Yona Shaw: Austin Photographer
Hello friends! I had the opportunity (so grateful) to work with an Austin based photographer- Yona Shaw, and I am still radiating joy & awe on the results from the shoot. I have been following Yona on Instagram and have always been in awe of her work, it’s dreamy, ethereal and seems like it’s been ripped from the pages of a Jane Austen novel. So you bet your booty I dropped everything in order to work with her when the opportunity arose!
Yona Shaw is not only an incredible photographer, she’s a true creative. She literally breathes creativity, always crafting and creating little projects like her own jewelry, clothing, and little DIY projects. I highly suggest following her if you’re want that kind of inspiration in your feed!
Also if you need photos for your business, wedding, ANYTHING I highly suggest working with Yona. She is very affordable and SUCH a hard worker. She carried three cameras, worked so gently around my awkward posing 😂, kindly asked everyone to get out of our way if they were blocking the perfect photo, and worked nonstop in order to make sure I got as many photos as I could! Not to mention she got edited and gave me my photos in less than a week AND wore a mask the entire shoot!
During our shoot I got to know Yona a little bit and I think I figured out some of the magic behind her photography. Yona started out as a MUA, and only started photography because of necessity. When building her portfolio, she always struggled to get great photos of her work, either the photography itself was off, or the post editing. I think her background as a make-up artist gives her this edge, this eye, this mastery of color and composition. (Another reason why being a generalist/multi-passionate can give you an edge in life!!) So as a determined & resilient woman, she picked up a lens and started making her own vision come true!
Another beautiful thing about her work is that she is a part-time photographer. She is a weekend and after-work warrior in order to keep this passion of her’s alive. I admire and respect creatives that do that so much! It reminds me of Elizabeth Gilbert’s advice for creatives, to always always make time for your creativity and to never put pressure on yourself to make a living off your art in the beginning.
“But to yell at your creativity, saying, “You must earn money for me!” is sort of like yelling at a cat; it has no idea what you’re talking about, and all you’re doing is scaring it away, because you’re making really loud noises and your face looks weird when you do that.”
If you haven’t read “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert, you are missing out my friend- but I digress. (I have an audio-book version and I listen to it whenever I feel stuck creatively and it revives me like no other!!) I hope you are well & finding time to nurture some joy and creativity in your life.
