Photography is my passion. Photographs have always been a part of my life, starting with a father who was an overzealous shutterbug and documented everything through pictures. I loved to later look at his organized snapshots telling our family story through many albums. Besides remembering dates, times, and places, I fell in love with the way these pictures could capture some brief moment I had forgotten about and immediately evoke smiles, laughter, amazement, or other types of strong emotional reactions. Then many more memories and stories would come flooding back that I had forgotten.

I got my first point-and-shoot camera when I was a little girl living in Idaho and have been snap-happy ever since. I first started experimenting with SLR cameras and manual settings when taking several darkroom classes while living in Atlanta for five years. These classes gave me a deep appreciation for the ‘science’ of photography: correct exposure, most appealing composition, brightness, contrast, and grain patterns. I learned that all these factors above can help the photographer intensify a mood already established between the viewer and the main subject of the picture, and that fascinated me!

This feeling has only intensified since I’ve gotten married, moved back to the Pacific Northwest, and had children of my own. As many know, raising kids is an intense, full-time job, and does the time fly! Since my first child Ella was born, my camera has been out. I loved capturing her tiny helpless first weeks of life, her early facial expressions and later her laughs, moments of discovery and whimsy, and having just plain old fun.

While constantly capturing many of Ella’s moments, I had a lot of friends asking me to do photo shoots of their babies and new families. I later expanded to a maternity and wedding photo-hobbyist. Now that I’m busy capturing Ella’s baby brother Isaac’s moments, I’ve realized the best way I can contribute to families, friends, and anyone’s lives is through providing them thoughtful snapshots of real life moments they can enjoy, hold on to, and look back on forever. Thus Kim Hildebrand Photography was born!