Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Davis
Hi Kathy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2010 my 92 year old father fell and broke his hip. He came to live with my family and me. It was hectic taking care of his needs, my ten year old’s needs and working full time as a classroom teacher. I was stressed out, worried about him and needed to find a way to disengage from time to time for my own mental health. A friend suggested I get a hobby and since I always loved photography from a very young age, I went down to George’s Camera in North Park and bought my first DSLR. Not wanting to waste the money I had just plunked down for it, I figured I better take a photography class to understand all those buttons and dials. I ended up in the UC San Diego Extension program for photography and over the next several years, I earned my Professional Certificate for Photography: Images & Techniques. My most treasured assignment from one of those classes was to create an environmental portrait of someone in there element, job, hobby, etc. I looked no further than home.
My dad was known for repairing accordions, and when he moved in with us, we replicated his repair shop in our garage so that he could stay active and happy. I used flash for the first time and captured him in his shop among all the old tools, reeds, and keys. My professor loved it. I got an A in the class!
Fast forward to 2017, I became the advisor to the photo club at the middle school where I taught. It was luck that my principal at the time wanted more digital arts offered at the school and I was able to teach beginning photography to 7th and 8th graders. It then grew to include an advanced photo class. It was around this time that I became very interested in photographing pets. There is just something about dogs that drew me in and I began a journey to scour the internet to learn all I could about starting a pet photography business. It turns out there are some big names in this field such as the great Kaylee Greer and Alicja Zmyslowska. In fact there are too many to name! Once my eye began to really be trained, I found my style and my vision which is two-fold: telling the story of the bond between an owner and their pet, and photographing dogs amongst beautiful landscapes. I finally opened my business in 2024. My goal for 2025 is to reach out to non-profits that focus on helping senior citizens afford to care for their best friend. My hope to make a difference by sharing that need with others in order to keep pets health and happy with their elder owners and in return, the senior can afford to provide for their care. This will certainly help me honor my dad and his cat Tiki’s memory. Photography can change lives and it has certainly changed mine in the most wonderful ways.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh gosh no! Even as a teacher, I tend to be a slow learner and learning the skills for the technical side really was challenging. Eventually, I got faster and the jargon became more familiar.
One thing that really helped me was joining the Professional Photographers of San Diego County, a PPA chapter. The workshops and mentoring was invaluable!
The other obstacle was the cost. Photography is one of the most expensive hobbies out there. Gear envy is real!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I photograph pets and their people. I specialize in using beautiful scenery as my backdrop. I would have to say that I hope I will become known for that, but honestly I guess it is my people skills. As a teacher, I’ve worked with hundreds children and their parents, so setting folks at ease is something I’m good at. This is important because you want a relaxed, authentic vibe when photographing them with their dog to capture that love and the bond between them.
I guess I’m most proud of the fact that I persevere. I’m deeply passionate about photographing dogs, and this drives me to always improve, always do better. And I hope that my love for pets, my respect for their owners and the desire to create a better photo than the one I took yesterday is what sets me apart.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice to someone just starting out in photography in general is to lose the gear envy. You can create incredibly beautiful images with simple, relatively inexpensive gear. Also, learn the exposure triangle and learn it well before you venture into other aspects of the art.
The other piece of advice I would give (that I have to keep reminding myself of!) is to lose the Impostor Syndrome aspect of art. Looking at and studying what others were doing did help me learn how they used light, angles, color, composition, etc. but eventually, you have to just get out there and use your camera. You can only develop your own style by photographing many, many things. You will build your skill set by practicing more than drooling over the work of others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wanderingwoofphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wanderingwoofphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathydavisphotograpy
Image Credits
Photo of Kathy Davis, credit Robyn Scherer Photography
All photos of dogs are by Kathy Davis Photography
