If there’s only one thing I can gift my kids, for them to pass down to future generations, it is this.

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Time is precious, we’re all changing so quickly. The opportunity to mark this time is now.

My sister and her family were in the country for the first time in a year and a half. I had been aching to have this. Getting everyone in the studio simultaneously would have been a challenge. Instead, I booked everyone in slots over the course of two days. Each unit was able to select their favorite version of themselves, and then I combined them into one piece.

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This also gave me the ability to create subset groupings, to gift for Chanukkah. (Not so much a surprise…)

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I’m feeling how critical family is. This moment won’t live on, but this piece of artwork for my home will.

Eric is a busy guy. I’ll just give over the titles listed in his LinkedIn: CEO at Bigger Cup Consulting: Business Coaching for C-Level Executives & Founders | Reach for A Bigger Cup & Achieve your Goals | CEO at First Avenue Mfg – Made in USA Bedding | Co-CEO at iAssay, Medical Device Startup

Which says nothing about his active involvement with his family and community. We were definitely looking to have an efficient system and turn-around. Good thing that’s standard by me!

The interesting tool he brought to expedite the process? His fantastic wife! It was great to have her eyes as we made adjustments and his final selection.

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I was thrilled when Eric wrote me: “This version is perfect, super happy with how this turned out, the speed, and the ease of the whole process. Thank you! Feel free to use me as a reference.”

If you live in Atlanta and haven’t met the Kosoff family yet, YOU MUST.

Warm, friendly, and hilarious, your life needs them. Birmingham’s loss, Atlanta’s WIN.

And it’s all of them. Sometimes you find you click with a family member or two. But 5/5 Kosoffs are awesome.

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We were very focused on this session. They needed a family portrait for their holiday card. We set it up, made a few adjustments as we went, nabbed the image they were going for, and were done. Too soon. I would have been good with hanging with them a while longer.

Mordechai was about to push out some marketing for his accounting firm, Lavian Global, and his team declared he needed a new headshot- STAT. I’m so glad we were able to pull it off! I hadn’t met him previously, only his wife. It was incredible to get a taste of their dynamics. Mordechai is clearly someone who thinks through the details. He weighs the implications of a decision- a fantastic trait to have in a tax accountant!

When we were narrowing down his choices, he wanted his wife to be a part of the decision making process. She rushed over, and confidently declared her favorites. While he had a very cerebral approach, she coached him, “You gotta go with her gut!”

They clearly balance each other beautifully. Careful decision making, and bold instincts. What do you think of their choices?

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Shayna Image recently took on assistance in the Social Media Marketing department (don’t they say ‘focus on your strengths’?) and they sent a photographer to my studio and grounds to do a session of me…doing a session. How meta is that?

I needed a family to be in the session. The answer to me was obvious. Lucy. Lucy and my husband work together.

1. She has a gorgeous family, with kiddos who I thought were up for the strange dynamic.

2. Her support of my business has been breathtaking. When a client books with me, they have the opportunity to name a referral source, who receives 15% off a session fee. Lucy has been named so many times, she’s on track to a free shoot.

3. Then I heard she hopes to gift the session to someone else.

It was a tricky evening. What I needed to do to get a great image of Lucy’s family was pretty much the OPPOSITE of what the other photographer, Franca, needed to get a great image of ME getting a photo of the family. If that sentence sounds confusing, it’s a taste of how the evening felt!

Nevertheless, her family crushed it, and we got a couple of lovely images to show from it all! These images were taken in the creek and on the paths behind the studio.

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Much gratitude to Lucy and her beautiful family. And I look forward to you all seeing the forthcoming “Behind the Scenes at Shayna Image” pictures!

Remember THIS GORGEOUS LADY?

When her daughter needed a yearbook headshot, she decided to crank it up a notch and turn it into a celebration. This way, she gets to submit something extra special and customized, AND start building a gallery home of her family at home.

Shira sparkles, just like her mom.

I remember jumping, sweating, learning… Liora and I used to take a dance workout class together. It was a hip hop class- choreography oriented. What’s strange, is I can’t even recall how we became friends before that. I know we were, it feels like we always were, but I can’t flag the start.

But I remember the pause. Already a brilliant pastry and paint artist, she returned to school to pursue a degree in the medical field. She wanted to put all her love into her education and her family. I’ve also seen her bloom in her art.

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Liora ultimately is pursuing a career as an ultrasound technician. Currently, she’s applying to phlebotomy and medical assistant positions. Besides proficient, this woman is so kind, empathetic, and warm, she’s guaranteed to bond with and soothe anyone she assists.

Meeting Laura made my head spin.

She found me from recommendations on Facebook. We clicked on our consultation call, but knew so little about one another.

