We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shayden Schoonover a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shayden, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

The kindest thing that’s ever happened to me happened before I was able to get my foot in the door within the content side of the music industry. I had shot sports for the past couple years prior to this opportunity I had to shoot in-house for a larger scale music festival. My friend Bryan Chow was helping lead a content team for a festival in Utah headlined by Post Malone, Trippie Redd and some other bigger named artists. There was a day when I was helping him with a separate shoot and the topic of that festival had come up and he immediately asked me if I’d want to shoot the entire festival as part of the in-house team and I without hesitation said I’d be willing to help out in anyway so he in the same instance made sure there would be a spot for me on this team. This kind act gave me an extremely positive start to a music portfolio to further reach out about other shows and concerts. Since that festival a little over 2 years ago I’ve been on 6 U.S. Tours and shot over 120 shows. I still don’t know how much of it would be possible without that foundation of experience and I’m forever grateful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For those who may not know my name is Shayden Schoonover I am a freelance photographer and videographer. On the video side I work for the most part with short form content whether that be event recaps, clothing brand marketing or making promotional videos for musicians etc. On the photo side I do live concerts, portraits or pictures from events. With both these practices I like to pick up whatever work I’m able to do behind the camera, this has also lead me to direct a couple music videos within the past year which I’ve been extremely proud of and hope to continue to learn the process of directing and storytelling.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’m not sure if I have a specific story that properly describes resilience, but from a general sense working full time as a freelancer requires a lot of resilience. Some months will be better than others and sometimes within the life of freelancing there will be slower periods of time that you have to push through and still believe in yourself and what you can provide through your services and skillset.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

As interesting as it may seem Instagram and social media does a huge part of expanding who is able to see your work. As far as posting your own work or reaching out to seek new clientele Instagram has been a very solid driving force to help push my business forward and get new eyes and new opportunities for my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: Shaydenschoonover.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Shaydenschoonover

Image Credits
Photographer Credit: Miranda McDonald