Meet Kristine Carter | Photographer

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

Hi Kristine, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I didn’t plan on having a business exactly. After posting my pictures of landscapes and food creations on social media, friends and companies began asking me to take pictures and write marketing copy. That’s when I realized I needed to create an LLC and obtain insurance to protect myself. This aspect of running a business terrified me.

Thankfully, our regional small business development office and the local economic development authority helped with free (and occasionally low-cost) consultations, workshops, and classes. They guided me through each step of creating my own business: getting my LLC, setting prices, figuring out taxes, and targeting my niche.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I primarily photograph and edit copy for natural and healthy living companies, venues, vacation rentals, and organic or sustainable farms. The inner light and beauty shine through in the people, products, and places I photograph because it’s already there. It also helps that I take pictures in the great outdoors with natural lighting and breathtaking backdrops. The landscapes, farms, real estate, and natural products I capture photos of are already gorgeous. Working with people and companies I believe in is an honor, and I’d like to think my love for them comes through.

I am constantly adjusting my work and life balance based on what jobs and creative projects I have on hand, the needs of my family, and my own health. I set aside time to meditate to figure out the proper focus of time and energy on each project. Many people don’t realize how much time goes into editing photographs. I also research equipment and play around with new techniques for photographing and post-production (working with Lightroom and other editing programs). And all the financial and marketing aspects of running a business take time, including social media posts. I’m streamlining my photography processes and organization and narrowing the focus of what I do as a business for a more sustainable work/life balance.

One thing I’ve come to realize over the last few years is how limited and valuable my time is. While I enjoy many things, I’ve found that I don’t have time to do all of them, especially when I want to nurture my family, novels, and landscape photography. Initially, I designed websites, wrote marketing copy for clients, and took photographs. However, I didn’t have enough time for my creative projects. So, I narrowed the focus of my company to photography with the occasional editing of marketing copy.

Last winter, I made an exception and designed rebeccawildbear.com because I love Rebecca’s eco-centered yoga, which helped ground and grow my body, soul, and mind in ways I never anticipated. We worked together to launch her new website, celebrating her new book, Wild Yoga, associated online and in-person programs, soul-guiding practice, and nature activism. I also had the opportunity to showcase some of my nature photography and the work of other talented artists and photographers. However, this year, I anticipate not taking on any new design projects, so I can work more on my novels and grow my photography business, landscape print sales, and licensing of my outdoor images for web, print, and film projects.

I’ve come to think of life, my business, and my creative pursuits as adventures I learn from along the way. If one venture or idea doesn’t pan out as I hoped, I take stock of what I learned and use it to inspire the next leg of my journey.

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.
I would invite them to hike with me up Buffalo Mountain, kayak along Little River, eat organic meals at Parkway Grille and Soup Soup, check out Mabry Mill, enjoy artwork at Floyd Center for the Arts, and drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Rebecca Wildbear, Wild Yoga! All the sustainable farms I work with like Skipwillow Farms, Wittenberger Farms, and Ital Acres. Natural venues like Crooked Mountain and Mabry Creek. Healthy products like Shakti Natural Nutrition.

Website: kristinecarterphotography.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristine-ada-carter-2901b735

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristinecwrites

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristinecarterphotography2807

Image Credits
I, Kristine Carter, am the photographer for all of the pictures. But here are the names of the amazing places, people, or products I took the photographs of: Shakti Natural Nutrition, Skipwillow Farms, Whittenberger Farms, Mabry Creek Bed and Breakfast, Crooked Mountain Campground, Ital Acres Farms, and Rebecca Wildbear Wild Yoga.