Shawna Herring Blog

Robin + Avery July 1, 2012

Shawna — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 03:35:46 +0000

Testing out some new, easier, efficient, stress free, blogging techniques. Check out Avery and Robin’s beautiful wedding at the Grand hyatt Buckhead.

I swear I’m not dead.

Shawna — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:27:21 +0000

My blog has become a faint memory, a distant friend, a reoccuring nudge to keep documenting. I haven’t written or posted anything since before going to Haiti last fall. Today is May 21, 2012. Life hasn’t stopped for sure, I’ve just stopped sharing it on Word Press for all to see. I’ve thought about it, felt guilty for not doing it, wondered if it would affect my business and have had people ask me in person if I had ‘dropped out’ so-to-speak. The answer is no, I haven’t, but rather I’ve been living my life without the need to tell the world about it. It’s been so rich. It’s been interesting, emotional, heartbreaking, frustrating, exciting and everything else. I met the man of my dreams on October 8th, 2011 while walking through an anual community yardsale at 7:30 am. It happened over a foosball table in his driveway. Totally unexpected. For one of the first times in my life I didn’t feel the need to find a man to complete me. In fact, months earlier I had a little talk with God and told him that I was actually fine without one and if I remained single the rest of my life that was ok too. I had my girls, a succesful career and a wealth of friends. But just to put my 2 cents in I added that if He saw fit, I’d like 3 things. 1. A man of Latin culture. 2. A protector and 3. A man with a father’s heart to love my girls. Life went on. I bought my first house in July, adopted another dog, Beau, a lab-pit mix. Loved my girls and established meaningful relationships with my neighbors.
Then I went to a yard sale in sweats and a baseball cap and stopped to check out a foosball table.
“Nice shoes,” he said as I looked up to find a very handsome man standing in front of me referring to my 5 year old Diesels.
“Thanks,” I said, “How much for the table?”
“Fifty dollars.”
“I don’t have that much cash, will you take a check?” I asked.
“I don’t have any way to cash it.”
Confused but with a pounding heart I asked, “What? You don’t have a checking account? Are you incognito?”
So I made a pile of things I wanted and said that I would come back in a few hours with cash. As I walked back to the car I told my oldest daughter, “He’s cute!” I went back a few hours later, showered and dressed to shoot a wedding. Zoe was with me and I walked up to give him the $. I could tell he was nervous and we chatted for a bit and then he asked, “I’d like to see you again, can I take you out for coffee?” Immediately I said, “Sure.” 3 days later we went to dinner. 7 weeks later he asked me to marry him and on January 28th we ran off to Florida with 40 of our friends and family and said, “I do.”
Sounds crazy, I know. I mean I KNOW. I get it. I can try to convince you of this and that and how I’m really not off my rocker but the truth is, I don’t feel the need to.
Fernando is of Puerto Rican background. ~Latin Culture.
He is a retired Federal Agent and a current bodyguard to the CEO of Coca-Cola. ~Protector
He has 3 daughters of his own and loves both of mine. ~Huge Father’s Heart.
He is an amazing cook, a complete gentleman, smart as all getout, a knight in shining armor. He loves me like I have never known. My friends and family adore him. They see the difference in me. My focus has shifted. My heart is full and the need to have other people’s approval and affirmation has deteriorated tremendously. I’ve been off the bloggin grid for the past 7 months but I think I’m ready to venture back in. Not to gain attention or clients or comments but rather to share about how good life can be when you let go of the need to fullfill insecurities and rather learn to love yourself and let good things come to you.
All in God’s timing. Let go. Trust. Love. Believe.

