Shannon LaDuke Photography

the model mallory

time to book fall photo shoots...

this picture of the ohmans a couple of years ago is still one of my all-time faves. the boys are wrapped in cozy blankets, cuddling with mom & dad by the fire pit. it was really cold and i had to keep moving to avoid the wind blown smoke. they laughed and joked and wiped away sloppy wet pooch smooches. they are such a laid back, outdoorsy family, and this was sooo them, and i was honored to get the chance to capture these moments. i really was bummed when it finally got too dark to shoot - i really wanted to break out the s'mores and stay awhile!

when i was thinking about fall photoshoots, i was considering planning a couple of days of mini-shoots. short time slots during the course of a couple of mornings, shooting several families in the same spot, with the goal of getting "the" christmas card shot and a few candids of the kiddos. i kept trying to plan it, and i realized i was not excited about it. i just wasn't feeling it. not at all. then it finally occurred to me: that is simply not my style. not that it's not a great idea - but it's just not me. i really want to capture your family as you really are, and i can't do that in 30 minutes with my next appointment waiting in the wings. my favorite place to start is around the home. i wrote about this a little more in the "frequently asked questions" link:

http://shannonladukephotography.blogspot.com/p/details.html

in addition to your home, of course, there are countless family activities we could shoot around: hiking lake catherine, hanging out on your dock, strolling on bathhouse row or the grand promenade, fishing at your favorite spot, visiting family property, enjoying an a.t.v. adventure, carving pumpkins, jumping on the trampoline, going on a picnic, playing at one of our many beautiful parks ...you get the drift. i'm up for any activity in which i am able to capture those unique connections & genuine emotions you share with your family.

this fall photo session topic got me thinking about one of my favorite fall memories. it takes place in our front yard in bartlesville, oklahoma. we lived on willowood drive in woodland neighborhood, so as you might guess, we had trees for days. there was always a day in late november when the very last leaf had finally fallen, and it was leaf raking time. i can picture the scene like it was yesterday: my big brother - flared jeans and a black stones tee, my dad in plaid flannel and john denver glasses, me in my red satin jacket and a pony tail. i can see my mom sweeping the leaves from the front walk and porch with one of those heavy wooden corn husk brooms (before the plastic days of swiffer). we would rake the leaves into enormous, vibrant piles, then my brother and i would take turns running and jumping into them, scattering the leaves and exasperating my dad again and again. eventually the leaves would be raked onto giant old bed sheets. i would hop in the middle of one of the piles (occasionally my brother threw me in...) and my dad would pull up of the four corners making a giant sack. he would lug it over his shoulder, santa style, with me inside, and carry it down to the woods behind our house to dump it. i remember giggling wildly on the way down, anticipating the drop on the soft layers of leaves at the bottom of the woods. i always itched for days after, but i didn't care. it - was- awesome. man, i wish i had pictures of those leaf raking days....of my family the way we really were. not all spiffed up with my brother and i standing stiffly next to the christmas tree.... more like leaves in our saturday morning hair, laughing our heads off, trading wicked arm punches in our front yard...

these are the days i want to capture for your family. think about what makes you YOU, and let's capture it. on the right side of my blog there is a DETAILS section with contact information, and more about my style, etc. check out the links there, and send me a message if you are interested in scheduling a shoot.

the links below are of a few shoots that truly exemplify my style. these were taken in and around family homes and on the property of clients' family & friends:

thanks so much for stopping by!

wide open spaces

"art is a legalized form of insanity, and i do it very well." - stanley marsh 3

amarillo's cadillac ranch is hands-down the coolest photoshoot location

i've experienced to date. it's one of many "artistic" projects around that area brainstormed by stanley marsh 3 (he long ago dropped the traditional roman numeral III..."too pretentious"). marsh is a philanthropist & artist known in west texas for decades of outrageous pranks. one of his most visible ventures is his on-going installation of mock traffic signs around the city. they consist of random quotes and drawings on faux yield signs placed in front of homes and businesses throughout amarillo. understandably, many have criticized marsh's "art", calling his creations eyesores among other things. and while i find them hysterically quirky, i must admit that i wouldn't want one in my neighborhood! his answer to his critics? "art is a legal form of insanity, and i do it very well." the cadillac ranch is another controversial marsh development that lies just outside the city. it consists of a series of ....you guessed it...cadillacs.... standing sentry in the hard, cracked amarillo soil. locals and tourists flock to the ranch with spraypaint in tow, tagging the old clunkers with impunity. during our photoshoot on a random, sweltering weekday morning, there were carloads of people visiting the attraction.

