Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kara Laferty. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kara , thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

This is such an interesting question because I feel like I personally go against the norm a lot based on what is expected of me in general. I don’t know that this is necessarily different from the photography industry standard, but I do know that I go against the expectations and dreams that many other photographers have and that’s that I’ve never wanted to do photography full time. To expound on that, my background is as a Social Worker- I have my Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan and for the past eleven years, I have been in the mental health field serving in a multitude of roles to assist those that are severely and persistently mentally ill and those with intellectual or developmental disabilities. These days, I operate as the Chief Quality and Compliance Officer for a Community Mental Health agency in the mid-Michigan region which allows my analytical side of my brain to ultimately assist the consumers we serve by helping support our front line staff in their quality of service delivery. All of that is to say, this juxtaposition between allowing me to exercise my analytical and the data side of my brain on a daily basis and balancing it with my creative passion I have for photography has been the perfect combination of skills that keeps me happy and satisfied with my life.

The majority of photographers I know dream of having photography be their full time profession, and while this may be the best option for them that will allow them the greatest degree of life satisfaction, I have found that keeping my passion alive for photography has been truly supported by being able to use my analytical skills that are just so different. Photography will forever by my passion and creative outlet and have my heart, whereas my data and analytical job uses my brain power to the absolute fullest.

I have had many other photographers and photography clients look at me like I’ve lost it when I tell them that I have multiple jobs and I have no desire to quit one or the other to focus on one full time, but when I explain it more to them, they start to understand the pull of being able to have work options that are just so different and can offer that unique balance. I saw a video recently on TikTok where an individual was describing what a, “multi-passionate person” is. I felt extremely seen and identified with this term intimately as I’m someone who enjoys doing different and unrelated things, but people might criticize you for never focusing on one. This really helped me to realize that what I enjoy and what helps me feel a sense of accomplishment is juggling a multitude of hats while in the end, providing something amazing to my clients no matter what role I’m in!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

To start with, my name is Kara and I own Melian Photography, a photography business that seeks to capture the raw beauty of natural connections amongst people. All my life I have had a camera in my hand: from a young age, I was the one taking the pictures at family events, gatherings, and just capturing every day life events at home through photography. My real push into taking my passion for photography and developing it into a business came when I “borrowed” (aka stole) my husband’s camera. I used his DLSR camera (which was light years ahead of the old point and click Canon camera I used to use as a kid!) and started really dedicating time to practicing photography, going through trainings, and developing my creative eye and editing style. Through second shooting opportunities with other photographers at weddings in my first year of business in 2017, I quickly found that wedding photography was where my heart was and I have grown this part of my business since then. Don’t worry about my husband though, I eventually gave him back his camera and upgraded my equipment once my business took off!

A fun fact, my company was named Melian Photography as Melian stands for “Dear Gift” in Elvish. While I’m just a bit nerdy…okay maybe a lot nerdy…my goal is to provide individuals with beautiful images that capture their true story and can be a gift for many years to come. That means the real moments: the moments that take your breath away, the ones that you’ll print to hang on your walls and share with your family and friends, the ones that represent the real you and your special and unique life story.

I believe in getting to know each and every client and couple I work with and I strive to become friends with them throughout my process of capturing and curating images for them. In terms of my approach, I tend to lean towards a more documentary approach with a twist to capturing more editorial dramatic images that you might be used to seeing in fashion magazines. My main focus is on wedding photography, however, I also take on family sessions and lifestyle newborn sessions for those interested in my editing and creative approach.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m going to flip this a bit, because this is a lesson I’ve had to learn rather than unlearn: social media has taught us to compare ourselves to others and the bottom line is that this is just such a toxic thing to do. Honestly, I think this will resonate for everyone, not just those in a creative field.

Social media is a construct which promotes us comparing ourselves to others to generally sell a product, make you want to strive to be something or someone else, and it’s used to shape how we view ourselves and others. In the creative industry, it can be so easy to start to compare yourself to what you believe is a “successful” individual or photographer because they have a ton of followers or they’re constantly posting stories that have huge amounts of engagement from others. What people don’t see is on the backend, even that social media influencer is comparing themselves to someone else and wishing something was better that they did. It’s so important to me that people just truly represent themselves and ultimately love what they do. If social media doesn’t bring you joy; maybe it’s time to step back and take a break from it or maybe it’s even time to find a social media manager. Whatever it is that ultimately leads you down the path of greater self-happiness and self-awareness of what you’re truly trying to create or who you’re trying to be as a person, just do that.

Photography is art, and as such, every single person has the right to interpret your photography differently. What truly matters to me, and what should matter to others, is that you’re creating what you love and what you want to create: it’s not about the number of followers you have or the crème de la crème shots you’re posting because those are your best; I now look for those real moments that photographers capture when I’m looking through social media and those are the ones that I’m drawn to. The moments in between where there’s a tear rolling down the cheek of a mom who saw her daughter for the first time in her dress, or the moment where a groom sees his bride for the first time and is so happy his grin stretches for a mile; that’s what I strive to now post – the real moments. Even though they might only reach 10% of my followers and get 10 likes, those are 10 individuals who got to see my work and experience it who might not have before and who may be touched by one of my images.

Bottom line: please stop comparing yourself to others and just create what you want to create. When you’re able to take that step back, it is so incredibly freeing that you just get to push your own creativity that much further!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

The largest struggle that I think non-creatives have in understanding photography in general is that it is an art form. For many photographers, this is our livelihood and our profession whether that be full or part time. This means that, when you ask for a free session or for a photographer to come and “just take a few shots” at an event, you’re ultimately undercutting their business and also their value as a business owner. I find that photographers in general have a really hard time saying no and putting up boundaries to friends and family who reach out with inquiries like this, but I’ve found that once you can start maintaining this boundary and you explain what goes into photography (I promise it’s more than just clicking a camera shutter!), people start to understand the unique art form that photography is and what it means to be a creative in this industry. The process of editing itself for a wedding can take upwards of 50 hours after an event (some photographers take even longer than this), and this, along with the different perspectives of capturing images during an event, are where photography as an art form come in to play.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.melianphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/melian.photo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melianphotography

Image Credits
Black and White Fashion Image: Model: Jenni Jones, HMUA: Gals and Ghouls Senior Image in Abandoned School: Tori Todd