Need a

Hi! I'm Shannon

Whether you need a second, associate, voice-activated light stand, wedding party wrangler, group photo perfectionist, selfie-booth supervisor, snack fetcher, emergency backup, or emotional support shooter… I’m your girl. Let’s shoot something beautiful together (and swap crazy stories)!

Free Bonus Backups // Free Bonus Backups // Free Bonus Backups //

The rest of the story...

As a creative, I believe community is so much more important than competition. Throughout my 16 years of experience, I've realized I truly love second shooting, supporting, and connecting with other artists and photographers. I've built a tight circle of professional, collaborative friendships around the world; and as a full-time freelancer, I value those connections more than ever before.

For 5 years, I held a full-time career as an in-house graphic designer, while running a steadily growing photography business on the side. I truly loved my design work: I was creating products, branding, labels, and packaging, and managing development all the way through finished product photography and advertising. The items I created were sold under major brand names in stores worldwide… although, as most corporate jobs are, the business was majorly exploitative and exhausting. I got married in 2013, and began picturing a future someday as a work-from-home mom and self-employed photographer.

Before long, I was matching my day-job salary on the weekends with photography work, and I was getting excited to leave the cubicle behind and go full-time with my own business – but in 2017, my husband went to jail and I faced a divorce. Suddenly carrying a mortgage and bills alone (and thankfully no kids), I chose the stable, predictable paycheck and health insurance of the day job, and let my own business fall aside.

I loved weddings too much to give them up, though; I no longer had time to edit or run my business, but I could still second shoot! I switched to only second shooting while I got my life stabilized, and signed with with a couple local studios. I prioritized working as much as possible, landed a big promotion and raise at work, then gradually started rebuilding a new photography business a few years later. Eventually, my weekend photography once again matched my new higher salary – I was FINALLY able to leave the stressful corporate job… as a whole new person than I was when I’d planned it before.

Through those toughest years, I met some of my closest photographer friends; and before I knew it, I had become their go-to first choice for weddings: between second, lead, and associate work, my calendar was filling up with an average of 30-50 weddings per year! That little circle of creatives became my lifeline and my family, and now second shooting feels even more natural, fun, and fulfilling than shooting alone.