Daily Inspiration: Meet Shannon Ferguson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Ferguson

Hi Shannon, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been a creative and artistic person- Art and creative pursuits run in my family. I grew up drawing, painting, taking photos, building things; I could never really narrow down what I wanted to do for a career. I had a very successful sales career at a Fortune 500 company, but it was also incredibly stressful and didn’t leave any room to be creative. I got back into photography as a creative outlet and I actually ended up quitting my job to pursue photography full time. Initially, I just wanted to be a commercial photographer. I had no desire to photograph people, events and certainly not weddings. To occupy myself in between jobs, I applied to work at PROCAM in Livonia, MI. I ended up becoming the sales manager there and meeting so many amazing people. While working there, I was encouraged to photograph a wedding and after just 1 wedding, I was hooked. From that point on, I worked during the week and photographed weddings on the weekends. I was lucky enough to be selected as a photographer for Mike Staff Productions in Metro Detroit, MI and I spent 5 seasons with them, honing my skills, working with some of the most talented photographers in the industry and photographing weddings at some of the most beautiful venues in the midwest. I photographed 50+ weddings per year during that time frame, won several awards and reached the coveted ‘published’ status many times.

I took a break from weddings at the beginning of 2020, in the hopes of starting a family. My son was born in October of 2020 and after an incredibly traumatic birth, I took an extended break to spend time with my son and also attempt to find my creativity again. I found my way back to photography in 2022 and, with the help of a business coach, rebranded and built my business in just 3 short months. I have photographed almost 70 weddings under my company umbrella since then.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has absolutely been a challenge and a bumpy road. I think any entrepreneur, especially a creative entrepreneur will tell you that it’s far from smooth sailing. At the beginning of my career, I think the greatest struggle that I had was learning my craft at the same time as needing to make a living. Vera Wang once said, “Don’t be afraid to take time to learn. It’s good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.” As much as it pained me to work for other studios and not be able to cultivate my own brand, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have been able to learn while being a working photographer. It made me a stronger photographer in every sense.

Another struggle, or should I say, ‘character building exercise’, is the amount of rejection and criticism a photographer will receive along the way. At first, it’s an absolute struggle; You want to take every job and you desperately want to be hired by people that you probably shouldn’t be working with. All you want to do is work and you don’t understand that not every person is your client. You don’t understand why you had a fantastic consult and they loved your work, but they went with someone else. The rejection hurts and I’d be lying to you if I said that it still doesn’t bother me to this day. I always remind myself that we don’t see the full picture and what is meant to be will be. It has taken years, but when this happens, I always find that something better comes along to take its place.

In the midst of building your skills, handling rejection and criticism, you’ve also got to have an air of complete control and confidence while on the job. Having confidence in your abilities while learning as you go is not an easy task and takes a lot of energy. I definitely suffered from ‘Impostor’s Syndrome’ for years at a time. To be a successful wedding photographer is to wear many hats at once and to have the absolute confidence in yourself and your abilities. You have to know that no matter what happens, you’ve got this and you’re going to overcome anything and everything and give your client an amazing experience and stunning photography. You have to have a presence and be able to gently command. When you walk into a room, you’ve got a limited amount of time to make an impression with VIPs that aren’t your client specifically, but are an extension of your client- My goal is always to come off as, “Oh, she’s funny and great, she knows her stuff and she’s got this.” I always tell clients that handling a wedding day as a photographer is like walking a tightrope. Being able to have the finesse to interact with many personalities throughout the day, give direction and take the reins while not appearing as bossy or aggressive is an art form in itself. Starting out, there are so many things that no one will tell you about navigating a wedding as a photographer. These are things you learn as you go and who knows, maybe one day, I’ll write a book to help others!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a wedding, event and commercial photographer based in Metro Detroit, MI. I’m known for having a distinct style. My style is cinematic with the focus on beautiful, artistic, lighting, authentic interactions and an emphasis on fine art. I’m known among my peers as being a very technically skilled photographer. I have a very detailed and finessed approach with a full focus on the best customer experience that I can deliver.

I think the thing that I’m most proud of professionally is being able to rebrand and relaunch my business in just a few months. I really had to think about what my career options were after having my son; I was having trouble finding my creativity again and wasn’t sure that photography was where I was meant to be. I found my creativity again after my first wedding back and I started running towards the business that I had always wanted to fully build and flesh out, but couldn’t due to working for other studios. I’m also incredibly proud of my longevity in the industry. To have photographed over 300 weddings in my career is such an accomplishment. Over 300 couples trusted me to document their special day. I’ve literally photographed thousands of people at this point and created countless memories for families all throughout the country. That’s so powerful when I think about it. That doesn’t even include the countless events, portraits and products that I’ve photographed.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I think the biggest thing I could say to others reading this that have a dream or an idea that they want to pursue and they don’t know where to start- Just start. Do it small. Work on one thing every day after work. Inches become feet and feet become miles. With consistency and discipline, you can build anything.

The last thing I would say is if you have just one person that believes in your ability, anything is possible. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without the belief and support of family and friends.

Pricing:

• Weddings start at $3,999.00

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shannonfergusonphotography.com
• Instagram: @sfergusonphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShannonFergusonPhotography