We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaila Marino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaila, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned a lot from trial and error, YouTube, and any online resource I could find. Later I utilized my network when I had questions (still do). Manual settings on a camera are actually pretty difficult when first learning. Knowing how to balance the settings to ensure you have enough light, not too much grain and not blurry is an art in itself then adding lighting subjects and posing adds another layer to the craft. Knowing what I know now, I would have probably invested in the right equipment in the beginning instead of having to upgrade so quickly. In the beginning of this journey I jumped right in even if I didn’t know how to do something, and used the trial and error for a majority of my growth which was the best way for me to learn. I think the skills that are most essential to photography are a few things… having an eye for details, composition and posing but REALLY it’s all about your people skills (if that’s what you’re shooting) you could be a master of your craft, but if you cannot connect with people, or make them feel comfortable, the images will reflect that discomfort the client feels. At least in my experience. A lot of my obstacles came from me internalizing some sort of competition with other photographers who were far more successful than me, I was in constant comparison with the other artists around me and I tried so hard to unfollow or mute them so I wasn’t copying or following them but honestly if I would have used them as a resource for growth & inspiration instead of trying to reinvent the wheel right away, I would of likely learned a lot more, a lot faster.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into photography a year and a half ago- It really was by tragedy but with every storm sunshine follows. My Mom, Lisa, is my biggest muse. My Mom was never a professional photographer however, anyone and everyone who ever met her can attest she had a camera in hand. My brother and I have just about every second of our lives captured on film to remember the most mundane aspects of our lives but there’s something so profound about having these memories. January of 2022 my Mom passed away, after being her main caregiver for the three months before she passed, I needed a distraction so I bought a camera with her in mind to start capturing the most mundane to the most beautiful moments in other people’s lives that they can have forever. SO many people rely on their iphones to capture their families and loved ones and there’s always that one person left out taking the photos (usually its Mom), I want to solve that problem by being the one making sure Mom is in the photos too, playing with her babies & loving on her husband. The big moments in life like your baby shower, wedding, pregnancy announcement. All of these moments come with such an opportunity to paint a picture & capture a memory for you to reflect on later.

I think what I’m most proud of is the consistency with my shooting, ongoing learning, community engagement & networking. Building something from the ground up is not easy and it’s especially not easy to stay motivated all of the time when you’re creating your own destiny but here I am showing up each day trying to be better than the last.

What I want my potential clients to know about my work and brand is that I really value authenticity and human connection. I strive to always improve my business. I’m constantly thinking of new places to shoot, new poses and prompts & props, ongoing education and upgrading my equipment to ensure I’m putting my best foot forward professionally. I put great emphasis on being my best self by taking care of my mental, physical and spiritual growth so I can show up to sessions with a full cup, ready to pour into them. Outside of the logistics to my business, I want my clients to know I value them as humans and want to make them my friends too.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me is continuously evolving. I am very lucky with word of mouth and that I have clients who love me enough to share the good word of their experience with me, but a majority of my clients come from social media platforms between Instagram and Facebook. I always wonder how much longer it would of taken me to build a photography business before social media.

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

The main goal of my creative journey began with the idea of distracting me from my current state of sorrow , giving me an opportunity to express myself and the opportunity to capture happy moments of others lives. That quickly turned into an unshakable desire to foster a sense of freedom in my life. Freedom over my finances and schedule. What I have always dreamt of being is my own boss but traditional business never really felt like home to me or something that was sustainable for a lifetime. I’m a free spirit and I want to be able to pick my schedule, be creative, and pick who I get to work with, when I take vacations and where I decide to invest my energy & growth. There is no ceiling for how much I can accomplish. The work is really never ending but it’s so much more rewarding to watch something I’ve built from the ground up grow and does not feel like work when you create art

Contact Info:

• Website: Freshwaterimage.com
• Instagram: Freshwaterimagephotography
• Facebook: Freshwaterimage

Image Credits
Freshwaterimagephotography