Meet Payton, A Greenfield Central High School Class of 2017 Senior.  I've known Payton since she was about 8. She used to spend days at a time at my house with my daughter. She was like her sister for several years. They grew apart at some point, and I hadn't seen her in awhile, so I was so excited when Payton asked me to do her senior photos! She has turned into a beautiful young woman :) Had a great time at her session! Isn't she gorgeous?

Class of 2018, I am now booking for your senior year! Give me a call 317-319-6045, or shoot me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will get you set up!  I am also looking for my class of 2018 senior model team, which will be decided upon in February, so if that interests you, definitely get ahold of me!

 
 

Class of 2017! It is YOUR time! I am so excited about this! I am not sure if it's because my own daughter is a senior, or if it's because of all of the ideas I have. I'm ready to blow all of your friends away with your pics! When we are done with your session, your story is going to be told, and all of your friends are going to be so jealous of your photos! (you know, unless you tell them to come see me too!)

My senior models this year are killing it! We have done 2 group sessions at this point and they have rocked them both! Now let's meet them!

 
This is Ava! Ava is a cheer leader at Greenfield Central High School! I don't know about you, but I'm thinking this girl has a future in modeling. She killed this shoot!



 
This is Brianna! Brianna is a softball player at Noblesville High School! I may be partial since I'm a ginger myself, but the camera LOVES her red hair!



 
This is Casey! Casey is a softball player at Greenfield Central High School. She rocked the grunge look for me at this shoot! Looking HOT HOT HOT you know those bikers in the background were loving it.



 
This is Claire! Claire is a softball player at Franklin Central High School and she's knocking them out of the park at our Victory Field shoot! Claire is committed to play softball for Butler University next year!



This is Isabel! Isabel goes to Nexus Academy of Indianapolis. Isabel isn't just gorgeous in front of the camera, she knows her way around behind it too! She's done some great work!



 
This is Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn plays softball, basketball and runs cross country for Alexandria Monroe High School. She's looking amazing and All-American Girlish for our "take me out to the ballgame" shoot!



 
This is Karoline aka Coco! Coco is a soccer player for Greenfield Central High School! Doesn't she have the most beautiful smile! Looking great at our shoot at Victory Field!



 
This is Katie! Katie and Coco are twins btw! Katie is a star basketball player at Greenfield Central High School! She's committed to play on Ball State's team next year. Love her eyes!



 
This is Madison. Madison is a Cheerleader at Speedway High School. She is also a state champion gymnast! I just LOVED her dress for our downtown shoot! She looked amazing.



 
This is Makayla ... what can I say about this girl? She's MINE! My senior ...aaaahhhh and I am so not ready for this! Makayla plays softball for Greenfield Central High School. She can drive me insane, but she's pretty special and I'm very proud of her! And I might be somewhat biased, but stunning also comes to mind :)



 
This is Morgan! Morgan plays tennis at Shenandoah High School! She is so cute and sweet and I just love this pic of her in downtown Indy!



 
This is Morganne. Morganne plays basketball and softball at Greenfield Central High School. She was named Co-player of the year in softball this past season. I love this look on her and her hair! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

 


Here a few of the girls being the perfect models at our Victory Field shoot! This was SO MUCH FUN! You can do this too ya know! You could even get a few friends together for this one! Ask me about my "add on shoots"  for seniors! I want to tell your story! What is it?





 
 
So, who's ready for this year? (AFTER WE SOAK IN THE REST OF SUMMER)  please please go slow!

Kerrigan is a class of 2016 senior at Pendleton Heights High School. We had a great time with her sessions. Kerrigan was part of my model program, so she got to do the train yard and the State Fair with the model team and then we went to Broadripple for her own session, as she was interested in an artsy area.  Class of 2017, What are you into? I would love to custom design a session just for you! Contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or give me a call. 317-319-6045. It's your time! Make the most of it!

Olivia was one of my class of 2016 senior models. My models get some great perks like extra sessions and they get featured in my senior Magazine which you can see here!  Olivia chose to have her own senior session at Ft. Harrison State Park. She also participated in the model shoots at the abandoned train yard and the Indiana State Fair.  If you are looking for a fun and unique session, give me a call 317-319-6045 and we can plan your day just for you! Who are you? What do you want your senior portraits to portray? I'd love to meet you and help design your perfect day of photos! I also have a wonderful hair and makeup artist to complete your look!  I have just a few more April Sessions available for the class of 2016, so book soon! I am also booking summer and fall sessions for the class of 2017! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

It's that time of year again! Travel softball! I have photographed several teams this season, but this is by far my favorite! Probably because I know these girls. They are my daughter's teammates, and this is one of the most drama free sweet group of girls I know! Love them so much! I would love to add ALL of the photos, but that would be total overload, so I will post a couple of each pose and of course our Team banner and this year's memory mate! Pretty sure it's my favorite Ever! :)  If you are in need of sports photography or if you are a senior who plays sports and needs senior photos, please contact me! My middle senior package includes a visit to one of your games, and I LOVE to include sports photos in your senior session as well!

