Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Cathell.
Katie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I like to say that photography found me. When I first started out, taking headshots for my friends, I never even considered photography as a career. It wasn’t until a friend I was shooting at the time, handed me money and told me I should start charging. Shortly after that, I began second shoot wedding and absolutely fell in love with storytelling through photography and building a lasting relationship with my clients. After 6 years of shooting weddings, I then discovered a new line of photography that had not really been offered – at least not in Atlanta – and that was photography for the blogging industry. Now, I work primarily with fashion and lifestyle bloggers and instead of just being another vendor or service for them, I am now a resource that helps them streamline their workflow, gain consistency and momentum to help take their business to the next level.
Has it been a smooth road?
Honestly, laying the groundwork and building my portfolio was relatively smooth. Once I really start working full time with one blogger, more and more starting coming to me since I was one of the few if not only photographer who was speaking their language. Blogging is a business and these girls know what they want their photos to look like and how they want their followers to feel when they see the photos. Instead of letting a blogger jump from photographer to photographer, I decided to flip the script and actually deliver something that they want to see that matches their brand. Not only that but delivering in record time as opposed to the traditional 1 week turn around. Both of these things have been something that has really set me apart from others. My advice to people who want to start working with blogger or even jump into wedding photography is to just get out there and start shooting. Reach out to a blogger you really enjoy following – especially if it looks like they only take iPhone photos or don’t have a consistent photographer and offer to shoot a few looks. Call up a friend and ask them to model for you. Start building those relationships and the rest will come naturally.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into KVC Photography story. Tell us more about the business.
The best way to describe my work is that it is an experience. If you ask any of the girls I work with, they will all tell you that it is really the experience and not just the photos that make our working relationship different from any other photographer they have worked with. I believe it’s because I invest myself in them, what they like and don’t like, how they like to be photographed. I cheer them on behind the lens and make them feel fabulous. I help guide them through their poses and give direction and feedback, as opposed to assuming they know what to do. I engage with their social media by following, commenting, making stories abo them and telling my followers to follow them. I help them with questions out social media. I teach them about apps that will make their iPhone photos look better or at least match with my work when we can’t be together. I am their new business resource and not just another service. I want to help make their job easier with consistent content that matches their brand and a quick turnaround. I would say, I am most proud of the relationship that I have with my longest standing client, Brittany of Loverlygrey. She was just named Atlanta’s Top Blogger by Jezebel Magazine. When we first started working together, she had around 25,000 followers today she has almost 130,000 followers. I know that all that growth does not rest on my shoulders, but just to be a small part of helping her business grow makes me proud and confident that this is working and really can help the Atlanta Blogging Industry stay ahead of the curve!
Who do you look up to? How have they inspired you?
Honestly, the girls that I get to work with are total boss babes. They are business women, entrepreneurs, Mother’s, stylists, innovators, and dreamers. They really do inspire more work to get better and for me to work harder to make a difference. If I had to be a photographer that inspires me it would be Rebecca of Beckly and Co. She is a photographer in Dallas that has worked with bloggers for 3 years and is really one of the OG trailblazers for this market of photography. She is funny and down to earth and really wants to be out their helping people just like me and her clients. I look up to her a lot!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kvcphotography.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/kvcphotography
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/kvcphotos
- Other: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cBYPsxwxrOI
Image Credit:
KVC Photography
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