Katrina’s Photography Glow Up Story
I’m Katrina - the Photographer that doesn’t take pictures..…
I used to answer the phone, "USAir, this is Katrina — are you looking for first class accommodations today? "
True story. Before the internet made airline reservations a solo sport, I was the voice on the other end of the phone — and somewhere in that season of life, I also stopped going by “Trina” and became Katrina.
If you call me Trina, I know you were there when I was growing up.
If you call me Katrina, I know you are a part of my glowing up.
Photography found me the way most important things do — quietly, unexpectedly important, through the back door like it was late for curfew.
I was always the one with the camera, burning through rolls of film, snapping away at friends and family long before anyone else thought to pick one up.
Once my kids (and nieces and nephews!) were born, and the task of scrapbooking took over, something shifted.
I started paying attention to what I was cropping out — and what I was keeping. That made me intentional.
It also made me a photographer.
When my focus changed, so did my photography, and people began to notice.
And then they began to ask for my help.
First, I was asked to take some family photos for a friend; then maternity and newborn requests came in. Moms of high school seniors and friends who were getting married for a second time asked for me to document their important moments. Small business owners and actors needed updated headshots….
No matter who I was helping, I soon became a part of their intimate, personal stories and I have been humbled and grateful by this over and over again.
But it was the moms of those high schoolers that started to shift my perspective once more.
They would step as far out of the frame as possible. Right at the moment their kid needed them in it the most - even if neither of them knew it yet.
Because they didn't feel they looked good enough, that they were enough, in that moment.
It broke my heart every single time a mom said no to being in a photo.
Then..…
a friend asked me to photograph her - just her - during a hard season - and it was pure magic to see her come alive with each smile, each laugh,
she let escape.
Then..…
another friend came to me for headshots for a book cover - and I watched as she began to see herself the way everyone else already had - strong, beautiful, deserving.
Then…..
a little boy - eight or nine years old at the time - looked at a portrait of his mom and said, with so much love and pride in his voice, "That's my mom." And that is all that mattered to him - then, and now; I have no doubt about this, not a single one.
That's when I knew this is exactly what I am meant to do —
to be both a gentle witness and a fierce captor
of the pure art of all that a woman is.
WHY I Understand How You Feel…
and how I got over it.
I’m Katrina and I am here to give you an Experience that not only captures how you look as the work of art that you are, but also helps you FEEL like one.
I understand how hard it is to get in front of the camera; how silly it feels,
how intimate & awkward.
I also discovered how freeing it is.
A couple of years ago, for my 50th birthday gift to myself, I stepped in front of my own camera for a photo session to capture the milestone.
As I began to come alive, more & more with each click of my shutter, I vowed to myself, and to every client going forward, that
I would never take photos the same way again.
Then, seeing myself in print, with cellulite, bags under my eyes, scars & a whole bunch of wrinkles, I saw how worthy I am of hanging on the wall, just as I am; and who I AM, is more than I had ever believed.
The images I captured were more than snapshots, they were portraiture.
They were more than moments, more than a record of what I looked like at the time - they were chronicles of my story, testaments to my life that I had lived so far.
Once I saw myself, really saw me, I felt different;
I felt more.
Somehow, I got all of that from doing my own portraits. I finally realized,
I am a work of art. I am the Art of ME.
And, you?
You are the incredible Art of YOU.
For small business owners and entrepreneurs who are ready to be recognized, not just seen…
I capture the version of you that loves your work, serves your people and respects that what you do deserves sustainable visibility without the endless hustle that doesn’t speak to who you are and what you offer.
For women, and those that they love the most…
I capture all of the versions of you that have been left behind while you took care of everyone and everything else by helping you find, and feel, the magic of releasing them once again.
That’s what a Katrina Lynne Portrait Art
Signature Portrait Experience is all about -
capturing not just what you look like, but who you ARE.
Let’s Capture
YOUR Art, together.
What being alone and NOT getting the shot taught me about photography - and life.
In 2013, I drove alone from Baldwinsville, New York, to Bar Harbor, Maine.
My kids were 14, 11, and 2, so taking this time for myself felt wrong.
About an hour in it hit me that I was confidently belting out (also confident nobody would call the sounds I was making “singing”) full lyrics to every 80s song that came on the radio. Current hits? Not so much.
When I stopped for lunch in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I sat alone at a small table, overlooking the water. Half way through my sandwich, it occurred to me that it was so delicious because I was actually tasting it.
At the right temperature.
Without interruption.
No need to rush.
One evening, as I drove up the mountain in Acadia National Park to catch the sunset, I spotted a young woman hitchhiking, undoubtedly trying to do the same. I knew she would never get there in time to see it; so I pulled over and offered her a ride.
She was 18 and had already made her way across Canada on foot, alone. Before heading home along the northern edge of the US, she wanted to stand at her most eastern point and watch the sun set — to mark the journey with the significance it deserved.
I was doing the same, in my own way.
We made it to the top together — and found nothing but fog.
We sat there, at the top of the world, talking until long past dark; seeing nothing through the clouds, but everything through each other's eyes. I first saw her as young, naive, and innocent; but by the end of the night, I felt her strength, her curiosity and her evolving wisdom.
I think of her often. I never got her contact information, and to this day I hope she made it home safely — that the road was kind to her, and that she never stopped following it.
That trip taught me that taking time for yourself — truly alone, without agenda or apology — is not a luxury. It is how you remember what you actually want to see, to hear, to taste…
It is how you find out who you are when nobody needs anything from you. And sometimes, you have to let the fog roll in to shift your eyes toward something you can't see at all — something you can only feel.
I wish all of this for her — that 18-year-old girl standing at the edge of a continent, marking her journey with intention and grace. I wish it for her still.
And I am learning to wish it for myself too. Not someday. Not when things slow down. Now.
I learned that the “perfect” shots I think I want, like the sun setting out over the ocean from a mountaintop, aren’t always the most meaningful.
Because I know first hand that the fog doesn't wait
— and neither should we —
All I want — the only thing I have ever wanted —
is for you to feel worthy.
Not someday.
Not after you lose the weight or get the promotion or feel ready.
Now. Exactly as you are.
If you’re done waiting for permission to be seen —
this is exactly where you are meant to start.
A few things you might not want to know, but will probably be hard to get out of your head!
My playlist goes from ABBA to Shinedown to Shakira to Hollywood Vampires to (modern!) country.
I can sing - nobody wants to be forced to hear me though!
I will dance in a grocery store aisle, in line at the bank, in the rain and 100% in my car - if the song is right and starts calling my name - and most of them are and most of them do.
But be prepared - I will grab your hand and make it a dance party.
I have three kids — two sons and a daughter. They are the best, and sometimes worst, pieces of me, and they are everything I do this for - right after myself.
I am building — a house and a life — with the most amazing man that I have ever met (besides my dad and grandpas!).
I have the opposite of a poker face. My eyes and giggling give everything away. Which means when I tell you that you are gorgeous — you'll know I mean it.
I swear like a trucker and I cry over “surprise reunion” videos. And at little boys saying "that's my mom." AND with women who are feeling all their feels on the other side of my camera. And those cries can get ugly, and I don’t care.
