Hey!! Thanks so much for wanting to learn more about me. You’re awesome (and so kind to want to learn more). Below is a photograph of me and my lovely wife, Haley Goldie. Isn’t she beautiful? (I’m one lucky guy…)
I won’t bore you with a super long story, but instead give you the nutshell about my life so you can understand my “why.”
– Why I love being a photographer
– Why I love my family
– Why I love to travel
– And why I love weddings.
So, let’s get right down to it!
I was born June 29, 1985 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. And I absolutely LOVED growing up there. I had an incredibly childhood, great parents, and a really fun life. My dad was a pilot, so I got to travel all around the world with him from a young age, and it showed me different cultures outside of my own. I learned to appreciate everything — right down to the smallest details like the smell of the air, the local accents, and the taste of the food. To this day, I still appreciate the smallest details — sometimes even more than the biggest, most obvious ones.
Since I was a traveler from an early age, I wanted to start documenting my adventures — but nothing was digital yet. Everything was film. And film was expensive — especially for a kid who was under 10. I used my dad’s 35mm film cameras (point and shoot), and was super selective on what I took photos of… and I had so much fun doing it and looking back on the images from our trips together.
Fast-forward another 10 years, and I was graduating with my Bachelors of Business Management from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington (after a short stint in business school out of the tiny little town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada at Acadia University). I will forever remember my friends at Acadia. They are amongst the most genuine, caring, fun-loving group I have ever met. I only moved away from there because I wasn’t super stoked on the constant sub-zero temperatures 3 flights away from home. This was a time before Facebook, MySpace, and Skype video calls. So if I wanted to see my old friends, the only option was to fly home — and that wasn’t an option in the real world.
During University, I was more seriously taking photographs and started to earn money with it by shooting for the University and for some small businesses around Eastern Washington. It was a great start, and I got to know how to photograph products/detail shots and motion/sports quite quickly because I was immersed in it.
Shortly after graduating, I accepted a job working for an advertising agency, but that was quite short-lived. I quit after about 3 months (having learned absolutely nothing), and decided to move back in with my parents and pursue my hobby and try to turn that into a full-time career.
And of course, my hobby was still photography. It was (and is) my passion.
It was very tough to start because I had no formal knowledge about the business of photography. I didn’t know how to get my first paying clients, or even which kind of photography to focus on. I just knew I wanted to take photos and I wanted to be able to travel the world and meet great new people. If I could combine all of things together — fantastic!
So, I began photographing landscapes.
It was the easiest thing for me to get into. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so beautiful landscapes are abundant. I didn’t need to photograph anything other than the raw nature around me. And spending months at this really taught me patience, persistence, and the raw skills I needed for composition, light, contrast, and the power of negative space.
Soon, though… landscapes became too easy, and I wanted more of a challenge. (But I never stopped taking these fine art landscape photographs — I still do that in my free time. Check out my fine art work here, www.kylegoldiegallerie.com.)
The biggest challenge there is… is definitely “people.”
Photographing people creates a unique challenge: some people don’t listen to direction, some people photograph easier/harder than others, and 99% of the general public isn’t comfortable in front of the camera.
So, over the following 6 years, I dedicated my life to becoming a fashion photographer. You can see some of my former work/ portfolios currently available by going to www.kylegoldie.co.
That time of my photography career went like a rocket ship.
I started in Seattle, then worked full-time in Vancouver, BC, then out of a studio in Portland photographing for guys like Adidas, and then to Los Angeles where I became primarily known for photographing lingerie & swimwear for magazines and clothing brands around the world.
During this time, I photographed a few weddings, but it was more of a side gig. Why? Because to be honest, I wasn’t really treating my business like a business. I should’ve started focusing on weddings a LONG time ago, and here’s why…
… Weddings showed me the intrinsic reward behind the images I create for my clients.
Fashion was so surface, so passing, so temporary, and the emotional reward just wasn’t there.
Wedding photographs are permanent, forever, (and beyond). The emotional reward is HUGE.
For me to see brides (and grooms!) cry when they simply see a single photograph I create from their wedding day, it is THAT which really makes me love what I do for a living. It’s THAT which makes me want to book more weddings year after year.
At the time of me writing this (September 2017), I have photographed around 150 weddings through being a Luma Weddings photographer (my brand and baby), and I am a full-time wedding photographer AND wedding business coach.
I decided to get into the coaching side of the industry (in addition to me keeping my photography business) because I quite simply and honestly love helping people. I want to help others build their business … because I didn’t have that help when I got started.
I had no idea what to do, where to go, or even what questions to ask. I was lost. So, the coaching business is there simply to fill that space that I wished I had when I was starting. And I get a lot of emotional reward from it. It’s amazing to see others grow & succeed.
I’m now married (June 24, 2016, was our wedding date – which also happens to be Haley’s birthday), we have two cute little Yorkie-poos (Canon & Jetta), and we are starting to talk about building our family with a couple little babies. AHHHH! 🙂
We love traveling, we go out of the country as often as we can (now having been to 24 countries), and we are truly building the life we have always dreamed of. I appreciate you taking the time to read all of this about me.
I appreciate you taking the time to read all of this about me. You’re awesome.
I want to learn about you! Send me an email, and let’s chat.
– Kyle Goldie
And while I have you here, you might also really love these other super useful blog posts as you are planning your own wedding day:
