Well, this is me. The person behind Hannah Kate Photography.
I’m a West Coast Native now living in the South— Northern Alabama if we want to be exact. I spend my days preserving & documenting the very best of the human experience through photographs. You know, connection.
I have 5 years experience immortalizing love stories to be passed down through generations- whether that’s in the form of weddings, engagements, or families. I specialize in connective, lifestyle photography that aims to produce photos you don’t just see, but you feel.
So, please, make yourself at home & have a look around. Got a question? Don’t hesitate to connect!
hannahkatefotographie@gmail.com
F R O M T H E B E G I N N I N G
When I think back on what began my fascination with photography, I can't help but remember when my great grandfather passed away, and in the midst of my family making funeral arrangements and sorting belongings, boxes upon boxes upon boxes of photographs where piled high on my mother's obscenely long dining table. I had only met the man a few times in my life, and all the visits had been brief, but looking through the stacks of photographs seemed to give me a clear understanding of the man he was and the life that he lived. There were albums, framed portraits, loose snap shots... The entire table was covered with memories. I saw photos of family members I had never seen or heard of before, ancestors and distant relatives, and some familiar faces too. I found pictures of my great-grandfather and great-grandmother-- their wedding, their family portraits with my own grandmother as a child, their life together through the decades. There were photos of my grandmother's wedding day. Pictures of my mother and all five of her siblings as infants and toddlers, as teenagers and then as adults. Every milestone, every precious memory my great-grandfather had, I found in those boxes. And I remember thinking that that was what I wanted-- a full life that even if I wasn't there to tell the tales, the stories would still live on.
That Christmas I asked for a camera.
And the rest is pretty simple....
When I moved away for college, I decided I needed a "real" camera to document my life adventures. Before then I had my small "beginner's" film camera, loads upon loads of disposals and a couple of cheap digital point-and-shoots. Getting a DSLR was a big deal and a total gamer changer. From the day my beefy camera arrived in the mail, it was an extension of my arm. I took it everywhere. I mainly took still life photos of various plants and interesting landscapes I found along my hikes around Santa Cruz County, along with some more stylized portraits of my close friends. As I moved back to the central coast, I was approached by different friends and family to take various pictures; family portraits, pin-up, creative shoots, head shots, that sort of thing. This eventually lead to my first wedding (still can't believe they trusted me to photograph it with my little nikon). It was a 14 hour day, 110 degree weather and I was 8 months pregnant.... And I loved absolutely every minute of it! I was so excited for the moments I had captured that I woke up at 4:30 in the morning the next day to start editing! And that's when my husband said as he stumbled into the living room at 7:30AM, "I've never seen you so excited, you should seriously do this. You should seriously do what you love.”
So, here I am. A natural light photographer, chasing a dream and doing what I love... Life is just too damn short to do anything else.
I’ve recently relocated from the coat of California to Huntsville, Alabama, making my photography business spread it’s range quite a bit. I still travel back and work in California quite often (and always will, I need the ocean in my life), but also am taking on and building a business here in Northern Alabama.
When I'm not behind the lens, I'm running after my two little wild things, drinking way too many lattes, geeking out to Game of Thrones with my husband and day dreaming of the next time I get to dip my toes into the saltwater.
