For one local photographer, being captured on film turned into a passion for capturing others on film.

Katie Emery is a local photographer in the Elizabethton area. Emery, who moved here six years ago from Augusta, Georgia, opened her own photography business last summer.

“I started my business ‘Into the Laurels Photography’ in the summer of last year,” she said. “Even though I had taken photos for a long time before that, that was when I decided to really invest into my equipment and my time spent developing and learning photography. I have always really enjoyed photography, but it wasn’t until I started fully throwing myself into it I realized how much I loved it.”

For Emery, her initial exposure to photography came from childhood.

“My earliest exposure to photography was as early as I can remember,” she said. ”My dad always had the video camera or the disposable out taking photos of me and my brother as a kid, and everything was always well documented.”

After making an Instagram account when she was 14, Emery became inspired by the art created by people shown on the site, and upon receiving her first camera the Christmas after she turned 15, she began taking photos.

“The camera was in my hand quite a lot after that,” she said. ”I was always dragging along my cousins to take portraits with me or take pictures of anything that caught my eye.”

For Emery, her favorite thing to capture is people.

“I love taking photos of people,” she said. ”People are God’s most beautiful creation and what I want to spend most of my time capturing. When I have the opportunity, I also love to do creative portrait shoots with people, whether it’s a creative wardrobe or location or both. What makes me the happiest is being able to capture a moment in time that has some meaning to the person I’ve captured or of the person they care about.”

Emery, who considers herself ever growing in the art of photography, believes it is transformative and a blessing.

“It is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done,” she said. “Photography is very transformative and can make things feel very magical if you let it. You can also take a moment, freeze it so that it can be appreciated for a much longer time to come after. I love that no two photos are the same and no two photographers are the same. Everyone has a different point of view that is solely theirs.”

For more information on “Into the Laurels Photography,” you can check out Emery’s business Facebook and Instagram pages, where messages can be sent, or by emailing ckemery2019@gmail.com.

“Photographers have this unique honor to be let into someone’s life and more often than not, their relationships, whether that be their significant other or their family and capture it,” she said. ”I feel blessed to be trusted with that.”