We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Codee Kamrowski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Codee below.

Codee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I started Codee Rose Photography in 2020. (Terrible year to start a new business, but I made it!) I spent 5 years in the military and got out in the fall of 2019.
Leading up to me getting out of the military, I had interest in photography. More so, street photography. I was headed out for a long underway (Navy term for being out on the ocean for a period of time) when my husband bought me my first mirrorless camera in 2018. With that I started taking pictures of my pets, my husband and I and eventually got my first client from a Facebook page. I didn’t charge for the session with my first client but she gave me $50 as a thank you and I thought I was in the big leagues. I never in a million years thought I would be a luxury wedding photographer within the next 5-10 years. Once my enlistment ended, I stayed home with my son for a couple months and that was when I realized I needed an outlet to keep my mind busy. I was already taking pictures of my friends and family so I started advertising in the area that we currently were living.
I LOVED how things started. My friends started telling their friends about my photography skills who told their friends and the word just kept spreading. When I started out, I thought I wanted to specialize in newborn photos until I second shot for a local photographer at a wedding and that’s when I realized I wanted to specialize in weddings. It has been 4 years since I made the decision to stick with weddings and I haven’t looked back since. I get to meet amazing couples and help them remember their dream wedding. I get to provide them with one of the only things that they will get to keep from their wedding day aside from their memories.
Not only do I love that I get to build this connection with my clients, I get to work around my familys schedule. I have two children and being a wedding photographer gives me the ability to help provide for my family but also allows me to be a full time mother as well.

Codee, 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 mentioned how I started my business in the previous question but would love to touch on weddings specifically.
All too often I see wedding photographers who know how to use a camera but are not continuing their education in the craft. I personally think there is ALWAYS someone new you can learn. I want to provide my clients with high quality products AND customer service. A lot of people think that if you have a nice camera, you can take nice pictures. That is so far from the truth, you have to know how to use the camera, how to use it in different situations, how to process your images after they are taken and how to deliver them. I have worked with multiple photography coaches and programs to continue to grow my knowledge on the technical side of a photography business as well as the non technical side.
The relationship with my client is so important to me as I am spending one of the most important days of their life with them, ALL DAY. They need to trust me to do my job correctly and up to their expectations. When I work with a client, I check in with them often. I send them hand written notes and hellos to build a connection with them. I want us to be friends by the time their wedding day rolls around so that they do not feel stressed about me following them around all day. One thing I like to do when getting to know my clients is to take notes of little things that bring them joy, like restaurants, or snacks, candles, etc. then after their wedding day, I send them a gift box that includes these things as a little “thank you”.
I take a lot of pride in my customer service when It comes to my business because I know how it is to hire someone for a job and not be treated kindly or to just feel so disconnected. And a wedding day is not just any ordinary day, this is such an intimate occasion. My bride and grooms deserve to have a photographer who genuinely on their side, rooting for them and their marriage, not just someone there to collect a paycheck.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A major milestone in my business was my experience shooting my first wedding. A local photographer had hired me to associate shoot her a wedding for her. It was my first one EVER and I did not feel confident in my camera gear or ability to opporate a wedding from the photographers point of view. And I had too dher that but she said I would be fine because it was “just a back yard wedding”. Which it was a back yard wedding, but even those are so important!
Anyway… I showed up to the wedding and winged it. It was going good until it wasn’t. My second hand Sony camera shutter BROKE about half way through the day. Every so often I would have to take my lens off and get the shutter unstuck. It was a nightmare and so embarrassing. But we made it through the day. I turned the images over to the main photographer and she was going to handle the editing.
Weeks later, I get a text from the bride asking if she knew an update on their images because they were nearing the date they were promised to be delivered by. I forwarded the message to the photographer and she said she would take care of it.
MONTHS later I got another message from the bride asking for another update because it had now been nearly 4 months since the wedding and they had no images. After I forwarded that to the main photographer, she ended up saying she didn’t have the time to handle it and asked if I could edit the images and deliver them. I felt terrible for the couple so of course I did edit a gallery and send it to them ASAP. The bride was so in love with the images but so upset with the original photographer for not doing any of the things she promised.

This whole experience taught me I did NOT want to do in my business. This is now why I strive to have a good relationship with my couples so they can trust me to take care of them and actually deliver the things I promise.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

A particular goal that drives my photography gear is to preserve memories of such an important time for my couples. I know every photographer says that, but this speaks to me on such a personal level. Alzheimer’s runs deep in my family. From a very young age, I have been terrified to lose my own memory, to forget those so close to me. I have always been taking pictures whether it’s from an old Kodak disposable camera or a phone, and now my professional gear.
Once I started brainstorming what I could do with photography, it felt so fitting to help provide a service to others in terms of capturing the in-between moments. It is the biggest compliment seeing when someone shares or prints photos that I have taken for them. I have had many times where I wills ee that one of my clients had a friend or a family member pass and the photo they are using to remember their loved one, is so often one I have taken at a wedding or from a session I’ve done with them. That right there gives me such an accomplishing feeling. Like I have given them something so valuable of someone they love, that will last forever. (Also a reason why I keep every raw image I take and will keep them forever!)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://codeerosephotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codeerosephotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CodeeRosePhotography/

Image Credits

All taken and edited by me, Codee Rose Photography.