Greenville Photographer | Spartanburg Photographer | Q&A

Well today I am writing my first official Q&A with Kendra.  I have no particular order in which I’ll answer all the questions that I have, I guess it just depends on which one I’m in the mood to respond to when the time comes.  So today I’m answering:  What kind of photographer are you?

As a photographer I know that this question can be answered in so many different ways, but I will answer it as neatly & tiddy as possible 🙂 (if that’s even possible).  I am a natural light wedding AND lifestyle photographer and I combine traditional portraiture with photojournalism to create images that tell a story.  Yep, that’s a mouthful but I really can’t make who I am as a photographer any smaller than that… and nor do I want to make it any smaller or simpler than that :).

I LOVE natural light, I love photographing in natural light… it’s dreamy, airy, and just “me” and who I am as a photographer.  If you do a session with me you will never see me pull out my flash (I say never, and as of right this second I mean never… I will say though that I am getting ready to take a class this year in off camera lighting so there may be times I change this up, but at this moment I can say never 🙂 and more than likely off camera flash will just be added to weddings :)!!!!), I just don’t shoot portraits with flash, some photographers do and they do an amazing job, like crazy awesome amazing job… I’ve just found for me, I love shooting with whatever natural light is available.  The images I achieve with natural light are images I love so much and are images that I would want displayed all over my house :)!!!!  The one time you’ll see me pull my flash out is at a wedding and usually only during portraits in a church after the ceremony and the church has no natural light coming in AND/OR at a reception after the sun goes down or there’s just no natural light available.  So yes, I know how to use flash and do use flash but for the significant portion of my photography it’s natural light that I use to light my clients.  So to put it short and sweet.. I am a natural light photographer.

I say I am a wedding AND lifestyle photographer because I don’t just photograph weddings… I photograph seniors, families, kids, etc (however, I do not photograph pets :).. sure you can bring your pets along with you to a session but I’m not promising you I will ever get them to look right at me, and please don’t expect me to hold onto them and take your photos 🙂 :)).  At some point I’ll touch on why I have chosen not to specialize, but the super simple reason is because I LOVE capturing LOVE & LIFE at all the different stages.  From the “I do’s”, to the expecting of a baby, to the newborn, to the kiddos, to the family, to the senior photo and then back to the “i do’s”… I LOVE every single bit of it and I love the opportunity to become friends with my clients and watch their families grow, and document that growth and that love.

Like I said a few paragraphs ago I combine traditional portraiture with photojournalism for both weddings and sessions.  Sure I’m going to give you some direction, but when you hire me, you are hiring me to photograph memories (and in my opinion that’s lots of fun & love).  I love capturing a family interacting with one another, kids just being kids, a bride when she looks in the mirror and realizes “this is really happening today”… I am all about capturing the essence behind whomever it is I am photographing in that moment of time!!  I love natural, real images, & I truly want to capture you and your family (you and your groom, your senior, etc..)  being “y’all”… whether that be smiles, laughs, cries, no smiles, not everyone looking at the camera, etc…  I really am just a huge fan of capturing someone as they are in that exact moment of time (I know I just repeated myself, but I feel it was worth repeating 🙂 ).  With that being said I’m a mom, so I know you moms out there want “the perfect photo”… I will always do my absolute best to get everyone looking and smiling at me (even to the point of looking like a fool), but at the end of the day I’m going to capture you being you and from my own experience (my little girl decided from 3 months old and on (which is now 2.5 years old) that if it’s family photo time she will not smile 🙂 ) those are still “the perfect photos”!!!  So yep I do a little bit of traditional portraiture & photojournalism when I get behind my camera.  For me, the mix of the two helps document whatever it is I am documenting and it allows me to capture both timeless, classic photos, as well as emotions and stories as they unfold.

So there you have it in a nutshell of the kind of photographer I am!!!

If you have any questions you want answered please feel free to ask them in the comments or email me at:  kendramartinphotography@gmail.com to see other Q&A with Kendra blog posts click here!!!

Kendra Martin Photography is a Greenville Photographer & Spartanburg Photographer specializing in Wedding, Senior, Lifestyle, Newborn, Family, Maternity, and Child photography!!