Kayla Garrett Photography

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Oh you fancy

After a crazy missed week last week with some unexpected sickness in the family, I am back to the midweek blog break and this week I’m here to talk about why you should 100% dress up for your pictures! Let’s face it, pictures are an investment, and definitely worth it, but also an investment nonetheless. So, if you’re going to spend money to get your pictures professionally taken, you might as well look your best! Dressing up in something that you feel good in will seriously change the experience you have taking pictures, as well as how much you like the pictures in the end. You can have the very best photographer in the world, but if you aren’t confident in what you’re wearing, even they may have a hard time helping your light shine through in photographs. Here are some outfit variations that have helped my clients look their very best and can also help you to enhance the overall quality of your professional pictures! Use the arrows to slide and see a more casual option!

Meg and Luke did an excellent job of choosing a more formal attire which included a dress for Megan and slacks and a button up for Luke, and then transitioning into a more casual fall outfit of jeans and sweaters! Dressing up doesn’t mean formal attire for every picture, it just means picking up the sweater/button up and putting down your old white t-shirt and joggers!

Erica and Tyler chose cohesive outfits that went together but weren’t too matchy. When everyone wears the exact same color you run the risk of creating large people blobs. Diversity is good when choosing outfits for multiple people. Pick a color that is your main color and then incorporate that into every outfit with other colors that coordinate!

Solids are typically easier to photograph and also don’t take away from the subject, your beautiful face! If you’d like to use a pattern such as florals or plaid, pick one person to wear the pattern and coordinate everyone else’s solid colors around it!

Overall, choosing outfits that can coordinate and look good in pictures can be overwhelming and stressful, but that’s what you have your photographer for! Your photographer (hopefully that’s me!) should be able to assist you in making decisions about what to wear to help you look and feel your best during pictures!

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Mirrorless, mirrorless, on the wall…

This is the first of probably many reviews, or at least mentions, about my new camera because I am casually obsessed with it! While elite photographers are upgrading to the Canon R5 or R6 to up their mirrorless game right now, I started small because this business is still a baby! It was time for me to upgrade from my Nikon D3300, so after extensive research I chose the Canon RP. It’s essentially Canon’s base model mirrorless camera, but I knew I wanted to start my investment in mirrorless since it seems to be the way of the future, and guys, I am BLOWN away. I seriously can’t even imagine what the R5 or R6 must be like because the RP is amazing. The AF features are incredible and it very, very consistently takes tack sharp pictures. Its LCD screen is easy to use and I love how small the camera body is. It feels durable but still sleek at the same time. The best thing I have noticed is how capable it is in many different lighting situations. I have taken pictures in harsh light, golden hour, and a couple of places in between and I am so impressed with its ability to adapt to lighting scenarios without compromising quality.

This weekend we were able to safely visit with my husband Jonathon’s parents and Jensen’s Nana and Papa! I was so glad to have this camera to pick up some images to remember this weekend by. Having the photography skills that I have and am continuing to gain means more to me than just creating a business to serve others, it’s preserving these precious memories so that someday Jensen can look back on them and see the joy that her family had and the love we all shared for each other. Pictures are one of the greatest gifts we can leave for our loved ones. They are so special. So whether you hire a photographer, me or someone else, or just snap some photos on your phone, remember that those memories are so special and it doesn’t matter that you look perfect, or if the lighting isn’t quite right, your loved ones will only care about seeing your smile and stepping briefly into that moment with you. So take the picture, do the thing, find your joy.

Peace out, T-town down,

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I thought you were a physical therapist?

I am a physical therapist. I’m also a mom, wife, daughter, sister, and Disney lover, to name a few. Now I’ve added another bullet point to my resume as well: photographer.

It’s so interesting that in the world we live in we always try and define people into the boxes we think they should fill. A lot of people probably think it’s weird that I went to school for 7 (yes seven!!) years to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy just to decide two years into my career that I ALSO want to be a photographer. I think it’s weird sometimes too. Honestly, my photography career probably would have forever remained floating up in my dream bubble if it weren’t for COVID-19. It seems strange to say since COVID-19 has been so absolutely terrible for our world, but without the extra time I spent at home while I was furloughed, I don’t think I would have ever had the time or courage to step out in faith and pursue something I was interested in and knew absolutely nothing about.

But I found the courage, so I did what I do best in life. I convinced my husband to spend money (I’m sure he really loves this quality about me, ha!) and then I learned. I studied, I absorbed, and I started to practice. I always joke that studying is my one true talent in life, and it may be true, but it has also served me well both in physical therapy and photography. For months, my only subjects were Jonathon and Jensen, until it felt safe enough to start taking pictures outside and with a mask. Then I started taking pictures of friends and family, and with every session my knowledge and skills have grown. There’s now a small, creative, passionate fire in my brain that gets fanned and continues to burn brighter and brighter each photo.

I feel blessed and fortunate that I have found two jobs which I’m passionate about. I have an incredible job working with kids as a physical therapist and the problem solving/science/medical side of me is in heaven. Now, I’ve finally, after 28 years of zero creative energy, found my creative niche that sparks joy and cultivates a different side of my brain. So all that to say, whether you are 28, or 56, or 95, don’t give up on the dreams floating in your dream bubble (also if you are 95 and reading my blog, message me because that is so cool). Chase after the things that bring you joy and make you feel alive. If you have learned anything in 2020 it should be that this life is far, far too short to give up on the things you are passionate about. So figure out a way to do it, and do it. Don’t let the fear of failing keep you from trying. If you’re going to fail, fail big. Choose joy, and choose to make everyday of this life meaningful and special. Be kind to people, help them chase their dreams, find ways to make someone smile everyday, and never give up on your dream bubble.