amarillo is an eccentric city on its own, however, even without mr. marsh's creations. as you drive into town, you are welcomed with a vibrant sign to your right, advertising a FREE 72 ounce steak at the BIG TEXAN. it's a deliciously hokey tourist attraction with a giant, statuesqe cowboy out front beckoning you into his steakhouse. (i've been there and loved every minute. while i didn't opt for the 72 ounce steak deal, i did proudly tie on one of their straw cowboy hats reserved just for tourists, and kicked up my heels a bit.) a few miles down the road on the left you'll spot the "world's largest cross" looming over the vast, even landscape. i'm pretty sure it's constructed entirely out of white vinyl siding. i absolutely love visiting this wacky town. it is the home of my beloved in-laws and also the home of one of my best friends from college, mckenna. last summer's visit there resulted in this cadillac ranch shoot with mckenna and her fam, and it couldn't have been a more perfect location for them. they are so much fun!

mckenna is from a mayberryesque west texas town called panhandle, or
"big p" to the locals. a quaint old courthouse sits in the town square surrounded by brick streets wide enough to pull over and chat a bit. there is literally one stoplight, but nobody ever observes it. it just blinks nonchalantly over a sleepy intersection. when mckenna, fresh from big p, would drivej us around our college town, she would often zip right through stoplights & stopsigns. the occupants in the car would inevitably scream, and mckenna would wave her hand dismissively and say, "oh, i just can't get used to those!". there is particular story involving a jeep, a lake, a boatramp & a few shivering passengers, but i think i'll keep that one to myself for now.

one of the first things i noticed when i met mckenna all those years ago was her accent. west texas simply has an accent all its own. spelling their drawl phonetically just doesn't do it justice, but i'll give it a shot anyway. mckenna, her "big p." friend reese and i went to banana republic. one of us was on the hunt for a pair of white tights. (don't judge....we had only recently emerged from the 80's). when the sales clerk asked if she could help, mckenna answered that we were looking for some "waaaaaaaht taaaaaaaaaaahts". the look she got was one of utter confusion. of course, repeating the request only resulted in further bewilderment. reese, visiting straight from those west texas plains, stepped in to help, under the assumption that perhaps a little volume & emphasis might help. "umm....you know... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawt taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawts???".....it took about 5 minutes to complete those two syllables. i think she was getting ready to call security when i stepped in to translate for my relieved fellow okie. our other college sidekick, amy, used to beg mckenna to sing the lyrics of "ice ice baby", then double over laughing at the result (always in good fun). she still has that distinctive accent, of course, and i still get a huge kick out of it. thankfully her driving skills have drastically improved, as she spends her time carting around precious cargo, her super cool son choc. choc loves all things "thomas the train", has an uncanny knack for numbers, shows this innate love and understanding of music, and is just about the most charming kid on the planet. of course, i would expect nothing less from that mamma of his.

mckenna's hubby gary is a teacher by day and musician by night. he is a 6 foot something KID, to say he is a wicked guitarist is quite an understatement. he plays in many of the local establishments on amarillo's old route 66, among other vintage joints around town. when gary & mckenna met, he was playing full time in a band called the groobees. they sold one of their songs, "wide open spaces", to the dixie chicks, who gave it quite a respectable run. i so look forward to summer nights on mckenna's back porch. we put the kids to bed, then relax in creaky, chipped motel chairs watching the gentle breeze rustle colorful clothing on the line.
(mckenna dries all her laundry outdoors, hanging each item carefully with old wooden clothes pins. so green; so adorable.) gary strums his guitar out there, flip-flopped feet tapping accordingly, and plays all of our requests. we always begin with the obligatory "mercedes benz", which mckenna & i drone together in our best janis joplin renditions. and of course, gary sings his originals. he penned a song called "hurricane" to his little boy that brings me to tears every single time. gary holds a cigarette between his ring and pinky fingers, and as he plays, a glowing arc of orange dances lazily, then wildly with the shift of the tempo.

time always seems to stand still for a bit out there on that porch, and this dreary time of year always has me longing to go back. thank you, thomasons, for all the good times we've had, and the good times to come....

