2017 // A Year in Review

January 8, 2018 By // by kate

2017 was a fantastic year. Challenging, heartbreaking, amazing, and FULL of growth in pretty much every way possible. I started out last year with a super detailed, and well though out plan for the year, both personally and professionally, and theeeeen almost none of that happened. 2017 was the year that can down in my personal history as the year that will be looked back on as did not go as planned.

And even though NOTHING went the way I had thought it would, it was still a very, very good year.

The things that happen when you’re that far outside of your comfort zone, they’re phenomenal. (You can find more of my thoughts about that HERE.) This entire year has been filled with balance, in every way, and I hope to not only carry that forward into 2018 as my word of the year, but continue to develop my skills surrounding it. (Read :: not working 24/7, how well I do at that, well, remains to be seen.)

2017 was a year filled with travel, friends, and a whole lot of photos, and I can’t wait to see what 2018 holds.

JANUARY

The year started itself off under Colorado’s sunny skies visiting one of my all time favorite people on the earth, Heather, and her family in Denver, before heading to Vail to spend time with family and enjoy soaking in all of the mountain air that I could before heading back to Ohio and gearing up to head to WPPI for the first time. (which, lemme tell ya, mind-blowing-ly amazing experience in itself.)

I started the year off with a month by month plan of what I was going to accomplish for my business, and January was off with a bang. I was on track, and it felt SO good to have everything lined out in front of me.

At the very last second possible I decided to enter the Shoot&Share contest, and held my breath.

FEBRUARY

February started out with WPPI, just over a week in a hotel room with three other female photographers, in Las Vegas, and was WONDERFUL. Being surrounded by so much talent and passion while down in the desert? dream. come. true.

I can home with all kinds of inspiration for my business, and dove into the execution of the proposal that I was hired to style and photograph, annnnnnnnnnnd then I got wholloped with pneumonia and pretty much lost the next couple of months.

MARCH

In March, I was able to come welcome Eliza home with Missy and her ADORABLE family, but other than that, I spent a whole lot of quality time with the couch.

APRIL

April again, was slow, due to allowing my lungs the time to heal that they needed, being a quieter month, I was able to get out for the Rock & Roll Wedding Styled Shoot, which, let’s just take a moment and appreciate how much fun those photos were to take.

MAY

Fast forward to May. May rolled us into the summer months with a bang, starting out though, with the wonderful blooms of Red Twig Farm’s Peony’s filling vases all through out the house. May also brought the amazing women of the Wine & Shine Podcast into my life, getting the women behind the Wine & Shine into my studio was a total kick in the pants.

JUNE

In early June, the ladies of the Wine & Shine team and I took their portraits on the road, and explored back alleys and fun buildings throughout the Short North, along with the their live pod cast event at the Wonder Jam. (We’re going to take a moment so that I can tell you this. If you haven’t yet, or don’t listen to the Wine & Shine, you absolutely need to start. They’re fantastic, and the guests that they’ve got on thier show, really inspiring people.)

A week was spent poolside, cocktails in hand, with two of my best fellas, Randall & Sugar in Arizona, which while we had all intended to explore the desert ended up being exactly what we all needed.

Annnnnnnd then, just like that, it was time for Alicia and I to take off on the Southern Summer Road Trip. We left Columbus on a Sunday morning, drove to Asheville NC, then to Charleston, onto Savannah GA, down to Panama City Beach FL for one all to brief night, to New Orleans for four days (Insert all kinds of happy dance here), Alicia flew back to Portland, Jeff flew to NoLA, and then he and I drove back north through the Mississippi Delta, to Memphis, then Nashville, then finally back. (Make sure to head over to Cook.Eat.Explore and join the subscription list there, as the Southern Summer Road Trip series is about to kick off, and it’s going to be a ball.)

Red Twig Farms // VIP Event

The Wine & Shine Podcast

Red Twig Farms // Farm Store

The Wine & Shine Podcast

Red Twig Farms

American Cancer Socity Making Strides Walk-1-3

Red Twig Farms // VIP Event

Red Twig Farms

The Wine & Shine Podcast

Red Twig Farms // VIP Event

The Wine & Shine Podcast

Red Twig Farms // VIP Event

The Wine & Shine Podcast

JULY

We spent the 4th in Nashville, and then came home, where I slept for a solid week, assisted other photographers on shoots that they had, and summarily enjoyed the summer. July, and again in August, Jesi was here (check her out work out HERE, she’s absolutely fantastic.)

