Kayla Ross | Halifax based Photographer & Designer.

I made this a long time ago and had it in my bedroom at my parents house, but since moving into my boyfriend’s house it’s just been sitting here in a frame with no home. I should really find a place for it.  :)

Celebration when your plan is working? Anyone can do that. But when you realize that the story of your life could be told a thousand different ways, that you could tell it over and over as a tragedy, but you choose to call it epic, that’s when you start to learn what celebration is. When what you see in front of you is so far outside of what you dreamed, but you have the belief, the boldness, the courage to call it beautiful instead of calling it wrong… that’s celebration. - SHAUNA NIEQUIST

I think every photographer goes through this. We all look at other people’s work and admire it and wonder why ours isn’t up to par, or isn’t as sharp, or as clear, or bright or for whatever reason and we get down on our work. It’s a hard trap to fall into. And to be honest, I think all artists in general go through this.

I had one of these moments (one of many lately) and I just opened up my Flickr account and started at the very beginning and looked at all my old work. I’ve really come a long way. That’s not saying I still don’t have a longer way to go, but I’ve made progress. 

Better composition. Better colours. Sharper. More interesting. I’m really (read: slowly) starting to shape myself as a photographer. 

Kristen and I had a studio session last night! Look how pretty this girl is! We found that just putting on loud up beat music seems to work best haha. She just danced and posed away. 

This is the adorable little girl we babysat last night. We had her, 85 pound brody, my boyfriend and I all on one double sized bed. It made for an intersting night of freezing, limbs going numb and not really getting any sleep at all. But look how cuteee she is!  :):)

Very early morning assignment in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Come visit us. :) 

I’ve been in the process of backing my computer up and I keep stumbling upon photos that I have no idea why I didn’t like them to begin with. Crazy!

BBrody, looking all dignified and stuff.  ^^ 

SScott and Bro having a game of tug o’ war. ^^

Testing out the lighting on my boyfriend Scott before I took our little family portrait this day. ^^ 

Click image to see before shot.

Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy - the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.

- Brene Brown

Well, a few hours, some cutting through white fill, a million different light set ups, a willing model, sticking my lens through a hole, breaking a $250-ish dollar bulb, and a little crying I finished. 

A huge thanks to Karen for being so patient with me today and volunteering to be my lovely hand model. :)!

Let’s just say that I was not meant for product photography. It’s really hard. Kudos to those that do it, you guys rock. 

#3! Typical mirror shot. I was awiting my darling boyfriend to get ready so we could meet up with another couple at a local park to take our dogs out. I was around 5C out. It was so warm, so sunny, so nice. I hope winter has ran it’s course early this year because I could get used to this weather. :)

Nikon D700
50mm @ F/1.8
1/250 sec
ISO 200 
Natural Light From window on side / Flash on my camera.