p.s....check out mckenna's "legalized form of insanity"... warhol-style canvas portraits. very cool. http://www.mckennathomason.blogspot.com/

west

this is absolutely my favorite kind of shoot. i followed west around his dock, in his front yard and on his sunny living room floor. we played and talked and i snapped away. west was in his environment, and he was relaxed and simply being himself. he loves spending time by the lake and on his scooter and with his beloved remote control car, and that's exactly how i wanted to capture him. it was early in the morning, and mom stephanie peeked at us through the window from time to time in her cozy bathrobe. she must have been savoring one of her numbered quiet mornings before her twins are due! there were no threats or bribes to sit still and smile! - she just let him do his thing and i did mine. carte blanche...i so dig it!

i've known west for awhile, as he and my lucy have been buddies since before they could talk. it's difficult to imagine there was a time when they didn't talk. very difficult. we carpooled to tennis and birthday parties a few times this summer, and those two chatted away like chip and dale. each time i sat in the drivers seat wishing i'd had the foresight to invest in a miniature tape recorder. the first five minutes of one of their latest conversations was focused on the various boo-boos they had recently suffered. west said, "well, i falled on the dock and my arm broke. it was a really bad boo-boo. well, it didn't really break. but it hurt....see???" lucy hastily followed up with, "well, i tried to open the gate in our yard and it cutted my bleed out.....see???" neither kid commented on the other's part of the conversation, or commiserated, or even acknowledged the other had spoken. they spent that time plotting what to say next that could possibly trump the current tale. at one point, there was a brief lull in the conversation. then west looks at lucy very seriously and says, "soooo, lucy - you brush your own teeth?"... "yes.".... "YOU DO???".... "yes, you DON'T?" west goes on to describe his toothbrushing habits in detail, followed by lucy's rendition of her own daily ritual. by the time we had reached our destination, they had covered shoe tying, pants zipping and their individual bedtime customs. they were so serious about these topics. this is their world right now: so sweet, so simple, so innocent. i know it won't last forever, pretty soon we'll get to "listen in" only by reading their texts and checking their facebook pages. but to me, these images will always bring back this delightful time. i hope you feel the same way, steph. thank you for a wonderfully laid back shoot!

baby brodie

the ladukes made the annual summer trip home to oklahoma this year, and i carefully packed my gear in anticipation of this shoot. beautiful casie is the niece of some of our dearest friends, and i was so excited to do a shoot with casie, her hubby jared and their little baby brodie.

i packed all my lenses, filters, new "my funky camera" strap, extra charger, etc. etc. however, when i stepped outside for this early morning shoot, i quickly remembered that i'd forgotten a few items....an industrial sized fan, ultra-absorbent beach towels, windshield wipers for my camera lenses and an 80's style sweat band set. oklahoma in july can be summed up in four syllables: hu-mi-di-ty. within seconds i was dripping with sweat (i am not even going to pretend i was "glowing"...) and really had a tough time holding onto my camera. meanwhile, casie & jared just smiled sweetly at , cool as cucumbers, and played with their precious son. looking back at the photos, they could have very well been taken in early fall or late spring... not a hint of the oppressive, wilting, smothering heat. this is such a testament to their collective go-with-the-flow demeanor. even baby brodie seemed unfazed by the 104 degree heat and the 300 percent humidity. he grinned, giggled and squealed his way through the shoot, and i love the way they turned out. oh, and although i was not aware of it at the time of our shoot, bambino number two was already on the way. thank you casie, jared & brodie and baby ____! can't wait for a photo shoot for four next summer... perhaps in a walk-in freezer somewhere?

e in the garden

"There is a garden in every childhood,

an enchanted place

where colors are brighter,

the air softer,

and the morning

more fragrant than ever again."

- Elizabeth Lawrence

i was elated when i found out elizabeth's mom had secured the southern living idea house for our mini-shoot. it was the ideal setting for this gorgeous, delightful brown-eyed two year old. it was sprinkling lightly when we arrived, and the garden out back seemed to be blanketed in a dreamy haze. the house currently sits vacant, and the landscaping is a tad unkempt and overgrown, creating a scene reminiscent of frances hodgson burnett's the secret garden. elizabeth's eyes were wide as she explored the brick walkways & rock paths. she played peek-a-boo behind the stonehenge-esque circle of trees and rock benches and played in the arched wooden entry gate. she took in her surroundings, and i snapped away trying to beat the next round of sprinkles. "e"was an absolute doll, and i love the way these turned out. thanks to mom, casey, for a delightful morning!