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I'm Aly Kirkpatrick.

I'm a wife, business owner, and photographer fueled by Dr. Pepper and anything sweet! I am married to my high school sweetheart, and love living in the Arizona desert!

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All Your Questions, Answered!

May 14, 2018

business, personal

A little “Q&A” is always fun, right?! I want to thank everyone who took the time to submit questions! It was fun hearing what interests you guys! In this post, I’m answering questions about life, photography, and business! Enjoy! 🙂

“How did you get started in photography?”

My journey with photography started when I was in high school. I was always “that friend” with the camera at every school event and even just on a daily basis at school. I loved taking photos and looking back through them later, remembering all the fun moments I had! I loved editing them with those cool filters (which I hate now LOL!).

My junior and senior year I was on the yearbook team at my school which required me to figure out how to use DSLR camera. It also allowed me to capture memories of sporting games, school spirit, dances, and much more. It was a lot of work, but it was one of my favorite classes because I was able to be creative and really let my love for photography develop! Read the full story here!

“What gear do you have?”

My camera body is the Canon 5D Mark III! I have several lenses including the 70-200mm 2.8 with IS, 35mm 2.0, 50mm 1.4, and 100mm 2.8 with IS! I also have two flashes, which are the Yongnuo RT-EXII!

“How did you and your husband meet?”

We met in high school! We didn’t start dating until I was a senior and he was a freshman in college. We dated long distance during that time and it was not fun! When he decided to move to Arizona, I knew I would regret it if I didn’t go. So yes, I rebelled against everything anyone will ever tell you about moving somewhere for a boy without a ring on your finger. But it worked out 🙂 You can read our full love story here!

“Who designed your website?”

I did! I spend MONTHS, and I literally mean months, perfecting it and tweaking things to how I wanted them, in a way that I felt would really take my business to another level. I spent a lot of time looking on other people’s websites and learning what I loved and what I didn’t love. I feel like that really helped me get a vision for what I wanted my site to look like. My website host is Showit, and I love it! I chose a basic template but pretty much re-designed every single thing and customized it for my style and brand. It is more a little more expensive than your average website host, but I love the fact that is specifically designed for creatives and that they are based right here in Arizona!

“I’ve been following you since you announced the start of your business, and your talent has seriously blossomed! I know you’ve always had the creative eye, but what one thing helped fine tune your image quality?”

Such a sweet comment and great question! When I started my business in 2016, I hadn’t really chosen a “style” and didn’t really understand what it meant to have a consistent and cohesive brand. The more I started to research, I realized that I wanted to have a brand that I was proud of and the first start to that was to stick to a particular style and give 100% to it. So that’s what I did! My style definitely has more of a “light and bright” look, and I feel like it really fits with me and my personality. I took a photography course with Amy & Jordan, popular photographers and educators here in Arizona, and really learned how to shoot in manual mode confidently and use my camera to its full capability. I would say that is the “one thing” that helped fine tune my image quality 🙂

“Is photography your full-time job or just a hobby?”

Neither! I work part-time at my church during the week, and then have my photography business that pretty much takes up the rest of my life haha! 😉  I do think it is funny when people ask if I do photography full-time, only because being a small business owner is like working three full-time jobs all at once (or at least that’s what it feels like). But, just because I work another job doesn’t make photography just a hobby. It is a real and legit business, but I also really love doing it too!

“Do you use anything to plan your social media posts?”

Yes! I use an app called Planoly. I have used several of the social media planning apps and I love Planoly the best!

“I am a little nervous for my engagement session because I don’t think I am very photogenic. Will you help us?!”

Aw, don’t worry at all! A lot of people feel this way about themselves. I have somewhat of a systematic approach to posing that will help you look and feel your best! Don’t be worried about what to do, I will direct and pose you the whole time! Of course, if you have a fun idea you want to try, I am always down for that! But don’t feel like you need to come to your session prepared with your Pinterest board of poses. Haha! My job is not only to provide you with beautiful images, but also to give you a fun experience that allows me to really capture your love for each other!

Have a question that I wasn’t answered here? Comment below and ask away! I am pretty much an open book 😉

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