A day in the life of a KWP intern
This photography internship was kind of unexpected for me but it has been by far the best experience I’ve had in the professional industry. Everyone in the studio is so creative; it blows my mind how awesome they are!
I met Kristen through a modeling job where she was holding a styled shoot workshop for other photographers. Fast forward to a year later, I was in need of an internship for UCF and one day I was just scrolling through the KWP Blog and came across Lexie and Rachel’s (previous interns) post. I quickly shot Kristen an email and never heard back…So, I emailed again and again. Finally I got a response to come in for an interview! Throughout this internship I’ve had the opportunity to assist Kristen on beauty shoots, styled shoots, toddlers, a real wedding and even be a model. But wait, there’s more! If there is no shoot going on, I’m probably putting together welcome kits, searching for addresses, culling a shoot, formatting cards, updating submissions and the list goes on!
You have got to be kitten me
These are the cuddliest, most rambunctious, clumsiest kitties I’ve ever met!
Occasionally, Kristen will fosters kitties from Pixel Fund. Long story short, that’s how we got these cuties. They were living glamorously in a kitty mansion in the middle of the studio for about 2 months. Needless to say it took the work…out of work!
A little piece of advice for future interns…ALWAYS be ready! Kristen is notorious for her sporadic ideas, sometimes at 10 pm or just in the middle of the day. But I guess you could say it keeps you on your toes. I am going to school for Radio/TV in hopes of becoming the Director of Photography. Calling the shots…Literally! One day Kristen got the idea to do multilevel marketing (MLM) review on products…youtube style. We got samples of LipSense and LuLaRoe! This was my first time editing any videos with Premier Pro so I didn’t know much to say the least. But Kristen let me take the lead on the entire project – so I planned, filmed, edited and blogged 2 videos for it!
Two in One
I have modeled for Kristen more during my internship than I have with my actual agency. But hey – I wasn’t mad! The team of people who come together to make something creative and beautiful is astonishing to me. I have never worked with such a great squad before! Sometimes I would get a text at 10 pm “Hey, you want to model tomorrow?” and my response was always “Sure!!!!”, who would say no to that? I usually never do my makeup or my hair and wear athleisure almost every day so its nice to have someone glam you up every once in a while!
Aside from the hard work of “fake laughing that turns into real laughs…looking down…walk and make your dress move, etc.” I got the opportunity to see professionals in their element. I got tips on how to direct your subject (aka the model), tips on lighting, which lens to use, and most importantly how to work with what ya got! Not everything goes 100% smoothly, especially while working with so many people. But the good thing is that you have that many more brains to make something out of it.
#KWPretreat2017
Kristen was hired to do a styled shoot to show off the newly remodeled wedding pavilion at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace; so we went on a little staycation for a couple of days! Our team was luxurized (it’s a word on Urban Dictionary and I like it) with the presidential suite…basically the whole floor! We took a stroll through Disney Springs where Kristen surprised me with a whole bunch of Sephora goodies! Later that night we had a “Lip Sync Battle” on Facebook live. I’m hoping none of you saw it to save me from embarrassment! The next day we got some vitamin D while we circled in the lazy river!
Real Wedding Experience
I assisted on Ray and Renee’s wedding, a beautiful couple who came down from DC for their wedding. I absolutely LOVED this experience and this duo! Sometimes I would catch myself just enjoying the moment and staring with heart eyes until I realized I need to find Kristen! Their wedding was at Casa Feliz, a stunning venue in Winter Park, FL. It felt like it was the hottest day ever and it didn’t help that I was wearing a sweater. As their dinner reception was going on I got to meet their DJ from Our DJ Rocks and her name was Gaby, too! She was amazing but maybe I’m just being biased because she played my favorite kind of music…R&B and soul.
Santa is Coming!!!
At the annual KWP Holiday Decorating and PJ party, the KWP interns gathered around to decorate the Christmas tree in our favorite pajamas, stuff our face with cookies, and have an ugly sweater competition! Every year, the interns pick out an ornament that best represents themselves to add to the tree. When we decorate, we get to hang the ornaments of all the past interns, and then add our own! I hand-made mine a’la kindergarten style!
Hers & Hers Shoot
To finish out our internship, we’re tasked with planning and executing an entire styled shoot! I worked with three other amazing interns, Malik, Makayla and Kaila (MMK and Gabby). On our first day together, we had to come up with a team name and motto. So we chose The Piglets, We’re Not Bacon Down! We got to pair up with one other Piglet to work on our final styled wedding shoot throughout the program – and Malik and I were paired up! We wanted to represent a minimalistic styled, same-sex marriage. This was such a fun, yet stressful, experience but it all worked out and we couldn’t be more proud! You should check out our blog post to see more about our vision ;)
What’s Next?
I am thankful to be continuing my experience here at KWP as an admin assistant! After my graduation this coming semester of Spring 2018, I have hopes to move to California or Georgia within a year or so…I know, two complete opposites. My goal is to travel and work my way up to be DOP (Director of Photography) on major films or perhaps work for some of my favorite TV networks like HGTV, TLC, and of course E!!
