Episode 34: Capturing Love Around the World | Kendal Riley DeLaura | International Wedding Photographer

Inspiration & MotivationCareer DevelopmentPhotographer

Oct 9

Kendal Riley DeLaura is an international destination wedding photographer whose work blends romance, adventure, and artistry. From Big Sur sunsets to weddings in Bali, Banff, and beyond, Kendal and her husband Anthony have documented over 200 love stories across the globe. She shares how she turned a passion for art and design into a thriving photography business, why she left a career in fashion to follow her dream, and what it’s really like to work side-by-side with your partner. Kendal’s journey is a testament to believing in yourself, chasing the extraordinary, and finding beauty in every detail.

“As a photographer you just don’t ever see the world normally. You’re always looking at light, color, textures, back drops, the mood, the vibe.”

— Kendal Riley DeLaura

Surf Industry
Temecul a
June B ug Wedding
Sparks, Nev ada
Reno/Tahoe area
Flo rence
Po int Loma Nazarene Universit y
Par is
Sp ain
Billabo ng
O’Neill
OCC for photography
Element Eden
Kendal Riley.com
TheDeLauras.com
El S alvador
Bali
S pain
G ermany
Franc e
Mexico
Alaska
C hi cago
Mi chigan
Mt. R a iner
Se attle
Oregon
Monta na
Gr een Mou ntain L odge
Ba nff
Lagu na Beach
Big Su r
Game of Thrones
Jenna Kutcher Gold Digge r Podcast
The Compound Effect book
Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
00:00 Meet Kendal Riley DeLaura
05:15 Growing up in Nevada and a lifelong love of the outdoors
12:40 From graphic design to photography
19:22 Studying art in Florence and traveling Europe
25:50 Making the leap to full-time photographer
33:18 Building a business with her husband Anthony
42:05 Lessons from photographing over 200 weddings
50:47 Memorable shoots from Bali to Banff
57:30 The importance of trusting your creative vision
1:05:12 Powerful women and mentors who inspired her
1:12:40 Why belief and persistence matter in creative careers
As a photographer, you just don't ever see the world just normally. Mm-hmm. You are always looking at light, color, textures, backdrops, the mood, the vibe.
That's Kendall Riley DeLaura, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something, and the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved to take action towards living your most powerful life.
Kendall is a stunning photographer with the gift of capturing the beauty, romance, and charm of her subjects and the world. I cannot recommend her enough and I'm really excited to share her story with you. She lives a charmed life that oozes all the magic and romance you would want of a wedding photographer.
Currently, she lives in a hilltop home in big Serve with her handsome husband, and together they run an international destination wedding photography business where they get to travel the world and capture the most important moments of love stories. On this episode, Kendall shares how she became a photographer, what it's like to work with her husband.
And why it's so important to keep reaching for new goals and believing in yourself.
Hi, Kendall. Welcome. Hi. Thank you guys so much for having me. Of course. Let's start by telling the audience who you are and what you do. Okay.
I am Kendall Riley DeLaura, and I am a fashion and commercial photographer, as well as an international destination wedding photographer. So basically you have
a dream life where you get to travel the world and take beautiful pictures.
Yes. Yeah, I would definitely say I am living my best dream life, for sure.
Yeah. And we met because my boyfriend, your husband worked together actually at multiple places throughout their lives. And we were going to our friend Nick and Maddie's wedding, and we pull up and we're like, wait, there they are.
Like you and Anthony were, were the photographers for their wedding. And that was the first time that I think we got to meet ever. Like I'd always heard of this amazing, awesome Kendall that I had to meet. And finally we got to meet in a really fun place.
I'm thinking. Yeah, that was that really the first time we met.
Isn't that crazy? Yes. And so you walked up and I'm like, oh, look at this cute redhead. And I'm, I have red hair and so redhead's always loved to ping off one off, one another. But yeah, so that was the first time, and I remember when Jesse told me about you and he was like, oh, you have to meet my girlfriend.
She basically is you, but she's my version of you. Mm-hmm. And she worked in the surf industry and has red hair and she's a, and she's awesome. And so yeah, so that was the first time we met. And so that was a really fun, that was a really fun wedding. And it was beautiful wedding. Yes. It was a really fun, beautiful wedding.
And my husband and I, we photographed that together. So it's always fun when we get to see friends when we're shooting.
Well, I think that's kind of the luxury right, of, of what you do, that you get to be hired by the people that. You enjoy spending time with in addition to strangers, right. As clients?
Definitely. So is it more pressure when you're photographing people you care about or less?
I mean, I always put a ton of pressure on myself for every wedding. Or any photo shoot that we do, I always show up early. Mm-hmm. And Anthony always wants to kill me 'cause I'm like, just 10 more photos, 10 more minutes, an hour goes by, two hour go, two hours go by.
But I would say there is an additional pressure when we're photographing our friends mm-hmm. Because you just want them to be so happy and over the moon that they hired you and you want them to love their photos and you want them to love their experience. And then again, you also want all of their friends to love the experience that you're providing as well.
So yeah. So one another wedding that we attended together was our friend Dene and Travis's wedding. Mm-hmm. In Temecula. And it was in the desert and it was actually on my birthday. And there was probably 300 people at this wedding. Yeah. We
don't, we don't roll with a small crew.
No. It was a large, large wedding and I think they had booked us for eight hours and we ended up shooting for probably 15 or 16 hours.
It was a full day and we camped out. We were there the night before. We camped out, hung out with everyone the whole day. We shot. The whole day was probably our. Number one wedding that we've ever done. We had so much fun. And so there's this a, there's this balance between hanging out with your friends and getting to talk to everyone and then still constantly working.
Mm-hmm. So I'm, I've got a camera in one hand. I'm saying hi, giving hugs, and then I'm constantly shooting and I'm sending Anthony off to shoot a different portion of the day. But yeah, it's really fun getting to photograph your friend's weddings. But I will say they're probably a little bit there's probably a little bit more pressure there.
Mm-hmm. Yes. They know how to find you. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. They always know where you're at. Yeah.
Well, and I think what makes your, your photographs work as well as they do, and to be so compelling, is that ultimately you're a storyteller. And so as you're at a wedding like Travis and Dena's, where there's so much happening, it was a three day wedding essentially, and there's so many people and so many little vignettes to capture in so many moments.
And in that wedding in particular, everybody was wearing white, which I thought was a crazy idea until I got there and saw it and it looked so amazing to see everyone wearing white that it just, I think made it probably easier to capture all these really well styled photos. 'cause there wasn't like some random person wearing like teal sequence in the corner that you're like, I'm gonna have to cut them out later.
Yes. No, the all white wedding, I mean, that wedding was just, it was unreal. And we're super excited because it's being featured in Junebug weddings. Yeah. So we're really excited about that. But yes, the all white wedding mm-hmm. Was amazing against this really. Deserty backdrop. Mm-hmm. So they did not get married out in the vineyards.
They got married on this private ranch and we took them up for sunset and we had these orange and yellow and purple smoke bombs that we lit off, and it was right as the sun was setting. And I would say that was a Kodak moment in my brain and in our career, and I like to call these Kodak moments. They're, when something in our career or in our life just pings back to us mm-hmm.
And it's a memory that we will never forget. And so Anthony and I will call them out. We're like, wow, that was such a Kodak moment. So for us we take so many photos, but it's a mental snapshot mm-hmm. That we take in our brains that's like just emblazed in our minds that we'll never forget. So that wedding in general, but specifically at Sunset with the smoke bombs and Trav picking up Dene and like twirling her around and.
It was a beautiful, epic, epic day. So everyone go and check out Junebug weddings and check out the post from the Dolores. And yeah,
no, every photo I've seen has been awesome and I think the energy of, of them as a couple and the location and everyone that was there. It was having such a great time.
I think it just added extra good juju to the whole experience. But I imagine as you wanting to capture the whole story, like it's hard to put your camera down and switch to being a, a guest. 'cause you're like, no, no, no, no. But this dancing right now is perfect. And like you probably can never turn it off.
No. I don't know
if I can ever turn it off. And especially even attending weddings that we're not photographing, I'm like, oh my gosh, I could capture this. I wanna do this. Like, I would go take the couple up here. Mm-hmm. So I would say when you are a full-time photographer no matter where you're at, everywhere you go, you can see the light.
Like I'll see light peering from the trees and I'm like, oh my gosh, we need to stop. Like, stop Anthony, let's get outta the car. Set up the tripod. We need to take some photos here. Or when we're traveling, I'll just say things along the lines of, I wish we had a couple here or I wish that we were doing a fashion shoot here, a commercial shoot.
I'm like, this light in this scenery is so amazing. So I would say as a photographer you just don't ever see the world. Just normally. Mm-hmm. You're always looking at light, color, textures, backdrops the mood, the vibe. Mm-hmm. So yeah. So everything, it was almost like the perfect, not the perfect storm.
What would you Yeah. Maybe the perfect, it was a kismet moment. Yes. Okay. I like that word. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So that wedding, the people, the vibe, the wardrobe, the styling, it was the most hip cool, like boho over the top stylized fashion forward wedding we've ever done. And a trav wore a white top hat.
Mm-hmm. It was awesome. And yeah, it was really fun. So yes, there's no putting down the camera. I don't think I can actually ever separate my brain mm-hmm. From it. And I'm so passionate about photography and I'm passionate about. Shooting weddings that I just wanna always capture the moments. Mm-hmm. And my husband's always like he is, he'll just like, be like, sorry, she always does this.
And I always take too many photos and I, I'm a classic overshoot. So Anthony actually does all of our cooling and cooling means that he goes through all of our photos. So on an average wedding day we take about 6,000 images. So Anthony is tasked with going through every single photo and he is like, he'll, he'll say, Kendall, come over here.
You took 40 shots. In this and they look the exact same. And I'm like, no, they don't. Her hair is blowing this way. She's looking this way and like he just messes with me. Mm-hmm. But he has the task of going through and picking out the best five of those. 40. Yeah. And then he does it again for the next one.
So I do overshoot, but I really love capturing, and so does Anthony. But we love capturing these in between moments. Yes. And there's just more than just when they're, when they're looking at you or looking at the, at each other. Like, I never stop shooting when we move them from one location to the next.
I'm just shooting and I'm shooting from the hip and mm-hmm. Sometimes you get the best shots when they're just moving from one place to another because they're, it's natural. Yeah. It's natural. And that to us are our favorite moments or the in-between, the real, the raw, the honest moments. Mm-hmm. Instead of just these really like stylized pose photos, which are also my favorite.
I do love the stylized pose. Yeah. Because I'm also a fashion photographer, so I love that epic scenery. I love the the dress blowing in the wind, the hair. So whenever it's stylized and they're looking directly at me in the camera, those are my favorite shots too. So all the drama and romance and, yes.
I love it all. You could say I'm mildly obsessed and so
well, we not we, I should say Jordan, when she starts recording and we often do two or three recordings in a row, she kind of just presses record and it doesn't stop until we literally leave for the day. 'cause same thing like the in-between moments of telling a joke or like what we say while we're like warming up and just getting to know everybody and whatever else often tends to be like the little gem that allows it to have a, a soft intro.
That's what we say. I like that in podcasting world. A soft intro. I can now say we, 'cause I've done all of these episodes. So let's go back to the beginning. Where did you grow up and what was life like pre becoming a photographer?
Well, I grew up, in a little town called Sparks, Nevada, which is right next to Reno.
But generally I always lump it in Reno, Tahoe. So I'm from Reno, Tahoe area. Mm-hmm. And. I don't remember not having a camera in my hand. So, I mean, I've always been the adventurous, artsy, campy child. Like we grew up camping and being outdoors and always immersed in nature. Mm-hmm. And being so close to Tahoe, we were about a half an hour, 40 minute drive.
So we were always up in the mountains, whether we're camping, skiing that later snowboarding on boats out at the lake in the water. So nature is a huge part of who I am and what I love to do. My. Pastime. So we never did the trips to Hawaii or to Europe as little kids. Mm-hmm. We went camping. And so I think just that love of nature really is inspires who I am and what I bring into our photography.
Mm-hmm. And why we love doing outdoor nature inspired weddings and photo shoots. I was always involved in drama and choir. I play piano, so a love of art. Mm-hmm. And more than just, more than just photography. And I did painting and drawing and then. I mean, all through high school, I was a singer and you can only pick one major.
So Anthony actually did photography in high school and I didn't, wow. I didn't take my first photography class until I lived in Florence, Italy in college. So I grew up in Reno and then an. I knew that I didn't want to stay in Nevada for college. Mm-hmm. I wanted to go outta state. So I always loved California and Southern California.
We used to have a timeshare in Manhattan Beach. Mm-hmm. That we would go to like every few summers. And so I looked at point, well, I went, I looked at three colleges and I landed at Point Loma Nazarene University. And if you haven't seen that campus, go and Google it right now. It's so stunning. So when you drive up, you drive up and there's like these eight palm trees, and then when you get to the top, you just stare at the ocean.
And my mom knew that when we drove up and we got to the top that I was a goner. It did not matter. It didn't matter I was going to that school because you would've been a, you would've gone to chef school
if that's what was offered there. Yeah, it did. Exactly. And I
do love cooking, so that would've been a good, that would've been a good match.
But yeah, so it was so beautiful. And again, for me. Being immersed in beauty. Mm-hmm. And being really aesthetically pleased. Yeah. Is just who I am. So I went to college there and it was an awesome school. I met, made some really amazing friends and I wouldn't be where I'm at today without them. So my degree is my first degree is in graphic design.
Mm-hmm. So I went to college there and studied graphic design. Graduated in four years because my parents said, you better graduate in four years. And my minor was in interior design and if you've seen my home, then you would know that that. It matters to you. It matters. Yes. Well, I
think, I think that you said it before, you want everything to be visually pleasing, not just for you, but again, because you're creating these stories for everyone to enjoy.
So like I know how much pressure you put on yourself for like, everything to, to look the way you want it to look. Yes. And it's not even about looking good. It's about it just making other people see beauty also.
Yes. There's And creating like spaces Yeah. And environments and even. Even for us with weddings, like we don't wear black.
Mm-hmm. That's not our story. We figure out what the dress code is and we dress appropriately. So if it's cocktail attire, we wear cocktail attire that we can still bend over in and shoot in. For the white wedding, we both wore bright white, so Anthony had to go buy brand new white Levi jeans that he is never worn again and he probably will never wear again.
But it was so fun to be a part of that story. So for us being immersed, being part of the story mm-hmm. Is is us So we don't wear black. Yeah. I curl my hair, I wear jewelry and and we just, we want to be, we wanna be more like we're blending in. Yeah. Or like just we're, we're friends and we become really close with our couples even before the wedding.
Mm-hmm. And so that we usually do an engagement session, go out for dinner, and sometimes we've even had them come and stay at our house for the weekend, which is really fun. And then we get to really know them.
It's important. How do you know how to really make sure you're capturing them versus the model version of them?
Yes.
If you don't, if, if
you don't know them,
definitely.
Otherwise you don't know. Are they being stiff? Are they nervous? It's just who they are. You don't even know how to make them laugh. Right. Or like connect otherwise.
Yeah. Well, and some couples can be like very soft and more, they're more more emotional or more intense or just more quiet about their love.
Mm-hmm. And then you have other couples that are just laughing nonstop and they're just, yeah. There's more of like an effervescent vibe, so we like to get to know mm-hmm. In our couples before. Before we photograph their wedding and capture the biggest day of their lives. So but I know you're, no, it's okay.
Yeah. So you got your degree in graphic design? Yeah, so my degree is in graphic design and back to my first photography class. So I lived and studied fine art in Florence. Mm-hmm. And so that whole semester was amazing. I lived there for five months and I took painting, drawing. Watercolor and photography.
So that was my first and one like that to be a semester of my life. It was the, and I took Italian, but I don't think I really learned that much. So I love Florence. It's one of my favorite cities in the whole world. Oh yeah, Italy is a dream. I felt like I left a part of me. There when I left and I remember thinking, how do I get back there?
Like, I started looking up jobs and careers. Mm-hmm. When I got back from that semester, it was the first semester of my junior year, and it was just such a life changing moment. But I took this black and white class and for me, again, my love of photography is that I love doing landscapes. And I think because landscapes, they, I mean, they're just so beautiful.
They're ever changing. Mm-hmm. But they're, but they're stagnant and so I would just. Capture these, what in my mind, gorgeous landscapes and my, I went to, we were traveling around and I went to Paris. We did Paris and Spain, like all around Spain. And then came back and it was during our fall break.
Mm-hmm. And I had developed all of these portraits. And my teacher goes, I know that you like landscapes, but you're not a landscape photographer. You're actually a portrait photographer. The way that you capture people is unlike anything I've seen from any of our students. You just have like a really charming, disarming way about you.
And she's like, you're just capturing this light, or mm-hmm. This emotion in these people. And they were just random. Strangers that I was just kind of like off the stalking. Yes. I remember photographing this little kid and in Paris and it was all these leaves. Mm-hmm. And he was throwing the leaves up and and then the mom kind of looked at me and I just smiled and waved and then she smiled and waved and that was it.
So she knew I wasn't trying to kidnap her child. But I never thought about really photographing people other than always having a camera and photographing my friends. Mm-hmm. And so it was more so like, I like to capture moments like all through high school I had a camera in my hand and my friends would joke that, well, I had a point and shoot and with point and shoots back in the day, you had to have the red eye reduction. Mm-hmm. On, so I'd always say two flashes. Two flashes. So my friends would always joke because I say two flashes. Mm-hmm. Otherwise they would move and they would ruin my photos. Yeah. So for me, back in, back in the point and shoot days having, having a camera for every, like prom and event mm-hmm.
And soccer game or whatever, I always had a camera on me. And so it was kind of a natural progression. I remember getting back from Italy. Mm-hmm. And telling my parents that I wanted to switch my career, my major again to photography. And they said, Kendall, you have one and a half years left. Like, no.
And of course my dad being like, most dads will say, Kendall, you need to get a job that will, you know, pay off your student loans and will make you money and photography. Might not be that you don't wanna be a starving artist. So and I got that. Mm-hmm. And I actually really loved graphic design and I loved making things and I loved doing.
And, and following graphic design allows you to have your first career. Yes. So directly out of college I got my dream job. So I worked at Billabong and I was there for almost four years, which is amazing. I got to work with about 10, 20 something year old girls. I was an apparel graphic designer, so I did all the artwork for the women's clothing and it was me and two other two other designers and it was the best time of my life.
Like we just had so much fun. It's to work with. Awesome people and to be surrounded mm-hmm. By talented creatives that are so inspiring. They still inspire me to this day. And my, one of my best, best friends is from that first job at Billabong. So I worked there for almost four years and then I went to O'Neill and I worked at O'Neill for four years as well.
And I was the only designer, so I designed a hundred percent of the women's graphics and little girls graphics, which was crazy but awesome. So that was so amazing and I'm so glad that I have that in my background. Mm-hmm. And I do think that that developed a real love for fashion in me. 'cause I don't think I was, I mean, yeah, I used to shop at like limited and Abercrombie and so I think working in the fashion industry will serve fashion, just created a new love and extended this creativity.
Yeah. For fashion for me. And I love fashion so. That created that love, and I knew about two years in mm-hmm. To being a full-time graphic designer that I didn't wanna be a graphic designer anymore. And so maybe I knew that all along. Mm-hmm. And I just. I mean, I got my dream job. So you land the coolest job on the block as a 22-year-old?
Yeah. That's insane. So I went back to school and I went to OCC, orange Coast Community College, and they have a fantastic photography program. Were you in school and working at the same time? Yes. Mm-hmm. So I took one to two classes every semester. Mm-hmm. And I did that for six years and I said one. And in year one, I basically just got my camera and I, I went up to, and now they won't let you do this, but I remember like going to Walter Yuri, I love Walter Yuri.
Who is that? He was one of my, he was my first. Professor at OCC and I, the semester had just started and I went up and I knocked on the door and I introduced myself and I said, I have a degree in graphic design. My double major was in business. I have a minor in interior design. And I an aspiring photographer and I just don't wanna do, I've already done like entry level photography classes, but not here.
I really wanna be in this upper level commercial photography class. Mm-hmm. And he, he was like, alright. And it was amazing because now you, you have to go through yeah. All of those entry level classes. Mm-hmm. Which I mean, now looking back, I, maybe I could have or, or I don't know if I should have, but if you don't ask, you don't get what you want.
Yes, exactly. So I just introduced myself, went into that class and skipped all the. I'm sure they're gonna cringe if they hear this, but I skipped all the lower level classes and so I went from commercial photography to fashion to portrait. Mm-hmm. And I just like. I just did it and I said, in five years, I'm gonna quit my full-time job and be a full-time photographer.
And it took me six. So not bad. No, it took, yeah. So I basically dreamed and believed I was a photographer. Mm-hmm. Before I actually was. Yeah. Like, looking back at some of those photos, I'm like, why would anybody have, people should have said, you need to go back to class number one. Like, you barely know how to use your camera.
But I just got in and I was so inspired and I was so excited. Mm-hmm. And I spent, so I worked full time and at night, like one or two nights a week, I would go to my classes and then I would use my entire weekends and I would set up fashion shoots, commercial shoots. I started photographing anyone that would let me photograph them.
Mm-hmm. And I saved up all, saved all of that money and, then I then about, at about five and a half years, five years of doing that, I said, okay, I think I'm ready. And my parents, they were really supportive, but they also said like, don't quit your day job. You have 401k, you have health insurance, like, don't leave your day job.
And I said, you know what? If if I fail, I can always go back to being a graphic designer. I was getting, it's such a valuable skill. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So I could always go back. And so I saved up six months worth of bills and I gave myself a deadline and I said, June 1st, you're going to be a full-time photographer.
And May 31st is, or May 31st, may 30, whatever Memorial Day weekend was. Yep. That was my last day at O'Neill. And everyone was really supportive and, and celebrated me in that. And then I jumped, and I didn't actually use that six months worth of savings until, I think I've finally ran out of it probably like three years in.
And this upcoming June will be six years. So I've been a full-time photographer for six years. So it's amazing that Congratulations Evans. Thank you. That I never had to, I never had to go back. Mm-hmm. And I, I would, I still do a few freelance graphic jobs, like on the side. Mm-hmm. But I'm really picky and choosy.
Yeah.
So like right when I first quit, I did a couple. Collections for Element Eden. Mm-hmm. And then I actually designed another collection for O'Neill while they were finding a replacement for me. Mm-hmm. And yeah, it's you, if someone wants me to do a graphic, I have to really want to do the project.
Yeah. Or I have to really love them. Mm-hmm. And then, then I'll do them. But what's great about having it is that I've designed all of my websites, our business cards, our branding packages. Mm-hmm. I've designed multiple websites and I have kendall riley.com, which is my fashion and commercial website.
And then the Dolores, which is our husband and wife team. And so they're two different websites. Mm-hmm. And so it's just been an awesome skillset to have. So not only do I never have to hire anyone to do any design work for me I can do it for other people. Mm-hmm. If, if need be or if I want to.
And then I just think having a strong graphic background just adds to the way I see composition the way I color, the way I edit just seeing light and shadow. Mm-hmm. So I think having, it has been, having graphic design as my foundation was huge and I'm so glad that I did. And I think it made the route.
Easier for me in some ways. Mm-hmm. And then sometimes when I see like these youngsters that just are straight out of high school and they have like a blossoming photography background, I feel like I was a little later to the game because I had a full career before it. But I think it,
I think it shows up in your art.
In your art though. Definitely. Yeah. Because I think the two most valuable skills, if people don't know what to do, either get a business degree and or a graphic design degree because those two things can be applied to everything, anything. Mm-hmm. And a graphic design degree might even be more practical because you, everything needs graphic design.
Yeah.
And you can use it to be, learn other design work. Like there is, I'm shocked working with clients how we can't find enough graphic designers to go around. And I know there's a million people out there, so we need to find a better way to connect everyone, but it's such, everyone needs it from the pizza shop down the street to huge brands like Billabong and O'Neill.
Like everybody needs a graphic designer. Everyone needs it.
Yeah. So graphic design is, I mean, it's a great, mm-hmm. It was a killer job, so,
well, let me ask this. Yeah. For those who are listening, who do wanna go to the graphic design path or who are going down the graphic design path and then change their major?
Yeah. For those people who still wanna be graphic designers, but might not have that degree, are these, can you still get that job that you want at Billabong or at these places? Like, do you need that degree? Mm, I, I
don't,
so this is gonna be very controversial, potentially. I think the degree that you have only matters if you have work examples to back it up.
So if you are a graphic designer, whether you have a degree or don't. If you can show me a portfolio and deliver on the work, then I don't care if you have a degree or not.
Yes. So I would agree to that point. Mm-hmm. Because really people wanna know what you're capable of. Yeah. And I would say what got me in the door was have it like, oh, she just went to design school mm-hmm.
Has a degree in it's graphic. So I think that maybe have gotten me in the door. Yeah. But if my work wasn't up to par and then even that, like, just the amount that you'll grow just doing on the job mm-hmm. Experiences and growing your portfolio. So I don't think you need a degree in graphic design, but you need to know.
How to do all the programs. Yes. You need all your programs. You have to have a strong portfolio. And then another thing, just side note, is that I would say what I did on the computer was about maybe half of what I did off the computer. Mm-hmm. So I was painting, I was drawing water, coloring, sketching, doodling, and then I scan it in and turn it into art.
Mm-hmm. So I would say having a, well, a really strong, well-rounded portfolio Yes. Is almost better. So if you can show that you can paint, draw, sketch, you can do solid graphics, you can do yeah. Magazine layouts. Mm-hmm. And I didn't go the layout direction, I went into the apparel side of it. So that's also a different but, so I didn't de, I didn't have to design layouts for magazines or anything like that, so, well,
well even in, 'cause we both come from the surf action sports worlds and.
Yeah, there's complete divide between graphic designers who are a product and graphic designers who are app marketing. App,
yeah.
Right. So like E or footwear, because how you use the graphic design is different or packaging a whole nother world of graph of graphic design work that totally, you really, when it's a 3D object, it changes it and you have to be really specialized in that item.
Yes. And like printing techniques. So Yes. Yeah. So it's, it's amazing because I feel like I could go back at any time if I wanted to or if maybe, maybe my life or dreams switched or changed. And I went back in the direction. I think having that as a skillset in my back pocket is invaluable. Mm-hmm. I'll have those skills forever.
And so that being said, with photography, kind of the same thing that everybody needs photos. Yes. So everybody needs photos from headshots to product. So there's a lot of ways you can specify and, and that you can find your niche. Mm-hmm. For sure. Mm-hmm.
Especially in the digital world that we live in today, when everything needs to be able to show up on the computer.
It's all photography, copy and graphic design.
Definitely
all of it. It's crazy. And I'm glad that we're getting more of the audio involved like this and more videos, but at the end of the day, you still need the visuals. You Yeah. You still need designs and photos and copy to just have a website. Mm-hmm.
When, so when did you meet Anthony and at what point did you guys become partners in photography? So we
met almost eight years ago, this April, it'll be eight years. And we met in Mammoth and I was up in the mountains. He was working in the demo shop and I demoed a new snowboard and thought he was cute and, and he had to get all of my information to put in the system.
And so then he stalked me on Facebook and added me as a friend, and he didn't say anything. He just added, and I accepted his friend request and I was like, oh, that Anthony Guy just friend requested me, and I just wrote back, okay, stalker. And then he wrote back, as you should. I know, right? Mm-hmm. Yes. So then he wrote back saying I couldn't help myself.
I think you're gorgeous. And nobody had ever called me gorgeous before, so I totally blushed. And, and then we made two or another girlfriend and I, we drove up to Mammoth that next week and hung out. And he, he and his buddy invited us out to the hot springs. So we kind of thought like, okay, let's just go out there for 30 minutes, it'll be fun.
And and then we'll go back. Well, it ended up being a meteor shower and so we're out there for four hours and we basically shared our whole live stories and and we had this really great fun night. Mm-hmm. And. On the drive home, I remember thinking, yeah, I'm not gonna see that guy again. And I told my friend, Anya yeah, I don't, I, I don't, I mean, he's so cute, but like, I don't think we're, we're a good match.
And she goes, no, you are. And she goes, watch, you're gonna marry that guy. And I'm like, no, I'm definitely not gonna marry. I'm like, why would you say that? And she said, because he's everything you didn't know you wanted and you needed. And I, so that made me, it got me pondering. Mm-hmm. But that's how, that's how our first interaction was.
And the following weekend I had invited him down to the Doheny Wine Festival. To be my date. Mm-hmm. And I was going with four couples that I was gonna be the ninth wheel. Mm-hmm. And so I asked him if he wanted to be my date and he, I said, do you know anything about wine? And he said, no. And or not really.
And so I said, well just come. And so we had this. Awesome first date, and our first date was a 48 hour weekend. And I remember telling my mom, and I'm like, mom, he's coming down for 48 hours. And she goes, well, you're gonna know really quickly if you like him or not. Mm-hmm. Don't worry, everyone that's listening, it was a very peachy weekend, the only kiss.
But we did have our first kiss at the doorway of my bedroom. And we recently moved out of that house. And we kissed on the morning that we left, we kissed in our first kiss spot again, and that'll be the last time we ever kiss in that first kiss spot. So that was kind of sweet. But anyway yeah, we've been, before you go
on, yes.
I wanna take a, a moment to reflect on you being someone who creates romance and drama for other people and how it just shows up in your life. Yeah. Without you trying between like, oh yeah. Our first date happened to be a meteor shower and I'm like, only you guys would have a first date that happens to be a meteor shower and then a second date, or, you know, a first meeting and a second date where you're like, oh, it was a four eight hour wine festival and only you guys.
Yes. So, oh yeah. Everyone listening there is the possibility for romance. It's not just in fairytales, it also exists in Kendall's life every day.
That is so true. Yeah. We're I definitely met my soulmate and he is my compliment in every way. And so we've been together eight years. We've been shooting together for five years and we've been married for two and a half years.
So Anthony comes from a family of photographers. So his two uncles who are brothers had a wedding photography business for 40 years and a printing business as well. Awesome. So awesome. They still have a print house in Michigan that's still running and they're both in their seventies, which is really cool that they're still doing it and they love it.
So Anthony's family, they all have a natural eye. Mm-hmm. But he had never been like train trained. He had done the one photography class back in high school, but that was pretty much it. But once you handed Anthony a camera, like some people cut off the feet or cut off the head, or there's way too much sky, Anthony knew perfectly how to compose.
Mm-hmm. And so he took one or two classes at OCC as well. And then he just went to the school of Kendall. So I basically taught him everything. I taught him how to shoot, how I shoot. Mm-hmm. And I replicated myself, which is awesome. So we basically shoot the exact same way. Mm-hmm. And and if you were to put our, all of our images together, you can't actually tell the difference.
Mm-hmm. Except usually I like Anthony's photos better because I am the director. I'm the one that leads the couples and Anthony gets to like, go and climb up a mountain or up a tree and get these really rad, artsy photos. Mm-hmm. And so he always jokes. He's like, oh, that was my photo, huh. And I'm like, yeah, but I'm the one that made it.
No, I'm just kidding. But yeah, so he always takes the best photos and it's great because we're such a team in every way. Mm-hmm. So when we got married, it was October 1st, 2016. We then we had already photographed maybe, maybe, I don't know, 30 or 40 weddings together. Mm-hmm. And I was under a different brand at that time.
And when we got married I said, let's rebrand and be a husband and wife team. And and so we did that. So we launched, I shortly after our wedding, we, we launched the Dolores and we're a husband and wife team. I mentioned that earlier. But it's so great to work with your husband and what's great about us and kind of like also why I forced him to be a photographer is that a lot of these weddings, they wanted second shooters.
Yeah. So I was bringing on, and I was paying second shooters, and I'm like, let's just do it together. Then we get to travel around the world together, and I don't have to bring second shooters. Mm-hmm. I don't have to every week train someone else in my style or have them figure out like, well, how do you like to shoot?
Mm-hmm. So I just trust I trust him wholeheartedly. Mm-hmm. To handle all the groomsmen by himself to handle Yep. Large parts of the day without me. And then when we're shooting together, he always gets the coolest shots anyway. So our first wedding that we did together was my brother's wedding, and I threw a camera in his hand, which he had already.
Like, we photograph on all of our adventures and our travels. Mm-hmm. So like, he already he already was familiar. Mm-hmm. But that was like, okay, go, go hang out with my brother and his friends and photograph mm-hmm. And photograph the day. And and some my favorite shots again were, were his photos. And so then I just brought him on over and over and over again for every wedding.
And then we rebranded, launched, and we've done over 200 weddings together, which is wild, which is Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So it's been a lot of
weddings and where have you done those? Like what, what are all the countries or cities that you've gotten to photograph? Well, last year,
well, okay, well last year we had a crazy year and we did five international weddings.
But our, we've been to El Salvador. Last year we did Bali, Spain, Germany, and we got to go to France as well. And then we do a few in Mexico every year as well. I'm trying to think of. Other international places, but we've done did, did you do Alaska for his brother's wedding or were you just guest?
Well, we, we were guest at his brother's wedding, but then we, because we were in Alaska, we had the, we had Frankie and Cassie, our brother-in-law and sister-in-law get back into their dresses and suit and we did a day after photo shoot. So I'm like, we're not going all the way to Alaska to not photograph a couple in Alaska.
So I didn't claim Alaska because it actually wasn't our wedding. We didn't book that wedding, even though I wish we could have, but we couldn't be in the wedding. Anthony was best man, so we couldn't be in the wedding and photograph it at the same time. Yeah. But I was all day, I was thinking, man, I wish I was photographing this wedding.
So yeah. And then we've done all over the US from Chicago. We do several in Michigan a year where Anthony's from and then, we did ci, Mount Rainier, we've done Seattle, we've done Oregon. We're doing Montana this year and I've never been to Montana. Ooh. It's, so, I'm excited from Montana. Do you know where in Montana you're going?
Like it's up in Northern. Okay. I know it's green Valley Ranch is the venue, but it's in Northern. So we're going to go up into Canada. Mm-hmm. And do Banff. I think that's where Banff is. So I'm really excited. So Banff is
so, I love, I was there once very young with our parents and my brother and I still remember Banff and it's so, it's so beautiful.
Yes. It's I am really excited to check that out, but that's kind of, we secretly do all these awesome destination weddings so that we can then go and explore new places. Mm-hmm. So our Bali wedding we flew into Bali and then we photographed for one day, and then we stayed for 10 more just so we could go and explore.
So we didn't come back with money from that trip, but we had an awesome paid vacation. Yeah. So we just traveled around and we've done Spain twice now, so we got to travel around Spain and then this past year we got to go up into south of France and go wine tasting. We're big, we, we love wine. So Anthony's come a long way.
And his taste for wine myself included, over the eight years we've been together. Mm-hmm. And then Germany, we did this elopement in Germany and it was to die for, it was so stunning. It was in Bavaria. Mm-hmm. So in Southern Germany and. We pulled off right before the ceremony, there was this field of sheep and I was like, stop the car.
And they don't have like rail, like rails on the side. Mm-hmm. There's no gates. So we just went out in this field and there was a sheep herder that was just wearing green overalls with no shirt and he smoke in this big pipe. And the groom who is from California mm-hmm. He actually speaks German. And so he was like, can we take photos in Germany?
In German? Mm-hmm. And, and so he said, yeah, that was fine. So we just put them in this field and these, all of these sheeps were sheep, were flocking around them. And it was unreal. That was another Kodak moment. Yeah. It's like one of those moments I will never forget. And of course the bride staff, she was like, afraid she was, her dress was going to get eaten or she was gonna get trampled.
So a few of the photos, she's just, they're kind of cringing or just laughing and she said those are the cringing laughing moments are some of her most favorite. 'cause it was just like a real emotion. Like, oh my gosh, there's so many sheep, I'm gonna get trampled by sheep before my wedding. Yes, exactly.
But that was really cool and just being able to extend our travel. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we've built we've been really, really fortunate to have built up this international destination brand. And I would say people ask, well, how did you do that? Mm-hmm. And so I would say when you have a dream and you put it out there what you put out, what you manifest, I know that's like the key word that keeps going around my life lately.
But it's true. It's trendy, but it's real. It's so real. Mm-hmm. Like what you manifest is what you get. And so we were living in Laguna Beach and we were there for, I was there 12 years. Anthony was there for eight. And and I think just living in that apartment and in the same space all the time, I just wanted to get out and go and explore and travel.
And so anytime I saw an inquiry for like an international travel I was right on there. Mm-hmm. And, and, and. Another note for anyone that does put their name, their website on a Facebook post. And there's 150 comments already. Don't be afraid to be 151 because the Bali wedding, the girl had said, we're looking for a photographer.
And I was like, 170 something. And when she said, she goes, I looked through all of the websites and I was getting pretty, not like discouraged 'cause there's a lot. Yeah. Just not inspired. Mm-hmm. And then she goes, and I came to your page and she said, aha. Like I found you. Mm-hmm. And that was like the coolest thing because I remember just thinking, oh, I'm just gonna, like, we're a husband and wife team, we offer photo and video.
Like send Yeah. And she. Wrote us back and set up a Skype meeting and, and booked us. So that was a dream, like a dream realized. Mm-hmm. That to basically never, never give up and or just just allow it to be possible. Yeah. Allow it to be possible and don't let your brain say, oh, I'm not gonna comment.
There's already so many comments, or they probably already found someone. So yeah. So just putting it out there in general mm-hmm. To do international weddings and then once you do one, then it kind of snowballs and you do two and do three. Mm-hmm. And for our Spain wedding, we've now shot at the place twice at the same venue and we had two other inquiries this year as well, so we hopefully, fingers crossed we'll be going back to Spain.
So yeah, so that's kind of how we've built up this destination brand.
And Well, I think too, when, when people. If anyone asks me who's the best photographer I know and it, it obviously depends on what it is, right. But I'm like, nine times outta 10, I'm like, Kendall,
ah, thank you. And they're like, that's so flattering.
Why? And I'm like, we just go look at the pictures. Mm-hmm. Like the, everything that you care about in regards to the beauty and the romance and the drama and the storytelling. Like it shows up in every picture. Thank you. You did all the pictures. You did my photo shoot. Yes. For It's so fun. It was so, and I was like, I am not a model.
Right. I do not get my picture taken weekend.
Oh, you were so natural though. You were great.
Thank you. Mm-hmm. But I think it's 'cause of you. Like you. Thank you. We're friends. It was relaxing. You and Anthony came and stayed with us for the weekend. We did. So we just had a great time and, but that you bring out the best in whatever you are shooting.
Thank you. And there's something about getting the best version of you captured. That especially went into your wedding, like your headshots, it would've been like, whatever. But I'm like, no, I asked you, just like you said, you just ask. Yeah. I'm like, well, if I get to pick the, my favorite person to do this, let's just see if it's possible.
And it randomly worked out because you had an opening in Orange County. Yep. Granted, we talked on a Wednesday and you're like, we can do Saturday. I was like, oh fuck. Okay, let's figure this out. You're like, we're doing
it Saturday. You're like, I have to go shopping. Am I ready? Right. And I
said,
let's do it.
But there's it. That's the thing. It's like, you guys do such a great job. You're so professional. And I have no doubt that the photos are gonna come out. Amazing. And there's, I mean, that's why I was able to tell Dene, like, you had to call to call you. And she was worried about like, is it gonna be expensive?
I'm like, you are not going to regret whatever money you spend on these guys because you'll have these photos forever. Forever. And there's so many people who, who. Choose to not spend the money on their photographer for their wedding. And they're so disappointed.
Yes. There's no going back. No, no. That's like, it's one day and yeah, you wanna have zero regrets.
Mm-hmm. So we always say, even if it's not with us, when we're talking to cus to clients or brides and grooms, we always say like, you're, you're stuck with these photos and kind of with us forever. So on your wedding day mm-hmm. We are around you more than you're around anybody else in the entire day.
So we want it to be a good vibe, not only for them, but for us too. Mm-hmm. Like, we wanna feel comfortable with it. With our couples. Yeah. Which is why we like to get together with them before their wedding and just get to know them more because this is the most important day of their lives. Mm-hmm. And we want to capture the whole story and capture the things that they don't even know that they want captured.
Yeah. And, and we always joke that when we photograph your wedding, you're stuck with us for life because we want you guys to come and stay with us. We wanna go and adventure with you. Mm-hmm. The Germany wedding was perfect example because we traveled with them for three or four days around their wedding.
We stayed in this amazing castle, it was the coolest castle. You have to look it up. It's called Summer Dorf. Okay. Oh, wait, let me, let me find the ca I'll, I'll think of the name, but something, we'll, summer we put in show notes. Put it in show notes. Mm-hmm. But it was the coolest castle and it was just a really magical experience.
So then the couple step, and Jose, they were just at our house in Big Sur so they came and stayed with us for a weekend and we had so much fun. So for us, we're not running a transactional business. Mm-hmm. We're running a relational business. So it's so important to us that we we. It's so important to us.
Sorry, side note. I just found it's summer. Summer Dorf Castle. Oh yeah. Schl, summer Dorf. I'm probably really messing up the German. Oh, Schloss is Castle Schl. Summer Dorf. Yes. Is the ca is the castle. So I had it right. You did. I had it right.
And, and speaking of the
thank you, thank you.
To say like, can I take a picture in German?
It's just photo mocking. Like, can I make a photo? Photo
Photo. Oh, photo make. Yeah. Oh, I like that. Yeah. How do
you know German? I lived there for four years.
Oh yeah. You lived there. I totally forgot. Okay. Yes. Yes. This is all coming back to me.
And being in a city that has lots of tourists and like, they just assume if you're walking fast through the area that you, you're native.
Yep. And so, so many people would try and talk to me in German, or they're broken German, and I heard photo mocking like more like, and they'd hand me their camera. I'm like, you're photo mocking. It blows my mind how fast a stranger will give you their camera in a foreign country. Yeah. Wouldn't you just run away with it?
That, I mean, I'm always nervous about like who I'm giving my photo to. Mm-hmm. But, or camera to speaking of when I took Jesse to Nuremberg for the first time on the way we took, we took a van shuttle to LAX. And the driver gave us a selfie stick. He's like, this is my gift to you guys. You're gonna be in Europe for a month.
Like, take yourself. You need the
selfie stick.
Yeah. And Jesse was like, okay, thanks man. And he like, put it in his bag and think about it. And then he had gotten a beautiful camera to take on that trip and he was the new obsessive photographer that literally probably took a picture of every brick. Yes. In the street.
Mm-hmm. Just leading to the castle, let alone the castle. I was like, oh, it'll take us like 30 minutes to walk around this castle. Two hours later we were still at the castle 'cause he had to take 50 million shots.
Mm-hmm.
I'm like really like that brick. Looks like that brick. But he made friends with these four guys from Lebanon or Tunisia who are there visiting and they were really shy and they couldn't get all of them in their own selfie.
So he's like lending them the selfie stick. He's taking pictures with them, with the selfie stick. So these guys have photos of them. And Jesse?
Yes. Awesome. On all their cameras.
He definitely has pictures with these guys. Mm-hmm. And he kept, he got to the point where he's like styling them and posing them and like, no, no, no.
Move this way a little bit. All right. And happy this time and like fully directing a photo shoot. I love that. For men, and so
maybe you might have a photographer on your
hands. He's, he, he loves, well, I think he's just such a people person that if having a camera means he gets to capture people, I, I think it just makes him happy.
Even at, when he's working at the restaurant, he puts his time lapse on every day he's taking a new time lapse of the, of the
sunset.
Of the sunset. He does do that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So he loves it. Mm-hmm. I think it's probably something he would like to have more free time to spend doing, but definitely.
And it does take a lot of free time too.
Well, yeah. Or just have your camera on you all the time. Yeah. We try never to leave our house without a camera in the car, because how many times you're like, I wish I had my camera. Mm-hmm. And iPhones, I mean, the iPhone does take great photos, but I still have a six s so mine takes crappy photos.
Yeah. But it just is, doesn't compare in
my mind. No. Especially depending on what you want. Yeah. Like, if it's something farther away or like, there's nothing more heartbreaking to me than wanting to take a picture of a beautiful moon. And you can never do it with the phone. No, it'll never work.
No, it's like this tiny little, yeah.
like.in the sky and you're like, oh, that was the eclipse. Do you see it? There's the eclipse. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
I wanna come back to you and Anthony working as a team. Yep. It sounds very romantic, like it's always perfect all the time. Are there ever moments when you guys are fighting on a, on a job or get frustrated like you spend, especially now, 'cause you guys have moved to Big Sur.
Yes. And have a beautiful home up there right now
we do. Yeah.
So now you're, you went from being around everyone you knew and like a big social life in Laguna and now being kind of up in the mountains.
Yep.
So what is it like being together 24 7?
Yeah, so yeah, so we moved from Laguna Beach to a mountaintop in Big Sur and we drive an hour to the grocery store, which is crazy.
Like who drives an hour to the grocery store? You're like, you better not forget anything. So we have lots of lists when we run our errands and we usually do an errand day. And our errand day, unless we're shooting on the weekends, our errand day might be like the only day that we leave the ridge. So we live on this private ridge and we have, we're at the top of it.
So it takes 15 minutes from highway one to get up to our house, and it's two miles up, a half paved, half dirt road. And then you get to the top and you stand out on our. Oh, on, like the grass and you just have 180 degree view of the ocean. It is unreal. Our closest neighbors are three goats and yeah, it's, it's our dream.
Mm-hmm. Come true. When we moved, Anthony said all I want is a open kitchen, because we used to have the really small boxed in apartment kitchen, and I said I wanted floor to ceiling windows with lots of light because we work from home. And so I was just in this dark apartment. Granted it's Laguna Beach, it's not like it was a bad place.
I could just stroll down to the edge or the end of my street and there was the ocean. Mm-hmm. Well, now all I have to do is look up from my computer and look out. So yes. But what we traded in was not having our friends around us at all times, and then just conveniences. Mm-hmm. So yeah, so living up in Big Sur has been, it has been a whole new world, this whole lifestyle change. And yes, we are around each other 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Mm-hmm. And it's funny because people say, oh, do you guys fight more? Are you guys nitpicking more? Mm-hmm. Anything. And it's crazy to say that I didn't know that our marriage could actually get stronger.
Mm-hmm. That we could be closer, that we could be more in love. And that like still kind of blows my mind mm-hmm. That I'm saying that because you would think like, oh, they must, you know, they must fight all the time. But I think when you're out in nature, you're surrounded by nature. We're taking daily hikes and then we're spending our days editing like.
Anthony does a lot of the, a lot of, he runs all of our errands so it went, unless I go into town with Anthony mm-hmm. That's our one day apart. And so Anthony will do errand days mm-hmm. And then we get like 10 hours apart from one another. And it is kind of nice. It is kind of nice to just have a few quiet moments.
Mm-hmm. Because Anthony always likes to come in and see what I'm doing or he likes to play his music really loud, so we always have music that's like blaring. And so that's why I think he and Jesse are
friends.
Yes, exactly. But he's also more of a night owl than I am, and he sleeps in later than I do.
So I actually. Wait, I used to wake up around like eight or nine, and now I wake up between six and seven and I watch the sunrise almost every morning, which is amazing. And I have my coffee and I go sit outside and I journal or mm-hmm. I read and then I come in and answer emails or edit, and I like having the quiet time in the morning.
Mm-hmm. So I think just having those two hours, two to four hours in the morning to myself is huge. Because then once he's up, he's like bebopping around, like, Hey, let's go do something. What do you want to eat? So. Anthony's a dream. He cooks for me. He cleans he cleans for us, he cooks for us, he cleans for us.
He runs all of our errands. He is the behind the scenes man to the max. Like he gathers all of our camera equipment. He does the checks to make sure that we have all of our lenses, our batteries are all charged. He gets the bags, he loads up the car. So. Where are you talking about? When we get annoyed with one another, it's usually when we're driving.
And I don't really know why, but we always seem to bicker and fight when we're in the car. Either Anthony's driving too fast, he's tailgating, we're getting lost. I told him he needed to take an exit and he just listened to the music and sing right by the exit. And then like, well, you didn't tell me.
And I'm like, yeah, I told you. So I would say we fight or bicker when we're traveling. Mm-hmm. But I think the traveling and the, the road part of any trip is the heart is, I mean, it's the most stressful part. Yeah. And so, because we are. We live in Big Sur and we shoot several weddings there a year, but the majority of our weddings we're traveling.
Mm-hmm. So we spend anywhere between six to 12 hours in our car on like a Friday. Mm-hmm. So for example, we photographed a engagement session in Big Sur at Sunset on Friday. Then we hopped in the car and drove six hours, got in at two 30 in the morning into Orange County. Then we woke up at eight, and then we headed to a wedding.
We photographed a wedding for 10 hours. Got home last night. Woke up this morning. I had a photo shoot this morning. I'm here. We drove to la I'm here for the podcast. And then we have an engagement session in LA this afternoon, and then we're driving home tonight, so that's wild. We spend a lot of time in the car, so we tend to bicker in the car.
But aside from that. When we're working together on a shoot, I think we know each other so well that we're not getting in each other's way. So Anthony and I, we shoot on different lenses. We're all prime. Mm-hmm. Meaning that we shoot on a fixed lens. So I'm usually on a 35 and an 85. I'm gonna get nerdy for a second.
That's okay. And then Anthony's on a 50 and a 1 35. So what's great is that we're shooting from different focal points. Mm-hmm. And then, and so we can kind of move around each other, and I know what lens he's shooting on during a ceremony. Like he knows which lenses he needs to be shooting on. Mm-hmm.
And so we're never in each other's way, and actually during a wedding, we don't get to actually interact very much. You're not ever in the same place? No. Mm-hmm. Not until the reception and then we're like the Snoopy couple that like slow dances and we'll steal kisses and I mean that's kind of the fun.
Mm-hmm. That's a fun part when all the stress of the day is over. Yeah. And we get to just capture mm-hmm. The speeches. And I always cry at the vows and I usually cry at the father speech mm-hmm. And the first dances. So I'm pretty sappy and I'm a romantic at heart, but yeah. So we, I would say when we bicker is the getting to mm-hmm.
On our way to a wedding. Yeah. I always like to be there really early and I like to leave late. And I take a lot of photos and Anthony will sometimes say like, you need to learn how to read the groom. I think the groom is done. And I was like, yeah, but the bride's not done and I'm reading the bride.
No. So we'll kind of, so he is the perfect balance to me. In so many ways. What I
also really respect about you guys as a couple is you respect each other so much and are, you're always very complimentary of each other. Like, I think you guys understand each other enough where you know what the other one cares about.
Mm-hmm.
So you kind of have a natural give and take about like, am I gonna push this or not?
Definitely. And like
even how you like tease each other sometimes. Like it's never something that the other person doesn't know. Yeah. Is like a, a thing of theirs. Yeah. And yeah, like it's just, I remember I had met Anthony before I met you.
And he's like, oh yeah, you have to meet Kendall. And he's like, it's crazy. She's such a great photographer, but like, really like she, she should be on the other side. She's like a model. Hmm. And I was like, that's so sweet. I mean, you are beautiful, but it's, well, I'm
not a model, but, but it's great to hear your husband
like talking about you like that way and in third company, right?
Yeah.
Yeah. He's the sweetest, I would say. I would say that me actually quitting my full-time job mm-hmm. And being a full-time photographer, I would not have done without Anthony. Mm-hmm. Anthony's always been my biggest supporter, my biggest advocate. He, he believed in me harder than I believed in me, and he still does sometimes.
And mm-hmm. He has always been my backbone and my strength and and he loves me so well and like so completely. Mm-hmm. That. Yeah. It's like I am a different version of who I am mm-hmm. Because of his love. Mm-hmm. Like, I think I'm more of a complete Yeah. Stronger powerful lady because of his love.
So definitely he is, he is the yin to my yang. Yeah. He's awesome. And he's very handsome too. So He is, yes. I love our, one of our first few dates, he needed headshots. Because in LA if you're getting a restaurant job, you have to have headshot. And so I did his headshot and I remember sending him to my mom being like, this is the new guy I am dating is an e he cute.
So yeah, I would say we do a lot of photos when we're traveling. Mm-hmm. But also for our brand. So if you see. If you see our Instagram or our personal Instagrams, or our business Instagram, we always try and put photos of us too. And people are like, how do you get those photos? And I'll tell you our secret, it's a tripod and a clicker.
So we just set up the tripod and then we click. That way we don't have to worry about asking someone to take our photo when we're traveling. Mm-hmm. And then again, we're not gonna do it in the middle of like, I don't know, Rome, where someone's going to just grab the tripod and run off. But we try to pick like a quieter area and we never turn our back to the tripod if we're mm-hmm.
If we're around people. Mm-hmm. Or we try not to. But generally that's like such the easy way. And you can fire off 200 clicks in the matter of. 10 seconds. Not really 10 seconds. You can maximize it for sure. I always maximize it that way. I can pick and choose, but that's how we do our own version of selfies.
Mm-hmm. So we never do selfies because I just don't love the quality and,
I mean people, it's hard to look your best that way plus, especially when like you care so much about the whole story. So I know that you're, if you're gonna be on a quiet street in Rome, you're gonna pick the coolest door mm-hmm.
With like the best texture and the color contrast. So it's not just you guys, it's you guys and this awesome door
and then back Yeah. To selfies. I always laugh. We have some good friends and that we shared together. Mm-hmm. And they went to Rome and they were at Rome with their selfie and then they were in Florence with their selfie.
But you actually couldn't see any of their backdrops. You have no idea where they were. Anthony always jokes. He's like, because people ask us all the time, maybe 'cause we have a camera in our hand and they're like, oh, they have a camera. I bet they can take our photo. Mm-hmm. So, so we'll take their photo and we never say no.
We're always like, yeah, or, and Anthony will laugh at me because I'll be like, oh, I should go help them. They look sad. They're trying to get the selfie. Let me go and take their photo for them. So I always go out of my way to take photos for people on their phones. Mm-hmm. And aunt always jokes like, if they only knew they were getting that done by, you know, by a real photographer.
Right. And I'm like, yeah, but it's, it's for me, I want them to have that moment. Mm-hmm. And have like a great shot of the beach in the background or the city. Yes. Because how nice is it? How nice is it when you're trying to take a selfie and someone says, Hey, can I take your photo for you? It's instead it's like, so nice.
So yes. And I always wish people would do that for us, so that's why we do that. Yeah. For other people. So it's kind of a, and it's fun. It is fun. Yeah.
Who are people that have inspired you along the way?
Hmm. Well, I have a mentor at OCC and her name's Agatha and she is an amazing photographer, but she was my fashion photographer.
Mm-hmm. And she mentored me and still to this day, mentors me, and I just feel like I wouldn't have been pushed mm-hmm. In the ways that, she pushed me. And most people, she loves this about it. So she'll, she'll be o okay that I say this, but most people, when they find out that I have Agatha as a teacher, they're like, oh, I have Agatha.
She's so hard. And I'm like, oh, I have Agatha. Like I love Agatha Uhhuh. And again, it's probably because I'm a teacher's pet, so I always worked really hard to have really great projects and to outdo myself because when you're in school, when is there a better time to really try and mm-hmm. Outdo yourself every time.
And so Agatha has probably been one of my biggest inspirations. And then she is also I mean she's photographed some amazing people and she does portraiture and she does, a lot of product. Mm-hmm. She's like photographed for, I don't know, I'm sure she's done Louis Vuitton and Chanel. She's done like all the major bags.
Her and her husband and her and her husband shoot together, and they're a husband and wife team, which is really cool. Mm-hmm. Too. And so yeah. So she would be my, my photography guru. Mm-hmm. Still to this day, if I get a job that I dunno how to bid the job for, if it's I'll just send her over a text message like, Hey, what do you think about this?
Or, mm-hmm. So it's great to have those people in your life that they're so important. Yeah. So she went from teacher to like friend or teacher, mentor, friend. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. I, I, there was this whole conversation happening because of. Like, what does self-made mean? After one of the Kardashians just became the youngest, I think Kylie right.
Just became the youngest billionaire. Hmm. And they, they gave her the title of youngest self-made billionaire. And so there's all this drama right now about what it means to be self-made. And I, I find it sort of funny because it's not about her and I, anyone who is in the spotlight and is a celebrity and is out there being successful, they're working their ass off.
You can't be at that level and not be working your ass off somehow, even if it's just having to keep up with how you look every time you go outta the house. Mm-hmm.
That's, that's a lot of work too. It's a lot of work.
So, and, and I know she's doing a lot more than that. Right. And of course she has a whole team behind her because you can't run a cosmetics brand without an entire team.
There's 20 million steps and you need a developer and an engineer and a chemist and a packaging design, like it just keeps going. And so with or without her in that conversation, there is no reality to somebody who is self-made. Like there's none because we all have an entire team of people who either volunteered or didn't know they were helping us mm-hmm.
In their support and their words. The people who, like we begged to help us and the people we pay as like, as little as we can afford to like get by. And then the people that were like, once you can finally pay someone what you know, they're worth to help you. It's such an amazing feeling because you finally feel worthy of their time, but nobody is.
A hundred percent self-made.
No, it's
not possible.
Well, you have your, you need your team. Yeah. You need your tribe. Mm-hmm. And I mean, I think most, most people that go out on their own or start their own business mm-hmm. Not only have they put in countless hours into trainings or products or reading books or whatever mm-hmm.
The schooling. But aside from that, if you don't have anybody in your corner helping you mm-hmm. Or encouraging you, I just know for me, without the encouragement and support, I don't know if I would've taken the leaps that I did. So I'm so thankful and grateful for the people that did trust me to take their photos or photograph their weddings.
Like, especially when our f when I was first starting out. Mm-hmm. And fashion brands that I've shot for that have just trusted me to do the vision and they love it. But yeah, I definitely think you need a huge tribe around you. Mm-hmm. In order to succeed.
Yeah. When, when you're feeling not your best and maybe you're, you've come back from a long trip and shooting and you're exhausted and worn out what are the things that you do to get yourself back to your A game and to feel like yourself and get the balance back so that you can be your best self?
Yeah. I would say again, it just comes back to being immersed in nature. Mm-hmm. So just going outside, going for a hike and just kind of being centered and just being reminded, mm-hmm. Of. Why I am doing the things that I'm doing. We have a bathtub in our front yard, and so I take a bath with a glass of wine and I watch sun.
I watch a sunset, so like tomorrow. Mm-hmm. I don't wanna do any work because I just fought shot for five days in a row. Yeah. So I plan on getting in the bathtub and watching the sunset over the ocean with a glass of wine in my hand. Mm-hmm. As a way to decompress. So I definitely feel like I need decompression days mm-hmm.
Where I turn off all of my email. Mm-hmm. And I turn off everything.
Yeah.
And I just like really sit and all journal. I like to journal, I like to read. Well now I'm now, I didn't read for years, but now that we live on a mountaintop and our internet's kind of slow, we have. Decided to turn off the TV for the most part.
Mm-hmm. So I haven't watched TV except I am gonna watch Game of Thrones because I'm obsessed with Game of Thrones. But we've pretty much turned off TV in our house, so I've been reading a lot more and journaling and just kind of. Decompressing mm-hmm. Is probably how I come back because if you just go, go, go, you reach this burnout.
And I would say at the end of last year, between August, September, well between September, October and November, we photographed like 30, no, 20, 20, 25 weddings. Mm-hmm. And a lot of them were destination weddings. So we were just traveling, traveling, traveling. There was two times last year where we were gone for five weeks in a row from our house because we were traveling so much.
And I came back and it's November. We just finished our last international wedding in Mexico. Mm-hmm. And I had 15 weddings to edit. And so just coming back and like realizing how far behind I'd gotten on my editing, which happens when you're traveling and you're shooting four weddings in a weekend.
Like it is really easy to get backed up and it takes me between the cooling and the editing and blogging it and uploading to the gallery and creating the slideshow. I mean, 30, 40 hours a week. Mm-hmm. So when we're shooting that much, it's really easy to get behind. So at the end of November and into December, I was still editing weddings, wanting everyone to get their stuff before Christmas.
And I reached total burnout.
Yeah.
And I was ready for Christmas break and I was ready just to not do anything for a while. So I think coming back from that, because I felt like that was such a burnout mm-hmm. That in January, I think just realigning, starting to listen to different podcasts reading some new books starting to set new goals.
Mm-hmm. So I'm really goal oriented and if I don't have a goal in mind, I feel like I kind of fall into like, feeling stagnant. Yeah. So I always need something to reach for, something to aspire to. Otherwise I'm not moving myself forward. Mm-hmm. And I find that if I'm not moving myself forward, then I don't think I am being my best self.
Mm-hmm. So yeah. But I still need, I still need my bathtub. Yeah. Days and days where I answer zero emails and I edit nothing. Mm-hmm. And I am, I'm just with my husband. Yeah. We're just hanging out.
Was is, are those days hard for you to take or were they hard at the beginning and now you know how important they are so they're less hard to take?
Well, I would say when you own your own business, you you work seven days a week. Mm-hmm. And I mean, I check my emails at one in the morning if I'm still up. If there's a new inquiry, I always take those first. And no matter what time of day, because I know that you need to respond mm-hmm. Right away.
But I never have days off. Really. Yeah. I mean, but then I do. So we'll set, we'll take, we don't have set hours. Mm-hmm. Because. I mean, you don't need to. No, we don't need to. But I take my two hour hikes. I go on Sunday out in the lawn when it's sunny and beautiful out, I'll just go lay outside and we watch the condors go by.
So I mean, my day starts at seven and most days I don't go to bed till 11 and mm-hmm. I probably take two hours during it to not work. And then when we do take full days off, we'll go wine tasting or we'll just have like a day in town. Mm-hmm. Or we'll go snowboarding, like we've done a lot of snowboarding trips.
Mm-hmm. So the first day I am really like, I'm just enjoying my freedom. By day two, I'm like, oh, I need to start checking my emails. Oh, I should probably edit, get up early and edit something over coffee. And by day three, I'm itching to get home. Yeah. So I can start working again. Because just that feeling of.
It piling up. Yeah, it piling up. Almost steals the joy away from taking the days off. So I try, we try to still take like one or two days off, but it's never set. Mm-hmm. It's just like, let's go on an adventure. I need an adventure, I need a date night. Yeah. So, because we live together 24 hours a day and we're, we live on a mountaintop an hour away from anything.
We cook all of our meals at home now. And so I'll tell Anthony I need a date night and so he'll plan something sweet. Mm-hmm. And we'll go do a whole adventure day or two days. Mm-hmm. So I find that actually helps to balance me mm-hmm. Or balance us. And it helps to keep us really tight too. Mm-hmm.
Because I can go into a work mode. And I, I could potentially be a workaholic. Mm-hmm. If I wasn't married to Anthony. Yeah. 'cause he loves to play. So again, we're that great merriment mm-hmm. Where I ground him and he gives me wings and yeah. So he makes me he makes me go and adventure and mm-hmm.
Stop and smell the roses and stop working. Like, he'll sometimes like just come and close my laptop and give me a glass of wine and, well, normally I have a glass of wine. Well, and then he'll come and close the laptop. Mm-hmm. But yeah.
So it's all about balance. Mm-hmm. When you, you mentioned a couple books and podcasts that you're listening to.
Are there any that you rely on for inspiration or new advice about photography or business?
Well, I really loved, for a while I was listening to Jenna Kutchers, the Gold Digger. Mm-hmm. And that one was amazing. She has a lot of great advice for creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, photographers. So I got a huge wealth of knowledge and I tell everyone, oh, you have to check out the Gold Digger.
Mm-hmm. And then most recently, the book that we just read that Anthony and I read together, Anthony's dad gave us the Compound Effect. Okay. And that book has been awesome. It's not art or photography driven, but it's more about how small changes in your life over time ends up having like radical effects in your life.
Mm-hmm. So how I, part of why I stopped re watching TV was because of this book just saying that if you turn off the TV and you use those hours to read a book, to be inspired mm-hmm. To answer a few more emails. Like, it's almost like push me to just want to be a better employee to myself sometimes.
Mm-hmm. Like, just answer a few more emails, be or reach out to a few new clients. Because we're in Big Sur and we've only been there eight months we're trying to build our network there. So we've been trying really hard to make connections. So that book, this book has kind of inspired me to make more connections.
Try. Mm-hmm. Try. Just inspired me to take that extra step, that motivational step mm-hmm. To keep going and keep that snowball going. And it talks a lot about your mo, which is your momentum.
Mm-hmm. Which it is so important. It's so
important. But it's really hard to get a boulder going. But once it's rolling down that hill, it's rolling.
Mm-hmm. And so just keeping that momentum going. And he talks a lot about how you spend your morning. So he talks about bookending your day. Mm-hmm. Which I think is so cool. And if so, instead of checking my emails or instead of laying in bed. On checking Instagram and my emails from bed. Mm-hmm. I now get up and I have more of a routine.
I have my coffee, I journal, or I read for 30 minutes, I sit outside. Mm-hmm. And so I feel like it just starts my day. Mm-hmm. And I actually try not to get on my emails until afternoon because you use, this is also brilliant that I just learned that you use all your creative juices and your best of who you are in the, in the first half of your day.
Yes. So don't focus your brain power on your emails. Focus it on major important tasks. Mm-hmm. Not that your emails aren't important, they are important, but focus on your creative tasks that require a lot of. Your brain or your creativity. Yeah. Or your enthusiasm or your emotional capacity. Mm-hmm.
Because once you get in, for me, once I get into my email, like I have an email day and it's eight hours of life sucking emails mm-hmm. And responding and there's just so much back and forth and filtering through and so yeah. So just not attacking my emails first mm-hmm. Has made a huge difference in my workflow and my workday.
Yes. So I try to do creative things first or do my editing, like things that require a lot more brain power. Brain power, or if I'm goal setting mm-hmm. Just kind of focusing on that first.
So yeah, I totally agree with that logic. And what I hear in you sharing that is also that you plan out your days.
Like you're very, it sounds like you're, you're relatively scheduled so that you can stay on track. Well, I'm like a
creative that's scheduled, so which is unusual on its own. Yeah. So I'm a schedule, I'm a creative, that kind of schedule. So in my brain mm-hmm. I'll say like, oh, I need to do these things, or I wanna go on a hike.
And so I have it mapped out, but then I can also go on a tangent and edit for 12 hours straight in a day. Or I could say, fuck it, we're leaving. Like, we're gonna go drink rose and Yeah. Have a picnic. So I feel like our day can just really flow. Flow. Mm-hmm. But I will say that my daily, like I need to tackle certain things throughout a day.
Mm-hmm. Otherwise I think I get a little down on myself if I don't always achieve, so.
Yep. Yeah. I, I think I'm the same way. And that if I'm not getting things done, I get really bummed out. 'cause I feel the momentum stopping. Mm-hmm. And then I also realized that. I can get sucked in as well and just do 12 hours where I'm on the computer.
I don't even realize it's been 12 hours. Exactly. And, but I, I, as soon as I realize how long it's been, I can feel it instantly in my body. Mm-hmm. And the next day, I'm not as energetic or focused as I was the day before. So I really am trying now to lock my schedule in more and, and have more variety happening.
I was just working with a client on Friday who had a long list of things that she wanted to get done and change in her life. And we did this cool exercise. We broke everything down into is it an issue that can be solved with time or an issue that can only be solved with money? And we broke everything out that way and we realized that.
90% of what she wanted to change was time, which is super cool when you realize that because we all have the same hours in a day. It's just how we use them. So we went through and I'm excited to see what's happening. 'cause like this next week will be her first week of using like a super schedule. And I'm like, just try it.
Don't worry about failing. Don't worry about not getting it all done. I just want you to try it in journal as you're going through it. What works, what doesn't work? Where was there a breakdown? Do you like it? Not like it. Do you hate me on like Tuesday afternoon? 'cause you're like, screw this schedule. Like just write it all down.
But we were able to build everything she cared about into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And I was like, all right, what do you wanna put Wednesday afternoon? She's like, I don't know. I've never had this much free time. And I'm like,
so maybe I, wait, what is this super schedule? Are you talking about? Is it a program?
Nope. This, this is just a Kara Duffy practice of going from like 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM or 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM Like you can decide if you want it to be like a 12 hour window or from like when you wake up until you go to bed and you just map out everything that you want in your day. Okay. So I need to start doing that.
You, I mean, it sounds like you kind of already are, but for if you like, I literally put it into my calendar, my digital calendar, and I recommend that people don't fill up the whole hour, but play that 45 minute game. And I forget who wrote the book, about 45 minute concept. But basically if you, you wanna not plan everything you need to do back to back because inevitably a phone call will come up or you need to refill your water or go to the bathroom, or you just need to like do a lap.
Like
mm-hmm. You
need to get up and move. So just plan to work in 45. Or some people do like 90 minute increments, so you're on for 45 off for 15. And like, you kind of go through blocks almost. Like if you were in high school, you need the time to like go from class to class. Hmm. And you set the time or you turn everything else off and you just do that for that time.
And that's why some people prefer to do 90 minutes because then you can get, it's a little bit
more time. Yeah. Sucked into
something. And then allows you, like if you cut everything else off, you just kinda like you're describing your morning, like you actually get stuff done. Yeah. Because emails and texts are so distracting.
Yes. And it's so easy to, like, I will go to look at the weather on my phone and 45 minutes have gone by and I don't even know what the weather is yet.
Mm-hmm.
But something popped up something something, and I'm like down the rabbit hole. So turning it all off. And even if you're using your computer, like maybe turning off the internet on airplane.
Yeah. I try to do
that when I'm editing because it's easy to get distracted for sure.
Yeah. And then, so yeah, you just, you just map everything out. Even like, I'm gonna get ready here, I'm gonna work out here. I'm gonna have breakfast here. So it's cool. It's, it's not, it doesn't feel glamorous when you first start doing it because it looks like your whole life is mapped out and you know what you're gonna be doing every minute for, it's more to get into the habit of like really looking at how you wanna spend your time.
Because there's that quote about how, where your treasure is, so is your heart. Hmm. So it kind of says like, where you spend money is what you actually care about. So when you look at where you're spending money, you're like, oh, shit. It's like, I actually don't, I'm not prioritizing X, Y, and Z. Instead, it's like all going into wine shit.
Right. And you spend a lot of money on wine. Yeah.
Nothing wrong with it. Right. If it's a priority, no problem. But a lot of people realize when they look at their time or their money, that they're actually spending more of it on things that aren't part of their big game.
Hmm.
And so I, I am trying really hard to figure out a game plan to convince Jesse to get rid of our TV or to turn it off, like do a month without any.
I might be able to convince him for all of it except like MMA news, but we'll see. But I think it's so important because next, or do
start with a week. Yes. And then have, like Anthony and I will both read mm-hmm. Or we're sitting on the couch together right around our fireplace. Right. I know
you can, you can talk and you, or play a game.
Mm-hmm. Or discuss something or go for a walk. Well just come in.
Just come and stay with us because we don't really, our internet does not stream TV and we only have like Hulu and HBO and Netflix. So
Perfect. We'll come and do our detox. Hang out with you guys. Yeah, exactly. It'll be a TV detox, not a wine detox, and they'll be good to go.
We ask every woman on the podcast where you put yourself on the powerful lady scale. So zero being average everyday human, and 10 being super powerful. Lady. Where do you feel today and where do you feel on average? Honestly, I think.
I don't know. I'm an eight, nine, or 10, like somewhere Perfect. I feel like I'm really I am driven.
