Today we’d like to introduce you to Kara Gurreri.
Kara, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I definitely didn’t grow up thinking, “Someday I’m going to be a photographer!” Honestly, photography kind of found me. I spent about 20 years teaching pre-kindergarten, and when I first started taking photos, it was simply because I loved it. I loved photographing my own kids, noticing the little things, and figuring out how to make an ordinary moment look the way it felt to me.
In 2012, I decided to turn that love into a business, and like most people starting a business, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I learned as I went. I photographed pretty much everything in those early years, made plenty of mistakes, changed my style more times than I can count, and slowly figured out what I actually loved photographing and, just as importantly, what I didn’t.
Over the years, my business naturally became much more focused on families and motherhood—maternity, newborns, families and seniors. I especially fell in love with photographing people in a way that feels like *them*. I don’t want every family standing perfectly still and smiling at me. I want the belly laughs, the little kid hanging off Dad, the toddler who wants absolutely nothing to do with my plans, and all the personality that comes with real families. I think my preschool-teacher years prepared me for that part of this job more than I ever realized!
Now, more than a decade later and after photographing well over 1,000 sessions, I still get excited about what I do. My business has grown and changed right alongside me—and honestly, I think being in my 40s has made me appreciate this work even more. My own kids are growing up, some have left home, and I’m seeing firsthand just how quickly one version of your family turns into the next. It has completely changed the way I look at photographs.
I started out thinking I was building a photography business. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was really building a career around something I’ve always cared about: people, their stories, and all the wonderfully imperfect stuff that makes a family theirs.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think you can run a business for this long without hitting a few potholes—or entire sinkholes—along the way.
One of the biggest struggles for me has been learning how to actually run a business, not just be a photographer. Taking pretty pictures is the fun part. Pricing yourself, marketing, answering emails, keeping up with social media, maintaining a website, learning SEO, paying taxes, keeping track of expenses, and somehow remembering all the other little things you’re supposed to be doing behind the scenes? That part has been a LOT of trial and error.
There have also been seasons where I’ve taken on way too much. When you work for yourself, it’s really easy to fall into the mindset that you have to say yes to everything. Every inquiry, every session, every weekend. For years, I thought being busy meant I was doing well. Eventually I realized that being completely exhausted and glued to my computer at night wasn’t exactly the definition of success I wanted.
And then there’s the comparison game. Photography is incredibly saturated, and social media makes it very easy to look at what everyone else is doing and start questioning yourself. Am I charging too much? Too little? Should my work look like hers? Should I be offering that? Why is everyone suddenly photographing people in a field with a sheet? It took me a long time to stop chasing what everyone else was doing and trust what actually felt right for me.
My business has had to change as my life has changed, too. I’m a mom, my kids are in completely different stages of life now, and what worked for my family ten years ago doesn’t necessarily work anymore. These days, I’m much more protective of my time and much more intentional about the work I take on.
It definitely hasn’t been a perfectly straight road, but I think that’s probably why my business finally feels more like mine now than it ever has.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I photograph people, but I’d say what I really specialize in is families in all their different stages—maternity, newborns, families and seniors. I love the pretty photos, obviously, but the experience people have with me matters just as much as what I hand them at the end.
If you read through my reviews, one of the things people mention over and over is how comfortable they felt with me. I’ve had so many clients say that they felt like they’d known me for years, and honestly, that’s probably one of the biggest compliments I could get. By the end of a session, we’re usually talking and laughing like we’ve been friends forever. I don’t want anyone walking into a session feeling awkward, wondering where to put their hands, or worrying that their kids aren’t behaving perfectly. I’ll tell you what to do when you need direction, but we’re also going to talk, laugh, probably get completely off topic at some point, and just have a good time together.
Being a mom of six and having spent about 20 years teaching preschool definitely helps with that too. There isn’t much a kid can throw at me that I haven’t seen before. Shy kids, wild kids, toddlers who want absolutely nothing to do with me, babies who need to stop and eat, kids who decide halfway through that they are DONE—I’m good with all of it. Parents are usually much harder on themselves about how their kids are acting than I ever am. Some of the best photos happen when we stop worrying about getting everyone to cooperate and just let the kids be who they are.
I think that combination is what sets me apart. Yes, I want people to love their photographs, but I also want them to genuinely enjoy the experience of making them. I want Dad, who absolutely did not want to be there, to admit afterward that it actually wasn’t bad. I want Mom to leave feeling good instead of wondering whether her kids ruined the session. And I want the kids to remember that we had fun.
What I’m probably most proud of is how many people come back. I’ve photographed couples who became parents, newborns who became big kids, and families through completely different stages of their lives. When someone comes back year after year—or sends their friends and family to me—that means a lot. At that point, I’m not just the person they hired to take pictures once. I’ve become *their photographer*. And after doing this since 2012, I think that’s one of the coolest parts of what I do.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think the photography industry is going to look pretty different over the next 5–10 years. AI is obviously going to be a huge part of that, and I think we’re only beginning to see what it’s capable of. I already use technology in my own workflow, and I’m not afraid of it. I think you either learn how to work with the changes happening around you or you get left behind.
At the same time, I think we’re going to see a lot of photographers get weeded out. I don’t mean that in a negative way, because I started the same way so many photographers do. I bought a camera, realized I loved photography and thought, “I could do this!” I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. There’s a big difference between enjoying photography, having a side hustle and building something you’re still doing professionally more than a decade later.
I also think people are becoming much more selective about who they spend their money with. There are SO many photographers now, and beautiful photos are everywhere. Being able to take a pretty picture isn’t enough anymore. People want to know who they’re hiring. They’re reading reviews, looking at your website, following you online and paying attention to how you make people feel.
That’s actually the part of the future of photography that doesn’t worry me. Technology can change cameras, editing and even the way images are made, but it can’t replace the relationship I have with the people who hire me. It can’t know that a child needs a few minutes before they’ll warm up to a stranger, make a nervous mom feel beautiful, or turn a couple who walked in saying, “We are SO awkward in pictures,” into people who are laughing and completely comfortable together ten minutes later.
I think the photographers who are still here 10 years from now will be the ones who give people a reason to choose them, not just their photographs. For me, that’s the part I never want to lose. Photography has changed so much since I started in 2012, and I know it’s going to keep changing, but at the end of the day, I still just really love photographing people. I love getting to know families, watching their kids grow up, and having people come back and trust me with another chapter of their lives. As long as I still get excited about that, I think I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karamichellephotos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karamichellephotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karamichellephotos
Image Credits
Kara Michelle Photography
