Abi Coop
Melissa Richard
Kristen Ryan
Welcome New Hello Artists & Pros | March 2022
Welcome New Hello Artists & Pros | March 2022
Lauren Kirkham
Tell Us About Yourself!
I taught myself how to use a DSLR camera when my son was born in 2012 and the rest is history. What started as a hobby quickly evolved into wanting to document moments for my own family and then others as well. My daughter was born in 2015 and my business was launched at that point.
Up until December 2021 I was working as a pediatric nurse at a local hospital where I was inspired by our patients every day – their resilience is inspiring, the love and strength witnessed is incredible as some of these kids fight the toughest battles they can imagine. I truly believe that my experience as a pediatric nurse and family photographer have gone hand in hand – they have evolved together, they have guided me and both helped me excel at both careers. My husband and I built a house in the country of upstate New York and love our life on the hill. But also love traveling more than we every thought we would. Adventures have taken us to many places throughout the US and we can’t wait to travel the world with our children someday. We hold equal value to adventures and the amazing time being at home with just each other. We are strongly connected with both of our families who are thankfully both local, love spending summers outside and at a community pool and last year started skiing as a family. We are so excited to see what the future brings for our family, especially as with our new little ones that just joined our family!
How Would You Describe Your Photography Style?
I love to photograph emotion and connection. I am inspired pockets of light found in homes from windows, shadows from trees and elements outside and love movement. When I first picked up a camera I wanted to document my children’s lives – the everyday moments, the ones we thought were mundane and monotonous ended up being the ones that I cherished the most and never wanted to forget. I love creating albums of our family adventures, and quickly found myself wanting to share that with others. From joy filled moments, to serious faced toddlers – my goal is to create imagery that pulls you in, that makes the viewer wonder about the subjects story and peaks interest in the littlest moments.
What Inspires You To Create?
My children have been my inspiration from the beginning. I am currently participating in my 6th project 365. I love finding beauty in everyday moments, knowing that though every minute may not be perfect they are all remarkable. I love creating imagery where the viewer can feel the emotion in the image. My children’s serious faces with their big hazel eyes, to their squinty eyes with laughing uncontrollably are what keep me motivated every day. I love telling stories, both my own family’s story and my clients stories – finding the moments that are important to them and documenting them in a way that is beautiful and they can look back on lovingly through albums on their tables and portraits on their walls.
What goals are you hoping to achieve as a Hello Artist?
I have always been interested in photography education – from business mindset to creating connected imagery! I love the community of Hello Storyteller and the message that creating can be whatever we want it to be, with the intention of telling a story in every image. I am hoping to find more community members to connect with who have similar business and creative mindsets, and also explore more with those who may photograph completely differently than me to learn from them. I’m excited to help the next generation of photographers find their way in a very saturated world – showing them that everything they have to say matters and each individual voice has meaning. We are all worthy, we all have value, and we all have voices and imagery that the world needs to see.
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Aase Kjellberg
Tell Us About Yourself!
I’m Aase, a 41 year old police officer living in Northern Norway.
Once an urban fashionista I turned my life around completely and moved far north to the very top of Norway almost 6 years ago. I now live a quieter life with my fiancee, our son and Alfie the 14 year old Jack Russell Terrier. We are a nature loving family and spend most our spare time skiing, camping, climbing and just being outside.
I’ve always had a need to create and did actively sing, dance and play theater from the age of 4. I also used to design and sew clothes on a regular basis and even studied design for 2 years in my early twenties. Nowadays I love to knit and do origami as well.
After I moved north 5 years ago I picked up my first camera and slowly but surely fell in love with photography. Halfway through my second 365 project it`s become part of my everyday life.
How Would You Describe Your Photography Style?
My style is organic, creative and colorful. I’m greatly inspired by nature and love to include it in my work as often as I can. I love light – both natural and artificial. I’m drawn to a darker aesthetic with mindful use of colors. Blues, greens, yellows and rust have always been favorites ever since childhood thanks to my red haired grandmother. Living in the land of the polar nights and midnight sun has made me explore both low light and harsh sun.
What Inspires You To Create?
Almost anything. It can be something beautiful in nature like amazing light or colors. Capturing the fleeting moments of my son as he grows up or documenting a certain stage in our lives. Other hobbies such as origami, sewing, movies spark my creativity too – the list goes on!
What goals are you hoping to achieve as a Hello Artist?
I would off course love to continue my own journey as I discover photography and all the creative possibilities that come with. I would also like to help others on their journey by being a mentor. I especially love to brainstorm with other creatives about ideas or ways to achieve their ideas. I’m also a huge fan of constructive criticism and have learned a lot about the importance of this through my work with this portfolio. I’ve felt so welcomed and included by the community over the past year and I would like to pay it forward!
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Melissa Foxman
What goals are you hoping to achieve as Hello Pro?