AUGUST

August we got to put our toes back in the Pacific Ocean for a while with friends at Cannon Beach, and spent time with friends in Portland, the end of August was blissfully quiet as Jeff traveled, and I settled back into the routine of daily life here in Ohio.

SEPTEMBER

September rolled through with Cook.Eat.Explore starting to take off more and more, trips down to Butler County, and Athens to explore, the annual Night of Chocolate was at the Casino again, and the 10th Annual Shake the Hand that Feeds You dinner for Slow Food Columbus was hosted at the Produce Terminal on what was one of the best nights of the fall.

Night of Chocolate 2017

Night of Chocolate 2017

Night of Chocolate 2017

Night of Chocolate 2017

Night of Chocolate 2017Night of Chocolate 2017

Night of Chocolate 2017

OCTOBER

October exploded with a bang, The Grain Bag Ball kicked off the month, PRIZM magazine launched, Cook.Eat.Explore was keeping me far busier than I ever could have imagined, and it was all of a sudden HighBall Halloween time, throw in a couple of weddings, photographing events for the American Cancer Society (Making Strides, and the Cattle Baron’s Ball, respectively), and being interviewed myself as a guest on the Wine & Shine Podcast. My mom and her husband decided take a road trip out from Oregon, and hang out with Jeff and I before heading onto the rest of their vacation.

Why Documentation is SO Vitally Important. (And How it Will Save Yo’ Ass)

American Cancer Socity Making Strides Walk-1-2

Things were starting to slow down (slightly) and I was feeling like I was able to finally get myself back on some sort of track schedule wise, back to regular posting, I had my to-do list written out, and I was ready to tackle everything, KNOWING, that I was going to get it all done by the end of the year, and go into 2018 with great new organizational systems in place, ready for a fresh start.

That didn’t go as planned.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer // American Cancer Society

November 20, 2017 By // by kate

This summer, a friend of mine here in Columbus started volunteering her time to the American Cancer Society here in Columbus, with the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, and when they started their search for a photographer, she threw my name in the hat.

Thankfully, they reached out.

The first event I was contracted to photograph for them was this falls walk. The morning was cool, crisp, and had that perfect snap of fall in the air. Check it out, and next year, come join us!

American Cancer Socity Making Strides Walk-1-4

Christina + Jeff // A Dayton Wedding

November 10, 2017 By // by kate

Jeff has damn near 100 first cousins. Yup. You read that right. ONE HUNDRED FIRST COUSINS. (technically, I think it’s 97, but you get the gist) One of those cousins, his wife, and their three kiddos moved to Columbus the same time that we did last year, down to a matter of days difference. Since then, Matt and I have talked about getting together to shoot, and as we’ve been tossing around date ideas, nothing had ever stuck.

So when he called me a couple weeks ago, on I think a Monday, and asked if I wanted to go shoot a wedding with him the following Thursday, which I happened to have open, I was down. I grabbed the closest pen, scribbled it into my planner (seriously, I’d be so lost without that book), and didn’t asked any more questions. Matt told me he’d pick me up at two, and that worked for me.

Day of, he picked me up, and as we drove I was asking Matt the various questions I’d ask anyone I was second shooting for, Are they planning on doing a first look? What about a shot list? Do you know what family portraits are important?

To which he responded with one of the two following answers :: “Dunno”, or, “Not Sure”. Finally, I went with, “So tell me what you know about the wedding. The answer? The address, and the start time.

Awesome.

We got to the park in which the wedding took place, and it blew my mind with how gorgeous it was, the only question I had for Matt at that point was “how open to portraits are they?”

Thankfully, they were down.

We got to play with the light and come up with some awesome portraits.

This is Kim // k.H.a. lifestyle photography

October 9, 2017 By // by kate

I met Kim what feels like a lifetime ago, when our parents lived next door to each other. She and her mother are two of the kindest, most amazing woman women I’ve ever met. Ever.

While I was in Portland this summer we spent a part of an evening with our families, and I talked her into getting in front of my camera for a while, as we were having a glass of wine and catching up.

We were both having exceptionally rough days, and getting to spend those couple of hours together was amazing.

Next time, Kim, we’re doing it up for real.

Enter TyLemar // k.H.a. lifestyle photography // Columbus Lifestyle Photographer

September 26, 2017 By // by kate

Before moving here to Ohio, I probably would have told you that I wasn’t going to ever use studio lighting, that I was absolutely a natural light only kind of photographer, and at the time, probably would have meant it.

I am SO glad that that is no longer the case, nor is it my mindset.

