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* Owner: Shannon Stanfield* Location: 2503 Byington-Solway Road

* Contact: 865-691-0422

The stepson of Thompson Photo Products co-owner Ed Thompson, Shannon Stanfield never faced a quandary over career choices.

"My after-school care, growing up, was at Thompson Photo," Stanfield said. He had his first 35 mm camera by age 12 and was a photographer for Tyson Junior High's newspaper and, later, the West Wind at West High School. He went on to earn a degree from the University of Tennessee, studying photojournalism under professor Rob Heller.

Now 41, Stanfield has worked as a part-time news photographer and columnist for the News Sentinel, as well as for Cinetel's Club Dance magazine. In the meantime, he took wedding photos on the side. Several years ago, he purchased an old farmhouse, which he has converted to a studio, on Byington-Solway Road in Karns. His wedding and studio photography eventually crowded out his other gigs. Stanfield Photography now supports several employees as well as its owner.

Stanfield said his photography business is unique. He charges for photo sessions, not for photography prints or packages that many studios use to drive up their profits. Each Stanfield client ends up with a compact disc filled with black-and-white as well as color photos of his or her wedding, child or family.

"They own the copyright to the photos," said Stanfield. "I encourage them to go to Thompson Photo to have the prints made, but they can go anywhere or print the photos themselves." He stressed his studio is not in the business of selling clients packages of prints in quantities they may or may not want.

The arrangement also frees him to get the best images possible, changing backdrops, poses and outfits only according to the client's wishes and Stanfield's own aesthetic style.

Both his children's and wedding photos have an artistic flair that sets them apart from the stiff, overly posed results of wedding and studio photography.

In fact, it was his flair for weddings that brought him acclaim as a photographer of children and families.

"When my brides had babies, they started calling me and asking me to photograph them," he said.

Nichole Craves said: "We first fell in love with Shannon when he did our wedding pictures, and now he photographs my two children. I refer all my friends to him because he is absolutely wonderful. His photos are beautiful, he is accommodating, and he is so patient with the children."

Stanfield's base charge starts at $129 for an hour of studio time.

"I typically spend at least an hour with every child," he said. It takes that long, he said, to photograph children, who often need a snack, diapering or other attention during the sessions.

Stanfield is the father of two, Tate Stanfield, a 9-year-old fourth-grader at Sequoyah Elementary, and Katherine Stanfield, 5, a student at Thackston School in Fort Sanders. They've helped him learn how to get children to relax and respond to him, forgetting the camera while he shoots them at their best.

"I have a lot of toys," he said. "I'm a very playful person, so I work well with children,"

One room of his Karns studio is devoted to children and babies, another to brides and wedding photos. A third room, originally the sunroom, provides three walls of natural light. A variety of props and backdrops provide all kinds of colors and settings for artistic photography. Stanfield's staff includes Kimberly Bell, a makeup specialist, and Laura Rogers, a retouching specialist who also works in the studio's offices. Paul Turpin and Roger Canada work for Stanfield as wedding photographers, and Kitty Creekmore has been his wedding assistant for eight years. Much of Stanfield's work can be viewed on his Web site, www.shanstan.com, or at his studio.

Marti Davis may be reached at 865-584-5234 or martidav@comcast.net.