Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirk Voclain.
Hi Kirk, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Photography has been part of my life for so long that I honestly have a hard time remembering who I was before I had a camera in my hands.
I was born in Houma, Louisiana, on the Fourth of July in 1962, and my story as a photographer began when I was about eight years old. Like many great career decisions, it started at the breakfast table. I was reading the back of a cereal box and saw an offer for a camera. All I had to do was save enough box tops and send them in. I convinced my mother that we needed to keep buying the same cereal, saved those box tops, and eventually received that little camera.
It certainly wasn’t sophisticated equipment, but that didn’t matter to me. I could push a button and preserve something I had seen. That fascinated me. I began photographing anything and anybody willing to stand still long enough. Looking back, that simple cereal-box camera changed the direction of my entire life.
By the time I was fifteen, I was already being paid to take pictures. My first wedding paid me $100, which felt like a fortune to a fifteen-year-old. I’m sure I was far more fearless than I had any right to be. When you are that young, you don’t spend much time thinking about all the things that could go wrong. You simply believe you can do it, and then you figure out how.
That first wedding taught me something important: photography is about much more than operating a camera. You are being trusted with moments that cannot be repeated. If you miss the first kiss, you can’t ask everyone to come back next Saturday and do it again. That responsibility made me take the craft seriously from a very young age.
I was a straight-A student and a member of the honor society, but I didn’t follow the traditional college path. I sometimes joke that I was probably a guidance counselor’s worst nightmare. I graduated from high school and continued the professional photography career I had already started. I knew what I wanted to do, and I wanted to get busy doing it.
For nine years, I managed L&N Camera Center in Houma. That experience gave me an education that would have been difficult to duplicate in a classroom. I learned cameras, lenses, lighting, film, processing, sales, customer service, marketing, and the day-to-day realities of running a business. I also met all kinds of photographers. Some were experienced professionals, while others were buying their very first camera. Talking with them taught me how to explain photography in a way that people could understand, which later became a big part of my work as an educator.
I married my wife, Tammy, on February 28, 1987. Two months later, in April, I opened Kirk Voclain Photography. Apparently, I decided marriage and opening a new business at almost the same time weren’t enough excitement, so I did both.
Those early years required long hours, a lot of faith, and a willingness to take just about every photographic challenge that came through the door. I photographed weddings, families, children, high school seniors, commercial assignments, and anything else that would help me grow. I studied posing and lighting constantly. I went to conventions, attended seminars, entered competitions, listened to photographers who knew more than I did, and tried to improve with every session.
Competition photography was especially valuable because it taught me to look at my work honestly. It is easy to become emotionally attached to an image because you know the person in it or remember what it took to create it. A panel of judges doesn’t know any of that. They see the finished photograph. That process taught me to pay attention to every corner of the frame and to understand that “good enough” usually isn’t.
Over the years, I earned my Certified Professional Photographer designation, followed by the Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees from Professional Photographers of America. My work received awards in state, regional, national, and international competitions, including Kodak and Fuji honors. Several of my photographs were displayed in the Kodak exhibit at EPCOT in Walt Disney World, and my images have appeared in professional photography magazines and publications.
I’m proud of those accomplishments, but the awards were never the real reason I picked up a camera. The best reward has always been the reaction of the person being photographed.
Most people walk into a photography studio carrying some kind of insecurity. They’ll tell me they hate being photographed, they aren’t photogenic, or they need me to perform a miracle. My job is to prove them wrong. When someone sees a finished portrait and says, “That really looks like me,” but you can tell they mean the very best version of themselves, that still gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction.
High school senior photography became one of the foundations of my career. I love the energy of seniors and the challenge of creating something that fits each person. You can’t photograph every senior the same way and expect the portrait to mean something. One may be an athlete, another a musician, another quiet and artistic, and another may walk through the door ready to put on a show. The camera settings may be similar, but the people never are.
My career has also expanded into real estate photography, commercial work, food photography, corporate headshots, and business branding. Photography has changed tremendously since I began. I started in the film era, when every press of the shutter cost money and you couldn’t look at the back of the camera to see whether you had the shot. I watched autofocus arrive, watched digital replace film, watched darkrooms give way to computers, and watched photography become something nearly everyone carries in a pocket.
I’ve always tried to welcome those changes. The equipment will continue to evolve, but the fundamentals don’t disappear. Light still matters. Expression still matters. Timing still matters. Most importantly, knowing how to connect with another human being still matters.
Teaching became another important part of my journey. I began sharing what I had learned with other photographers through seminars, conventions, hands-on programs, and eventually Pro4uM, an online community for professional photographers. I enjoy teaching lighting and posing, but I’m equally interested in the business side of photography. A person can create beautiful images and still struggle if they don’t understand marketing, pricing, sales, or how to take care of a client.
