Photo: Jerome Miron

Photo: Jerome Miron

About Shanna Lockwood

I believe the best creative work does more than capture attention. It stays with us. It changes how we see the world, brings us closer to people we might not otherwise understand, or reminds us of what we share. I've built my career around bringing those ideas to life, pairing a strong creative point of view with the leadership and operational thinking that turn ambitious ideas into meaningful work.

My approach to creative leadership took shape across three distinct environments. At USA TODAY, I developed the editorial judgment to recognize what makes a story resonate and how individual pieces of content contribute to a larger narrative. At Auburn Athletics, I paired that creative instinct with operational thinking, transforming image-delivery workflows so content moved from capture to distribution in minutes rather than hours. With the Atlanta Falcons, I brought those strengths together, guiding a team of photographers and delivering creative work across brand, marketing, retail, and live sports in one of the most demanding content environments: the NFL.

Each experience broadened my understanding of what makes creative organizations successful: a clear vision, talented people, thoughtful collaboration, and the ability to turn ideas into results. I've learned to move between the creative and operational sides of the work, bringing people together around shared goals while building the structure they need to do their best work.

Along the way, I've photographed the Masters Tournament and astronauts aboard a zero-gravity flight, contributed to The Wall, the USA TODAY Network project recognized with the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, and spoken at SXSW about creative technology and sports coverage. My work has appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, USA TODAY, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I believe creative leadership is about setting a clear direction, bringing out the best in people, and making space for ideas to become something greater than any one person could create alone. That’s the kind of work I want to keep doing: building strong creative teams and helping them make work that resonates long after it’s seen.

career highlights:

  • Professional Experience

    Freelance Photographer and Digital Asset Management Consultant
    Remote | 06/2025–Present

    Create narrative-driven photography for sports, events, and brand clients, including Augusta National Golf Club, WWE, and NFL teams. Lead image selection, editing, captioning, and delivery, with an emphasis on visual consistency, storytelling, and client objectives. Consult on digital asset management, metadata, and image organization to improve content discoverability, accessibility, and long-term reuse across platforms including PhotoShelter and Dropbox.

    Manager of Photography, Atlanta Falcons
    Atlanta, GA | 11/2021–06/2025

    Led photography production across NFL game days, athlete storytelling, retail campaigns, NFL Draft, and Media Day. Directed creative assignments and resources while collaborating with marketing, social media, video, retail, community relations, and stadium operations to deliver photography aligned with brand priorities and audience needs. Oversaw projects from pre-production through final delivery and improved digital asset management workflows supporting hundreds of stakeholders across the organization.

    Photographer, Auburn University Athletics
    Auburn, AL | 01/2020–11/2021

    Produced photography across 14 sports programs, supporting marketing, communications, recruiting, and institutional brand storytelling. Developed imagery in studio, environmental, and live-event settings, partnering with coaches and creative teams to meet a wide range of visual needs. Implemented a live photography workflow that reduced game-day image delivery from hours to minutes, improving the speed and accessibility of content for digital communications.

    Digital Media Manager, USA TODAY
    Remote | 04/2012–01/2020

    Coordinated national sports photography coverage for major events including the Olympics, Super Bowl, and PGA tournaments. Worked across photographers, editors, and digital and print teams to shape visual coverage, manage assignments, and deliver accurate, compelling imagery on deadline. Applied editorial judgment to image selection and storytelling while supporting digital asset management and archival workflows that improved the organization, accessibility, and reuse of photography.

    Technical Writer I, Southwest Airlines
    Dallas, TX | 05/2012–08/2013

    Developed and maintained technical documentation in collaboration with subject-matter experts, translating complex operational information into clear, accurate, and usable content. This experience strengthened the technical communication, information organization, and detail-oriented thinking that continue to inform my approach to creative production and digital asset management.

    Areas of Expertise

    Creative Leadership and Strategy: Creative leadership, photography direction, visual storytelling, content strategy, editorial judgment, integrated brand content, and creative team collaboration.

    Photography and Content Production: Commercial and brand photography, sports photography, athlete storytelling, campaign production, studio photography, environmental portraiture, live-event coverage, and cross-platform content development.

    Creative Operations: Photography production management, project planning, resource coordination, cross-functional collaboration, production workflows, deadline management, and process improvement.

    Digital Asset Management and Technical Communication: Digital asset management (DAM), metadata strategy, image archiving, content organization, asset discoverability, content reuse, workflow optimization, and technical documentation.

    Education

    Auburn University, Auburn, AL

    Master of Technical & Professional Communication, Minor in Communications

    GPA: 3.9