Meet Kara Pearson Gwinn | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kara Pearson Gwinn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kara, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I’ve always put myself in the shoes of the client. What do they want? Need? After I got married, I knew how to better serve my wedding clients and then after having kids, I understood better how to help parents with the family portrait process and make the entire experience easier and more memorable.

Honesty and integrity is at the core of my business. My entire business model has been built around what I wanted (and needed!) as a mother going through the family portrait process.

Lastly, living a full life outside of business – having fun with my family, traveling, reading, being with friends cooking – helps me still love what I do. It brings me back refreshed and ready to capture memories for other families. I’m not saying I’ve figured the whole balance thing out perfectly, but I try!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Capturing the little moments that make up a relationship of parent and child and the family dynamic is my main goal at each session. I never want an image to look contrived or staged. I really strive to make the session fun and easy for everyone, and that shows in the images.

Offering a client wardrobe for women and girls and professional hair and makeup with each session is one way I differ from many photographers.

Probably the biggest reason people come to me is for my help in designing albums and framed wall galleries. Not only do I design, print and framed everything, but I also have your wall art professionally installed. I don’t want to add anything to your to-do list.

Parents carry a lot of guilt around family photography. They feel bad if they don’t get it done, then they feel bad if they don’t print anything. My aim is to help alleviate that guilt. We work together to figure out the best way to enjoy your images.

My photography career hasn’t been linear. I worked as a newspaper photographer for 6 years, and then wedding photography for 12. I always did family and newborn portraits and branding photography alongside, but now that is solely what I focus on.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d hang out in Denver first. Walk to Park Burger for a casual dinner and then grab ice cream at Sweet Cow. We’d then head 4 hours southwest of here to spend time hiking the rest of the week near our cabin in Del Norte. It’s one of my favorite places and I always leave refreshed. We’d explore Pagosa Springs, hike around Wolf Creek Pass and end up eating pizza at Three Barrel Brewing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve had several local mentors over the last 20 years. The Denver photography community is super welcoming and helpful. Twenty years ago when I worked at a newspaper, The Glenwood Post Independent, I had a photographer named Ed Kosmicki who taught me a ton. Locally, Julie Harris was the first Denver photographer I really admired. Also, I couldn’t do my work life day-to-day without (constantly) Marco Polo-ing my work besties, Liv Tiernan and Isabel Sweet.

Also, Kim J Beauty’s team of stylist makes the moms I work with feel and look their best.

Website: https://karapearson.com

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

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

Image Credits
Kara Pearson Photography