Shannon Walton Photography » Illinois

Illinois Child Photographer ~ Simply Adorable

Shannon — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:34:26 +0000

Is it really possible to be this cute? How can so much cuteness be rolled into one little boy? How on earth will his parents ever look at this face and those eyes and tell him anything but YES? What is even more amazing is that his big brother is just as unbelievably adorable! One of my favorite little guys, at one of my very favorite ages (9 months)….

Mom mentioned she’d love to have one shot of his first little tooth popping through. Mission accomplished!

What did I tell you! I just want to eat them they are so cute!

Brothers and Laughter.

Shannon — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:53:25 +0000

I recently photographed these two with their little sister. I have a bunch of images to share from this session once mom has seen all of them. While I was proofing their images I came across this one. There is a quote that reads something along the lines of “laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” So true The three of them reminded me so much of my 3, especially the two big brothers. When I saw this photo I instantly thought of a similar image I have of my boys from a couple years back. It has been hanging on my wall until recently when we painted and prompted me to get it back up. It is one of my all time favorites and makes me smile every time I look at it. They aren’t looking at me, perfectly posed but I can almost hear the laughter when I look at each one of these. I don’t expect your kids to sit still like statues during our session together, in fact, my favorite sessions are the ones when my little clients feel comfortable enough to have some fun and most of all be themselves

Congratulations to Cori Roberts and Kristen D’Alfonso! You are the winners of a complimentary session and (25) holiday cards. Please e-mail shannon@shannonwalton.net to set up your November session! Thanks so much to all of you for posting your comments!! Have a great weekend!

An apology, a thank you, and pure sweetness!

Shannon — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:33:14 +0000

First the apology. In the 3 years I’ve been a business I have never missed an appt. I am always on time (most times early), well except the time I ran out of gas (remember that?). Anyway, the other day I was making ham and beans, doing some laundry, mating some socks (I detest mating socks), just catching up on some things around the house. I came upstairs from switching the laundry and noticed the light on my blackberry was flashing. I listened to the voicemail and it was one of my new clients “J”. Her message:

“J”: “Hi Shannon, this is “J”, I thought you were taking pictures of my kids this morning at 10:00.”

Oh my gosh! It is now after 11:00 and I totally started to have a panic attack. I knew her session wasn’t til tomorrow, I checked my calendar just this morning and her session is not til tomorrow!! I ran to my calendar and I had written the date down in the correct spot on the monthly calendar but when I transferred it to the daily calendar I put it down on Friday instead of Thurs.!! Oh (word that rhymes with strap)!

I called her right away and apologized 10 times for my flub and she was just as sweet as can be. I felt so bad I called her again an hour later to apologize again. We rescheduled for the following Tues. So again I just wanted to tell “J” that I’m sorry and I appreciate you being so great about it. So that brings us to my thank you…

Thank you to the “S” family for referring these wonderful new clients.

Now, onto the the pure sweetness. I totally fell in love with these two kiddos. Miss “A” was so polite and full of personality. I laughed through our entire session. She chatted and sang and asked me loads of questions. “What’s this for Miss Shannon?” “What do you do with this Miss Shannon?” She got to try out my new fabric background and I think she was pretty excited. I have loads of favorites from this session. It was difficult to narrow it down to just 3 each.

Proud Part II

Shannon — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:36:48 +0000

Our son Ryan was picked for student of the month! The teachers select 2 students from each grade every month based on citzenship, academics, and kindness toward others. We are so extremely proud of him! Makes me feel like we are doing something right with this whole parenting thing. Way to go Ryan!!!

I don’t have any photos of him being student of the month so how about a couple from last weekends basketball game.

Hanging my heart…

Shannon — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:08:32 +0000

on a limb for you! I’m not really sure how my mind works sometimes, but I was at the store shopping in the valentine aisle and saw this heart. Well, for some reason it inspired me to hang it from a tree. (I know…why would I think that?) Anyway my husband found several limbs for me and think it worked out so cute for Emma’s valentines. As you can tell I couldn’t decide on an outfit….

I’m pretty sure this is the final draft for her valentines for school. These will be small cards like business cards printed front and back. I plan on attaching them to her treat bags like I did for my boys last year. I used bookmarks last year and decided to try something a little different. I think I’ll print them using the labs pearl paper. Now, all I have to do is think of something for Kyle. Boys are a little tougher than girls for valentines. Nothing very boyish about pink and red hearts and flowers.

My friend, fellow artist and owner of j. doodle designs created the adorable denim jacket Emma is wearing. She creates custom clothing and accessories unique to your child. Check out her site http://www.jdoodledesigns.com/ She’s super sweet and way talented with a paint brush!

Need a smile?

Shannon — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:52:00 +0000

I’ve got two for you…

You’re smiling aren’t you?! A smile really is contagious. I know they say that newborns don’t really smile real smiles, but gosh I’m not sure I believe that. How could that grin be from gas?

He is so darn cute with those chubby little chipmunk cheeks. I also think these 2 shots will be a surprise to his momma. I’m not sure she knows we actually caught these big grins! Congratulations to the “M” family on their beautiful baby boy!

Illinois Newborn Photographer ~ Little Drummer Boy

Shannon — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:29:51 +0000

Just started working on this session and wanted to share a quick one. His daddy plays the drums…

More to come. Thanks for stopping by!

Coffee & Curlers!

Shannon — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:34:04 +0000

The first part of January is always a slow time. People are recovering from the holidays and it’s too cold to venture outdoors. I usually take this time to recoop from a busy fall season and work on new products and session ideas I have rolling around in my head. Well, I thought I would enjoy the down time from shooting, but to be honest I really miss it. So instead I torture my kids with the camera….

We also worked on her valentines which I’ll share soon. I’m back to shooting regular clients this weekend. One of my new babies made his way into the world and one will be celebrating her first birthday. I have several babies due in the next few weeks so my kids can relax for a bit while I resume photographing other peoples kids.

Illinois Children’s Photography ~ The Oldest 2

Shannon — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:40:10 +0000

I’ve know these two since, well, before they were born. I can’t believe how much they’ve grown. They are absolutely beautiful inside and out. I know their mom and dad are quite proud of them. It feels really good to be able to give them beautiful images to hang in their home. I look at some of my images from way back when that are STILL hanging on their walls and just cringe. PLEASE, please take those down now! It just goes to show that it takes more than just a nice camera to create beautiful portraiture. Good thing I wasn’t charging them…Yikes! Anyway, thanks “S” family for hangin in there with me!

Illinois Children’s photographer~More to Share

Shannon — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:48:50 +0000

Some of the youngest “S” kiddos!

Look at this face, just look at this sad little face. Is it wrong that this sad little face makes me grin from ear to ear? How in the world do you tell this face no?

Little “M” is such a little beauty. Much more aware of my camera than little brother, but her daddy knew how to get a sweet smile.