Lindsay Craven | The Yadkin Ripple
Shannon Brooks cuts the ribbon for her grand opening with Jim Drum and Mayor Hubert Gregory to the left and her husband and children to the right. SD Brooks Photography is located at 120 S. State St. in Yadkinville.
Photo taken by SD Brooks Photography
A sample of Shannon Brook’s work. Brooks, a Starmount grad, has returned to her hometown to try to offer the county an option for quality photography.
Photo taken by SD Brooks Photography
A sample of Shannon Brook’s child photography. Brooks said that her studio offers more of a full service. She is willing to come to your home to discuss where you would like to hang a photo to get an understanding of the lighting and color schemes of the room.
Yadkinville has a new option in photography.
SD Brooks Photography has opened and held its grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on April 5.
Shannon Brooks, a Starmount grad, has returned to her hometown to try to offer the county an option for quality photography that will last a lifetime.
“I went to Starmount High School, and everyone always called me the girl with the camera,” Brooks said. “I saved up all of my Christmas money and bought myself a Kodak Advantix camera.”
Brooks said that photography was a hobby for her most of her life but she never considered making it something more until her wedding. While working with a local photographer on her wedding photos Brooks started to entertain the idea of becoming a professional photographer.
“My husband was in the military and so we had to move out to the coast,” Brooks said. “While I was there I had friends asking me to take photos for them, and I eventually went to work for a photographer in Morehead City. I got to see the business side of it as his receptionist and office manager.”
Brooks said that her experience is mostly self-taught but that she has taken some college courses in photography and developing in the dark room.
“I’ve been learning about photography for the past 8 years, even before choosing this as my career,” Brooks said. “I’ll never stop learning because photography is an organic process. It’s always changing.”
Brooks said that her move back to Yadkinville took time. Brooks was living in Iowa when she learned that Jim Drum and Jay Brown were no longer running studios in Yadkin County, and she had an intense urge to return home and fill the void.
A former photography studio space was even available on State Street in the middle of downtown Yadkinville, but Brooks was stuck in Iowa. A consignment store moved into the location shortly after, and Brooks thought the opportunity had passed.
Last year, Brook and her family returned to Yadkin County and the consignment shop closed up business.
“It was like a sign from God,” said Brooks. “We happened to move back around the same time the consignment shop closed, and I thought this was my sign and I had to take the opportunity.”
Now she is the proud owner of the space, which offers a studio room, viewing room and reception area.
“I want to give people an experience past what they can get going to a photographer in the mall or Walmart,” Brooks said. “They can come in and have some coffee and talk to me about what they want to accomplish. My main goal is to get something on their walls or a book to set out on their table for years to come.”
Brooks said that her studio offers more of a full service. She is willing to come to a customer’s home.
“I want to sit down with a client before we ever have a session and find out what they want,” Brooks said. “I’ll come out to their house and see where they would like to have a photo hanging in their house. I just want to make people happy and I want to make every experience good.”
Brooks said that she’ll even come to her clients’ house and hang the photo for them if they request it.
“I have three kids so I know how crazy life can get and I know that you can have a portrait and love it but life happens and you don’t have time to get the picture up on the wall,” Brooks said.
Brooks said that she realizes the struggles the world of photography faces today with digital being so readily available. She hopes to offer her customers something that’s more personal and something that will last the test of time.
“Over the years it has developed into a desire to give people something tangible,” Brooks said. “We live in a digital world and all of our photos are on a disc and who knows whether anyone will ever see those discs or if they’ll be functional in another 10 years. I want to give people something they can hang on to for generations.”
SD Brooks Photography is located at 120 S. State St. in Yadkinville. You can learn more about Brook’s services by visiting her website at www.sdbrooksphotography.com or call to set up an appointment at 336-428-7079.
Reach Lindsay Craven at 679-2341 or at lcraven@civitasmedia.com.
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