Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Hope.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was raised wild. One of my earliest memories is being giddily excited, crammed with my sisters and neighborhood friends, in the loader of my dad’s backhoe, getting ready to be dumped into one of the ponds he was digging out in our front yard.
Our house was on stilts so we would race our bikes down the ramp into the swimming pool. We would set crawfish traps in the ditches while we swam in the rainwater. We played hide and seek in the dark on four-wheelers. When we were 5, my oldest cousin put me and my sisters inside a 4 person graveyard and left us there. We were so wild that we even played chicken on the four-wheelers and go-carts which ended with stitches in my lip and a broken collarbone (but at least I wasn’t the one to chicken out).
We spent most of our childhood at my Mawmaw and PawPaw’s house in Kentwood, Louisiana that we lovingly called Hope Ranch. How an Otis of the world met an Avis is pure magic to me. They have 5 boys; Ray, Ricky, Ronnie, Rocky, and Reggie.
My childhood was full of watching them play ball, hunt, fish and play poker at the Hope Ranch. They would have Roman candle wars which eventually led to a bunch of us kids sneaking off one year to have our own firecracker war. We caught our cousins hair on fire and never laughed so hard in our life. When my brother and cousin were deer hunting out of the attic windows, they accidentally set an entire trail of trees on fire.
We were given free rein to rip around 20+ acres on four wheelers, go-carts, bikes and even my pawpaw’s Toyota pickup. I learned how to drive that pickup truck when I was about 9. It was a stick shift and I thought I was the coolest human on earth when we would drive down those country dirt roads.
When we weren’t at Hope Ranch, we were in the motor home, pulling a ski boat all over the south. We spent so much time on the water; fishing, water skiing, pier hopping, etc. We were raised wild. We were loved wild. Being raised wild laid the foundation for the life that I have now. I am not afraid of failing or making mistakes. I am more afraid of not chasing my dreams! I love taking calculated risks – for myself – not when it involves other people.
The earliest memory I have of a camera in my hand was when I was playing t-ball around age 5. I took a couple of film classes in junior high and high school but dropped off photography in college because I was highly involved in sports.
After graduate school, my dad gave me the advice that changed my life, he said “take the summer off, go explore, go to Alaska. You have the rest of your life to work on your career.” I ended up in Denali National Park, fell in love with all of the wildlife I would see backpacking. I bought my first DSLR camera to capture that wild feeling always gave me and I’ve never put it down.
I worked the summers in Alaska for 4 years and traveled the world in our off-season. In 2013, I met a local girl while hitchhiking in New Zealand who ended up hosting me for a few months, we kept in touch over the years and she ended up forwarding me the job posting in 2015 about teaching landscape photography in Zion.
I only had 3 days before the job posting expired so I called the owner right away, told him I was the girl for his job, got hired on the spot. I moved to Zion 3 weeks later. I had never been to Utah, never heard of Zion, and was still shooting mostly on auto – my dad told me before my interview to “fake it til you make it” and that coupled with a hard work ethic and believing in myself, got me to where I am today.
I taught landscape photography for 5 years before starting my own portrait business in 2018.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It
has been very, very hard work. I took the job of teaching landscape at $10 an hour, with a master’s degree at the age of 29. It was humbling but, I KNEW this was my chance to learn about photography in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I was getting paid to learn how to run a business, to learn how to develop international workshops, to learn how to build and design websites.
The truth is, I would have worked for free. I didn’t fully understand who I was as a creative when I first started. The struggle was within me, accepting myself and showing potential clients who I was seemed scary.
To be honest, this is the first year that I fully know who I am as a business owner, as a creative, and as a host to all of my clients.
Thanks for sharing that. Can tell us a bit more about your work?
I collaborate with each of my guests to create a personalized and intentional photo experience in Zion National Park, Utah. I specialize in making people feel at home and welcome in Zion by being a friend and local liaison. I believe that ALL love deserves to be acknowledged, documented and celebrated. Nature doesn’t discriminate, and neither do I. I am passionate about including others and making people feel seen and known.
I think that mindset is something I am most proud of because it took a lot of work to overcome the ingrained ideology I was exposed to being raised in southern Louisiana. We all have the ability to treat others with kindness and equality but, we as humans, do not always choose that option. I have had multiple guests reach out and say they couldn’t find any willing photographer in the area because they were same-sex, trans, or polyamorous, etc. It breaks my heart to even imagine a photographer telling me that they do not agree with my chosen love and are not willing to photograph my love.
I think this sort of topic is something that people don’t talk about much in an ever-growing and popular world of social photography trends. It is currently a trend to elope, yet we only see certain types of couples represented. I strive to be a part of the solution, so I take photos with open arms and an open heart. My creativity can be a cure, if I allow it to be, and that is the heart behind The Wild Within Us.
I think that is what separates me; I am an emotional being rooted and motivated in human connections. I believe that real emotions are what make a great photo. We can be in the grandest landscape of Zion, one of the busiest parks in America, and the photo that will speak to you the most is the intimate, vulnerable photo; just the two of you with a tear rolling down your cheek. This is the photo that speaks of what a forever union of two souls will be like.
No matter where you are in the world or how incredible the view is, it’s the love between you and your life partner, it’s the wildness of knowing and being known, it’s the beating of your heart for another to see that will hold you and carry you through the ups and downs of life.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Oh wow! This is the BEST question ever. Thank you for asking this! I wouldn’t be anywhere close to where I am with the support I have been shown.
My dad has always been my number one cheerleader. He taught all of his kids to be entrepreneurs. My dad is a dreamer, but my mom was the one that taught us about hard work and loyalty. I am really close to my siblings.
I have an identical twin, an older sister and a younger brother. It’s been awesome watching their business take off and watching my older sister become a wonderful mother.
My former boss, Seth Hamel of Enlighten Photography Excursions for taking a chance on me, giving me a job as a landscape photography instructor, knowing that I still shot mostly on auto. He felt the connection I had to offer his clients and knew he could teach me the technical side.I lean into his words often when I need a confidence booster.
Rick Praetzel, Owner of Zion Adventure Company, was a huge part of both Seth and I’s careers. He gave us both a chance and helped us understand how to run a business in this area.
I currently partner with Zion Guide Hub, Zion Cycles, Local Liaison, Allways Adventure, Deep Creek Coffee, and countless other locals small business owners that assist in my weddings and elopements. I am so thankful that the owners of these businesses are my friends, they are people that I have grown (both in personal and business) with over the last 7 years. I have adventured with all of them in the outdoors, I have celebrated with them and cried with a few of them. We support one another’s dreams and I am forever grateful for the opportunities they give me.
I can’t end the credits without giving a huge shoutout to my best friend, my second shooter, my adventure partner, my dog’s dad and my lover, Grant Chaffin. If not for him, I wouldn’t have started The Wild Within Us, which changed my life for the better. He saved me in one of my darkest times; he is my wild within.
Pricing:
- Zion Adventure Elopements – starts at $5,000. 2 day elopement celebration- Includes a professional guide with a choice of guided excursion, full planning assistance, vendor recommendations, maps and resources to the greater Zion area. An online gallery, and print and backup guide.
- Zion Elopement – starts at $3,600. 4-6 hours with “just the two of you” – Includes full planning assistance, vendor recommendations, maps and resources to the greater Zion area.
- Zion Wedding at a Venue- starts at $5,800. Includes full planning assistance, vendor recommendations, maps and resources to the greater Zion area,
- Zion Couples Session – starts at $1200. Includes full planning assistance, vendor recommendations, maps and resources to the greater Zion area.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@thewildwithinus.com
- Website: www.thewildwithinus.com
- Instagram: @thewildwithinus
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewildwithinus
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/thewildwithinus
Image Credits
Katie Hope, for The Wild Within Us
Suggest a Story: VoyageUtah is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