Peace up, T-town down,

Aloha loft in midtown

One of the amazing things about starting new side gigs is when your best friend also starts a new side gig and her side gig needs your side gig. Did you follow that?? My friend Madison found her passion for interior design and has been working hard and killing it in her side hustle! She recently designed and styled our friend’s midtown loft bringing in the whimsical island vibes of Hawaii, her client’s previous home.

Madison’s style is very clean and timeless. The natural light in Erin’s loft and the color schemes her apartment complex used for counters, appliances, etc. bring an airy and soft feel to her space.

While I was there I couldn’t resist the chance to take some pictures of Erin and her boyfriend too. They are such a sweet couple and it’s easy to see how much they care for each other. Hopefully we will be able to take some more pictures of them in the future because they are the easiest and most beautiful couple to shoot!

One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is the small moments of love I get to capture. I like to think that in 10 or 50 years when Erin and Chance look back at these pictures they will smile remembering good times together and in Erin’s apartment.

Boom Soon Fam

Tyler and Erica are some of our best friends and last weekend I had the honor and privilege of capturing some pictures of them with their sweet baby Griffin. We have been friends with Tyler and Erica for the last 7-10 years (honestly I don’t know how many years it’s been, but it’s been a long time) after meeting Erica in college at OU and then meeting Tyler later on at church camp. We have shared a hotel room with two queen beds together to save money so we could spend FOUR full days at Universal Orlando pretending we were part of Harry Potter (no regrets), and both my husband and I were parts of their wedding. We were there the summer they met and fell in love, and now I got to see them as the sweetest parents to baby Griffin!

Griffin was born a week before Oklahoma shut down due to COVID-19 and has spent the entirety of his life in a global pandemic. You would never guess that by his sweet smile and easy demeanor though. He was hands down the easiest baby to shoot and handled an hour of picture taking better than some adults probably would! He has probably given me an unrealistic expectation on what it’s like to shoot babies in the future. Erica and Tyler are such good and supportive friends and they have handled this season like champions. No one would ever imagine the birth of their first child being during a global crisis like the one we’re experiencing, but you would never guess how hard that season of life is by seeing them all together. They have powered through this time with such grace and love and it is so apparent in their interactions as a family. For them, and so many others, 2020 has brought the best gift!

I am so grateful to have friends like Erica and Tyler in my life. They are supportive and caring. They drove to Tulsa from OKC with a 5 month old to support my beginning photography business and made me feel like the best photographer there’s ever been. It was a gift to serve them with these family pictures and to meet Griffin! They are the coolest parents and Griffin is going to be the coolest baby. Thank you for letting me spend time with your little family, and boom soon baby!

Peace up, T-town down,

Summer Family Session

It was an unseasonably cool day for the end of August and the Struttmann family showed up ready to model. It doesn’t hurt that they are such a beautiful family in the first place, both inside and out. I have babysat the Struttmann girls on and off over the years and each one of them holds a special place in my heart. It was so great to see them after such a long, long time in quarantine. Plus, Jeff and Casey are those kind of people that you really want to be best friends with, but you just know that you aren’t quite at the same level of cool as them so any excuse you get to hang out with them is guaranteed to be a good time!

We spent the evening playing, laughing, and running around the park and I did my best to capture each of their personalities in a way that will bring back memories and glimpses of them at this exact age when they look back in ten, twenty, or fifty years. While this Covid season has been anything but easy, it brought me such joy to see a family embracing their extra time together, and making the best of a less than ideal scenario. With every aspect of the evening I saw just how much each and every member of that sweet family loved each other. It reminded me that in uncertain times like we are very much in right now, that is all we really have, the love and grace of the people who we care about and who care about us. It is something to cling to, something to fill us with hope, and something that daily reminds us of the Father’s love and grace for us.

So while this season of life is hard, find the joy in the every day, in the extra time spent with people you love, or the chances to make something new, or the intentionality of connecting to your friends and family from a distance. Offer boundless grace when the world most certainly needs it, and if you put your head down and do your work and don’t give up, then you can reward yourself with ice cream at the end of the night because sometimes we all just need a sweet treat to give us that extra boost!

All my love,

Dream Bubble

A dreamer. Every relationship has one I think. The person whose head is often in the clouds thinking about what could be, what ifs, and driving the logical one of the relationship crazy. Surely this isn’t just my marriage right? Trust me when I say that sometimes I think my husband’s head is going to fall off because of the dreams I so often spout off that don’t make any sense at all. Yet somehow, he lets me live in my dream bubble and he keeps me grounded when I need to scale back into the reality bubble. That’s what life is really about isn’t it? The delicate balance between the dream bubble that drives your passions, hopes, and burns a fire within your soul, and the reality bubble that reminds you to pay your bills on time, go grocery shopping, and make sure your health insurance is up to date.

So what dreams are floating around in your dream bubble? They don’t have to be far fetched like starting a photography business in the middle of a pandemic or going to Disney at least once every year. They can be smaller dreams, like taking your family on a picnic this weekend. They can be more practical, like paying off your student loans a couple of years early. Whatever your dreams may be, I urge you to find them. Step out of your reality bubble into the grander scale of your dream bubble and imagine all that your life could be, and then do it. Ultimately we are given one life here on this big ol’ rock. Make the most of it. Find the balance between dreams and reality and then toe the line between the two until you find the sweet spot that ignites your soul. Let your dream bubble grow and live in it, and then don’t forget to take out the trash.

All my love,