Peeling Behind Kaitie Bryant Photography

Meet Kaitie.

I promise you -- you will love reading Kaitie's thoughts.

Kaitie Bryant Photography's talents are spread all throughout our home. We're thankful to have shared a few dance floors with Kaitie when DJ's drop hits like Yeah! and Teach Me How to Dougie! She is incredibly talented, inspiring and loves others well.

Please go admire her beautiful photography talent or pick up one of her prints at your local West Elms.

This is a fun one - enjoy!

1. What do you love most about what you do?

I love the variety of people and places I get to experience through photography.  

Getting to work with people from all different backgrounds makes my job really interesting, and I especially love seeing the relationships people have with family and friends. Photographing weddings is such an honor because you see the very best in people when they are in joyful moments.

2. When other people describe Kaitie Bryant Photography what comments would make you feel most flattered? How do you fight to portray those in your brand?

Someone once commented that looking at my photos made them feel like they got a piece of some really great experience someone else was having. Another comment that meant so much was from someone who felt uncomfortable and unattractive in photos but the photos I took of her made her feel beautiful. 
 

I really want both lively experiences and beauty to characterize my photography so that people can appreciate life and treasure it more through photographs. 

In light of that, I have in mind a few keywords as I shoot to make sure I am accomplishing that: beauty, simplicity, and emotion. 

I fight to get images that connect with at least one of those branding words. 

3. Your social presence is so authentic, creative, and does an excellent job at holding a balance of personal and professional. What are your criteria for “Do I post this?”

I have a mixture of photos I rotate for posts on Instagram that includes my favorites: people portraits, architectural photos, wedding photos, and personal creative projects. I photograph at least 20 photos of my kiddos and daily life on my iPhone everyday but use them to make albums for the end of the year and not so much for Instagram. 

I will include personal photos of my family if they tie into the overall feel of the feed (highlighting simplicity, emotion, or beauty) but I honestly don’t want to force my kids to fit into some type of brand when they really just want to wear crazy sports jerseys and stick out their tongues for most photos. 

I also have a color scheme I’m going for and that helps me determine if it fits into the overall feel of the feed.  I curate photos and plan the layout through Planoly, an online visual planner for Instagram. 

And then sometimes I get tired of it all and decide to break my own rules for a few weeks!

4. You always seem to be a trend ahead. How do you stay inspired and continue to grow?

That’s a huge compliment! I don’t know if it’s a trend ahead or just what fascinates me lately. 
 

I’m a big fan of people finding what they like and sticking to it, whether it’s in vogue or not. It seems like every few years things I like become popular again and all of the sudden I feel like I was ahead of the curve, but then it goes out of style and I’m still holding on to it for the next cycle. 
 

This might be a strange process but I try to reduce what I like to concepts, and then explore those concepts in various forms. 

For example, I really love lines and shapes. Before I even considered myself creative, I was drawn to simple shapes. I bought some Mark Rothko posters for my college dorm and had no clue about the art world except I loved his color block artwork.  I fell in love with Lotta Jansdotter and her Scandinavian shape and pattern style so I explored more of that.
 

When I began photography, I wanted to find ways to incorporate my love for the simplicity and shapes and lines into images. This continues to spill over into other areas of life, like my home and love for Mid-Century Modern design. My love for shapes and lines and simplicity easily led me to Mid-Century Modern design, which is characterized by clean lines, uncluttered and minimal geometric forms. Clearly, I love exploring this in every area of life!
 

So, I’m a big fan of finding something you like, forcing yourself to ask why you like it, and then exploring that in all other possible areas of life.

5. If you could only do one thing to market your business moving forward, what would you invest your time into?

I would invest time into clarifying my distinct branding message that I’m hoping to communicate through my website. I read recently that you have about 20 seconds (if that) once people are on your homepage to convince them to stick around and check out your products/services. 
 

If your message about what you do and what problem it solves aren’t immediately accessible and clear, you’ve lost your viewer. 
 

I have struggled so much with this because I love variety and pursuing lots of different creative outlets, but I know that for marketing and growth purposes I need to make my website as clear and uncluttered as possible.  That being said, I REALLY believe in Donald Miller’s StoryBrand framework and want to attend his live workshop in Nashville. 

6. What advice would you give yourself 5 years ago?

Figure out what really matters, and then work your business and schedule around those priorities instead of trying to say 'yes' to everything others ask of you. 

I would also pay more attention to my resentment and bitterness instead of just carrying it around like a necessary weight in my life. 

I have found that my bitterness is usually telling me when some part of my business is not working for me. When I ignore it, I’m draining energy from other parts of the business that could be really be thriving if I wasn’t committing myself to work that isn’t a good fit.

7. Who, or what, has recently inspired you and your work?

Hmmmm… I would have to say Seth Godin has continued to be the strongest voice inspiring my work. He is an amazing mind. I can read and re-read his books finding new and fresh inspiration each time. 

What is so refreshing about Seth Godin is that he does not feel the need to keep up with the latest trends but is focused mainly on being exceptional in whatever he pursues.  My favorite books by Godin are Purple Cow, Linch Pin, and What To Do When It’s Your Turn. 

I love the idea of finding fresh ways to approach photography. 

The creative challenge it is to make your work exceptional in some aspect, whether it’s communication, what you deliver to your clients, the way you have composed your shots, or just simply thinking through your work from a different angle.

What is the one thing you're going to apply from Kaitie's interview?

Please take 20 seconds to thank Kaitie by sending her a message on her Instagram page.