Intentionally adjusting perspective

Shawna — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:32:42 +0000

Do you ever find yourself in a rut? Knowing in your mind what you ‘ought’ to be doing but finding yourself repeadtedly doing something else? I do. It’s very irritating. Take for instance texting while driving. I know it’s wrong, I’ve seen the commercials and heard the stories of what can, and often does, happen. Do I put it into practice? No. I somehow think that I’m ‘different’ or ‘that won’t happen to me.’
Wrong.
Last week I made a last minute stop at a friends house before driving to Athens and as I was slowly heading down their driveway I grabbed my phone to re-set my google map for directions and while I was looking down I blindly (that’s how it is when you look at your phone instead of the road) rolled right into a tree. CRUNCH! I was shocked, embarrased, horrified. The tree was fine, but my 4-runner suffered $2100 in damage to the left fender. Thats a $500 deductible for me and I felt ABSOLUTELY SICK as I thought of such a stupid mistake. Then I felt really, really grateful. Thank God it was 5 MPH into a tree and not 50 into a person. It could have been so much worse.
Hello wake up call. I hear you.
I admit this not becuase I’m proud of it, (NOT) but becuase it helps to just be honest about things. See, I know that you hear the same stupid lies in your ears that I do….”You don’t measure up”! “If people really know the truth, they would reject you”. “You are the only one with this issue and everyone else has their life together so much better then you”. Blah. Blah. Blah.
What a Lie.
I’m just like you. At times I feel frustrated, inadequate, lonely. I wonder if I’ve missed the boat, I dwell on the past and my mistakes. I second guess myself on my parenting and wish I were a better friend and example to my girls. On and On it goes. But then I feel that tug on my heart and that quiet voice breaks in that whispers, “I’m here”. “I see you”. “I know you”. “You ARE good enough”. “I love you”.

That’s when I have to stomp my foot, shake my fist, take a stand and put what I know into action. I have to grab ahold of those negative emotions and squeeze them until they disolve in light of the truth. There is no one like me. I have tremendous purpose. My experiences and honesty affect other people if I’m willing to be open. I can make a difference in the lives of others. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
I admit that I get into routines that aren’t that great. But I also realize that I have the choice to get out of them. I can activate what I know to be true into my daily life and let it make a difference.
“If you never put your faith into action then you are only agreeing with an idea”.

So I’m going to Haiti next week for 5 days. Yes, it’s last minute. It’s random. It’s a bit selfish. But I need it. I need to step into that reality of the uncomfortable and absolutely basic atmosphere so that I am forced to have a reality check. I have to have it.
I spend way to much time doing things that are pointless.
I need revival.
I need renewal.
I need love to take over.
So I’m going to Haiti.
They have it. What they dont have is a rat race, cell phones, internet, facebook, shopping malls, TV, big houses, A/C, Costco, surplus, electricity, the Jones’s living next door….
They have love. plain and simple. No distractions. They have the bare minimals, if that. No electricity, so when the sun goes down, it’s time to go to bed. We will wake up at 4 am to the sounds of Haitian praise and worship to God in the IHOP (prayer, not pancakes) and spend the day loving God by serving people.
Major reality check.
I’m overdue.

Brand new life

Shawna — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:22:47 +0000

Oh that baby skin. Those little rolls and folds and tiny little limbs.

Jenny and Jon ~ Engagements

Shawna — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:32:49 +0000

We hadn’t met before their shoot. Jenny contracted me online for an engagement session as their wedding is in Texas and they had already contracted a photogrpaher for that. (booo!) so when she suggested Piedmont Park I wasn’t sure what to expect. If you didn’t know, I am anti Piedmont park only becuase it’s over used. I was pleasantly surprised when they agreed to stop OUTSIDE the park, well, I didn’t really ask them so I can’t say they agreed but we got some amazing images of the two of them in the general area.

Thanks for the laughs and the great time, Jenny and Jon. Good luck with your wedding! XOXO

Alexi’s Bat Mitzvah ~ Summerour

Shawna — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:14:27 +0000

What a great party! Alexi turned 13 and had an awesome Bat Mitzvah at Summerour. Check out the pics and make sure to watch the slideshow at the bottom for more.

