Kentucky Lifestyle Photographer | The Rivera Family | Richmond, Kentucky
I get asked quite often, why I love in-home lifestyle photography so much. I believe it is the beautiful mess and chaos that makes our lives so wonderful and unique. It’s the love and laughter that connects us. That is why I capture families and couples like this. I don’t want you to remember the stress of worrying if everyone is looking or smiling. I want you to remember the way your little ones arms felt wrapped around your neck. I want you to smile thinking of your partner whispering a sweet secret in your ear. I want you to remember the personalities of your sweet fur babies.
If you feel like the little moments are what really count, if your life can be summed up with the saying, “The days are long but the years are short,”, if you are tired of the photos feeling like a chore, then I am your gal. Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful. The thing about lifestyle sessions is that we get to embrace our loved ones and I focus on capturing your family in a beautiful and honest way in the comfort of your home.
Now let’s talk about how amazing Kaitlynn and Thomas’ session was. If you don’t already know this, Kaitlynn is a very talented photographer located in Richmond, KY. You can check out her work HERE. I first dicovered her about a year ago when I saw one of the most stunning wedding images I had ever seen on a photographer community facebook group. I remember thinking, “Wow this is absolutely incredible. I must check out her work.” And then I discovered that she was from Kentucky and I had to reach out and tell her how incredible she was. Ever since then we have been chatting back and fourth on Instagram and Kaitlynn has been such a kind person to me.
So when she reached out about wanting me to capture an at-home session of her, her husband, and their 3 adorable dogs; I felt so honored and excited but yet the pressure was on! On the drive to their home in Richmond I kept coaching myself on ideas I wanted to try and achieve for their session and what gear I should use. My mind was racing and I made myself a little nervous because I just wanted to do a good job for them. She was an amazing photographer after all!
But as soon as Kaitlynn answered the front door and smiled brightly at me while wrapping me into a warm hug, my nerves when away. We chatted for the first few minutes, getting to know one another better before we started taking photos of Thomas and her. We actually chatted the whole time and even some after we were finished. It was like we had all been the best of friends for years and to find an instant connection like that is so very rare. I called my husband as soon as I left and had to tell him how amazing everything went and how I felt like I just made us two new besties!!!
Also can we acknowledged just how cute their little family is. Their pups were the sweetest and friendliest dogs and I instantly fell in love with them and their personalities. The fact that we managed to capture some sweet moments of them all together pulled at my heart strings. Kaitlynn and Thomas, you all will hold a special place in my heart and I truly look forwards to our new friendship growing. Expect to see us all hiking and going out to dinner very soon!!! Enough from me, here is a little interview I did with Kaitlynn to go along with her session images. Their love story is one from a movie! I loved getting to know them even better through the questions. I am so excited for you all to see all of my top favorites.
1. How did you and Thomas meet?
We met in college! It was my freshman year and Thomas sat beside me the first day of class. It was a big history lecture class so there were over 100 people in there and he just happened to choose the seat beside me :)
2. When did you find out that he was the one for you? When was it for him?
I knew he was the one for me when I realized that we’d spent every single day together since our first date. It was a couple weeks since our first date (which was a Starbucks date lol) and it just hit me that we’d not spent a single day without seeing one another. I just realized then that he was my absolute best friend and that I wanted to spend all my time with him. We just got along so well and he just made life so much more fun and exciting.
Him - I realized she was the one when I noticed one day that I just couldn’t stop thinking about her. This was probably about a month or so into our relationship. At this point we were literally spending all of our free time together. We’re the type of couple that would love to be with each other 100% of the time so we definitely miss those days!
3. How did he propose?
It was on New Year’s Eve and he made up a little scavenger hunt! It started out with him leaving me money and a note that said to go shopping for a new outfit and to meet him at Bella Notte for dinner. He wasn’t actually at Bella Notte though lol. I was given a letter and some bottles of wine by the bartender there and the note said to meet him at his aunts house (which is where we’d been going every New Year’s Eve for several years). When I got there, it was an elaborate set up with lots of twinkly lights and tons of pictures of us through tour years together. He’d written a little note on the back of every single one. It was sooo sweet and perfect.
4. How was your wedding day? It looks so dreamy from your photos!
Our wedding day was sooo perfect! We did a first look and those photos are some of my absolute favorites. I just remember being so nervous and anxious and then when I first saw him, everything was ok again. I was so content and so happy with his arms around me. We also wrote our own vows and it was such a special part of our day.
5. When did you all move into your beautiful home together?
We moved into our first home 3 years ago this past February! It was only two days shy of our 5 year dating anniversary. Also fun fact, we actually got married legally the month before we closed on our house lol. Then we had our wedding in August of that year. (We had to get married for the type of house loan we got).
6. What’s one of your favorite memories that you all have created in your home?
Our favorite memory was moving in! It was such a surreal feeling knowing we bought our first home and it was all ours! It may sound silly but just getting to unpack our things and set everything up was so much fun. Some more favorite memories are all our cookouts and summer nights there.
7. Ok tell me about your sweet babies!!! When did you get them? What breed? All the puppy things 😍
Eek!! Ok so Millie (the big white one) was our first. Thomas’s neighbors at the time (we weren’t living together yet) found 8 puppies on the side of the road and they were barely 6 weeks old. We picked out this tiny little white fluff ball and had no idea she was going to get so big lol! She just started growing very quickly haha and now she’s 80lbs.
Bailey (the beagle mix) was our second. She was about 8 weeks old when we adopted her from the Lexington humane society. She’s such a special little dog and loves to cuddle! She has a toy we call her baby and she carries it everywhere.
Nani - the chiweenie lol was our third. We definitely didn’t need a third haha but I fell in love with her and we adopted her from PetSmart in Lexington. She’s the sweetest and calmest of them all and has the best personality. She loves to be outside and I swear she’d stay out there all day if I let her. She might be like 10 lbs but she’s a feisty little power house. We’ve taken her hiking before and she loves it and never gets worn out lol.
Oh! Also they all have middle names lol. Millie Anne, Bailey Rose, and Nani Mae ❤️
8. When did you begin your photography career?
I actually started being interested in photography when I was in high school. I didn’t start really doing it professionally until 2016.
9. What triggered your passion for it?
It’s kind of a funny story lol. So when I was in high school, the Instagram app was first released. When it first came out, it was really just for professional photographers. It was set up a lot differently than it is now. But I remember just scrolling through all these amazing and beautiful images that were so moving. From there I became obsessed with wanting to create my own.
10. What are your favorite type of sessions?
My favorite sessions are couples, weddings, and maternity! Although I do a little bit of everything lol.
11. Any 2020 goals you’d like to share about anything; business, marriage, personal?
Our goals for this year are to just continue to grow our business, travel, and go on so many hiking adventures. We’re planning on going to Spain at the end of this year to visit family and I can’t wait
