Welcome to The Creative Local Series! Up Next: Talia Kite from Blissful Impressions Photography. I am excited to bring her over to Uniquely Women today. I got the pleasure of meeting this sweet gal in Colorado last year, and have been following along with her ever since! I just love her creativity and the images she captures daily. She will be sharing a little bit more about her business and some of her favorite Denver, CO hangouts within this interview!
Without further adieu – please welcome Talia Kite!
If you are new to Uniquely Women, I started a new blog series column – The Creative Local. This series showcases boss ladies, whether it be bloggers, entrepreneurs, or women making a difference in their neck of the woods. Each will showcase their current city, taking us around to their favorite places along with a little bit of their current business endeavors. Tag #thecreativelocal on Instagram & Twitter to showcase the creative local in YOU to be featured.
Table of Contents
The Creative Local: Talia Kite
Her Favorite Denver, CO Spots:
We have lived in Denver for 3 1/2 years now. When my husband {Noel} and I were dating we had a summer off between school and decided to go work at a camp. On a whim we decided to apply to a camp in Estes Park, Colorado called Camp Cheley. I had never been to Colorado and was taking a huge risk by packing up my life for 8 weeks and heading into the mountains. Little did I know this was going to be one of the most life changing events I couldn’t have planned for. Noel and I worked separately at the camp and met so many amazing people from around the country and world. After our summer ended in ’09 it was time to head back to the Midwest and move from Chicago to St. Louis so Noel could begin and complete Chiropractic school. We decided at the end of our 3 1/2 years in Missouri we had two choices; move back to Chicago where it may be a little easier to start two businesses, be surrounded by family and support and start our life up once again, OR we could take a huge risk, move out West and take a chance on ourselves as business owners being among new friends, insanely beautiful weather and an active lifestyle. We had a lot of support and moved out to Denver in 2012 and as most Midwesterners say out here “we haven’t looked back yet.” Denver is the home to people from all over, it has more people move here than are natives, and those natives are extremely proud of their state, as they should be. The city itself is clean and friendly and while many people think it’s a very cold place, our elevation ends up working in our favor and giving us 70 degrees in the middle of February. We are 30 minutes from the foothills and under 1 1/2 hours from amazing ski slopes and hiking trails. I’m starting to sound like a travel book, but it is so easy out here, there is nothing you can’t do, except maybe go to the ocean. We love, love living in Denver, exploring the breweries, restaurants and welcoming environment that allows us to live our lives in our own way and make a business that fits into our lifestyle, rather than the other way around.
Tula Hot Yoga
I have been doing hot yoga for over 11 1/2 years and find a struggle, joy and acceptance in every class. I have practiced around the country, whenever I travel and my family, who started with me, always makes times to go together when we are all in the same time zone. I have split my time over 4 different studios, based on places I have lived and Tula is a great space! I love the welcoming atmosphere, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s only 5 minutes from my house. This helps a lot, since it is so easy to talk yourself out of not going and I can wait until the last minute to realize, it’s only an hour of your life, might as well make it worth it! Tula is clean and has great instructors that are willing to go above and beyond to make sure that you are getting exactly what you need out of each session. Classes are either 60 or 90 minutes, are heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity and are a moving meditation with focus on your breath. When you break down a lot of the postures, they are fairly simple, although adding in the challenge of a hot room, holding a pose for 60 seconds and being uncomfortable helps turn your focus inward and find what you can truly accomplish. I try to always take away from yoga that how you go into something is just as important as how you come out and do this by finding a way to be comfortable in the uncomfortable moments in life.
{ Find out more about Tula Hot Yoga – HERE }
Little Man Ice Cream
My family has always been big into dessert and sweets, and ice cream is a constant winner. We have far too many memories of Dad being out of town and Mom taking us to Dairy Queen for dinner…woops! Well that has definitely transferred into adulthood. We love going to Little Man in the Highlands and waiting in an insane line for a scoop of ice cream. I’m not kidding, you could wait 30 minutes, wrapped around the block, summer or winter, to go up to a 28 foot tall milk jug to get your fix. We love taking guests there, especially because they have vegan options and they taste just as good as the dairy-filled ones It is also in a great location, that you can walk around and see a great view of the city!
{Find out more about Little Man Ice Cream – HERE }
Wash Perk
Do I drink Coffee? No. Do I love a good coffeeshop? Who doesn’t? Wash Perk is a coffeshop that is in the middle of my neighborhood. You might not even notice it’s a business, since it just looks like another home. It is constantly packed and has the coziest atmosphere, couches, eclectic tables and decorations and are extremely dog friendly. I have spent many hours in here, reading, chatting with friends, meeting with potential clients and working. Also, my favorite part is that the name reminds me of Central Perk, which if you are a huge Friends TV show nerd {who owns all 10 seasons like myself}, you understand.
{ Find out more about Wash Perk – HERE }
Next Up: Interview with Talia
(Read Below)
In a few sentences describe yourself:
I am a creative, a wife, a yogi, a business owner, a dog mom and almost a real one I find joy in relaxing, growing my business, watching reality shows while editing for hours {don’t judge}, relaxing weekends in the mountains, brewery hopping and going on new adventures with my husband and friends. I am an introvert until I find it safe to open up, then you will wish I go back to my original ways. Even as an artist, I find it constantly difficult to express myself without fear of judgement and always taking the risks I wish I had. I believe everything happens for a reason. I am proud of where I have gotten myself and am humbled by the unconditional support that I am given. I hope to travel more, worry less and continue to be grateful for the opportunities that present themselves at the most perfect of moments.