Seating assignments

The event was so much fun thanks to the following vendors.
Venue: Summerour
Event Planner: Terry Saxe from Special-T-Events
Entertainment: Krazy Boyz
Catering: Endive

VIEW SLIDESHOW {{{{{{{{{{{{{HERE}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Baby M. ~Atlanta baby photographer~

Shawna — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 23:41:13 +0000

I met Melissa and Demetrius at the beginning of the year (see here) and fell in love with baby M even before I met her. Needless to say I was thrilled to get the call that they were ready for their next family portrait session. I arrived to meet another member of the family who had been soaking up as much baby love as she could possibly get. Mima’s (Nana’s, Gigi’s, aka Grandma’s) are the best to have around while adjusting to the new life of being a parent.
Oh be still my beating heart!

When I was a little girl I had a Holly Hobby canopy bed. I had a HH doll and I would even draw HH’s all the time. This is a picture perfect HH hat with beautiful full cheeks.

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Alexi and Jason ~ High Falls Engagements

Shawna — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 04:19:53 +0000

Sometimes when I meet with brides about shooting their weddings and it feels very business like, we process what we can do for one another, analize the match, sleep on it and see what happens and other times I leave thinking to myself, “Whether or not she hires me, I would love to be her friend.” That’s the vibe I had after meeting with Alexi and talking about life, travels, love and the future. So obviously I was extra happy when she informed me that I had won out the competion and we could begin planning for their engagement photos.
They are both fans of the outdoors, they love animals, and are the opposite of high maintenance so we choose High Falls Park in the heat of the afternoon and laughed and had a blast. Tru the dog kept us all entertained. We sweat a LOT too.

Tamara + Ron ~June 17, 2011

Shawna — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:35:30 +0000

Because she can.

Danny from The Savage Garden is nothing short of a genious. His alter piece was AMAZING. Go ahead, check him out.

The bride and groom aren’t really crazy about cake so they brought in options. You can have your cake and eat other stuff too!
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This image is one of my favorite from the wedding and here’s why. The dark blue dress on the right is Tamara’s mom. The light blue dress is her stepmom. I know that not everyone is able to mend and move on to reconcile in a way and Tamara not only had 2 ‘moms’ there but her 2 ‘dads’ were there as well (the black suits) and the love that they all have for their daughter was tangible. More often than not, divorced parents hardly speak to each other and sometimes it’s even awkward to take photographs together but this family, I’m happy to say, displayed something above and beyond the usual and I for one, recognized it felt admiration and respect for their relationships.

Congratulations, Tamara and Ron. It was so much fun getting to know you and your family. I left the event feeling like a richer person. Muah!
The fabulous vendors that made it all possible.
Coordinators: Wedding Soiree
Caterer: Proof of the Pudding
Florist: The Savage Garden
Makeup: Nickey Martin Makeup
Hair: Dedra Allen
DJ: Anthony Cook
Lighting: Spectrum
Videographers: Timepiece Videography
Officiant: Rev. Martin Odom
Cake: Classic Cheesecakes

Wanna see more? {{{{{{{{{{{{Check out their slideshow}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Chantel + Jimmy ~ Washington D.C. Engagements

Shawna — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 02:27:04 +0000

it’s a serious effort for me to not call them Ken and Barbie. I mean that in the most classic way. They are both gorgeous in their own right but when they get together they cause some serious environmental changes. Empty the shelves, gotta get-my-copy kind of madness. I flew up to DC for the day and even though the weather was super hot and muggy, (it was actually a record breaker) they were total champs, even during the flash downpour. We spent time around the monuments, the water front and the wonderful Georgetown where we met our mutual friend Sam and headed to Jimmy’s favorite pizza place for dinner, 2Amy’s.

I had such a great time hanging out with you, Chantel and Jimmy. I simply can’t wait for next spring when we’ll all be together again in Dominican Republic. Much love to you both.