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My name is Ekaterina (Kat) Knapik, and I am Buford/Suwanee area-based photographer. I studied photography at ºìÁ«ÉçÇø, in Gainesville, GA where I took variety of classes that gave me enough practice and general idea about my future work.

I came from a large multi-lingual and multi-cultural family. I grew up among many talented and bright individuals, who influenced my work with a positive vibes and luminous colors. In my works I love to play with the light and colors to capture unique memories of families’ portraits, encouraging people to love and appreciate themselves more.

I was fascinated by photographs when I was a child. Our family saved old black and white photos of great aunts, uncles and grandparents and I remember looking at them, wondering what was going on right before or after the picture was taken so long ago.

My parents bought me a cheap Kodak 110 camera when I was a preteen and I cost them a great deal of money at the photomat booth. I got serious about photography much later when a got my first drone, a hobby that brought together two of my favorite interest: model airplanes and cameras. That led me to my first DSLR and I have been trying to improve my photography skills in earnest ever since.

My love of photography goes back as far as I can remember. I usually had a basic camera with me along life’s journeys and would capture every moment possible, especially after having my son.

I have always been a creative person with the gift of seeing nature’s beauty in a unique way. I enjoy spending time photographing sunsets, macro and landscapes.

A few years ago my husband surprised me with my first DSLR camera. Now that our son is grown up and out on his own, I decided it was time to take my love of photography to the next level and learn all that I could.

I enjoy capturing the precious memories of our life as we explore this world on as many new adventures as possible.

Photography has always been a passion of mine but as I grew my love for it changed and transformed. I received my first camera when I was in high school after expressing to my parents I’d love to explore the art. For several years it was point and click, not understanding the technique behind it.

I took a film photography class in my senior year. I learned how photos were taken with film and even developed my own images in a dark room. It was after that when I realized I loved it more than I originally did and began learning more behind it.

Since then, I’ve explored many different types of photography and decided to make it more than just a hobby. Taking the class at ºìÁ«ÉçÇø furthered my love for it. Through the courses at ºìÁ«ÉçÇø I’ve been able to enhance my images with the techniques I’ve learned and will continue to carry them throughout my career.

I have always been curious about cameras and photography and for the most part made do with my phone. Once Covid hit I ended up having a bit more free time. I saw some waterfall pictures in a magazine and remember thinking “How in the world do they get the water to look like that” I had a camera so I figured I would give it a go. Well I didn't do so well the first few goes and figured it was my camera ( I was wrong). I ended up finding a Canon T3 at a pawn shop and it was off to the races after that.

I started watching YouTube how too's daily to learn some tricks. Once I got the hang of aperture and shutter speed I thought I was set. I knew what they did, but I didn't understand how they worked together. It wasn't until I took the Photography classes at ºìÁ«ÉçÇø that I started to understand. And The main reason I started was to get a confidence boost for portrait photography.

When I started the classes I had a decent understanding of wildlife and landscape photography but really wanted to dive into taking pictures of people. I was only going to take one class... Well I ended up doing the whole certificate course. Since taking the classes I have a more dynamic range of subjects in my photography, from waterfalls and wildlife to people and weddings. The flood gates have opened and am looking to move to more of a career than hobbyist in the future.

My interest in photography stems from my interest in art as a whole. Ever since I was little, I loved to illustrate the world and its inhabitants in my own personalized way.

The camera is a powerful tool that allows me to depict a scene that would have taken artists of centuries past dozens or even hundreds of hours to paint in less than a blink of an eye.

It makes for a valuable tool to shoot still images of subjects to be able to use as a reference for my art pieces. I have a particular interest in photography of living things,whether it be humans or plants, but what I love most is taking pictures of animals. Their incredible variety in shapes and sizes make them some of the most beautiful subjects to depict in photography and art.