The days you'll ache for, are happening {now}.

Smiling blonde woman holds hands with a partner, backlit by a golden sunset glow in a grassy field.
Baby sitting on a wooden floor in warm sunlight as a smiling mother reaches out a hand, seen from above.

Docutorial Lifestyle Photographer based in Hendersonville, North Carolina

 

Family, Maternity, Motherhood, Couples

 



What's docutorial? It's a mix of documentary and editorial - the best of both. I don't like to be put in a box, and I wouldn't put your memories in one either. Natural moments blended with intentional angles and a little direction. The art of taking ordinary moments and making them feel like everything. The result is nostalgia in the form of art.



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A space where all love and connection is celebrated.

 

Mother crouches to greet two young girls in light dresses on a grassy farm field with a wooden fence, red tractor and horse trailers behind.
Woman in a white top and light skirt leans over a stroller on a paved path beside a large shady tree and sunlit open grass field.
Woman in a long taupe skirt and cream cardigan holds the hand of a toddler in a denim pinafore on a gravel path beside autumn trees.
A family sits together on a large grassy lawn at golden hour while a toddler walks nearby, with trees and a small house in the distance.
A smiling mother sits on sunny grass at golden hour, cuddling two young daughters in matching floral dresses and white socks.
Couple in a grassy field at golden hour, one standing and reaching out a hand to the other seated in a flowing dress, with trees behind.
Toddler girl with red hair and a bow wears a pale blue pinafore dress, standing by a wooden fence with a red tractor behind her.
A woman sits on grass at golden hour while a toddler in a bow helps feed a bottle to a baby lying in her lap.
Aerial view of a family sitting together on a sunlit grassy lawn, with parents and two young children sharing a relaxed outdoor moment.
Mother holding a baby beside a wooden fence as a toddler reaches up, with a red tractor and horse trailers on a farm at dusk.
Two red-haired toddler girls in matching light blue outfits with floral ruffled collars sit on an adult's lap outdoors in golden sunlight.
Man in a dark shirt and gray pants stands on a grassy lawn at sunset, holding a small dog in his arms in front of a tall green hedge.

One day you'll look back and realize how much was shifting.

Right here, in all the ordinary days.



It comes quietly.



There is this gut wrenching feeling that lives underneath all of it. That this version of your life, this age, these exact kids right now, is already leaving. You cannot hold it still no matter how hard you try.


That is why I photograph the way I do. Not to make it pretty. To make it last.

Photographs can't stop time. But they can put you back in the middle of it.

Colorful crayon scribbles in red, orange, teal, and brown on white paper, abstract child artwork.
Woman in colorful cardigan stands in art-filled hallway decorated with children's drawings and paper garland.

 

I'm Shannen,
the woman behind the lens, preserving the moments your heart will {always} want to come back to.

 

More about me
PORTFOLIO
Newborn baby lying on white bedding in warm sunlight while parent gently holds them.

Motherhood

Motherhood sessions are for the season you're in - just a Tuesday. The way they reach for you, the way you move around each other. It goes fast and these photos slow it down.

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PORTFOLIO
Two parents lovingly kissing their newborn baby on the cheeks in a tender moment.

Families

Family sessions are less about getting everyone to look at the camera and more about documenting where you actually are right now. The chaos, the closeness, the moments nobody staged. Those are the ones worth keeping.

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PORTFOLIO
Couple on a farm at golden hour with man embracing pregnant woman from behind.

Maternity

You're in the middle of something huge and it deserves to be documented. Maternity sessions focus on you - how you feel, how you carried them, the anticipation of what's coming. Real and unhurried.

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PORTFOLIO
Couple lying on a grassy mountain hillside facing each other at sunset, with a pastel sky, distant blue ridges, and a small moon above.

Couples

Couples sessions are a collaboration. We talk, trade stories, and laugh a lot, and somewhere in there I start to figure out how the two of you move together. I read your body language and shoot what’s actually there. The photographs come out of that exchange, and they look like you because they were made with you.

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Your story is already happening. And you already know you're going to wish you had more of it documented. Let's make sure you keep this season forever.

Baby standing at a wooden picnic table outdoors with a golden retriever, family members, food, and drinks on a sunny day.
Child hands gently holding two small yellow wildflowers, wearing a striped dress and knit cardigan.
Two people playing chess at a wooden table in black and white photo, one holding a coffee cup.
Adult hands gently holding a newborn baby's tiny feet wrapped in a white knit blanket, with a gold ring visible.
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A mother sits on a bedroom floor holding two babies while an older child sits on the bed behind her.

 

"It honestly felt like I was just catching up with a friend while she captured meaningful memories of our family."


Samantha Oh, Motherhood Session 2026

 

more testimonials

Serving Mills River, Hendersonville, Asheville, Brevard, Flat Rock, Fletcher, Etowah, and surrounding WNC communities.

Golden sunset light glows over grassy mountain ridges with layers of hazy blue mountains fading into the distance under a soft pastel sky.