Meet Kel Pitts | Wedding + Elopement Photographer

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

Hi Kel, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
When starting your very own business from the ground up it requires a lot of heart and hustle in the beginning. In my specific career, and for many other creatives, that looks like taking on any client that comes your way and working for way less than your value in order to build a clientele and grow your business by word of mouth. The first two years of my business were absolutely packed to the brim with sessions. There were some months I went without not having a single day off from shooting a session and I was staying up until the wee hours of the morning editing to stay caught up. During that time it was so easy to get burn out and struggled with organizing my time effectively and efficiently. Once I reached a point that I was receiving more inquiries for weddings and sessions than I could realistically add to my books I knew it was time to start increasing my prices and only choose to accept clients that I knew aligned with the value of my work. With having a growing family, my heart is at home. It is important to me to make a substantial income to keep up with the lifestyle we like to live and to also teach our children the value of working hard but to also be spending a majority of my time with my family, not working long hours every day. I want there to be ample time for backyard bbq’s, making sure I make it to every sporting event, planning vacations for our family, and allowing time to still date my husband. I then determined how much I wanted to be making yearly/monthly, subtracting my business expenses, and deciding how many days of the month/year I wanted to work and that was how I determined what I would be charging and how many clients I would take. It is important to me that im only working 2 weekends a month and not spending more than 2 nights away from home at bedtime a week. Taking the photos is not the only thing that pulls me away from my home life, I also spend hours editing, doing back end work for taxes, website updates, social media, client communication, etc. In the newest season of my life outsourcing some of my behind the scenes work, like editing, has given me the priceless gift of more time with my family. Being a creative in this industry provides so many opportunities to make income through different avenues. In the future I see myself merging more into the education side of photography and doing less physical shooting to allow myself even more time with my family. In the start up of any business you can always expect to be putting out more hard work than you feel you are receiving in reward (compensation) but the harder you work in those earlier years, the faster you will expand your business, and the sooner you will be able to make the necessary changes in your work life balance that best suits your lifestyle.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My love for photos began way before my career as a photographer. My childhood/growing up situation was messy. Divorce, addiction, and so many moves between homes. All the photos I have from my childhood fit in one small box that I have. Im sure there are more out there that haven’t been given to me but I also know my mom lost a lot of photos to water damage and this was before the digital era of photo documentation. As soon as I received my first device that would take digital photos (a cell phone) I took pictures of everything, and at least 10 daily selfies. Being young and not understanding the importance of backing up your photos over time I have lost a majority of those photos from my teenage years as well. When I met my husband (my high school sweetheart) the excessive photo taken did not end because I was absolutely obsessed with him (still am 11 years later) and wanted to document every moment with him. I didn’t want to forget anything. In 2015 I was involved in 2 accidents a week apart that involved me hitting my head and sustaining concussions both times, one worse than the other. For a while I struggled with short term memory and lost quite a bit of memory from my younger years as well. As if my obsession to document everything wasn’t already existent it was much stronger now and only continued to grow as we got married and grew our family. No matter what we are doing or where we are I am taking photos and I LOVE going back and looking at them days, months, and years later. This translates into the work I produce for all of my clients as well. Its important to me when I take someones photos that somewhere in their session something meaningful is incorporated. A drink, location, pet, shirt, piece of jewelry, a letter, something that is said, ANYTHING that makes their session uniquely theres. I focus on small easily forgotten moments during weddings and sessions. Sand falling off toes, goosebumps on arms, a kiss on the forehead from grandma, a tear on a cheek, a loving gaze, wind blowing in hair. When my clients look at their photos I want them feel beautiful captured as themselves doing something they love or with someone or something they love. When im taking someones photos im not just trying to take a pretty picture, im trying to document real moments. Ones that will last forever in a photo. I end every final gallery email to my clients with “I hope you love and cherish your images for a lifetime” because I truly want the art I deliver to every single person to be ones they look back on and feel something inside their soul every single time.

Aside from the heart and devotion I pour into the documentation of the photo taking process, it is also incredibly important to me that in addition to loving their photos I want my clients to also enjoy their photo taking experience. I do this by trying to get to know as many details about my client as possible before their session via casual conversation, questionnaires, and social media scouring. I want to be able to have seamless conversations with my clients during their session so that I dont feel like someone who is just putting a camera in their face and instead just a friend they are hanging out with. I love to play music they like to distract from the sound of my camera shutter, when appropriate I like to bring their favorite drinks, and I guide them through every single step of the way. There is absolutely nothing natural about being in front of a camera and I am working with real life people, not professional models. It is solely my duty to walk them through exactly what to do for each and every pose, show them the back of the camera to ensure them they look great, and to verbally praise them along the way. Something I pride myself in is how often I hear that people loved the shooting experience with me and as long as im taking peoples photos I will always do what I can to elevate the photo taking process for the ones in front of my camera.

