Today we’d like to introduce you to Karina Hathaway.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I got into photography by accident – I thought I was going to be an illustrator in college. I didn’t even pick up a camera until I was a senior, and only to photograph my friends as models for a painting class. Then I started shooting models and some boudoir work, and even incorporated them into my communications thesis. That project got picked up by the director of photography at my college (Tufts U.!) and they gave me a job!
I bounced around in the photography world for a while, working for an editorial portrait photographer in Cambridge for a while, and then at a children’s portrait studio for some years. While there, I started second shooting for a girl who had her own photography business, but for some reason, didn’t seem to love her job. But I loved shooting for her – I loved her job! And I thought, I can do this, and I can do this in a way that I love – and I did! That was 10 years ago this year.
It’s been a trip, but I love my job. Its cliché, but I do. I get to meet a crazy wide variety of people, and hear all about their love story – who doesn’t love a love story? And people are always so happy when they’re telling you their love stories. It’s just the greatest.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think I was lucky in starting my business. I think I got into wedding photography when it still wasn’t very cool to be a wedding photographer.
I had a vision – I wanted to photograph funky, creative, out-of-the-box wedding photography, for couples who really appreciated their photos as an art. It was a novel idea at the time and I think it clicked with a lot of couples – my first year trying it out, I shot 4 weddings while I was still at my day job. My second year, I shot 25!
Definitely the hardest part of it for me was the business side – accounting, taxes, all that stuff. I just wanted to take photos! But otherwise, I always have a hard time giving people advice on how to start out – for me, it happened kind of naturally, as weird as that might sound.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My business is built on capturing stories; but capturing them in a way that’s genuine and full of emotion and color. I think a lot of catch phrases get kicked around in the photography world – authentic, candid, and documentary – so much so that people don’t really know what they mean. But that’s what I strive for: authenticity and color.
What I tell people is that I want them to have fun, and I want to have fun with them. I’m pretty nerdy, I talk a lot, I laugh too loudly, and I think that makes people more comfortable when they’re in front of the camera. It puts them at ease. And I think that’s what people know my photography for – for being full of emotion, happiness, laughter, funkiness, sweetness, joy. It’s a lot of color, in all respects.
Weddings has been my primary focus of the past decade, but I’m trying to bring more boudoir back into the mix. It’s how I started out and I love it. I think I can bring that same fun and color in my boudoir – so much of boudoir is so serious. I want to bring the giggles and giddiness back to it.
What were you like growing up?
Haha, what a question! Well, I’ve always been into the arts, in all respects. I sang a cappella in high school and after college for a few years. I’ve acted in plays. I paint, I draw, and I thought I would be an illustrator initially. Art has always been an outlet for me, so to make it my career was an interesting move. To work in photography pushes me back towards drawing in some ways, because I need a creative outlet that isn’t related to work.
I was also very active growing up. I’m a runner and my family traveled a lot, so I move in lots of ways. To this day, my husband and I try to go on a couple trips a year – at least once abroad, and some smaller domestic ones. And I just ran the Boston Marathon! So I’m trying to keep up with running again.
Pricing:
- I do pricing a little differently than most photographers. Most wedding days I cover from the last hour of getting ready through 2 hours of the reception. My couples tend to spend between $3800 and $6200 on their collections with me.
- Boudoir shoots (and most of my other portraits) start at $450 for an hour of photography and includes 10 images of their choice from an online gallery.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ohkarina.com
- Email: photo@ohkarina.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/ohkarinaphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ohkarinaphoto/
- Other: personal instagram: http://instagram.com/karinahath
Image Credit:
Portrait of me by Ally Schmalling
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