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STAUNTON — With a baby on her hip and and a camera by his side, the husband and wife team behind Millpond Photography is on a mission to visual capturing the stories of Shenandoah Valley farm and family lifestyles and grow their network to include as many folks as possible.

Jonathan and Samantha Shover’s lives together started at Millpond Stock Farm in Augusta County. It’s where she learned how to ride a four-wheeler and pet cows, it’s where proposed, it’s where he proposed, it’s where the two exchanged vows on their wedding day and now it’s the namesake for a photography business and self-published magazine that reflects on big moments and important milestones in the lives of others.

“It’s not about the pretty picture,” Jonathan Shover said, “it’s the story that’s behind it.”

In 2017, the Shover’s kickstarted their small business after being commissioned to shoot a real estate listing for a family member and starting photographing full-time two years later.

While both of them are primarily self-taught in the arts of photography and videography, Jonathan Shover is no stranger to the agricultural pursuits of the Shenandoah Valley. His grandfather was a veterinarian and beef cattle farmer in the Staunton area, so Jonathan Shover thought he was destined to become a veterinarian too. When he couldn’t quite make the cut to get into vet school, he picked up the camera and starting taking pictures of livestock instead.

“In the Valley,” Samantha Shover related, “word of mouth really is how you meet [the right] people.”

In addition to shooting homes, seniors, engagements, weddings, births and more for their wide array of clients, Millpond Photography has been publishing their own magazine highlighting local businesses, farmers and artists through words and photos. Top articles have included farm-to-table experiences in and around Staunton and a Christmas tree farm which stands as a testament to time-honored tradition.

And there’s no telling what unique headlines will be included in Millpond Collective’s next issue — its 10th published edition.

“We’ve gone so many places and met so many great people just because we had a camera in our hand,” Jonathan Shover remarked.

Samantha Shover added that, “we are there for people in all different seasons of their story — which is really fun.”

Having watched their business grow so much in just a few short years, the Shover’s hope to continue that momentum as they wait for the opportunity to buy Millpond Farm — which is still being farmed by Jonathan Shover’s now 84-year-old grandfather — and raise their family there.

Both Jonathan and Samantha Shover also agree that the importance of agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley is in preserving it for future generations and in by capturing farmers in their element and sharing their connection with the community, Millpond is in some small way helping to do just that.

“One thing we really love about our magazine is how it’s allowed us to focus on these stories,” Jonathan Shover said. “We photograph a lot of farms, but it’s the magazine that has enabled us to tell the stories that nobody knows. When you go to the store or the farmer’s market you don’t see how hard a family worked to produce that crop or that animal. If [the consumer] gets an idea of what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and why they’re doing it, I feel like that’s the best thing we can do. The Shenandoah Valley is just such an amazing place for diverse agriculture.”

To connect with Jonathan and Samantha Shover about their work both indoors and on the farm, find Millpond Photography online at millpondphotography.com.

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