Meet our College Intern Allyson Todd

Meet Allyson Todd, current college intern at Shadowlands Photography, Inc.

Allyson is from Kansas City, Missouri. She came to Fort Wayne on a pole vault scholarship to Indiana Tech and then transferred to Purdue University Fort Wayne in spring of 2022. Allyson will be completing her fine arts degree in the fall of 2023. Her focus is on graphic design and photography. By May 2024 she hopes to have her own studio in Dayton, Ohio.

Her photography niche is yet to be determined. She started taking photos in elementary school when digital point & shoot cameras were popular. Her grandma would let her take photos all over the house on birthdays. Allyson is one of those people who like being behind the camera but did not mind being in front, either.

In high school, Allyson took a photography class and fell in love with it immediately as an art form. She took every photography class she could during all four years of high school. In her senior year, she was in the Tim Murphy Art Gallery for the high school exhibition. After graduating high school, Allyson moved to Fort Wayne for college. In 2020, she got a job at JCPenny Portraits with the hope of gaining a better understanding of photography clientele. Though she often enjoyed working with clients and her co-workers, the corporate/retail chain system was not for her and she decided to set about on a new path. She was able to bring a few clients with her and has accomplished a few photo shoots on her own. Allyson is currently working on understanding the business side of doing photography with her internship at Shadowlands Photography.

Meet our New Intern Olivia

Hi I’m Olivia, I’m a senior at Northrop high school. I became interested in photography in seventh grade and have continued to pursue this passion. This year, interning at Shadowlands, I finally have the means to grow and learn in this subject. Im excited for this year and where this internship journey will take me!!

In the future I’d love to be a photographer in the Yankees dugout.

High School Internship Program Application Deadline

There are only 30 days left to apply for our Fall 2019 high school internship program!!

We are very proud to offer one semester photography and videography internships to high school seniors! The internship is an exciting, hands-on, real-world way for students to develop leadership and teamwork skills while exploring the potential of a career in photography. Interns will have tons of fun while learning very practical skills in photography, business and marketing.

APPLY NOW! The deadline to submit an application for the Fall 2019 semester is Friday, May 10, 2019. NOTE: We are limiting applications to only 12 people (a maximum of 4 interns will be accepted into the program).

Professional Headshots

Nicole came to our "Trash that Selfie..." event in February so that she could have a professional headshot to promote her blooming skincare line. 

🌸 She developed a line of naturally scented handmade skin care products that are great for eliminating harsh chemicals from your skincare routine. 

🌿 Find her on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/harrnm01

a new blog for a new era

When I was 22, right before I officially founded Shadowlands, I did two things. First, I asked pretty much everyone I knew in town if they’d model for me for some conceptual photography ideas (keep in mind this was pre-photoshop and social media so I had absolutely no inspiration for this desire apart from my own heart). Second, I created a 60 page powerpoint (gulp) that I delivered on a CD to Fort Wayne’s Mayor (sorry Mr. Helmke) to try to convince him that he needed to start an organization along with me to help provide professional photography and marketing support to area non-profits who didn’t have the budget for it because I believed in the power of images to create action.

It’s ok to just let the presumptuousness of all of that sink in. I can see it.

But I didn’t have a dad who assumed life is the way that it should be. He taught me how to brainstorm without critique and he taught me to ask “I wonder how could we do that together?” So I didn’t assume anyone’s answers would necessarily be no. I didn’t assume doubt. I didn’t assume bitterness. I didn’t assume pride. I didn’t assume people publicly portrayed their inner desires. I didn’t assume all old people blew off young people. And I thought NOT going after inspired ideas was much more frightening than not doing anything. So I asked people to do “we’ve never done that before” things all of the time without thoroughly analyzing all of the negative “what if’s”. The “what if’s” are significantly worse imagined than real anyway…almost all of the time.

I miss my dad’s participation in my risk-taking and dreaming. I miss my mom’s words of affirmation. They were beautiful people, gone far too young. My parents left me with a hope that I will carry in my heart even though that hope has earned scars.

I won’t settle for mediocrity. And I won’t give up on being responsible to the mysterious combination of passions and skills that remain trapped in my being. I am now 20 years into Shadowlands’ formation. I can hardly believe it. And I am definitely still the same Aquarius dreaming up conceptual pieces to bring philosophies and stories to life — and working to provide visual communication support for people doing great things in our communities. The beating hearts of Shadowlands have not changed, but they have evolved. It’s time for me to bring the rhythms together in a whole new way.