We were lucky to catch up with Kayla Borbolla recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I find that the most meaningful projects for me aren’t the big moments, but the little ones. I think the most meaningful of those for me is an ongoing one for a friend of mine.

When I first started photography she was one of the first ones to ask me to take photos for her. It started out as maternity photos. Once her daughter was born she hired me to take newborn photos, which turned into the first Halloween and first Christmas etc. and now we do something fun for her birthday every year. It’s something her daughter really enjoys. She helps us come up with the concepts for the shoots. This year she wants the theme to be cupcakes. I have till mid January to figure that one out! I love the idea that later in her life she’ll have full albums to document her growing up. It’s meaningful to me because I feel like any moment of joy or transition we have deserves to be celebrated and commemorated for our future selves and for our families.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I lost my Grandfather at 13 and I was so grateful that there were so many photos of him to tell his story. I got my first pocket camera that same year. I got into it as a business about a year and a half after getting a DSLR in 2017, when I started taking photos of people instead of things. I really enjoyed catching raw moments and real emotions for people. What I offer now are 30 min – 1 hour blocks of time for anything from celebrating finishing a sweater you made, to documenting the last little bit of time you have with your fur baby. I’m really interested in those sessions that capture a moment that may not make you happy when you’re in it, but that you’ll be so grateful to have later. I also offer longer times for weddings and elopements.

I hear a lot of feedback from my clients that I make them really comfortable in front of the camera, even if that isn’t somewhere they’ve ever been, and I’m really proud of that. I want to be a safe space for people to express themselves and see themselves the way they want to be seen. What I’d really like people to know is that this process is collaborative for me, and I’m here to work with you on what you want to express or what you want to capture.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me has genuinely been word of mouth. The clients I have are amazing and are always spreading the word about my business.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me the most rewarding thing about being an artist is working with other talented creatives to make ideas or concepts become a reality. Seeing something in an image that you kept in your head for a long time is really gratifying.

For example, I’d had this idea to do a Haunting of Hill House inspired shoot for about 3 years. I even tried to set it up once before this year but everything kind of fell through. I finally found the perfect spot to shoot it this year and I was able to get some amazing creatives to work on it with me. Even as I was shooting it I was so geeked looking forward to editing the photos. The location, models, and makeup artist were everything I imagined and so much more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kaylaborbollaphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylaborbolla/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaylaborbollaphotography

Image Credits
Photo 3: Modeled and makeup by Raquel Cohen Photo 6: Modeled by Alana Whitehead & Zack Brandenburg Makeup by Fe Leann Photo 7: Modeled by Zack Brandenburg, Ethan Lambrix and Fe Leann Makeup by Fe Leann