Off camera flash and studio lighting, HOW DID I NOT TAKE THIS LEAP SOONER?

I started working with Staley earlier this year, producing shoots, assisting where needed and just generally learning all of the things. I’ve been buying books to teach myself different lighting diagrams and the theory behind it, but it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to watch it in action that I really truly realized how amazing (and powerful) lighting can be.

This fall, I had the opportunity to produce along side Staley the fall fashion editorial for PRIZM News, which is launching October 1st. No, these frames are absolutely not from that shoot, for those you’ll have to wait for the first issue to drop, but I did meet TyLemar while working that phenomenal shoot. Finding out that his background is in dance rather than modeling kinda blew my mind, he is a natural in ever sense of the word.

Thankfully, he was willing to come get in front of my camera, again, which meant that we got to spend some more time playing with light.

Finding someone who is not only willing to come and get in front of my camera but is also inherently comfortable doing so, that’s a rare thing. We had a blast in my studio that night, created some really fun images, and loaded TyLemar up with new head shots for his new adventure living in Philadelphia.

When is the last time that you had your head shots updated? If you have to think about the answer to that, let’s get you booked.

I promise, you’ll have fun.

The First Annual Watermelon Picnic // k.H.a.lifestyle photography // Columbus Lifestyle Photographer

September 21, 2017 By // by kate

One of the biggest reasons we decided to move out to Ohio last year was that we wanted to be closer to our every growing brood of nieces and nephews. I’m about 90% that we’ve crossed in the twenties when counting them all up. Growing up, my aunts played a pivotal role in my life, coming to soccer games, swim meets, track meets, school plays, and one ill-fated attempt at a dance rehearsal. We had sleepovers, and when we were older a whole bunch of long conversations that you don’t realize at the time are shaping the adult that you’ll become, but that’s totally what’s happening. I hated that we were so far away, and that in all reality (at the time) a lot of them didn’t know who I was.

They got the concept of “Uncle Jeff is married to Aunt Kate”, and they could identify that Jeff was in fact Uncle Jeff, but when it came to knowing who I was, nope. No idea. I will never forget the moment that my then youngest niece stood with next to her mom, wrapped around her legs asking who I was. Well, says my sister in law, that’s uncle Jeff, so who’s that? Silence. Then a shy “I don’t know”.

My heart cracked a little bit at that. The chance to be more involved in the lives of this side of the family and get to be a part of thier lives? In a heartbeat.

I called my sister in law that lives here in Columbus and asked her if she’s bring my two nephews over for a watermelon and popsicle idea I had had brewing for some time. She said yes.

We got to have a backyard snack picnic, the littlest brother got to have his first popsicle, and we played. It was amazing.

Headshots for Todd // k.H.a. lifestyle photography // Columbus Lifestyle Photographer

September 20, 2017 By // by kate

I had the opportunity to work with Todd, a friend of my dad’s that he went to elementary school with in Montana, to update his head shots while we were in Cannon Beach.

We had a ball.

We started in Midtown, just outside the houses that we were in, taking our cocktails with us, we moved down to the sand (because let me tell you, I had my feet on the sand as much as I possibly could, soaking up all the time I could get while being at the beach) ending up tucked into the dunes with Haystack Rock rising out of the ocean just off the side.

Getting to work with someone who’s known me my entire life was a pretty cool experience.

Plus, Todd’s smile makes him a really easy subject to photograph.

Playing Dress Up Never Ends // k.H.a lifestyle photography // Columbus Lifestyle Photographer

August 25, 2017 By // by kate

Dress up starts at age five and never really ends. - Kate Spade — Kate Spade is my favorite designer, bar none.

Part of the magic of the Southern Summer Road Trip was getting to to dress up my friends in GORGEOUS gowns from Trousseau Bridal, a bridal shop here in Powell. Megan Williams is the proprietor, she is an amazing person, and entrusted me with the gowns for the trip.

Alicia (the gal on the right) and I had planned to stop and shoot the different gowns more than we ended up doing, but I think that that was a part of the magic of the evening that we spent in Asheville, playing dress up in Torii’s back yard.

Yup.

You read that right.

These were shot in her backyard. It was absolutely magical, and I am IN LOVE with the images that I captured that evening.

Dusk fell as we were shooting, the fire flies started to blink and twinkle and the air was so calm, so soft, and SO incredibly still. I can’t gush enough about these, so rather than blather on indiscriminately, I’ll let the photos do the talking for me.

Check ’em out.