Kafka's Country Field Family Session

6 years ago on October 2nd, my Aunt asked me to do portraits of her 4 children, Jasmine, Arianna, Isabella and Christopher. I agreed without hesitation. I had just graduated from college and was beginning grad school and photography was still just my hobby. Using my cousins as my subjects just for fun was a pretty frequent occurrence. We met at the beach and I captured some great shots of the kids playing, laughing and a few more formal poses. After they were posted on facebook, I had a handful of people reach out asking if I could do portraits for them.

I made a facebook page, added my signature in a watermark to put on my photos and grew really excited at the possibility of having a photography business. And then I deleted the page.

And then, I came up with every single reason why I couldn’t or shouldn’t. Some of them below:

I’m really not THAT good.

These were just for fun.

I would be too nervous.

These excuses kill me to admit. 6 years later, I did portraits for my Aunt once again and have to try not to dwell on the fact that I could have easily begun building my business a long time ago. But with time comes age, and with age comes wisdom. I have to admit, I like getting older. No, I actually love it. I’m a few days away from being 30 and 30 year old Katie is way more confident. 30 year old Katie has learned to say yes to things that make her happy and no to the things that don’t. 30 year old Katie has nurtured important relationships, resulting in deep friendships and a new marriage filled with so much love that I’m incredibly proud of and grateful for. 30 year old Katie has learned to let things go a lot easier than she used to and focus on the things that are within her control.

So let’s not dwell in the past by recounting the insecurities that accompanied my early 20’s or by referring to myself in the 3rd person (sorry, that was kinda weird). Let’s look at my cousins, because they’re pretty damn cute and I love them so much.