We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shelly Wayne a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Shelly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
I would not be who I am or where I am without my parents. First of all, I need to send out an apology to them for giving them gray hair at an early age. I was not an easy child and grew into an impossible teenager. I wasn’t a bad kid, I was just always pushing limits…mostly speed limits. I wrecked my share of snowmobiles and jet-skis and actually ended up needing reconstructive facial surgery at 19 years old after wrecking a jet-ski. So, let’s start there…
After the accident I moved away from home with my boyfriend of 6 weeks. I ended up only completing one more semester of college. Leaving campus 20 credits shy of an associates degree, school had become a struggle for me. My memory was crap. I studied hours on end and retained very little of what I read. Life was very different for me after the wreck. I even looked different, a scar running the length of my face didn’t help with my self-esteem. So I left college with no degree and no job skills except that of a part-time DJ and ski instructor.
But I had my mom and dad’s unconditional love and my boyfriend they met twice, who loved me. Come to find out they were waiting to catch me if I fell. But I didn’t fall. I eventually flew… only because of their ability to trust I’d find my way and my boyfriend who they came to love as a son long before we married.
I got odd jobs. I was once a vet tech and then a Realtor. Then I became a wife to my boyfriend who loved me, scars and all. Then I worked at the local power plant as a heavy duty laborer. Then 7 years after marrying Mike, we had our first child. A girl!
My parents became grandparents when I was 27 and all the while had been taking photos. I was snapping pics of our vacations, holidays, and everything in-between. My mom made amazing scrapbooks from the photos I took. All of our memories creatively cataloged in stickered and glittered pages. These photos helped me remember moments I would otherwise forget. Like a movie I watched 100 times and never remembered… as was my life. Making memories was not easy for me. I journaled and took photos. So many photos.
Through this whole journey: My parents never discouraged me. They never told me I was making a mistake. They recognized after my accident I was lost and needed to find my place in the world. They were both college graduates and knew the importance of education, but never made me feel like a failure for dropping out. They didn’t even balk when I followed a boy I barely knew. They waited and worried and watched. And for that I am so grateful. I have been happily married to Mike for 25 years and we have been blessed with 2 beautiful girls. One now in college. So my story had come around full-circle. Almost…
At 42 years old I went back to college and earned my Applied Science Associates Degree. I graduated with honors. In one semester I earned 22 credits. If there is one thing I would do differently, it would be to have invited my mom and dad to attend my graduation ceremony. Truth be told, I was embarrassed to be the oldest student walking. I didn’t even want my husband to go. I walked solely so my girls would see their mom receive her diploma. I walked so my daughters would know that education is important and sometimes it takes us longer than expected. So yeah, if I had a redo… I would put aside my pride and have reserved 2 seats for my mom and dad. That day was kind of a big deal. I earned that diploma at 42 because of their continued support.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
As I mentioned before I took a lot of photos through the years to document life. I always had a camera with me. So when my husband and our girls and I moved to Northern Arizona from Montana; 1000 miles away from anyone we knew… exploring the area was how we started our new life. I brought my little snap-and-shoot camera and cellphone with me. My life as a photographer changed from a mom and her memories, to a landscape photographer.
I think what draws people to my work is my perspective. The way I catch the light and compose the image. That is what people respond to. It’s pretty amazing how a photograph can evoke emotion in people if given the right light. I also do not photoshop. I want people to look at my images and know that what they are seeing is what the landscape actually looks like. Mother Nature needs no edits.
Eventually photography led to my career as a tour guide. Having a passion and knowledge of the area, the remote locations, the history, and geology… I was kind of a natural at guiding. I started guiding part-time in 2020. In 2021, I left my day job at the local school and started guiding full-time for Kanab Tour Company. I am currently working with Ryan Smith Fine Art Photography on multi-day Photography Workshops. This is a big deal! We will run these workshops through Kanab Tour Company (my bosses are the best humans on the planet!)! Ryan is a photographer I have looked up to for years. When our paths crossed… well… stay tuned to see what unfolds ahead!
The workshops coming will be epic! I find so much joy in helping others find their WOW moments behind the camera. For me, photography isn’t a competition. Photography is a way to share beauty with others. What could be better than helping others take beautiful pictures to share?! It helps make the world a more beautiful place.
And that’s what makes my story a great one. I started out as a struggling college dropout with a traumatic brain injury to a successful backcountry guide and professional photographer. All because I followed my dreams and never stopped moving forward. The success is due largely in part to having unconditional support from my family that kept pushing me forward, encouraging me, and being my biggest fans.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Money. ugh… to run a successful business you have to have income. To be honest, my start began with a maxed out credit card and a little hope. I needed a bigger camera to take better photos. I will never forget when I bought my first “big” camera; the Nikon D850. It sat in the box, un-opened for 2 weeks. The guilt I had spending that kind of money made me sick. But my husband, Mike, finally opened the box, brought the camera to me and said: “You better read up on how to work this thing. You aren’t getting pictures having this sit in a box.”
He was right
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I think I hit on this a bit in the previous stuff. I don’t want to get too wordy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amazed.photography
- Instagram: amazedphotography_shellywayne
- Facebook: Amazed Photography by Shelly Wayne