Shea Beebe’s “Images in her mind shine through” was selected as a finalist in the fourth annual Smithsonian Magazine photo contest. Courtesy photos

Shea Beebe has always been the creative, and motivated, type. So it comes as little surprise to most who know her that she has recently been selected as a finalist in The fourth annual Smithsonian Magazine photo contest.

“She’s always been so passionate about what she does,” said Beverly Segal, Beebe’s mother. “She has a ton of creativity and imagination, and whenever she takes on a project she’s one to want to make it the best it can be.”

Segal said Beebe’s creativity has led her through many paths in life, though this one seems to be the one where she has most shined.

Beebe

Segal said she was particularly fond of Beebe’s contest entry, a picture of her daughter with a tree that stands in front of the Alamo superimposed over her daughter’s face.

“I particularly like that one because it’s her daughter; the imagination she used in it and the thought she put into it is what makes it unique,” said Segal. “She has a very vivid imagination and creativity in the things she does.”

In fact, imagination was the inspiration for Beebe’s entry in the contest, which was entered in the altered images section.

“Sometimes, I’ll have two photos that aren’t that special alone, but I’ll see there’s something there,” she said. “Then, when I put them together and play around with them, and get what I get. That’s what happened here. This one made me think of children and their imaginations. I hate the fact that children are getting so dependent on electronics. Children are pulling away from that, and I like to encourage imagination.”

Imagination and ingenuity seem to get Beebe the most unusual yet interesting images.

“I shoot really randomly, I try to make it a rule to keep my camera with me. Sometimes there are times when I really wish I had my camera. I’ll get in a mood and leave with my camera, I’ll just drive and see something that you want to stop,” she said, describing her artistic process.

“I stopped one time to shoot a windmill. I kind of had to honk to see if I could come in. I met this lady and her daughter, and they had sold the land, and they saved every penny they could to save the house and stayed. They were just the greatest two women, and I shot all kinds of photos. I stayed for about six hours and listened to them. The woman was so interesting, she had these really great stories, and I ended up going back a couple of times. It was really random. I didn’t even end up shooting the windmill, but shot all on the property.”

Beebe added that she likes to spend time walking around downtown as well, looking for that next unique photograph.

“I’ve shot the Alamo several times, and I shoot a lot of buildings downtown,” she said. “There’s a lady who walks around with pigeons all the time and pushes a Chihuahua around in a baby stroller. I like to shoot interesting people and architecture. I don’t do a lot of staged stuff. I like to find the beauty in things people don’t normally see the beauty in.”

In all of the fervor over being a finalist in such a well-known contest, Beebe said she’s struggled with herself over whether or not to make photography her career.

“I kind of fight with myself over that,” she said. “I used to say I would never sell my work because I don’t ever want it to turn into a job, because I enjoy it and it’s an escape from reality. At the same time I love to see people have the reaction to it, and it makes you feel good that someone likes your work enough to buy it. I would rather work and bring in income and continue to do it as a hobby.”

Currently separated from her husband of 16 years, who is deployed overseas and was a recruiter at Fort Sam Houston, Beebe is raising her daughters as a single parent.

“She has three daughters, and she passes on some of that creativity to them. One is an artist, and another has sort of taken that up, too,” said Segal. “Her being interested in different things has helped them to be creative.”

Shea’s middle daughter, Allissa, is definitely a fan of the type of work her mother does.

“I think what she did was awesome,” said the 14-year-old Harker Heights freshman, referring to her mother’s contest entry. “I think that was really cool. She did that with a picture of my friend and the city one time. My friend Caity was looking out the window and she put the city behind her. It ended up being really beautiful.”

Allissa added that she admires her mother and is somewhat following in her footsteps.

“I do a little bit of photography, but I’m not as good as she is,” she said reverently. “But I think it would be way cool to be like my mom. She’s a very strong lady.”

Currently living in Killeen, Beebe was a Converse resident when she submitted the photo, living in the Meadowbrook subdivision. Because of the recent separation with her husband, she has returned to her hometown of Killeen, where she is using her creativity to start a magazine to help soldiers settle into a new town when they relocate.

Coming from a military town and being a military wife, Beebe said, it’s not hard to put her expertise in that area to use.

“When they first come into a new area, right now it’ll be in this area, it’ll have all the businesses they need to start up a new home when they get here,” she explained. “Apartment complexes and such give discounts to military in exchange for discounts in advertising in the magazine. We’re working with Killeen.com. I’m used to starting up a new home every two or three years, so this is kind of fitting.”

Though living and working in Killeen, Beebe said she’s someday love to return to the Converse and San Antonio area.

“I loved it there,” she said. “I think it’s a beautiful city. I had a thrift store there, and I just really loved the area.”

While gaining some notoriety through this contest and her skills, Beebe has remained a fairly down-to-earth person. With more than 8,500 entries in the contest, she said, she certainly didn’t expect to win.

“I kind of forgot I entered it,” she said. “I’ve tried to enter contests before, and they want you to pay for the book it’s going to be published in and everything. This one seemed legit, but I didn’t think there was any chance I’d win.”

And win she didn’t. She was one of five finalists in the “altered images” category.

“The one I wanted to win if I didn’t win was the one that won,” Beebe said. “It was a picture of a white tiger, and it was beautiful.”

The other women in her life, though, couldn’t be happier about the outcome.

“We’re so proud of her,” said her mother.

“If she enters any more contests, she’ll most likely win,” said Allissa. “She’s always the best at what she does.