Capturing Magical Moments

Salina Pennington Photography 

Sometimes the greatest gifts come in small packages, and that’s exactly what happened to Salina Pennington when her husband gifted her a camera in December 2015. What was meant to be a thoughtful gesture for Salina to take pictures of their then two-month-old baby girl, Kate, turned into a passion for capturing the moments of newborns, children and families in the Henderson community and surrounding areas. Even moreso, the gift of her camera is what Salina feels was a nudge from God to open a door she never expected but brought the blessing of Salina Pennington Photography many have come to know and love. 

Known in Henderson for her unique and artlike newborn photography and Santa Storybook Experience sessions, Salina has built a community of clients – and friendships – over the years. But the birth of her photography business dates back to her unexpected gift of her camera and slowly began to grow into more than what she could have imagined.  

Salina went to school for early childhood education wanting to pursue a career as a preschool teacher. “I always knew I loved children and wanted to work with children,” Salina said.  

Salina’s love for photography started as a young girl. “I can remember being a little kid, and my favorite thing to do when I went to my Granny’s house is I would go and get her photo albums. I would lay on the floor and look through them. Most were black and white photos. I love photos and storytelling.” 

Even before Salina began her own photography business, she would follow photographers on social media because she liked to see the beautiful work others had created. “When I saw the type of newborn photography that I do, I just remember thinking that it is so unique and beautiful and it looks like art.”

Salina was working at Thelma B. Johnson Early Learning Center while finishing up classes for her degree, but due to budget cuts, she was laid off. “I always say God can take anything and turn it for good. I was so bummed when I got laid off by the school system, but now I get to take photos and work with kids and families. It’s the best of both worlds. I can work around my kids’ school schedule and be there. I think if you can have a job where you can work and go and pick up your kids you are blessed. He bought me that camera, and it just snowballed,” the grateful photographer expressed.  

As a new stay-at-home mom, Salina started using her new camera and taking photos of her daughter. She then decided she would take Kate’s three-month-old milestone pictures and post them to share with others. According to Salina, the photos weren’t great but they were decent enough that people would contact her every once in a while to do pictures for them, and it started to build up from there. In January 2016, Salina booked her first newborn session. Once the decision was made to focus on newborns, Salina wanted to make sure she not only photographed everything right but that it was done safely. 

Educating herself and gaining knowledge of the photography field was top priority to Salina as she started down this new path. She was able to enroll in an online course that taught her how to handle newborns by using a model (infant). It was shot live and photographers were able to ask questions during the photoshoot. Salina explained the importance of participating in online courses and continuing education courses, as this industry is always evolving with new props, new ways of doing things, etc. 

The photographer started with newborn and offered a lot of milestones and mini sessions to her clients. She also offered model calls and gave away free sessions as she continued to build a business she was proud of. 

“I wanted to be able to create something that families could have that was timeless, that was going to capture their baby in the best possible way so that they would have those memories. Your baby is a newborn for a second. Every time I have a newborn, I am reminded of the sounds they make and just all of the things that I forget about my own babies. It’s really neat that I get to snuggle someone’s baby and hopefully create memories for them that they can cherish.”

As Salina Pennington Photography grew, Salina started feeling pulled to offer another kind of session for her clients — the Santa Storybook Experience. There weren’t any photographers around this area who offered this type of session, and it was something the photographer would come across year after year as the holiday season would approach. 

“It looked like a storybook, like paintings. It reminded me of Norman Rockwell Christmas prints. There is a certain way you have to edit to give it that storybook look. The person that offered it was really far away, but he did a different storybook every year. He would tailor that story to whatever his background was. It was so magical to me. As a person who grew up with Christmas being my favorite time of year, I decided I wanted to do it,” exclaimed the creative photographer. 

After doing some research, Salina found an online course was offered on this magical Christmas opportunity. She purchased the course, which came with that year’s story. Her first year offering the Santa Storybook Experience session was 2019. By then, Salina and her husband, Dusty, had welcomed another child, a son named Cal. At that time, Kate (3) and Cal (2) were, and continue to be, Salina’s #1 models for all of her photography promos. Her kids, now ten and eight, have grown up knowing what it’s like to be in front of the camera, and they welcome it with all smiles! 

Santa came to visit Salina’s studio to shoot the ad for the Christmas session. She wasn’t sure how it was going to be received. It is expensive and costs a lot to buy an elaborate set. 

