Cara McCloud: Capturing moments and battling cancer

Published 4:37 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Cara McCloud is a photographer, mother and a warrior against breast cancer.

McCloud owns her own photography business, Rē Photography.

She said she decided to start her photography business after her father died. She explained that when she was a child she would often take pictures of things like her family reunions, capturing those unposed moments. While her father owned his own business and worked long hours, the two would show each other photos they had taken.

“It was something I grew up doing with him and it was something we shared,” she said. “I thought why not turn something I love into a business.”

McCloud’s business now covers a wide variety of services, including newborn photoshoots, graduations, weddings and more. She said during shoots, she loves to take plenty of shots to get those unforgettable moments, some unposed. She also understands frustration when one shot just doesn’t get a photo right and likes to give multiple shots instead.

McCloud received life changing news on New Year’s Eve 2019.

“I found out officially I had breast cancer on New Year’s Eve actually of 2019. The last day of the year I thought to myself but I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said. “So I looked at it like that and immediately thought when I beat this, New Years will be so much more now. It did give me a new start to this year health wise and when I’m finished with all my treatments and surgeries I’ll have another new start.”

McCloud said that during treatment, she has aimed to continue being the best mom she can be.

“I made sure my kids still had their mom throughout this whole journey,” she said. ”Not just for them but also for myself.”

While McCloud has had to slow her business down, she said she will never stop.

“While I was going to the doctors I chose to limit my work but not completely quit,” she explained. “Personally that is what helped me to feel like my whole life didn’t revolve around my illness. The treatments themselves showed me again how we all are different and are not going to have the same journey. Someone else may need to take time off completely from work or others may continue full steam ahead. You have to do what works for you and not others.”

McCloud said she feels she has learned so much through her cancer diagnosis.

“The diagnosis has affected how I look at everything, especially my business,” she said. “I am so grateful for every opportunity and feel blessed to be given the responsibility of delivering on important times. I felt I always knew times could be hard but it’s nothing that taking it one day at a time couldn’t handle.”

McCloud continued her work by covering events like the drive-in graduations held for Carter County Schools, despite being hospitalized.

“I kept on the doctors until they allowed me to leave just in time to shoot Happy Valley’s graduation,” she said. “The following day I had surgery to finish what they wanted to accomplish, but I was not going to fail the students and their families.”

McCloud said she did her best to capture special moments during the graduation, noting she loves to be photo crazy, as she is a parent herself.

While she works, McCloud said she wants to make it the best experience possible for clients.

“I want my clients to have that feeling of being special and almost like a movie star. If they have a dream, I love to try to capture that,” she said.

She said her advice to upcoming photographers is to learn and be yourself.

“My advice to anyone would be to not let others dictate who you are, what you want, what you can be, and what you can do,” she said. “If I listened to everyone who had told me it wasn’t possible I wouldn’t have gotten to do what I’ve done and what I know I will do. It’s important to listen and take what lessons you can from others but implement what you can, not live by it. Lastly, failures and mistakes have been some of my most formative lessons.”

To find out more about Rē Photography, you can check out the business’s Facebook page, email McCloud at rephotographytn@gmail.com, or call 423-609-0433.