Feature-A-Photographer
One of the best things that we can do no matter what line of work we are in is look to other people and learn from them and feature the talent from which we learn. That is the purpose of this post - and a purpose I hope to continue.
In this post, I feature some of the work of Kara Abbey as well as interview her. Enjoy the content below!
1. Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? Family life?
Hi! My name is Kara Abbey – I’m originally from Pittsburgh, PA but I currently live in Sayre, PA – it’s a tiny itty bitty little town that sits about 2 miles from the New York State border. I live here with my husband [we’ve been married 4 years in April! WOW does time fly!] and our pup – a black lab. No kids yet – maybe sometime in the near future! I call myself a dual-area photographer because my family still lives right outside of Pittsburgh, and making the 5 hour trek home for weekends has become quite the normal occurrence! My husband and I love the great outdoors – we love to hike & bike & travel & theme parks – we LOVE theme parks!
2. How did you get started in photography?
That’s a great question! It isn’t like I woke up one day and someone put a camera in my hand and away I went – photography has always been a major part of my life. Growing up, I was told stories about my Great-Grandfather who owned a studio in the same house that we lived in [and my parents still live in to this day]. He passed his love of still images on to his daughter, my Grandmother, who always has a camera in her hands. So, having someone take my picture was completely normal & naturally it would lead to me wanting to hold the camera myself. My Grandmother bought me my first “real” camera when I was 14 – it was an Olympus that had the option of shooting in manual. A whole new world was opened up to me & I have never looked back! I love that I can carry on my family legacy of photography – even though it is completely different from when my Great-Grandfather started his business back in the day.
3. What is it that you love about working with your clients/capturing their lives?
I shoot a little bit of everything [and I’m always up for a new & fun challenge!] but my favorite thing to capture is a bride & groom on their wedding day. It is a massive responsibility – and one that is absolutely not for everyone! But I absolutely love it – the emotional high, the excitement, the pure joy, the overflowing love, and of course the party at the end of the night! I love to be able to document such a hugely important moment in my client’s lives & being able to give them images to cherish for generations.
4. What do you shoot with (equipment wise – camera, favorite lenses, lighting (or natural light), etc)?
I’m a Canon girl! Why? When I started out with an entry level Olympus? And when in college I shot with Nikon? And my internship shot with Nikon? Because I like to make things challenging of course! When I made the decision to purchase my first DSLR, I’d love to say I did a ton of research & made the best choice based on what I found, but I didn’t. I’ll be honest: I chose Canon because the 3 big photographer’s that I was following & keeping up with [Kristen Leigh, [b]ecker, & Jessica Claire] all shot with Canon. And thus I made my decision. Today, I shoot with a 5D Mark II. The lens that is on my camera the most is my 35mm, but the 70-200mm lens is my absolute favorite! I am a natural light photographer – mostly because I don’t have the patience for big studio lights & there’s just something so magical about the sunshine & it’s glow.
5. What are your goals or aspirations within your photography work?
About 18 months ago, I had a revelation: if I was laying on my death bed and thinking back over my life, what would I want to see? Currently, I work full-time for a bank & it’s a great job – benefits, vacation time, federal holidays – but if that is all I do with the rest of my life, I’m afraid I would be incredibly disappointed. When they say: “do what makes you happy” – photography is what makes me happy. That is what I want to do for the rest of my life & that is my goal: to continue working and building my business into a career that I can look back on with satisfaction.
I hope you enjoyed my interview and feature of Kara's work!
Until next time, go check out some recent blog posts.
Also be sure to check out more of Kara's work through the following links:
Website: http://www.karaabbey.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karabbeyphotos
Google+: https://plus.google.com//+KaraAbbeyPhotographySayre/