Rolodex of Color

Shannon Brunner once felt completely depleted by her photography career. One of Canada’s most honored children’s photographers, Shannon has owned and operated her own studio in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for 22 years. For the first 20 years, her style was decidedly vintage—black-and-white shots of children dressed in old-fashioned clothes and posed with antique props.

“I was so sick of doing that,” Shannon says. “It was no longer creative for me, and I had to make a change—but my clients had a hard time letting me give that up.”

Shannon was in limbo—continuing with her traditional shoots for about five years longer than she wanted, trying to please her extensive client base that was used to, and liked, her style. Still, she was bored snapping away on those shoots, and aching to go in a different direction. At the height of her frustration, feeling completely uncertain about her future in the business, Shannon found inspiration in the most unlikely of places: Costco.

On her way to the National Photo Convention in Winnipeg with her family, Shannon stopped off at the wholesale giant for some road trip supplies.  
“I saw this painting, and instantly fell in love with it,” says Shannon. “It was so colorful—I couldn’t forget it.”

The painting, “The Singing Butler” by Jack Vettriano, is a passionate scene of stormy skies with a couple at the center—the woman clad in a deep red dress—dancing in the rain.

At the convention, with the painting still on her mind, Shannon attended a seminar by photography team Jeff and Julia Woods. As Jeff and Julia talked about sources of inspiration, they mentioned a painter. It was Jack Vettriano. “I couldn’t believe it,” Shannon says, noting that it was one of those moments when she felt that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Shannon was electrified, and a new creative direction began to crystallize in her mind.

“When I got back from Winnipeg, I was revved up again about photography,” says Shannon, who immediately began shooting a new portfolio, which she completed in about six months. Her new tagline became “where art and photography meet”—a fitting sentiment, considering it was a piece of art that had reignited her creative fire. “There were times I couldn’t even sleep,” Shannon says, remembering how many new ideas emerged during this time.

A New Style Emerges
For a child photographer experimenting with a new style, there is no better subject than one’s own offspring. For Shannon, a devoted mother of four, that subject was her youngest son, Tom. The photo essay she created of him is on her website (www.shannon

brunner.com), where she showcases a phase he was going through at the time—an obsession with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (see above).
Comments Shannon, “I thought about how a lot of pictures in the studio setting don’t say a lot about the kid. I thought about the phases a child goes through growing up… the phases my own kids went through. I liked the idea of actually capturing what the kid is about, because [as a parent] it’s easy to forget those things later.”

As an extension of the photo essay idea, Shannon decided she’d start doing upfront consultations with all clients before shoots, with the goal of better understanding her subjects before picking up her camera. While Shannon has a bag of tricks that she brings along to each shoot—a stick, a harmonica and some candy—the rest of the props are unique to the child, and decided upon during the consultation.

“I ask parents to tell me a bit about their child and I get them to bring those things—like the turtles my son had,” Shannon explains. “When I shoot grads (high school seniors), I tell parents, ‘If there is a shirt you hate, one they wear all the time that drives you mad, that’s exactly the shirt I want them to bring.’ ”

Shannon does both on-location and studio shooting, and the weather is often the determining factor. In Saskatoon, winter lasts for seven months, during which time Shannon is bound to her studio, which is now in a location in the city along the river. She moved to her new space in June 2008, after more than a decade in a home-based studio.

“By the time the winter is over I want to start shooting outdoors, but by the end of late fall I’m tired of traipsing outside,” she says. “A bit of both keeps it interesting.”

Whether in or out of the studio, Shannon’s experience as a mother helps her relate to her young clients and get the coveted shots that keep parents clamoring for Shannon to photograph their kids.

“I do better as a photographer of children because of my patience, not because of my skills,” Shannon insists, though the award list as long as her arm—including Photographer of the Year in Canada multiple times—would indicate that her skills definitely have something to do with her success.
Shannon starts off with each child in the same manner: Playfully asking about something of interest to them like what they got for their birthday or what they were for Halloween. She’s also learned one rule that applies to nearly all kids: A little intimidation goes a long way.

“As soon as they are comfortable with me, they listen to me less,” Shannon says. “Rambunctious kids warm up fast, so I know I’ve got to get moving. If I ask a child to sit on a chair at the beginning of the shoot, they’ll do it. If they’re too comfortable, they might jump on it instead. At a certain point, I know I’ve lost them.” The patience she’s had to muster in parenting four children, as well as 22 years in the business, has honed her radar so she knows just how long she has to get the shots she needs.

Keeping it Fresh
One might describe Shannon’s style as fresh. And she’s intent on keeping it that way, aware of the burnout that can happen to photographers when they get stuck in a rut. To keep her inspiration flowing, she designates one day a week as a creative day, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be photography-geared.

“I just let the ideas come in,” she says. “In the past, I was getting so busy with the daily routine of the studio and forgetting why I got involved [with photography] in the first place. If you slow down enough, if you open the airways enough—ideas come.”

Shannon also tries to do something unique in every shoot, and challenges herself with her own creative projects. For example, she might buy a new lens, one that she’d normally never use. She’ll then use it at every shoot for a period of time, seeing what she can do that’s different and exciting.

While child photography makes up 80 to 90 percent of her business, she also shoots weddings, though she chooses them carefully. “Every year, I designate a new project for weddings,” she says. One year, for example, Shannon only accepted weddings in locations that she’d never been to before.

Another way Shannon keeps herself engaged and excited is +through teaching—her voice is animated as she talks about her love of working with aspiring photographers. Teaching is a new venture for Shannon. She didn’t have the available space to hold classes in her home-based studio, but her new location has ample room. She offers classes for beginning, intermediate and
advanced shooters.

The Payoff
When you quiz Shannon about her numerous photography awards, she politely offers the details, but it’s obvious in her tone that awards aren’t what keeps the veteran coming back for more. She sums up her creative philosophy perfectly, “If you took a brilliant picture right off the bat, then why would you have to get your camera out again?”

Shannon may now be teaching photography, but she’s the eternal student—always wanting to learn, to challenge herself and to not repeat the mistakes she made earlier in her career, when she let her passion burn out.

“When I won Photographer of the Year, my husband turned to me and said, ‘Wow, you must be really proud of yourself,’ ” Shannon remembers. “And I was. But I said, ‘I do photography for me… and it’s not the destination. It’s the journey to getting that great print that is fabulous for me.”
You can view more of her work and get information about her classes at www.shannonbrunner.com.

Christy Rippel is a frequent contributor to Rangefinder and the WPPI newsletter. She has also written for the Los Angeles Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pregnancy magazine and others. She blogs about life and motherhood at christyrippel.com.