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.
Living in the Willamette Valley of Oregon we are so blessed to be surrounded by ( and very close) to so many incredible parts of Oregon. In the small town we live in we are an hour or 2 drive to Portland, the Oregon Coast, Bend, several lakes, hikes, and historic towns. In our own tiny town we love to pick strawberries in the summer, take a walk to get ice cream, and swim in the river.
We are also right in the heart of wine country. My favorites are Ankeny Hill, Domaine Serene, and Coria for their incredible wines and beautiful views. Taking the trek over to the Oregon Coast is an absolute must. Our rocky cliff beaches and dramatic ocean are unlike anywhere else. Although the water is very cold you won’t be surprised to see Oregon natives playing in it. There are many great places to eat but Georgie’s in Newport is one of our favorites on the coast.
My most favorite part of Oregon is Bend. Everywhere you turn and look is absolutely beautiful. You can visit and hike at Smith Rock that provides hikes for all abilities. You can feed Alpaca’s in Terrebone. In the summer months you can hike Broken Top out by Mount Bachelor. The craft beer scene is huge there. You can even do something called the Ale Trail where you get a passport stamp for every brewery you go to and can earn prizes for getting them. My favorite brewery is Silvermoon in Bend or Wild Rides in Redmond. You absolutely have to get Thai food from Noi in Bend.
Most everywhere has kid friendly options for your family. Our favorites are the AE adventure park in Salem, OMSI in Portland, riding bikes in the Old Mill District in Bend, autobahn tubing at Hoodoo in Sisters, and riding the carousel in Albany.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When thinking about who helped me grow my business where it is today, it is not one person but 3 who immediately come to mind. As humans we need support in many different aspects of our lives. Hands down without a doubt, the biggest aid to my success and literally the person who handed me my first camera was my husband, Brad Pitts. Never once have I uttered a dream or goal that he has not immediately jumped on board to help and encourage me to achieve. He worked extra hard during the early years of my business to support our family when the income from my start up business was minimal. He never failed to recognize my hard work and remind me that he see’s all that im doing and tells me often how proud he is of me. He’s never questioned the purchase of crazy priced equipment, and has even surprised me with tools he thought would be helpful to my business. He tells anyone who will listen about my endeavors and achievements. He supported me when it was hard and not quite successful and now he greatly celebrates me in my success. Kel Pitts Photography has never been a solo journey on my own, my success would not have been possible without him.

No matter the field of work you are in, it is always important to find your person within it. The person who can relate to what you’re going through in your career, who can provide important insight, double check your work, bounce ideas off of each other, and emotionally support each other through the busy seasons. That person is equally as important to your success. I found my person one year into my profession and it has been an honor to also witness her leaps and bounds in her own business alongside my own. We’ve borrowed gear from each other, sent clients each other’s way, reviewed galleries, sent editing tips, new location ideas, worked many weddings alongside each other, she has even loved, accepted, and watched my own children when we had no one else to. Riley Jordan at Riley From Oregon has been a huge support system for me and a hand in the success of my business.

Lastly, the 3rd person who has inspired me and helped me guide my business in the direction it has gone today is actually someone I haven’t even had the honor of meeting yet. Social media, although frustrating at times, can be a beautiful thing. Monique Serra is someone who I have been inspired by from the first time I saw one of her photos on my Instagram feed. Not only have I admired her work/photos the entire time I’ve followed her, never once seeing a photo that didn’t spark inspiration in me, but ive also admired the way she has ran her business and the shifts she has made within her own business to be more present at home with her family as well. It is hard to feel your heart torn in two places between loving your career and wanting to spend every moment with your family and it made my decision to slowly work less and outsource some of my work seeing Monique do it so gracefully before me.

Website: kelpittsphotography.com

Instagram: @kelpittsphoto

Twitter: @kelpittsphoto

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

Image Credits
Photos of myself are taken by Riley Jordan @ Riley From Oregon and Edited by me, Kel Pitts Photography The rest of the photos are of my clients taken by me, Kel Pitts Photography