There are different companies who sell backdrops for every season and occasion. Salina found a company she uses each year to purchase her Christmas backdrops. She said some photographers immediately sell the backdrops, but she likes to hold onto them. She has some kids that come back every year, but eventually,  she will have a whole new batch of kids and can reuse backdrops later on down the road. 

What is so incredible about Salina’s work and the Santa Storybook Experience is that she brings her creativity to this session not only through her photography but through the book itself — writing her own story each year based on her chosen backdrop. The very first year she used the story that came with the template for the Christmas book, but every year since, it has been up to her to come up with unique stories to fit the background she has chosen. This offers her clients a different experience every year. Salina describes the book as beautiful with flat pages so readers are able to take in the full picture of the story being told alongside the artwork she has taken. 

Salina is always one step ahead. Being a photographer requires much planning and a lot of logistics to make every photoshoot everything her clients have paid for and more. She buys a Christmas background on Black Friday the year before — giving her an entire year of planning the next theme, purchasing props and coming up with the perfect story to tell. 

The Santa Storybook Experience brings so much joy to Salina and the children and families who walk through her studio doors. And of course – Santa brings a smile to everyone!  “I want those magical moments!” she expressed.  

Children get a personalized cookie and a gift from Santa. The session is 20 minutes long,  Christmas music is playing, and there is hot chocolate. “We go all out,” the Christmas enthusiast exclaimed. 

The Santa Storybook Experience has been received very well year after year. The hardest year for Salina was 2020 due to COVID and the restrictions that followed. She couldn’t offer any newborn sessions when she wasn’t able to be near her tiny clients and their families.   

She really had to think outside the box in 2020 to generate a way to still offer the Santa Storybook Experience because this is one of her biggest photo sessions of the year. Furthermore, Salina wanted to still bring the joy of Christmas to families and clients. Her creativity sprung into gear after she came across a beautiful Christmas living room with a fireplace, Christmas tree and rocking horse. Add a couch and set up a table – the perfect living room setting for the theme to be “Waiting for Santa!”

Children were hanging stockings, sitting out milk and cookies, listening for reindeer on the roof and checking the clock throughout the storybook photos. At the end, they sat on the couch to look at a book and fell asleep with Santa posed behind them. Since Santa was unable to visit the children that year in person, Salina had him come visit her at the studio. She took images of Santa by himself standing behind the couch, and then she was able to place those at the end of the book. 

Other storybook themes Salina has used and written about in the past are Baking with Mrs. Claus and The Polar Express. 

The Santa Storybook Experience photos are taken in October so families have their photos and books back in time to enjoy for the holidays or to use for Christmas cards. This year, Salina is offering a variety of Christmas photo opportunities outside of her Santa Storybook Experience. These include Gabbi’s Pet Portraits, a Victorian Christmas, Let It Snow, and Red Truck Christmas.  

This will be Salina’s fourth year offering Gabbi’s Pet Portraits at Gabbi’s Pet Boutique. This has been a wonderful partnership and opportunity to support a local business. She typically has 20-30 people come (no appointment needed), as she sets up at Gabbi’s Pet Boutique. Last year, the number exceeded 50 as she did a giveaway to win a free pet portrait and 52 families came to stand in line.

Every photographer has a slow period, but for Salina, she always reminds herself that God is in charge and will bring her the right clients at the right time. “There are a lot of awesome photographers in town, and we have a good sense of community,” she stated proudly. For marketing purposes, Salina always asks her clients, “How did you hear about me?” and she finds it is usually by word of mouth. Many times other photographers will send her clients and Salina will do the same. “Community over competition. There is plenty of action in town. We are all unique in different ways!” 

Salina recently took a milestone photo of a little girl she has been taking photos of for the last eight years. Her parents have chosen Salina year after year to capture these precious moments of their daughter. It’s such an honor to her when clients come back time and again. “It comes so easy to love your job when it doesn’t feel like work,” the seasoned photographer expressed. Salina describes her favorite part of being a photographer — especially for newborns — is that “for just a little moment, I get to be a part of one of the greatest things in their life that just happened, and I get to document it for them. I get to create that memory so they always have it, and they can look back on it because that baby is going to grow. Being trusted by families to capture what they consider is the most important. I feel humbled but nervous because I want to do good. I always pray, ‘Lord, please let me do good for this family.’” For Salina Pennington Photography, her hope is that when her photos are viewed hanging on walls, in picture frames or in photo albums like those she flipped through at her Granny’s house as a little girl, that everyone can see the art and heart behind it.