Meet Karah Sommer | Photographer

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

Hi Karah, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk is something any small business owner is going to have to experience on occasion if they want to excel. I started working solely towards my photography business back in 2023, which was honestly really intimidating, because that meant I also stopped receiving income from anywhere other than my business. This was a decision I had been toying with for a while, and once I felt financially stable enough, I launched. This in the end was the best decision I could have made, and I started seeing bookings like I had never seen them before in my photography business. The risk proved to be worth it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
One thing I know to be true, good things take time. It took me years to build my business to where it is today, and build up the clientele I have. As a photographer, you have to be willing to constantly improve and get better at your craft, which isn’t always easy or comfortable. It isn’t just about learning the basics and then stopping there. If you stop putting in the effort to improve, you are going to get surpassed by others in the industry. This means keeping up with new technology, trends, techniques, and making sure you are constantly updating everything.

More than anything, I want to bring positivity and upbeat energy to everyone I work with. I want people to feel the intention behind my work, and that intention is always to showcase the best qualities of whoever I’m photographing. I want people to have FUN when they work with me. It’s not all about getting the perfect poses, or having on the perfect outfit, it’s about capturing a person in the specific state of life they are in, and the emotion behind that state. That is what makes a photo the most special, every single time.

In the end, it’s all about the journey and not where you end up. I would keep doing photography even if no one booked with me, because I truly love it and it makes me happy. And if I was the client, I would want to book with someone that truly loved what they did. I never want to get so caught up in the business side of things, that I loose sight of the creative. That’s just me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would stop first in Old Town Fort Collins at Snooze A.M. Eatery and get breakfast then head over to Horsetooth Reservoir to picnic and kayak for the day. Maybe stay in the Elizabeth Hotel that night. The the next day head over to one of the most beautiful (if not the most beautiful) spots in Colorado, which is Crested Butte in the heart of summer to see all the wildflowers spread out over the mountains and fields below. We would stay in the Old Town Inn, take a hike through the mountains surrounded by fields of color and aspen trees. Then after two or three days there we would drive to the Maroon Bells and hike a trail there at sunrise to watch the light touch the top of those snow capped mountains. We would spend the day at the Great Sand Dune National Park, and wrap up the trip by finding some natural hot springs, either in Glenwood or Pagosa Springs. The best people we would meet along the way are the people that find joy in all the little things instead of just the big ones.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My dad has always been my biggest cheerleader since I was a kid, and my whole family is full of entrepreneurs. On top of that, I also came across a photographer named Addie Knott, who was incredibly kind to me and took me along with her to a couple of portrait sessions as well as a wedding in order for me to get some in person experience in the industry, and that was a game changer for me. I was able to ask questions, see how things worked, and that was integral in giving me the confidence I needed to move forward.

Website: https://karismaticphotos.com

Instagram: @karismaticphotos

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

Image Credits
Karismatic Photos, LLC