Hi, I’m Kristen!
So what to tell you about myself…
For starters, I clearly enjoy photography, or I wouldn’t own a photography business. Right? That would be ridiculous ;)
But in all seriousness, I started this little venture of mine back in 2011 as a part-time gig while I built up my clientele & explored the different genres of photography I thought might interest me. Admittedly, weddings were not at the top of that list at the time. But turns out once I tried it, I loved them! Who woulda thought?? By 2015, in all my wedding-loving glory, I took this business full-time and have focused primarily on weddings ever since.
I was born & raised a Pittsburgh girl – grew up in Kennedy Township (Robinson Township area for those unfamiliar) and currently live in the South Hills. I stayed in Pittsburgh for college too, majoring in Entrepreneurial Studies & Digital Media Arts at Duquesne University.
Even though I’ve always lived here, I sure do leave a lot! My husband and I LOVE to hit the road whenever we can to drive around the lower 48. We’ve covered some serious ground over the years, both by car & by motorcycle. And then there’s that one time we wound up in Tanzania for a couple weeks. (We took a plane that time; it was for the best ;)
I’m very organized and love to plan in certain aspects of life, like my business, but I’m very laid-back & love spontaneity in other aspects, like vacations (I could never be a travel agent). I love day dates with friends for some chai lattes and nights out with a vodka soda in my hand, but I also love spending evenings at home with no agenda, under my elephant blanket, flipping between HGTV & Family Guy.
I’m equal parts bubbly & chill, Type A & go-with-the-flow, wanna-be health nut but undeniable cookie monster.
- My super-awesome, cute, supportive husband :)
- Brown leather everything.
- Camping. Like real camping, in a tent with no cell service and an outhouse.
- Hiking trails in awesome places, particularly out west. Some of my favorite hikes to date were out in Arizona & Utah.
- Chai tea lattes
- Cookies. Especially homemade peanut butter blossoms that I can snag from your cookie table ;)
- Candles & mugs. It’s a problem…
Love Notes from the Newlyweds
I was impressed with Kristen Vota even after our first meeting. She took time to really talk with me and my husband about what we were looking for in a photographer and showed us plenty examples of her work. We decided she was a great fit for us! Kristen was great communicating with us throughout the process. We met with her again before the wedding and she had a detailed timeline with all of the pictures we had informed her that were must haves, like pictures with certain family members and such. She was very organized and really put my mind at ease. Looking at the weather forecast, I was very worried we would have rain. Kristen gave us some great ideas for rain locations and I really appreciated that she had great suggestions. Then came our wedding day, I honestly can’t say enough good things. Kristen captured the day perfectly. She was great at directing us into poses and keeping everyone on time. I’m thrilled with the amount of wonderful pictures I have. Also, I have to say that I think Kristen really has a great eye and took flattering photos of myself and the whole bridal party. Our party consisted of everyone from children to adults, so all shapes and sizes and I feel like everyone was beautifully captured. I would 100% recommend Kristen to my friends and family and I would use her again.
Kristen was such an amazing photographer and captured our wedding day perfectly! We had a glitch in where we were supposed to take our pictures after the ceremony, and that didn’t stress her out and she didn’t let it stress me out either. She took the time to research new spots the day before the wedding, and came up with a new plan that still worked out perfectly. She was so nice and overall just wonderful to work with. I got so many compliments from my bridal party and guests from the wedding on how nice and accommodating she was and how she really took the time to capture all of the best images from our day. Also not to mention all of our images turned out wonderful, and it was hard to pick a favorite :)
My husband and I had a really great experience with Kristen as our photographer for our June 2017 wedding. Kristen is extremely passionate about her craft and more than organized with her timeline. She has a really great personality which makes it even more exciting to work with her. We met with her several times and each time she made sure to work around our schedule and location. She outlines everything clearly in the first meeting as far as pricing and packages. She makes an effort to get to know you as a couple so that she can cleverly plan her photography based on your wants, likes, and needs. She has outlines for everything keeping everyone organized. You couldn’t ask for an easier person to work with. All emails are responded to promptly as well as any questions. Kristen had a second photographer with her at all times at our wedding to capture many moments. The pictures turned out wonderful, and we have them all on a convenient USB stick to print out anytime we want! So many moments and memories we can always relive through photos. I would highly recommend Kristen for your next event, especially for a wedding!
Kristen was great to work with! We met a couple times during the planning process and had numerous email discussions and she was professional and offered great ideas throughout. She created a wedding day timeline for us, asked for our must have shots in a detailed questionnaire, and made an outdoor photo location plan and backup plan if bad weather. We did not have to worry if our photographer was getting all the photos we wanted on the wedding day since every detail had been thoroughly covered prior to. During the wedding, she was not intrusive on our guests. Delivery of our photos happened quickly after editing and we loved the sneak peeks on her social media accounts and blog post. In short, she was seamless to work with, great communication, and the quality of work was beyond expectations. Thank you!