Then BOOM— here come the crazy ways our paths complimented each other.

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She works in Real Estate Law (my husband coaches realtors and has a sales team.)

She’s been on the board of a local theatre, Synchronicity Performance Group (I worked as a professional actor in Atlanta for a decade.)

She’s explored her Jewish practice through the years, and has been particularly impacted by relationships (uh, ditto.)

Her daughter was in BBYO (my husband and I met via the youth group.)

The people and experiences we shared in common were incredible. I did not see that coming!

But isn’t every moment we have in this world an opportunity to find unexpected connections?

Get on Instagram! everyone said. I dragged my feet, but finally acquiesced.

It finally paid off, and I enjoyed my first session from someone who found me on IG!

Elliot is a law student at Georgia State University. Always thinking through every move, and several moves ahead, not only did he want to review our contract thoroughly (everyone should!), but he wanted to get ahead of the game getting his headshots, knowing that they would be crucial in his next career steps. This is a man both thoughtful and focused- he knows where he’s going and is proactive getting there.

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I guess this just proves that, whether we are 24 or 39, it’s always time move forward, push yourself, and take those extra steps.

Stein Law has been assisting their clients in Corporate Services, Tax Planning and Controversy, and Estate Planning for two decades. They now add the vibrant energy of Harrison and Karine to their team. They offer both experience and vitality.

Shayna Image is thrilled to have an ongoing relationship with Stein Law and the Stein family, having created their headshots in 2017, a personal home gallery in 2020, and the growth of their firm now in 2021. I am grateful for enduring relationships!!

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I actually answered an unknown number. It wasn’t a car warranty, for once, but it was Michael Smith, who heard from Falynn that I was the person to call for headshots. A fellow Architect at OTJ Architects, he specializes in biomedical science facilities. But we clicked immediately over cowboy boots and wall art.

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His home galleries are spectacular, but he’s one of the few who doesn’t need my process to arrange a spectacular array on his walls! There are definitely some perks to the field.

“No pressure, but do you guys think we can finish the remodel on this studio in time for this sweet baby’s first birthday session?”

The construction team put the pedal to the metal, and we pulled it off in time for two firsts:

1. My first session in the new studio!

2. Solomon’s first birthday!

It felt like a true celebration of firsts when this amazing baby beamed his mega-watt smile at me. I was floored. “THIS is the kid I get in the studio today?? Can I be this lucky??” I told him he needed to save the grins for the session, nervous he’d wear himself out— it never happened. The smiles persisted: his, and so, of course, mine. He was a rockstar and an angel.

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Speaking of new things worth celebrating, this family just moved into a new home! And this art will get to decorate the new walls! We’ve selected a 20x30 canvas to adorn their staircase.

But what’s probably most incredible about this story isn’t what’s new: it’s what’s old. When his mom reached out to me, she told me about the sentimental and expansive family galleries that bedecked their old home. Pictures of her brother and grandfather as babies that she wished to mirror (and we literally got three of the exact same poses!), and lots of images they had brought over from the “old country” that they had restored. This is EXACTLY why I do what I do!! The cheap print labs aren’t archival, and thus the art can’t be passed down. But I create heirloom pieces. So not only will baby Solomon join the family wall amongst generations of pictures, but he, too, can be passed down with them for generations to come.

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**Update!

We had designed his piece for their old home, but when they unexpectedly moved sooner than expected, we delayed installation until they were settled. What’s great about the size they selected, is that it looks perfect in the new stairway, too!

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A couple of nights ago, we tiptoed down to the almost completed studio. I wanted to test lens length in the space, so asked kids to stand in. Didn't have a single light set up, no backdrop: just my new space, natural light in the evening in the rain. This is the result. Back of camera, as unedited as it comes.

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In the tumbling chaos, the confusion, the isolation, the anger…

A moment by stillness. Toes muddy and cool. Tranquility and exhalation.

I watch her grow into her gracefulness. She seems to have a wisdom about all of this that I desire. She beams still over inconsequential moments. She radiates contentment while I struggle.

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Have you heard of the syndrome, “Photographer’s Child?” It’s murmured frequently in my profession. Because we love our built in test-subjects, and they too soon are “over it.” So I make a point to insist that they permit me to take our family portrait once a year, and try otherwise to leave them alone.

Ah-ha! Reverse psychology! Now, every time I have a client come, they beg me to take their picture, too.

So we tromped into the backyard. I had to coax her into the mud by the creek. Her dress originally was purple. Her shirt was a vibrant turquoise. My daughter asked if we could print it for her room. My son also wants a print of himself for his room, though he was satisfied with our last studio session:

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Yes, Little Man is in his pajamas.