We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katrina Kubicina. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katrina below.
Hi Katrina, thanks for joining us today. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?
My photography business didn’t start as a “family business” but it has truly grown into one! When I started photographing weddings 9 years ago I was a one woman show. My husband shared a passion for photography as well and after seeing the incredible photos he took from a trip we took to Paris I decided to start bringing him along to weddings with me. He borrowed a really old camera from his sister, and tagged along. He did such a great job that I started bringing him to more and more, and very quickly I realized he was adding so much value to our couples and their photos. Pretty soon we became a package deal, a husband and wife team. Not long after that we added on Ryan as our videographer, and what started as a friendship from doing a local workshop together, turned into what felt like a family dynamic too. And same with our DJ, Jake! After working with such an incredible team for so long we truly all feel like family now. We also have a photo booth, and my mom and Mark’s cousin both run it for us! So whether we are blood relatives, or just family from our beautiful bond, everyone on our team is family. We always call ourselves the Love Is All You Need Family! I really hope my husband and I can leave behind a great company to our son someday too. Hopefully years from now he can take over, and continue on our legacy!
Katrina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I put my absolute heart and soul into building Love Is All You Need Photography. For the past 9 years I ate, slept, and dreamed photography. I am so thankful I could turn my passion into a career, and so grateful for all the people I have met along the way.
I think what sets me apart from others is not your typical “I take pretty photos” answer. What really sets me apart is my ability to direct posing and the wedding day itself, all while making it fun and comfortable for people. We have had numerous wedding parties tell us how fun we were, and so many couples have mentioned we made them feel so comfortable in front of the camera, and they loved how I directed everyone because they needed it! What so many people don’t realize is a lot goes into naturally posing people, making them look their best and most flattering, and keeping things running on schedule. I have no problem taking charge and guiding the shoot, while making it fun!
Another aspect of how I shoot and operate that I think makes our photos stand out and set us apart is the fact that we know how to and use multiple different light sources. You won’t always have a perfect fluffy cloud day to diffuse harsh sunlight, or have sun or light at all, and knowing how to use and manipulate lighting to make sure our photos pop and look incredible is a very important part of our style. No matter what environment we shoot in we are ready with equipment that will make it possible for the perfect photo. A big example of this is shooting at sunset. If you want to shoot at sunset and get the rich beautiful saturated colors of the sky, you HAVE to light your couple with off camera lighting. Otherwise, the sky may look killer, but your couple or subjects will be completely dark. Now on the other hand you could expose for your subject and make it so they are nice and evenly exposed, but in doing so your sky will be completely blown out/white. Knowing how to use lighting makes all the difference in the world for photos like that!
I am honored to be a part of these monumental days in people’s lives, and to be able to capture these cherished memories for them is such a blessing. My team prides itself in making sure the entire day is captured beautifully and authentically.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I am grateful to have a reputation in this industry as not only being professional, but being kind! I think what has helped build that reputation is the fact that we always show up early, dressed to the 9’s (people always comment on this! How nice we dress to shoot a wedding) and that we are easy to work with and get along with all the other vendors. We are all there for the same reason, to take care of our couple, and it helps when you work together and have good communication. Plus, we always love giving people photos afterwards!! I think people appreciate that :)
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Truly the best source has been word of mouth! Thankfully a lot of our couple’s contacted us because they were either in weddings we photographed or in the bridal party, or posted on Facebook looking and people referred us! We also get quite a few weddings from wonderful wedding coordinators and some of our favorite venues! We are so thankful for those relationships and always love returning the favor by recommending them too!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.loveisallyouneedphotos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveisallyouneedphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveisallyouneedphotos
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEpCTLu6K1khgckvjOQH87w/videos
Image Credits
Love Is All You Need Photography Love Is All You Need Photo Booth