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Just wanted to let everyone know that Shawna Marie Photography has a new senior product! This is so much fun! Picture YOURSELF on a Movie poster! What a great fun thing to hang on the wall in your dorm or apartment after senior year, or even in your bedroom if you're not moving out! These are unique and fun!

You won't seem them on the price list until I get everything updated, but these will sell for $350 a la cart OR you can save a TON and add them to the ELITE Senior package for only $150! That's a $200 savings! I am also considering making it possible to earn these with referrals! Let me know if you're interested and we'll talk!

As many of you know, volunteer photography is a big part of my business. One of my favorite organizations is Inspiration Through Art . Through them I have met some incredibly inspiring children. I never thought one of my own children would be eligible for an ITA shoot. As far as I knew, I had 4 very healthy children. Then things changed. Back in January my 13 year old daughter was at basketball practice and she got hit in the back of the head with someone's airball. She saw stars, got a little dizzy and had a headache, but carried on with practice. She came home later that night and told me about it and that her head was still hurting. I was like well yeah, I'm sure you do have a headache. Take some motrin and go to bed. She woke up the next morning and said her head still hurt. I was a little concerned but she wasn't showing any concussion like symptoms so I had her take more motrin and sent her off to school. When she got home her head still hurt, so I called the doc. We got in the next day and she said she had a mild concussion. She gave her no restrictions and told her to keep medicating with motrin and or tylenol as needed. For about 3 weeks she had a constant headache. Then it subsided to only when she was active, playing in her basketball games, practicing and when she practiced hitting and pitching for softball. She is such a tough kid. She still did it all with the help of motrin before she would go to practices/games. We let it go for awhile thinking it was post concussion syndrome, but when it didn't go away and started happening more intensly so back to the doc. He thought the same, that it was more than likely post concussion, but he ordered an MRI to be sure all was ok. The MRI came back and they told us she had a chiari 1 malformation. This is something she was born with, but she didn't have symptoms until she got hit. We were told by many "oh that's nothing, a lot of people have them, nothing to worry about" ... etc etc. So I was starting to feel better, but then our doctor wanted us to go see a Neurosurgeon at Riley. That's when I got scared. I read everything I could get my hands on and by the time we saw the neuro in May, I pretty much knew everything she ended up telling us about it. After examining Makayla, she said at this point we could wait and watch as her symptoms weren't all that bad, but she recommended surgery because it did seem to be affecting Makayla's quality of life. She was right. It was. My once very athletic kid was coming out of the pitcher's circle in tears in the middle of games. Her coaches were needing to ask her before games if she was going to be able to pitch or not. Did she have a headache, how bad was it etc. So we opted to go with the doctor's advice and set up her surgery. We held off til after the world series so she could finish out the season with her team, but it was evident there that she really needed the surgery. The last few weeks before her surgery I was having to drive her to and from school (she usually walked) because her backpack was too much for her back. So what is Chiari? Here's a little thing I put together with some basic info.



There are many other things that can go along with Chiari, but this is basically what we are dealing with with Makayla so far.

When we started going through this, the photographer in me decided we were going to document through photos and create an awareness video. I am still working on putting that together, as I want more information included. Plus, I want to add an "after" story for her.  So a few weeks before the surgery I applied for an Inspiration Through Art shoot. Only I specified that I wanted to do the photos myself. The only reason I was signing up is because ITA features their Heroes and tells about their illnesses. It helps spread awareness, and that is what we are looking to do. This isn't well known, and the information you can find is very conflicting, as well as the fact that it's hard to find success stories out there. My request got accepted and then I took her out and did phase one of our story.... Here are a few of my favorites from that session.



This kid is such a fighter. She is so strong. I can't imagine doing all of the things she did with constant head pain and dizziness and neck and back pain. She is an inspiration to me.

 


She never let it keep her down. She got out there and pitched some of her best games. When she wasn't pitching, she played short stop. A position she's never played before this past season, and she did it so well. This kid likes to win, and she'll do what it takes to make that happen. That's how I know she's going to win the fight against chiari.

 
 Look at that smile. She's got this! :)

 


 
Did I mention she's tough?

