Meet Katherine Katsenis

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katherine Katsenis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katherine, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I found that one thing I truly loved, that is when it just came naturally to start a business with it. Of course, I went slowly at first. I spend a few years setting up infrastructure and networking in my spare time and on the weekends. Then, I felt I needed more formal training to set myself apart, especially since I work with newborns and infants. There is a lot to know about how to safely work with them in a studio photography environment. Safety first, always.

Once I had all that in place, I still loved newborn photography. So I just kept moving forward. It look a long time, but now, this is all I do. It’s the perfect profession for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work lives at the intersection of fine art, safety, and deep emotional storytelling. I am a pregnancy, newborn, and infant portrait artist based in the Los Angeles area, and my art is centered on honoring how fleeting and meaningful the earliest chapters of life truly are. Newborns change in days, not months, and my goal is to create images that feel timeless, intentional, and deeply personal, not trendy or rushed.

What sets my work apart is that every portrait is carefully designed around the baby, the family, and the moment they are in right now. I don’t believe in cookie-cutter setups. Each session is curated with a strong emphasis on newborn safety, comfort, and flow, paired with refined styling and fine art craftsmanship. Many of my images involve custom digital artistry or composite work, allowing me to create one-of-a-kind pieces that cannot be replicated elsewhere. I also offer heirloom wall art and albums because I believe photographs are meant to be seen and lived with, not lost on a phone.

Professionally, my path here was anything but instant. I came into photography later in life, after being a teacher, which deeply shaped how I work with families. Teaching gave me patience, empathy, and the ability to read people quickly, skills that are invaluable when working with newborns and exhausted new parents. While my background helped, building a sustainable, high-touch photography business in Los Angeles has not been easy. Visibility, pricing confidence, and standing out in a saturated market were real challenges.

I overcame those challenges by leaning into what I do best instead of trying to copy what was already everywhere. I invested heavily in education, safety training, and refining my artistic voice. I learned to trust that not everyone is my client, and that’s okay. The right clients value intention, experience, and artistry, and those relationships are always worth the slower, more intentional growth.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that success doesn’t come from being louder, it comes from being clearer. Clear about your values, your process, your boundaries, and your purpose. I’ve also learned that consistency matters more than momentum, especially as a solo business owner.

What I want the world to know about my brand is that this work is about more than photographs. It’s about trust. It’s about creating a calm, safe space during one of the most vulnerable seasons of a family’s life. It’s about honoring tiny details that parents may not even realize they’ll miss someday. My story is one of patience, craft, and choosing depth over speed. If my work reminds families just how meaningful these early moments are, then I’m doing exactly what I set out to do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love the Montrose Shopping Park. I would definitely stop in to Bowl at the Montrose Bowling Alley. There are so many cute shops for kids and adults, as well as lots of places to grab a bite to eat. For kids, I would visit It Takes A Village Kids, Once Upon A Time Bookstore and La Vie Dove, These are places I buy from for my studio.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would say Ana Brandt Photography in Tustin, CA helped me a lot. https://anabrandt.com/

George Deloache Photography https://www.georgedeloache.com/

Kelly Brown https://kellybrownonline.com/pages/meetkelly

Website: https://www.panosproductions.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/panosphotography

Facebook: www,facebook.com/panosphotography

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/panos-productions-photography-tujunga-2?osq=Panos+Productions+Photography

Image Credits
All photos by Katherine Katsenis, Owner of Panos Productions Photography