We were lucky to catch up with Cody Schulte recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cody , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I have two legacies that I hope to build: the first one being raising my three beautiful boys in to strong, genuine, compassionate, and God-fearing men. Our children don’t always listen to us but they are always watching us, so I do my best every single day to show up for them as what an overall loving, good human being should be.

My second legacy to build is my portrait photography business. I strive to connect with families and individuals by documenting and preserving their story and their moments in photographic & videographic form. At the end of the day I think all people really want is to be heard and understood, and I find that photographing them and their loved ones is a meaningful and creative way to do exactly that.

Cody , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Cody, the owner of and face behind Cody Laine Photography! I am a born-and-raised St. Louisan, an artist, military spouse, and mother to 3 boys + 1 black lab. I’ve been in the photography world for 10+ years now and received my BFA in Photography from the University of Missouri Columbia. My Dad is an artist as well so I know I got my creative spark and talent from him.

I primarily photograph families (this often includes maternity, lifestyle newborn, and senior sessions) and am also currently working on becoming a certified birth photographer (my absolute favorite!). I love focusing on the quality of the customer experience from start to finish and providing my clients not only with beautiful photographs but also with quality, tangible artwork that they can display in their homes. Artwork that can be passed down for generations. Throughout the entire process/experience, I guide and help solve problems for my clients such as: wardrobe/outfit inspiration, suggestions for color and pattern schemes, suggestions for hair and makeup, great locations to photograph, what size print or canvas they should order based on a specific wall in their home, etc.

I haven’t announced this yet, so you all will be the first to know– soon I will be offering “Family Films,” which I am super excited about! Basically I will spend several hours with each family in their home, backyard, etc. and document what an average day in their life looks like. With every passing year, all of the silly things our kids say and do naturally starts to slip from our memories and things change immensely, which is why I believe that preserving these memories in video format is so meaningful.

As far as my photographic style, I love capturing the candid, raw, and genuine moments. I always make sure to get traditional poses and images that the grandparents will love, but on the whole I love the unscripted snippets of time more than anything. I love a “just barely over-exposed” photograph with glowy light and cooler undertones.

What I want for people to know about me and my brand is that I am not just here to press a button and then peace out. That’s not my style. I want to connect with you as a person/family so that I can genuinely capture and preserve your most important and cherished memories.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Yes, there are multiple! My main mission at its core is to fulfill the creative part of my soul that has always been there, and to allow myself this outlet as a means for not only creativity but also to connect with others and (hopefully) impact their lives as well.

In addition to that, my dream life and my goals of how I want my life to look are what propels me forward. This includes things like what I can contribute to my family, where I want to travel, where I want to live someday, what I can give back to my community and people in need, etc. I have a vision board in my office that really helps me visualize all of my goals whether that be a new camera/piece of equipment or the next destination on my family’s travel bucket list.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Being a military spouse, I am amongst some of the world’s greatest pivoters, ha! Any other military spouse will tell you that things often change on a dime and adaptability is key. My first big pivot was in 2016, just shortly after I got married, when my husband got orders for us to be stationed at Ramstein AFB in Germany. I had just gotten the ball rolling with my photography business in St. Louis when, BAM, we were going to have to pack up for a 3.5 year long international move. With my passion for traveling, I was ecstatic about this, and what a truly incredible 3.5 years of our lives that was. Even though my business was completely on the backburner, I was over the moon to just focus on photographing and videographing all of our amazing travels.

My second (and biggest) life pivot was becoming a Mom in 2019. There is nothing quite like the adjustment of being responsible for another human and all of the energy and compassion it takes, as well as the lack of time to do anything! Now, 3 babies later, I still don’t have time (in fact, I have much much less time now than I did with just one). I know that if I kept waiting until “I had time” to start my photography business back up, I’d be waiting forever. So here I am, back at doing what I love and building my business again!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.codylainephoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codylainephoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/codylainephoto

Image Credits
Cody Laine Photography