My Grandma and Her Dog

This evening I was talking to my Father-in-Law about how you don't really think of some things in terms of doing them for the very last time. He had read my biography section of my Pattycake website, and said he thought it was sad that I don't remember the last time I ever played in my playhouse. But that's the reality. I mean, when you put your Barbies away as a little girl, did you really know you were never going to play with them again? Did you know that your tricycle was destined for a garage sale? Probably not. You put your things away and time marches on.

But today was one of those days where, for me, I knew it was going to be the last of many things. See, my grandmother has reached that stage in her life where she needs full-time care in assisted living. Her house that she has lived in for over 40 years now has sold, and today I took photographs of her with her beloved companion, Shiloh. Devyn swam in her pool today, despite the cold, for what I am sure is the very last time. Having been practically raised in that house, spent entire summer vacations swimming in her pool, and celebrated at least 30 Christmases in her living room, my heart is completely and utterly broken. I write this with tears streaming down my face for I know that yes, time does march on and it's not waiting for anyone.

As you can tell from the photographs, my grandmother was and is a very beautiful woman. And while there will be other houses and other swimming pools (and playhouses and Barbies and tricycles), there is only one Gram. I love her so much.

One of My Favorite Wedding Albums

Over the past 8 years as a wedding photographer, I've used a lot of different album companies. Back when shawna K studio was Shawna Krystek Photography and no one could pronounce my last name (it's Chriss-tek, not Cry-stek), I only carried traditional wedding albums. All of the photographs were matted and then slipped into a large leather album. The edges were gilded, and some had metal tips on the corners. They were beautiful albums, but today I find most brides and grooms want something a little more reflective of their wedding day, whether it be traditional, contemporary, or even edge-y.

Finally, I have found a versatile bookbinder that carries products appealing to all of my clients. And the albums are gorgeous! Paige and Bret's album is one of my favorites.

This is the two-tone cover with image cut-out:

The turquoise and brown matched their wedding palette perfectly (wait 'till you see their cake):

The edges are flat:

The photographic prints are adhered to a hard substrate for durability:

My studio name gilded in copper on the inside of the book:

Some of the page layouts:

This palm tree image is one of my favorites:

Words of Encouragement

During these difficult economic times, I've reflected on the current state of my finances, my business, and my career decisions more than enough times! Even re-connecting with old friends on Facebook has made me take a hard look at the decisions I've made ... explaining to old friends why I majored in International Relations and how I ended up owning my own photography business. I still have to explain to some of my family members why I dropped out of law school (haha)!

When I see all of these high school seniors nervously waiting for letters from colleges and trying to make life decisions they are way too young to be making, it makes me think back to when I was in high school: eager to make my mark on the world, excited to make a difference. I thought I could change the world.

Then somewhere along the line when you're listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun for the 200th time and photographing yet another bouquet toss in Hour 10 of a long, hot wedding day--feet and back aching, you start to question what it all means. I found myself asking ... why am I doing this?

Then an email like this, from a total stranger, arrived one day in my inbox:

Hello Shawna,

A wee note to let you know what a professional job you are doing and to encourage you along your way.

I viewed the pictures you took of Noelle and Sam and Noah and Elijah................my niece and nephews. :) You capture the essence of who they are ... that's quite a gift.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to all the families you serve through your talents and abilities.

Warmest Regards,
Cynthia Jones

And in one brief note from a woman I don't even know personally, my life begins to make sense. I LOVE what I do. I LOVE providing people with beautiful images that will become family heirlooms over time. I love capturing moments that will never, ever be repeated.

Your children grow up so quickly. Your newborn will be crawling soon. And your high school senior will be living on his own in a dormroom of peers. Your daughter will be tossing her one and only wedding bouquet to spend the rest of her life with the man she loves.

And I will have the privilege and honor of freezing that moment in time for you to reflect and look upon whenever you pass the photograph above your mantle or pull out the album to show your friends. Thank you for that privilege. It's my pleasure.

-shawna K

Riley's Senior Portraits, At Home and In Ocean Beach

I don't normally post this many images from a single session, but since Riley is my cousin and I happen to think he looks uber-cool in these photographs, I'm going to post a bunch. In years past, I've been too focused on weddings to delve too much into high school senior portraiture. But since I photograph fewer weddings nowadays, I can give them the attention they deserve.

I had so much fun photographing Riley (and I'm having a blast photographing his friends, too -- if you scroll down, you can see Sierra, and I have more sessions to blog soon, too). Anyways, I had this concept of photographing Riley with his car because this car is a family relic. Riley claims it's his (well, he did pay for it), but before that it was his brother's, before that it belonged to my aunt's company, and before that my aunt was the owner but my sister laid claim to it. This car's been around. It may be old . . . but it's very cool.

New Signature Guest Books Now Shipping!

There are not a lot of things that I regret about my wedding. Even though Mike and I got married nearly 9 years ago and styles have definitely changed, there isn't a lot about my wedding I would do differently. I do regret, however, not having a guest book with photographs in it. Yes, it's true . . . I have the old school guest book with the lines where people sign their names. No messages. No cute little doodles. Just a list of names. Yawn.

Nowadays, there are so many exciting options for guest books. shawna K studio is discontinuing our standard black signature book, but have no fear . . . we have 2 adorable new photo signature books to take its place.

The Fine Art Signature Book

The Fine Art Signature Book comes in a variety of cover options to match your wedding palette and white or black hard background pages for signing. The album comes in a variety of sizes with a photograph on one side and a plain page on the opposite side for signing. All Fine Art Signature Books are custom, so allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.

The Urban Scrawl Signature Book

The Urban Scrawl Signature Book has a full photo cover with archival quality photographic watercolor paper inside. A variety of layout options are available with this book, leaving plenty of room for your guests' signatures around the photograph. This book is not only popular for weddings, but makes an excellent guest book for graduation parties and first birthday parties.

The Standard Signature Book (Discontinued)

The Standard Signature Book has been discontinued, but we still have a few of these books in stock. The Standard comes in a black hardback cover with black pages for signing. Each page contains one 4x6 image, with room for guests to sign the border. This book comes with 14 pages holding 14 images, but you may choose to use fewer images to make more room for signatures.

Please call or email info@shawnakstudio.com for complete pricing.