I’m now a full-time photographer after 13 years of teaching and ten years of photography. I never thought I’d be in this position, and I’ll never not be thankful for my clients who return every year, spread my name to others, or to even just new clients who take a chance on me capturing their moments. I’m always incredibly honored and thankful.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s definitely not been a smooth road. As an educator, I prided myself on being a lifelong learner, but that doesn’t mean the learning came easy!
I am not super tech-savvy. My husband is an engineer and has built me several computers, and has helped me when my software glitches or does something nutty. His help has been invaluable and I couldn’t do this job without him.
Learning about Lightroom and Photoshop was overwhelming at first. I was not a quick learner for those, but I kept at it. There was a LOT of frustration, a lot of internal screaming, and a lot of external exclamations of anger. Hah! But I didn’t give up, and that’s really what matters. You can be angry and frustrated, but walk away and don’t forget to come back and keep at it! You’ll never learn if you give up.
I have spent a LOT of money on courses on how to do specific photography-related things, and it’s not always been money well spent. Same goes for props–sometimes, it’s not the best way to spend money! And sometimes I don’t use the things I spend money on because clients don’t want it or like it, which means it’s not the best choice for me to have spent money on it. I’ve learned a lot about what clients want to see in their pics, and I’m still learning!
Boundaries. Woof. I’m still working on those.
Handling constructive criticism about my work has been hard. Art is subjective, and some of the worst critics have been photographers critiquing my work in the very beginning of my photography days. Now, the only thing that matters to me is if my client loves what they see, and if they don’t, then I try my best to make it right.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a photographer specializing in family, senior, and newborn photography! What I am most proud of is capturing authentic moments, expressions, and memories for my clients and for the relationships I form with my clients who then often turn into friends! I love the small moments–the kiss on the head from a parent to child, the laughter of a silly joke, the tender touch of a new parent, a senior in their letterman or holding a priceless object to them. I adore curls, freckles, lashes, laughter, dirt smudges, silliness, and all the in-between moments. I don’t know that anything truly sets me apart from other photographers, but I would like to think I am really good at making people feel at ease, beautiful, and truly happy!
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Oh gosh! Never, ever assume you’re done learning. Always try to do better than the last session you did.
Not every session will be your best, and while it doesn’t feel good to feel like something didn’t go your way, pull those bootstraps up and try to ensure the next session is even better.
Connecting with other photographers is crucial for success! Truly! Community over competition is always key.
Don’t take your clients and their lives for granted. This is a job where connection is essential otherwise the images will not be the best work you can create. Listen to what they want, talk with them, get to know them. That’s absolutely necessary to make art that they’ll love.
Don’t let the bad moments overshadow the good ones, and don’t let the bad clients turn you away from connecting with the good ones.
Biggest lesson ever: you aren’t for everyone. And that has to be okay.
Pricing:
- Family session | $450, 45-60 minute session, all edited images sent digitally to you
- Mini Session | $275, 20 minute session, 10 favorite images
- Grow With Me Plan | $1675: 4 session plan; $2000: 5 session plan
- Lifestyle Newborn Session | $750; With Mini-Maternity session | $825
- Senior Portraits | $600
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.sld-photography.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sld_photographykc
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sldphotog
Image Credits
All image credits go to Shauna Devenport of SLD Photography