I feel like I'm in control for the most part of mm-hmm. Our life. Like I am living my dream. Mm-hmm. And how does that feel? Yeah, I mean, it's amazing what we've grown. I've been shooting for 10 years and full-time for six, but just where I'm at now. Mm-hmm. If you would've asked me five years ago, I feel like I've hit every milestone that I wanted.
I've mm-hmm. I've been on six magazine covers for fashion editorials. I've been in 15 magazines. We've done like seven international weddings. We've done 200, over 200 weddings. And we live on a mountaintop in Big Sur. It's, it's a dream. So I would say I feel like I am. I feel like I'm living, living out who I'm supposed to be at this place in time.
Mm-hmm. But I just feel like there's so many women out there. Mm-hmm. And we're kind of all on this journey, and we're all on this spectrum. And maybe some days when we're booking these epic jobs, I'm feeling like a 10. Yeah. And then other days when I'm like, okay, is anyone going to inquire about anything?
I probably feel like a too. Yeah. But I think as women, we're just, we are well, we're so emotional in general, but like, in a good way. But we're kind of always like, I don't know, I guess we're always kind of riding the waves mm-hmm. Of life and figuring out like, what are our next dreams? What are our next goals?
And I have to be inspired, like I listen to podcasts mm-hmm. To help push me to the next level. So yeah. I think it's so cool that being a powerful woman or powerful lady, is so desirable. Mm-hmm. And it's not talked down on anymore. Oh. I mean, it might still in some circles, but like in this one, we're really mm-hmm.
Celebrating powerful ladies and achievement and having dreams and having big goals and mm-hmm. Living big lives. And so I feel like I'm living an awesomely big life and Yeah. It wasn't for, without a lot of blood, sweat and tears, a lot of work, a lot of nos before. We got a lot of yeses. And and then having the support and the love of, and my partner and soulmate mm-hmm.
Anthony and our families and our friends who have just supported us. Mm-hmm. Like, thank you for thinking of me, Kara, as your favorite photo photographer. Of course. I mean, that to me is such an honor. So I would say sometimes I can put myself down. Mm-hmm. Like I'm lower on the two and then. I'm on that too skill and I'm thinking that I'm not good enough and mm-hmm.
You play that game and mm-hmm. I just had dinner with an amazing wedding photographer named Evan Lee Val, and she's super talented in Big Sur and. She has red hair, which I love too. So I love
redhead power, but we can add her to the ginger week that I wanna do. Yeah. Ginger week. I'm such a butthead.
I'm like, we're gonna do a whole week where we just talked to people named Kara and a whole week of people that just have red hair. Yeah. Red hair. It's perfect. My sister's rolling her eyes like that is the most egotistical thing I've ever thought of. I'm like, yeah. Butt, or it's
awesome and silly. Yes. But she's like an ama.
She has grown such an amazing business in Big Sur. Mm-hmm. And so it was interesting to sit down and just kind of swap stories and she was just saying how, like she's asking me. Mm-hmm. And she's been doing photography for full-time for 10 years. And she does, I mean, she is like the, the big sir wedding photographer and she's super talented.
She's like, well, how did you become a destination wedding photographer? Like, I wanna do that. So I think it's cool that we can kind of all be on the sliding scale and support one another and trade and mm-hmm. So I feel like I'm just always. Up and down on the scale.
Yeah. So I don't know. I would say that I am too.
Yeah. Because it's, it's if you are living a bold and brave life, there's always gonna be what's next.
Mm-hmm.
And as soon as you break through one ceiling, you're like, oh, what's over there? Mm-hmm. Like, it, it doesn't stop. Which I think is amazing. 'cause that means it doesn't, we don't stop learning and growing and meeting new people.
And our other sister asked me the other day, she's like, how do you know, you know, whatever, many thousand people I'm connected to on Facebook, and I've never looked at the number, I didn't even notice. And then I'm like, well, if you take how old I am and from like 17 to now and divide that, that means I've met like 70 new people a year, which means that.
I've, we way more people than that. So thinking of all the people that aren't on Facebook, I'm like, I dunno. I just, I love meeting people and that connection and growing and traveling and there's so much to that. And when you are up to big things, that's just how it goes. You're, one day you wanna land the couch and be huddled in a ball, and then the next day you're like, I can do anything.
Mm-hmm. And it's amazing to me, especially being an entrepreneur, how fast that those changes can happen. Oh yeah. It's.
Yeah, you and as creatives, I think. Mm-hmm. You can really get down on yourself too. And so I feel I face that every January dec like end of December into January when our calendar's not very full.
I'm like, what did we do moving here? Did we, was this like a good decision for us? And mm-hmm. I always get down on myself and Anthony's like, you get down on yourself every year in January, because I don't really do well with like, nothing. Yeah. Like, there's nothing on our calendar for a whole year or very little.
Yeah. And we pay everything. Like our whole life is photography, so we don't have part-time jobs. Mm-hmm. This is it. So if we wanna live our life and pay our rent and do everything we need to book work, and I don't wanna get. I don't wanna go back to full-time graphic design. Mm-hmm. And so it's, but it's funny because the work comes, so I think it's easy to get down on yourself and get like down in the dumps and just think, oh, I'm bad at this.
Or maybe it wasn't the right decision, or, I don't know. And then everything works out. Mm-hmm. Because our calendar is like, more than full. So,
and I think if somebody would ask, like, how does it just work out? Like, my, my answer to that would be, well, when I'm having the freak out, I am. I'm strategizing the whole time of like, all right, how are we gonna get more clients and what can we do?
And like I, there's 50 options running through my head and it's not like, even though you don't have anything booked for that month, you're still working.
Oh, yeah. We work a ton. We're rebranding, we're reaching out. Mm-hmm. We're emailing with people we're taking, going on lunch dates or mm-hmm. Taking people out.
So you're always working. Yeah. And I would say again, the compound effect is mm-hmm. It's not like I'm just, I just quit my job and thinking, oh, how am I gonna fill up my calendar? It's not, I've been, I've been making these connections. I've been shooting for all of these years. Mm-hmm. We have a huge word of mouth business.
We don't advertise. And so huge word of mouth. So it's like someone hears about something and then it's like, oh, reach out to Kendall, reach out to the Dolores, and mm-hmm. And so it's years and years and years of making those connections, the friendships. Yeah. Like Kara was saying, like, how do you have so many followers or friends, or how do you know so many people?
And it's like, you make these connections. Mm-hmm. And and I like connecting people, so I like to be like, oh, this is us. Me
too. As you were wrapping up the podcast, what do you want women to know who are about to start their business or about to take that leap from full-time to a hundred percent entrepreneurship whether they're in photography or something else.
Like what do you want those women to know?
I would say have big goals and have big dreams and don't be discouraged by naysayers. Mm-hmm. I would say that all of my friends used to used to say things like, oh, Kendall's just dreaming. Like my mom would say, oh, Kendall, in her dreams. Like, not in a bad way, but just, I've always been a dreamer and my thoughts on that are, have big dreams.
Because even if you don't hit that exact dream or that exact goal, you're going to. Land somewhere that's almost might've been better than what your initial dreams or goals were in the first place. So that being said, have attainable goals. No, I mean, have unattainable goals. Yes. Sorry, that's what I meant.
But write out your goals and in a timeline. So where do you wanna be? What do you wanna achieve this month, this year, five years, 10 years. And that was something that I did right before I quit and I, I should find those goals. I know that I've hit most of 'em, but I wonder how far off I was from my goals.
And so having big dreams and not settling, I would say never settle if you're. If you have the passion and the desire and you want to go after your dreams, do them and persevere, like just keep going. Like whenever there's nos someone will say yes. What does, what does they say? Like a no is just a comma on the way to a yes or something like that.
I like that. Yeah. I dunno if I botched that, but I think that's what it is. A no is a comma on a, on your way to Yes. And so just put everything in it and do it wholeheartedly. And be passionate because I think people can just really see passion and they want to be near it and be around it and being excited about something.
So if you're not passionate about what you're doing, you're not going to be giving. Your whole heart and your whole self to something. So whatever it is, be passionate, have big goals, and don't stop until you achieve it. Because it could have been really easy for me to have stayed a graphic designer and just her, and there's nothing wrong.
I love being a graphic designer, but I could have just stayed in that job and listened to everyone that said, don't quit your day job. But my passion and my heart was in photography and I am. So, so glad. Like it's, it's unreal. I'm so glad I took the leap of faith. But that being said, make sure that you put enough money set aside, like save, have a savings account so you don't feel so stressed.
And take the leap, but do it. Prepare
yourself. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Be prepared. Words of wisdom. Mm-hmm. From Kendall. Mm-hmm. Thank you so much for being on the powerful of this podcast.
It was so much fun to have Kendall on the podcast. Everything she's a part of and she touches is that much more magical, romantic, and beautiful. That's who she is. So it's no surprise that's what she creates. I hope you enjoyed her story. To connect, support, follow, and of course, hire Kendall or Kendall Anthony which you all need to do because you'll never have better photographs anywhere.
You can visit kendall reilly.com for her commercial and fashion photography. Visit the dolores.com for their international wedding photography business, and you can follow them on Instagram at the Dolores or at Kendall Riley Photography. And remember to visit our show notes on the powerful ladies.com to get all the correct spellings, the direct links, and all the other notes for this episode.
If you'd like to support the work that we're doing here at Powerful Ladies, there's a couple of ways you can do that. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Google Play, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Leave a review on any of these platforms. Share the show with all the powerful ladies and gentlemen in your life.
Join our Patreon account. Check out the website, the powerful ladies.com. To hear more inspiring stories. Get practical tools to be your most powerful. Get 50% off your first order in The Powerful Ladies Shop, or donate to the Powerful Ladies one Day of Giving campaign. And of course, follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies for show notes and to get the links to the books, podcasts, and people we talk about, go to the powerful ladies.com.
I'd like to thank our producer, composer, and audio engineer Jordan Duffy. She's one of the first female audio engineers in the podcasting world, if not the first. And she also happens to be the best. We're very lucky to have her. She's a powerful lady in her own right, in addition to taking over the podcasting world.
She's a singer songwriter working on our next album, and she's one of my sisters, so it's amazing to be creating this with her, and I'm so thankful that she finds time in her crazy busy schedule to make this happen. It's a testament to her belief in what we're creating through Powerful Ladies, and I'm honored that she shares my vision.
Thank you all so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. I can't wait for you to hear it. Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.

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Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud

PhotagrapherCareer DevelopmentInspiration

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