 
Through all of this, my one constant has been God. I have grown so much in my relationship with him during this time. In fact, his faithfulness during this time led me to take the next step and be baptised last week. I hope that Makayla and my other children are learning by my example to lean on Him and trust in Him. I have gone back and forth between thanking Him  and pleading for her health and asking why, and then realizing how many people have it so much worse and thanking him again that this is something that we can manage and find treatment for. I have prayed for full healing. I have prayed for her ability to cope with whatever she is dealt, and mine as well. I prayed for her surgeon and her nurses and anything and everything I could think of that would help her. Facebook was an amazing tool for creating prayer chains. I am pretty sure there was someone in every state and in a few other countries praying for my girl. It was humbling and overwhelming. Her softball team was incredible. We have been a part of some great teams (great as in the players, coaches and families have been wonderful) and some not so great ... but this team. The Indiana Diamond Batz   has exceeded our expectations. They are a good solid Christian based organization. They do great community service projects and teach our girls more than just softball. They are shaping them and becoming family while they are at it. Nearly every girl on the team made it to the hospital to see her, as well as her coach who also made a point to come up during her surgery to support us as well. Our families of course were amazing, but we are spoiled with great families and that was to be expected!

So on our surgery day of course we were nervous! VERY Nervous! Here's Makayla getting her mask all smelling like Dr. Pepper for when it's time to be put out. I think it just hit her here what was about to happen ...



sending her back for surgery had to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I gave her her hugs and kisses and we both cried... and then when they wheeled her down the hall I turned to the hubby and bawled some more. And then when we saw the fam up in the waiting room ... AGAIN. lol.

Here we are FINALLY reunited with her :)





I have many many pics of all the family and friends who came to see her, but that would take way too much room on this blog. At the end I will include a link to our full album on Facebook. I did want to post this one though... what a precious moment. Her best friend came in the room and that was the first time she opened her eyes and smiled after surgery :)



 
The first thing she wanted to eat was about 24 hours after surgery and it was McDonalds Chicken nuggest. lol... whatever it takes to get her to eat!



She did really well after surgery. She slept a lot the first night, but the next day she was awake all day. It was probably her hardest day, but she mainly complained about not getting a regular room. Apparently we hit one of the busiest weeks ever at the hospital and they didn't have a bed for her on 9West so she was stuck in ICU longer than normal and she was not happy about it!

Here she is out of bed for the first time after surgery :)

and I did want to show the pic of when most of her team was up... a couple of them came up the night before, but this group was there all at once, so we got a group shot. Such wonderful kids and families! :)



and of course we need a photo of the scar ... isn't that amazing? Dr. Jodi Smith is wonderful and I highly recommend her! She did a fabulous job.



Makayla's surgery was Wed afternoon and the following Sat morning we were on our way home. I am amazed at how fast the recovery has been so far. I know we may not be through all of the rough days, but she is doing very well right now!



She had a hard day the day after she got home from the hospital, but it was my fault. I let her go too long between meds. Once we got her back on track it was all good. She spent the first week hanging around the house, resting on the couch mostly, but near the end of the week she made it out to 2 school football games, then she did a community service day with her softball team, went to church on Sun and this week less than 2 weeks after surgery she has returned to school half days. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since her surgery! She says she feels like she never had brain surgery. Her head hasn't really been hurting other than some minor sinus headaches a time or two and she said she can carry her backpack again without pain in her back. I can't wait to see how she does when she's allowed to get back to her sports. I know it's all in God's hands and all I can do is trust that he's got this and no matter what happens, it's all part of his plan. I am so happy we went through with it though. Her surgeon said it was much worse than she had thought it to be and it's a very good thing we got her in. Again, lots of prayer led us to that decision.

I plan to do an update at 6 months and a year post op. In the mean time, if you'd like to see ALL of the photos from this journey, go to the album on facebook here :) http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151083279916539.482743.113535496538&type=3

What a wonderful, fun evening we had! I just love this family... I am so happy I had the opportunity to do their photos! Now of course, narrowing them down to share is going to be REALLY hard because I am in love with pretty much all of them. Sorry in advance for the large share :)















 
 

This little guy was the first New Years baby at his hospital and my first newborn of the year 2012. He was such an adorable little guy with a wonderful family! I had such a great time photographing him! How can you not want to squeeze this cuteness?

 

This was another beautiful fall day at Falls Park in Pendleton. Such a great location for photos!

 

This was a great chilly afternoon in late fall. We went downtown on the canal and had a lot of fun! And the photo where they are fighting in the background? NOT Staged! lol! I love it so much because who can't relate? Really fun session :)

I recently had the pleasure of photographing this gorgeous family over in Geist Park. Afterwards, we headed to their home to get Rylan's cake smash photos. SO MUCH FUN. I love watching babies dig into that cake for the first time! You just never know what their reaction will be. Rylan didn't know what to think at first, but once he got a taste of that yummy goodness, he was all about it! Here are a few of my favorites from our session :)

In today's economy we all know someone who is struggling ... Seniors, here's your chance to help and make someone's day! This week, Fri May 20th - Fri May 27th, when you book and pay for your senior session AND package, you may gift the exact same session/package to a friend for FREE! You must both do your session at the same location and either at the same time or back to back (not together in photos unless you want some that way...) So get out there and make someone's day! Let's not let anyone have to go without great senior pictures!
*Session must be paid for this week, package must be paid for at time of session
Email me for senior package information!