We recently connected with Kayla Maltese and have shared our conversation below.
Kayla, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I was introduced to film photography in high school (San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts) and fell in love! So naturally I didn’t pick a camera again until my son was born six years later and I had forgotten everything I learned. I was motivated to document his life as we were so far away from family and turned first to good ol’ Google. I started with the free resources, mostly blog posts and websites geared toward teaching parents how to photograph their young kids. Then I moved on to online communities for peer support (more reading than actually participating) and started paying for low cost educational guides. After more than a year of piecing things together on my own I finally started investing in classes and workshops and found an amazing mentor.
There was and still is a lot of trial and error. There are things I have learned because I messed up. There things I have learned from my peers because they messed up in different ways. There was even more time spent on learning and practicing. I spent years picking my camera up every single day, partly to continue documenting my babies as they grew, partly to continue to learn and put in the work.
Looking back I wish I had paid for classes or a mentorship earlier in my journey. It would have saved so much frustration and time. I also wish I had been open to learning from teachers and participating in my photography community sooner. Blog posts and photography guides were safe because they couldn’t tell me I was wrong or my work sucked. I was so afraid of critique that I held myself back for years. Good feedback can be uncomfortable, but it is the one thing that makes me better every time I ask for it.
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’m a photographer, videographer, board certified lactation consultant, San Diego native, military spouse, mother to three, and recovering introvert.
I specialize in a documentary style of birth, newborn and family photography and videography. I focus on telling the stories of my clients’ everyday lives, the ones normally relegated to cell phone cameras. There’s no poking or prodding or setting up scenes or forced smiles. I let families behave as they normally do (on their good days) in places that mean something to them (often their homes) and document so they’re able to experience the good old days over and over again.
When my oldest son was born almost 13 years ago, my husband and I were living in Tacoma, Wa, near none of our families. Smart phones and social media weren’t quite what they are today so I picked up a camera in an effort to keep everyone connected. I started documenting my son’s daily life. When he was a year and a half old I started a 365 project, one photo a day for a year. During that year I found my style and fell in love with documentary photography. My husband was (and still is) active duty Air Force and I decided to start my own photography business. Cliché? Definitely, but it was a job that I could take with me whenever and wherever we moved and it has served me well. Two more kids and a couple of international moves later, I’m finally back in San Diego and working on setting permanent roots for the first time.
In over a decade of business ownership, I’ve successfully to picked up and moved my business three times to three wildly different places. I’ve had videos and photos licensed by national brands, images published in magazines, and articles written about my personal photography projects. I think though, I’m most proud of all the times I’ve had clients tell me that they hate family photos, they’re too awkward, they hate having their picture taken, but felt drawn to my work and decided to try my approach. Being able to take those families and show them how amazing they are, just as they are, is the most gratifying part of my job.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The majority of our lives is just daily life and there is so much worth remembering within that. It feels a little unfair that I’m able to look back through thousands upon thousands of photos from over a decade of parenting and relive moments that I would have certainly forgotten. The really cool places we’ve seen, the homes we’ve lived in, and the stupid things my kids have done. I want my clients to have that too. I want them to have those cell phone moments done beautifully. I want them to look back at their photos from me and remember the toddler sass, the snack obsessions, arts and crafts devolving into chaos, and those weird family quirks that everyone has but no one talks about.
I’m on a mission to reach as many people as I can who hate getting their picture taken to show them that it doesn’t have to hurt. Family photos don’t have to suck! You don’t have to get dressed up, force a smile, and wonder what to do with your hands in order to have photos of this time in your life with the people you love. Instead you can live your lives in front of my camera for a few hours and remember best parts of your favorite people, places, and things forever.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think many people don’t understand the importance of specialization. Just because I know how to use a camera, doesn’t mean I will photograph everything that comes my way. I have turned down plenty of jobs over the years because I have no experience in certain types of photography or just don’t enjoy that type of work.
Specializing in documentary style family, newborn, and birth photography means that I’m really good at what I do. Instead of spending time learning how to do posed newborn photography, sports photography, boudoir photography, and more, I spent my time learning how to tell compelling stories through my work and how to navigate the unique technical challenges that come with shooting this genre. I don’t want to be a decent photographer for everyone, I want to be the perfect photographer for those who want a documentary style session.
Additionally, turning any creative passion into a business runs the risk of ruining said passion. Doing work that isn’t enjoyable ruins it even faster. I never want to dread picking up my camera so I am selective about the jobs I take on. The more passion I have, the more I will want to continue to learn, experiment, and grow. While it can be scary at times to say no, I think it’s one of the main reasons why I still absolutely love what I do after so many years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kaylamaltesephotography.com/
- Instagram: @kaylamaltesephotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaylaMaltesePhotography/
- Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user58476701
Image Credits
Kayla Maltese Photography