From Kiyah—
I want to start off this post by saying that I’m so incredibly humbled by and thankful for Radina’s words! Taking on an intern this year was a scary (but necessary) decision to make and now that it’s over, I am so glad that I did it and especially glad that I had Radina! You guys, she is truly a blessing. I would not have survived or thrived this fall wedding season without her. She went above and beyond in every single way, she learned tasks so quickly, and she kept me sane, encouraged, laughing, motivated, and veryyy organized. We discovered so many things we have in common (our mutual obsession with Anastasia and our mutual fear of bugs) and we learned new things from each other too. Radina introduced me to some great podcasts and my love for Jeni’s Ice Cream and Survivor rubbed off on her too 🙂 My only regret is that Radina and I didn’t get a non-selfie picture together!
From Radina—
Interning this Fall with Kiyah has been such a fun journey! I stumbled upon the opportunity shortly after joining a local Facebook group in an effort to start connecting with creatives in Atlanta. My family was in the process of moving back to the area, and I wasn’t really sure what direction I was going to take professionally. After a FaceTime interview with Kiyah, I knew that this was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up on! She was so prepared and took the process seriously, yet I always felt like I was talking to a friend.
I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when coming into this internship experience! I wanted to learn more about the world of photography and have always been mesmerized with weddings, so I was very excited to start. I don’t have aspirations to be a photographer (in fact, I don’t even own a camera outside of my iPhone), but I have always loved photography and was interested in the business-side of things.
The first day of the internship, Kiyah greeted me with a small gift and welcomed me into her home. She even had a slideshow ready for us to set expectations (which I loved). I was, and am still, impressed with the clear vision of her business, her values, and her heart. I am certain that is why all of her couples are beyond amazing and her photos are equally spectacular. I have found that when you are true to yourself, a world of opportunities opens up!
This role allowed me to experience the different working pieces of wedding photography. As I mentioned before, Kiyah is organized and professional, and her process is very streamlined. She sends couples a thorough questionnaire a few months before their wedding, which helps us get to know them better and clarify the expectations for their special day. Using the completed questionnaire, I helped Kiyah create the day-of timelines for each wedding, which helped the days run smoothly and allowed us to be flexible if the timeline shifted. Kiyah is one of the only photographers that I have known to have such an awesome working relationship with the wedding vendors. I was able to help her be proactive prior to each wedding and contact the vendors, introducing ourselves and sharing the Instagram handles of key vendors. This allowed the vendors to give each other credit by tagging one another as they were documenting the wedding day on social media.
The wedding days were my favorite part of this internship! Having the privilege of assisting the couples on their special day was amazing. As previously mentioned, the couples that Kiyah works with are fantastic and so inviting, so I loved assisting and making sure that their day was as perfect as possible! I will definitely miss my little buddy, the Instax camera! I was in charge of taking fun instant photos of the couple throughout the day and document Instagram stories…and it allowed me to be creative and feel more involved.
The most memorable moment of this journey is hands-down when we successfully executed a same-day instant slideshow for a few of Kiyah’s couples! Kiyah has had the vision of implementing these slideshows for some time, and she decided that we should try it. It was a HUGE success, and it was so fulfilling to help her reach this goal. I also loved watching the guests and parents react to seeing the wedding photos during the reception. Their surprise and pure joy was priceless!
Working with Kiyah has been extremely fun and fulfilling. She has been a real-world example of what it looks like to follow your passion and has inspired me to pursue my own goals. This experience has given me the confidence to open my own business and not allow my fears to stop me. I will be forever thankful to Kiyah for opening up this internship opportunity and for choosing me.
Radina (@radina.izzo)
