Meet Katya Martin: Family Lifestyle Photographer

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

Hi Katya, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk taking has a lot to do with overcoming fear. Fear can be a good thing that protects us but it often is limiting, and there are new great things on the horizon if you overcome it. It’s always scary to start something new and go out of my comfort zone. And it’s always worth it because once I do it I grow, I change, I become a renewed person. I always tell my kids: “It’s OK to be scared. Do it scared”. I feel like I do a lot of my life scared because I constantly push myself to do new things that I haven’t done before. I moved countries, I decided to have three kids really close in age, I started a business, I always come up with new things that I can do for my business. Doing all that has drastically changed my life, and I wouldn’t have become the person I’m now, had I not taken these risks.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I firmly believe that family values matter and preserving family memories through photographs matters. Whether it’s a family, newborn or maternity photo session I connect with my clients from the other side of my camera lens and tell their unique story through the pictures.

I’ve always been interested in photography. When I became a mom I learned how to properly use my DSLR because I wanted to take creative pictures of my daughter. The rest is history. I learned about photo composition, light and photo editing. When my children grew up a bit I started my family photography business.

My hope is that my pictures inspire you to see the beauty in what we often consider the mundane everyday life of raising children. It’s sometimes hard to appreciate family life and easy to take it for granted when you are in the midst of it. As an outsider coming into a family to snap pictures, it’s often easier for me to see a family’s connection to one another, a family’s love and belonging – and to capture snippets of it.

People fascinate me. We all are so different and yet we all share similar joys and struggles in our humanity, no matter where we live in the world. Capturing people – their emotions and lives, and portraying them through my camera lens – is a great privilege. Children in particular fascinate me. They are our best teachers and our mirrors. I never force a child to perform in front of my camera, I just observe, and by being with them, noticing them, connecting with them I picture who they are in the current moment of their childhood.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take a friend to a little village of Round Pond in the state of Maine. It’s a hidden gem of a place, and I’m convinced that it’s one of the most beautiful spots in the world. We’d walk down to the dock and will have lobsters at Muscongus Bay Lobster, overlooking the peaceful harbor. After the amazing meal we’ll go to the Granite Hall Store for some delicious ice-cream. Granite Hall Store is a local candy store where my husband and I got married, and there is a picture of us on our wedding day on the wall of the store.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Huge shoutout to all the amazing artists who inspired me and helped me along the way. There are so many names I want to mention!…. One of them is Dmitriy Maley – an amazing photographer and teacher. And shoutout to my husband who has been supporting me all along the way.

Website: https://www.katyamartinphoto.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katyamartinphoto

Image Credits
All pictures are by Katya Martin Photo