I am so excited for the possibilities being a Hello Pro Creative would offer. As a Hello Artist, I’ve been so grateful for the chance to share and speak about photography, specifically color composition and photographing teenagers. It’s a definite goal of mine to continue encouraging other photographers to see the beauty in the teenage years, and share a thoughtful perspective on how to navigate this genre. As an ultimate goal, I would love to teach a class on photographing teens! It’s a topic that means so much to me, and I have so many ideas to share on posing, locations, cooperation, tested techniques and more. I would love to contribute and share this passion with the Hello Storyteller Community. Another goal is to continue sharing blog posts and membership perks like my Color as a Character one. Every time you share something with others, you learn yourself. Like I did with gamut! I had no clue what that was, and after making the video for it I have that extra piece of confidence in my work, knowing it’s in gamut and why that’s important. I have Molly’s encouragement to thank for that, and her sharp eye for color. That’s another goal of mine, to support photographers in the Hello Storyteller community like I’ve been supported.
In what ways are you involved in the Hello Storyteller community?
Since I became a Hello Artist I’ve had the chance to share portfolio review feedback in the Prep Group. I’ve been reading the feedback from other Artists and Pros for a long time, and it’s so enlightening. When a community is rapidly growing like Hello Storyteller, one thing that keeps it spinning is enthusiasm from members. I see my role in this growth as being a positive example, encouraging and especially helping people see the beauty in their work they may have overlooked. There are so many parts to the creative life, and there’s a Japanese proverb that speaks to me about that: “One kind word can warm three winter months.”
Along with my Prep Group involvement, I participate in every Hello Storyteller project that I can. I love them! I was a Guest Mod in The Library where I offered color composition feedback related to my Member Perk. This was optional, and out of my comfort zone, but a really fun learning opportunity. The same was true for my Instagram Takeover where I got to speak about photographing teenagers. I’m happily involved in the Creatives’ Slack group, and help share and promote the Academy courses. I’ve taken many of those courses myself! I have never felt so welcomed in a community as I do in Hello Storyteller. When I proposed the idea for a magazine and offered an outline, the feedback was incredible. And I learned that a magazine was already in the works! I continually see things so well thought out in this group. These requirements for Artist and Pro, though challenging, are a gift. They’re designed to keep this community thriving and I’m loving this journey.
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Samantha Deakin
What goals are you hoping to achieve as Hello Pro?
When I started this journey, it was mainly about personal growth – trying to quiet my self doubt and hone my skills. I wanted to gain an inner confidence with this huge accomplishment that felt so unreachable at the time. Most people find it incomprehensible that I had NEVER even held a DSLR (or anything other than an iPhone) until Sept 2020 (a short 18months ago)! My learning curve has been fast and steep and has needed lots of hard work and huge amounts of input from the amazing members of this community. I don’t think I’ve ‘met’ a single person along the way who hasn’t bent over backwards to help me. So now, I would really like to inspire and motivate others…..“If I can do it – so can YOU”! I cant wait to give back to this community and am happy to share my learning pathway and guide others on a similar journey.
In what ways are you involved in the Hello Storyteller community?
I am enjoying being part of this community! I am beginning to feel able to express my opinions and critique when asked and am feeling more ready to be involved further in the Prep Group and in the ‘Big-tog/little-tog’ scheme. I have loved the projects on the Slack Group (minimalism and ‘where I stand’) and the feeling of unity in our work. I feel amazed for my work to be seen alongside talented artists and still pinch myself from time to time as it feels unreal! I am looking, hopefully, forward to being accepted as this will free up more of my time to participate in more projects. I would also like to be involved where needed as an ‘expert’ in any group once you feel I am ready.
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Amy Wright
What goals are you hoping to achieve as Hello Pro?
I want to expand Hello Storyteller’s educational client work offerings and create more content geared toward those who are shooting families. Family photography can be authentic, artistic, and FUN and it is my goal to help create educational content that empowers other artists to create family sessions that are unique experiences. I absolutely love teaching, I have done it in various capacities for years and would love the opportunity to incorporate teaching into my photography.
In what ways are you involved in the Hello Storyteller community?
I have contributed two blog posts, done an Instagram takeover that I had so much fun with, submitted to the client library, I am running the Facebook page this week, and I have participated in several of the loops. I am currently in the process of organizing a Colorado Hello Storyteller group meet up (just waiting for some better, warmer weather!). The thing I have loved the most is the little tog program, especially since it was redone. I feel like my first two togs the program wasn’t as defined and so the next few I have worked with has been much more fulfilling for me. I love my live chats I have with my little togs, it is so fun to hear where they are at and where they are feeling pulled to go next and I absolutely love when it feels like I can help them. I have created multiple assignments for both of my current little togs for them to complete and send me there images as we go along. Each is focused on different things so their assignments are catered to what they are working on. I regularly check in with them and love to follow their pages and give them ample encouragement.
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Krista Cox
What goals are you hoping to achieve as Hello Pro?
As a Hello Pro, my goals include continued growth and learning, building community, and teaching/mentorship.
In what ways are you involved in the Hello Storyteller community?
I consistently participate in various HS projects, such as the monthly themed projects and seasonal projects. I currently have one “little tog” and hope to have additional “little togs” in the future. I have also been fortunate to have a “big tog” and have developed friendships within the HS community.
I am deeply appreciative of the HS community and look forward to continuing to grow, learn and build community.
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