We’re looking forward to introducing you to Kristin St Sure. Check out our conversation below.
Kristin , we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
People often think photography is about pretty locations, good light, and knowing how to work a camera. And yes, all of that matters. But the part no one talks about is how much emotional awareness goes into the work. My job isn’t just to take a photo; it’s to understand people.
I’m paying attention to body language, comfort levels, the way two people naturally connect, and the subtle shifts in energy that say more than words. A camera can only capture what someone feels safe enough to show so the real skill isn’t the equipment, it’s the presence. It’s creating safety, comfort, and ease.
The biggest misunderstanding is thinking this job is technical. It’s human.
The photos are the outcome, not the starting point.
People often tell me, “You helped us be present,” “We didn’t worry about anything,” or “You were such a calming presence.” None of that is considered “photography,” but it’s the part that matters most to me.
How I make people feel and the experience I create, is just as important as the images I deliver.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Kristin, a photographer, storyteller, and guide for people navigating some of the most meaningful moments of their lives. I create room where people can actually breathe and be themselves.
My work blends artistry with emotional intelligence it’s simple and honest, focusing on real connection instead of stiff posing. Whether I’m photographing a wedding, an elopement, or creating a portrait and coaching experience that feels like someone’s soul being seen for the first time, my goal is always the same: to help people feel deeply felt, heard and safe in their story.
My brand is built on intention. I want the real, the raw, and the natural beauty that lives inside all of us not forced perfection. I’m not trying to create perfect versions of people. I’m interested in who they really are the way they laugh, the way they comfort each other, the moments in between. I’m drawn to truth, connection, and the little moments people don’t realize matter until later. Those moments happen when a day has room to breathe, when there’s space for creativity, presence, and love to lead the way. What makes my brand different is that it’s not performance based it’s presence based.
Right now, I’m expanding my work into a larger container that includes coaching and creative guidance, supported by my background in holistic health and life coaching. Not as something separate from photography, but as the natural evolution of it. I’m merging everything I’ve always done into one expansive experience.
I’ve always held space. Now I’m simply naming it now.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was the kid who noticed everything. Quiet, observant, creative. Always watching people, reading the room, and feeling things more deeply than I knew how to explain. I spent most of my childhood in my own world making up stories, writing poetry, wandering through the woods for hours, getting lost in nature and paying attention to details most people walked right past.
I trusted my intuition long before I knew that’s what it was. I connected with people easily, especially the ones who felt overlooked. I never really “fit” in with any one group at school, but somehow I was friends with everyone. I didn’t need a lot of words to understand what someone was going through. I could feel it in the silence, see it in their eyes.
As I got older, I tried to fit myself into the expectations around me. But the original version of me the girl who noticed, who felt deeply, who cared never left. She’s the reason I do what I do now.
My work today is, in many ways, a return to her. A return to honoring who I am at my core and creating spaces where others can do the same. We’re all born with something unique to offer, and sometimes the thing we’ve been trying to hide is the exact gift someone else needs.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I don’t think there was a single moment it was a slow realization that keeping everything inside wasn’t strength; it was survival. I’ve always known how to hold space for other people, even when I didn’t know how to do that for myself. For a long time, I thought being the steady one meant not showing my own struggles.
But over time, I learned that the things I went through didn’t make me weaker they made me more aware, more intuitive, more capable of understanding what people need. The painful parts of my story taught me how to read a room, how to comfort someone without words, and how to see beneath the surface.
My biggest wounds have become my greatest strengths. They’re the reason I can show up for people the way I do. They’re why my work feels the way it does. I stopped hiding my pain when I realized it wasn’t something to be ashamed of it was the thing that gave me depth, empathy, and a way of connecting that’s real.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
I believe people want to be seen more than they want to be perfect.
I believe connection is created through presence, not performance.
People don’t want to be fixed, they want to be heard.
I believe healing comes from acceptance rather than force.
From allowing yourself to feel and grieve.
From slowing down.
From giving yourself the same compassion, grace, and kindness you so easily give to everyone else.
Healing often begins when someone finally feels truly seen not in spite of who they are, but because of who they are. When we acknowledge and embrace every part of ourselves, even the parts we once rejected, something shifts. Integration happens. Wholeness returns.
I’ve healed things doctors told me I never would, and if I had to break the process down into five categories, it would be this:
trauma, self-care, self-love, purpose, and mindset.
It’s not always easy, but it’s often simpler than we’re led to believe.
And through all of it, I’ve learned this:
We’re never as alone as we think we are.
Connection and shared experience are everything.
These aren’t things I say out loud often because they feel obvious to me, but they quietly shape every part of my work. I don’t approach photography as a transaction. I approach it as a relationship. A moment in someone’s life where they can exhale, be human, and feel understood.
That’s the foundation beneath all of it.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
My work is shifting into something bigger photography, creativity, story, emotional intelligence, and healing woven together in a way that feels like what I was always meant to do.
For a long time, I made myself small for the comfort of everyone else afraid to take up space or be a burden. I softened my edges, quieted my intuition, and played down the depth I naturally bring into every room. I didn’t realize that the very thing I hid was the gift that makes my work what it is.
If I don’t embrace myself, I can’t give others the permission or the courage to step into who they really are.
When people talk about me someday, I hope they say I made them feel understood. That I listened without judgment, cared deeply, and showed up with sincerity. I hope they say I brought clarity or calm into their lives even in small, unexpected ways. That I made them feel safe, accepted, and more at home in themselves.
I don’t need to be remembered for accomplishments or achievements.
I hope I’m remembered for how I made people feel.
That I helped them see themselves with more love.
That I helped them remember who they really are.
And that I left them with images and experiences that prove it.
If that’s the story people tell, that’s enough.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stsurephotography/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-st-sure-86b1b1230/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristin.stsure.5/
- Other: https://www.besomeone.vip/team/kristin
https://www.tiktok.com/@stsurephotography
Image Credits
St Sure Photography
www.stsurephotography.com
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