A few months back, Shannon Kaple approached us about doing a promotional film for her. I’d seen a lot of short clips promoting photographers, and to be honest, none of them really reached out and grabbed me. I had someone explain to me that what you “NEED” in a promotional film for a photographer for it to be successful are fast cuts, no audio except laughing, and just shots of the photographer at a photo shoot. Also it needed to be 30 seconds long. I didn’t buy it. I mean, I see the value in a short, fast, fun video, but it’s not my style. I wanted people to get to KNOW Shannon, what her family life is like, and the type of character and integrity you get when hiring her.

So, whether it’s “right” way to go or not, I decided to infuse a little story into it. Our first meetings with Shannon revealed her love for family and moments, special moments, those in-between moments that can easily slip away. Her approach to lifestyle photography is just to spend time with a family and be available to capture those special moments naturally, as they happen, instead of trying to force some moments out in a field, or by a brick wall, or by a stopped train. So I asked shannon if I could approach her promo film the way she would approach a photo session, and just spend a day with her and her family! I loved the idea of what we produced mirroring the very thing that Shannon does, but instead, turn the camera on her. We then started communicate about what makes shannon tick, what is at the core of her that she would like anyone interested in working with her to know, it all came back to her family. We decided to have Shannon write a letter to her girls, allowing her thoughts in that letter to carry the story of this film and communicate some core values so anyone watching can get to know Shannon, what makes her tick, and what makes Shannon, SHANNON.