Inspired, A Very Special Project | Courtney Keim Photography
Already time for a new week and a new fresh amazing photographer. If you are completely new to this project and are stumbling upon this week’s most recent post be sure to head back and take in the amazing eye candy from the first two featured Photographers Sarah Phillips and Lisa Tichane’ from the past two weeks. When I first began brainstorming how I wanted to go about this project I thought it would be amazing to interview a photographer a week for an entire 52 weeks of the year. There is such a range of talent in this industry. So many different kinds of photographers. Some specializing in weddings, others in families and so on and so on. I remember starting out being totally overwhelmed with the idea that you could come into this industry and be anywhere near as good let alone find a way to embody even half of the vision some of the photographers I was coming across seemed to grasp in their work. I was moved and enthralled and obsessed. And as I slowly began to fall into my own style it only made me appreciate them that much more. As this project progresses I hope you will find the same shock, awe and inspiration I did. I had such an overwhelming response there will even be two photographers featured some weeks! Lots of inspiration to be had!
This week is someone I consider not only to be one of my favorite photographers but also a friend! Courtney Keim of Courtney Keim Photography is down to earth, insanely talented and an absolute breath of fresh air! She is a total creative genius in the web design world as well and I am beginning to wonder if there is anything at all she is possibly not good at. I seriously have my doubts! With her clean but colorful processing, astounding ability to capture connection and true to life beautiful one of a kind moments, and her eye for detail I am totally in love with every single photo she produces. She is also a member like myself of Clickinmom Pro. Incredibly web savvy, she has such an eye for design and seems to only get better with time. And oh yeah… TOTALLY gorgeous. Right?! Total package over here!
You can find her Website HERE and her Twitter HERE. And she even so kindly supplied her Pinterst link HERE.
So lets get this party started!
Hi Courtney!
You can say “Hi!” to her too on her Facebook Fan page HERE.
I’m a super geeky science dork who grew up thinking I had zero creativity but I am thinking my photography has hopefully proven otherwise. I’m a beach bum who cannot imagine not waking up and seeing the beach from my front door which influences me each and every day of my life. I’m a family girl – I chat with my mom and dad at least 3x a day, love my kids (and husband) to death and consider myself blessed to have each of them in my life – they are the reason I do this!
I wish I could say the birth of my kids sparked my interest in photography but I think it renewed it. It made me focus on people rather than places. I travelled the world with my parents growing up. They didn’t own a camera (I eventually did) and I decided early on that I had to capture each moment of my life the minute I got one – because I so quickly forgot the castles of Ireland, the concentration camps in Poland and the gorgeous sunsets of Hawaii. My camera allowed me to capture those memories … and since then, I’ve added people to the scenery and cannot imagine a day going by without picking up my camera. Life is too short to forget.
Too much LOL! I’m a Canon girl. I use a Canon 5D mkii + use a classic as my backup. I have a love-hate relationship with primes + zooms. I have: 35 1.4L, 85 1.2L, 24-70 2.8L, 70-200 2.8L, 50 1.4 and 100 2.8 macro. Two flashes. Four camera bags. One shoot sac.
My trusty Canon XTI, the nifty fifty + a Tamron 28-75
Ah, that’s too hard. I photograph so many different subjects … large families to couples. Can I list two? For large families, the 70-200 … I fell in LOVE with that lens this summer. For smaller families, the 85 1.2L – the bokeh, clarity + color is AMAZING.
While I could say, go legit! Get your licenses and whatnot in order … but in all seriousness, learn. Learn to photograph a SOOC shot that needs minimal processing. Do not use actions … until you have the basics down. Too often, I see new photographers using actions and I wonder if they actually like the processing or use it to mask an underexposed, out of focus photo. I love simplicity. I love clean.
I’m so indecisive … geez. I think I crushed on a lot LOL!
My sweet kids and our everyday life. It’s been two years since my little guys were born so premature. I look back at those photos and see them running around like crazy toddlers and want to bottle it all up. I want to stop time. I want to remember. My photographs do that for me.
Celebrity wise … Caroline Bessette Kennedy – there was a spread in Vogue that was lifestyle that had an interview of her – I’m unsure if it was before or after she died. I loved it. The relax nature of it to this day inspires me.Personally … I wish I could travel back through time + meet my great-grandmother and photograph her and my dad together. I’ve heard so many stories from him … but I’ve never seen a photo of them together. I wish I could capture that if not for me, but him.
Can I combine them because they kind of contradict themselves… Simple + Classic with a Modern Twist
Photographing a Philadelphia Eagle + his family while pregnant with twins and having my darn maternity pants sag a little too low?
Maintaining a balance and learning to say no. I am a full-time teacher but also a full-time photographer + web designer + mentor/newsletter editor on Clickinmoms. I take on way too much but I love the insanity + craziness.
Early evening definitely – right before sunset … isn’t that everyones?
Stay active on Clickinmoms – can’t imagine being without the site + the wonderful friends I’ve made there. Keep teaching Chemistry + Physics. Spend every summer day on the beach.Now, if I won the lottery and did not have to work AT ALL, then I’d move to Kauai, lay on the beach + read my Kindle.
Nope. Totally self taught … but I did begin to build a computer in an Electronics class in college LOL.
Talk, talk and talk some more. I seriously do not shut up. Ever. The majority of my clients are out of town vacationers so we usually chat about their beach vacation, sites, and what to do in the area.
1. I want to break out from my comfort zone. I plan to visit (in Texas) two amazing mentors (and friends) over on Clickinmoms – Sara Seeton + Leah Cook – and pick their brains on lifestyle photography…2. Maintain a balance between work + family.3. Learn to say no … not really a goal though, right?4. Learn lightroom (I plan to take the Clickinmoms workshop)
Just as I tell my students, you never stop learning + growing. Everyday I add something to my to-do list … Clickinmoms opened my eyes up to so much more I do in fact need to learn … I can’t even list them all.The biggest Aha moment was realizing you just need to be you. I process my photos how I like. I pose my clients how I envision. Once I started calling the shots, the pieces all fell into place.
That people book me for me. I have an amazing friend local to me who refers so much business to me when she is booked. Too often, I doubt my own abilities and find myself feeling second best. But she has become such a rock to me (although she probably doesn’t realize it) and I can’t imagine being in this business without her … ok, totally went off topic.
While so many photographers insist on prints because you can control the final product, I’m a digital person – both in my business + my personal life. I have 6 canvases in my home and 3 photos. That’s it. Yet, I’ve had sessions with some amazing photographers (Mindy Harris, Jessica Walker and Alicia Gould). They are all still on a disc + saved on my computer.
The original concept was based on a pattern by Katie Daisy. I so love every single pattern + print she comes up with. But I realized I hadn’t really elaborated my vision enough … and it didn’t ‘fit’ my photos. I thought I wanted vintage-y. But I really wanted modern – so totally polar opposite.I told Sara (Seeton) my vision and literally within a few minutes she sent me my current logo. I am amazed that we have become so close (living so far away) that she knew me well enough to create this logo for me.
Like I always say, I’m a super dork. I have a Physics and Mathematics degree. I went to an Engineering college originally. All I did was computers … I had to take computer classes. I started maintaining organization’s sites both within my college and nationally. It basically just took off from there … to where I am now.
Hmmm. Mary of Justin + Mary. I love reading her blog posts and the videos they post … they just seem so fun LOL …
Lovely work Courtney! It’s great to get to know you! OMG, you are so talented 🙂
I really get so inspired from reading these interviews. The have all been so awesome and I LOVE them. Thank-you!!!!