How did your shop start? Where did that passion come from?
I learned photography by accidentally getting into a photo 1 course. I originally signed up for Interior Design {a big fan of TLC, Trading Spaces at the time}, and photo 1 was my back up. Luckily my older sisters had taken the course so we had some equipment. My dad has always been big into photography and my Grandpa was a WWII photographer who went on to start his own photography business. It was one of those things that was meant to be, but was not obvious.
I always had trouble learning in school, classes did not come easily to me and I wasn’t a natural at anything it seemed, so I didn’t think too much about this course either. I knew I always loved art, but this was a whole new realm. I went out and took my first roll of film for the class, I was getting ready to go develop it and the film got stuck, we fiddled to open the camera and everything got exposed and ruined! Naturally you are a tad bummed, but I went out again and went for round 2. I came back to the dark room, developed some photos, entered a contest and won on my first image. I had no idea I was good at this, of course you don’t need outside influence to tell you, but it doesn’t hurt. From then on I barely left the dark room. I took so many photo courses I ended up in studio classes that I was the only student and made up my own assignments, assignments that teachers loved that they took to use in their own classes. I realized I had found my calling. When I applied for college I decided photojournalism was the way to go, as I had no idea what else you do with a love for photography. I wanted a state school and decided to move forward with my photojournalism major, mind you, I had absolutely no idea what this would entail. Once I realized there was no art, in my mind, as to what I was doing I took a harder focus on photography itself. I put all of my efforts into my art courses, decided to double major in art education and photography and go on to start a photography business, 2 years out of college. I haven’t looked back, and when I think back on how things could have turned out, I realize this is exactly what was meant to be. All the struggles in school, the confusion, the only clear thing to me was when I held my camera and was creating, I felt calm, and nervous and comfortable and at ease and excited, and those feelings travel with me today before every session. Blissful Impressions was built from not only pure passion, but technique, skill and drive. I don’t think passion is enough, you must find the inner strength to create a lifestyle and business that you want to live, and that is something I try to work on everyday.
What technology/software/camera gear do you use to keep focused on what you do best, as your photograph?
My current main camera is a Nikon D800, I use this with a variety of lenses to capture wide angle and macro detail shots. My all time favorite lens is a Macro 60mm f/2.8. It creates the most beautiful bokeh {blur behind the subject} and has a crisp, warm addition to the photos that I have not found in other lenses. While it’s perfect for those obvious close up details of newborns or wedding rings, it truly makes the photo with portraits as well. I chose to use Nikon because when you accidentally get into a film photography course in high school, you use what is given to you! I didn’t know too much about the various types of cameras when I started out, although as I begin to gather more lenses and really get to know the cameras I was using, I decided to commit. As I traveled through college I stayed with 35mm and medium format for a large portion of my courses and then switched to digital before graduation. I feel there is such an importance on understanding film photography, the development process and presentation that goes into every digital image as well. When picking a digital camera it is vital to understand how it is different than the other well known brands. While I chose to stick with Nikon it wasn’t out of just having the lenses and familiarity, it was a choice and one that I will continue to move forward with as I see fit for my business. When it comes to editing I use ACR {Adobe Camera Raw} a photoshop program, along with presets that I find fit my style. ACR allows me to batch edit many photos in the same lighting situations at once, this way I provide a clear consistency between final images.
What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos?
The hardest part of being a photographer, professionally, is creating a business. We all have specialties that we want to share, and the idea of getting your camera, taking the photos, editing, delivering and repeating is very nice, but not the truth of the business. How do you get those clients, how do you keep those clients, how do you get those clients to refer you to their friends and family? There is so much that goes into running any business, and one that is so personal you have to make sure you are connecting with your clients on a deep level. I am a very shy person to begin with, so getting out of my comfort zone was definitely a struggle! When I finally get through all of that, the hardest part of actually taking the photos is when you get to sit down and edit and try not to be overly consumed by photographers that have already had great success and trying not to duplicate their work, but find my own style to define my look as an artist.
Top Bucket List Locations
Greek Islands
Paris
Hawaii
Austin
San Diego + San Francisco
Currently – Top Must Read Blogs
I’m Like Brave – A friend’s blog who has awesome inspiration from creative business owners who care to share their successes and struggles. Almost all of their connections are through Instagram, and I find it incredible how these women have grown their business so well through this format!
EOFire Podcast – This one I listen to on a podcast and are interviews of entrepreneurs in every field. Every business owner has so many ups and downs, it’s awesome to hear what has worked for them and how to implement little things into your life to help make you a better person and entrepreneur. Even if you can’t relate to the specific business, you connect with each person on a different level, at some point in our own business we have seen a similar issue that they have figured out and why not learn from the success stories!
Bobbi And Mike – This blog is from a photographer who I took a workshop from and am continually inspired by their work. Bobbi is very open and honest with her clients and makes them feel so comfortable, they have this natural aspect in every image. I love reading about each couple, but more than that the photos truly tell the story and you feel like you were there for these incredible + fun moments!
Don’t forget to share #thecreativelocal on Instagram and Twitter with photos of you or other small business owners, entrepreneurs, or other hustlers out there making a difference in their neck of the woods!
Visit Talia: Blissful Impressions Photography
You can also find her here:
Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
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