Saxxy Shanda's Branding Session

Have I mentioned that I love color? Maybe once or twice, right!? Lol. But honestly, I live for the colorful backdrops in photos, even if the majority of my personal wardrobe is black and denim overalls. My style is slowly evolving into a teenage girl circa 1994 and I'm not even a little bit mad about it.

But there is someone that may love color more than me. My friend, Shanda! Shanda is a one of those true-blue friends. You know the ones that will always be there for you, no matter what. She's that girl for me. She has saved my butt on more than one occasion. She has delivered homemade meatballs to the front porch when I was newly postpartum. She's caring, she's bubbly, and her laugh is infectious.

Shanda asked me if I'd be interested in taking some photos of her and her saxophone to use on the website for Central Iowa Music Lab where she teaches saxophone lessons at their Waukee location. I'm always hesitant when someone wants headshots because I don't {yet} have a studio. Luckily, Shanda was not interested in traditional headshots against a white wall. She wanted color. She wanted something to reflect her colorful personality. And I knew just the place!

I showed Shanda the photos from Christian and Katie's engagement session that I took in the East Village in downtown Des Moines and Shanda was sold.

Shanda was playing scales and a man walked by and said, "Looking good. Very saxxy!" to her and we about died of laughter. So hence, the appropriately named title of this blog post. Shanda did say that that's a very old joke that every saxophonist has heard one million times. But since I'm not musical, I was fresh ears for that joke. Haha.

I love this part of downtown for so many reasons. It's close to Raygun, which boasts hilarious and snarky t-shirts and gifts as well as lots of other shops and bars. The brick buildings and alleyways make a perfect backdrop for those bold photos that I love.

When Shanda saw this mural in an alleyway, she immediately said, "Wouldn't it be funny if it looked like bubbles were coming out of my sax?!" Girl, I can actually make that happen! So, bubbles or no bubbles? I personally love it with the bubbles.

In additional to teaching at Central Iowa Music Lab, Shanda is a homeschool instructor to her three children. Shanda actually taught my boys music class over zoom last year when we homeschooled. She also does in-person instruction and utilizes the space at Central Iowa Music Lab's Waukee location. You can find out more information on her Facebook page here. My boys looked forward to their Tuesday afternoon class with Ms. Shanda each week. I took advantage of that 30 minute respite to fold laundry. LOL #MomLife. In addition to teaching saxophone at Central Iowa Music Lab, she's also offering wind instruments and beginner piano lessons. She also serves as the operations manager at CIML and helps new students connect with instructors.

I don't know how Shanda does it, but she also has a business of designing and printing custom t-shirts. She even surprised me with one with my photography logo on it. I'll definitely be rocking that during future sessions! Want more info on that side hustle of hers? Here's the Facebook link to her group.

Shanda is not the only musical person in her family. Her husband, Chris, is an expert bass player. Weekends are often spent playing gigs. In Chris's downtime he does amplifier repair as well as custom pedal modification and building at Doc Fordyce Tone Solutions.

Shanda, Chris, and their kiddos are definitely a family that you want to know.