I’ve never believed knowledge should be guarded like some secret family recipe. Other photographers helped me when I was learning, so I feel a responsibility to pass that help along. Teaching also keeps me sharp. When you have to explain why you do something, you are forced to examine your own habits and make sure they still make sense.
One of my proudest parts of the story is that photography has become a family legacy. My daughter, Scarlett, grew up around the studio and eventually became part of the business herself, specializing in maternity, newborn, and toddler photography. She was born only a couple of weeks after I received my Master of Photography degree, and I’ve often said that she was the greatest award I received that year. Watching her develop her own style and build relationships with families has been incredibly rewarding.
Then, after decades of telling stories with pictures, I found myself wanting to tell them with words.
In some ways, becoming an author might look like a completely different direction. To me, it feels like an extension of what I have always done. A photographer takes a fraction of a second and tries to create an image that suggests an entire story. A novelist takes thousands of words and tries to create pictures inside a reader’s mind. The tools are different, but the goal is very much the same.
The idea for my first novel, *Double Exposure*, came from something I had observed throughout my photography career: a person carrying a camera and walking with confidence can gain access to an amazing number of places. People assume the photographer belongs there. That led me to wonder what might happen if a professional photographer were actually using the camera as a cover for something else. What if he were a spy?
Once that idea took hold, it wouldn’t leave me alone. I began building the characters and the world around it, drawing on decades of travel, photography assignments, professional conventions, unusual locations, and conversations with thousands of people. Writing fiction gave me a place to use all those observations and stories that had been accumulating in the back of my mind.
Since then, writing has grown into a second creative life for me. I’ve written thrillers and stories set beneath wide-open Western skies, and I’ve learned that changing genres isn’t as strange as it might appear. Whether I’m writing suspense, romance, or something in between, I’m still interested in people: what they want, what they fear, what they hide, and what they are willing to risk for someone they love.
I like to say that I do for a living what many people call a hobby, and I do as a hobby what many people call a living. Photography remains my profession and one of the great loves of my life. Writing gives me another way to create, explore, and connect with people.
Today, after more than four decades as a professional photographer, I’m still working, still teaching, still learning, and still excited by the sound of a shutter. I’m also writing and discovering what is possible when I trade the camera for a keyboard.
The technology has changed, my work has expanded, and I’ve added “author” to the list of things I do, but the heart of it has remained surprisingly consistent. I’ve spent my life trying to notice moments that other people might overlook and turn them into something worth remembering.
Sometimes I do that with one picture.
Sometimes it takes a few thousand words.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it certainly hasn’t been a smooth road. I’m not sure any career that lasts more than forty years could be.
I began working professionally at fifteen and didn’t take the traditional college route, so much of my education came from trial and error. Sometimes the errors were expensive. I had to learn that being a good photographer and running a successful photography business are two very different things. Creating the image is only part of the job. You also have to understand people, marketing, pricing, sales, changing trends, and how to keep working when business slows down.
The photography industry itself has been reinvented several times during my career. I began with film, manual cameras, darkrooms, and no instant preview of what I had photographed. Then came autofocus, digital photography, computer editing, the internet, smartphones, and social media. Each change created new opportunities, but it also forced me to become a student again. You either adapt or you slowly become irrelevant.
There were also plenty of moments when I questioned myself. Competition results didn’t always go my way. Ideas that looked wonderful in my head occasionally fell apart during the session. Marketing plans failed. Equipment broke at exactly the wrong time. Living and working in South Louisiana also means knowing that weather can disrupt your plans, your clients, and sometimes your entire community overnight.
Becoming an author brought a different set of challenges. After being an experienced photographer for decades, I suddenly became a beginner again. I had to learn storytelling, editing, publishing, and book promotion. Writing the book was difficult, but getting strangers to notice it in a world filled with books was another education entirely.
The biggest lesson has been that obstacles don’t mean you are on the wrong road. They are part of the road. I’ve learned to adjust, keep working, laugh when I can, and try not to make the same expensive mistake twice. Every difficult season has taught me something that eventually made me a better photographer, a better writer, or a better businessperson.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a professional photographer and author based in Houma, Louisiana. My photography work includes high school seniors, corporate headshots, real estate, commercial assignments, and food photography, but senior portraits have always been one of my best-known specialties.
My goal is not simply to make someone look good. I want the finished portrait to feel like that person. Many clients begin by warning me that they aren’t photogenic or don’t enjoy being photographed. I consider it part of my job to help them relax, find the right expression, and prove that belief wrong. Technical skill matters, but knowing how to connect with people is just as important.
I’m especially proud that I’ve been able to support my family through photography for more than four decades. The awards, professional degrees, publications, and having photographs exhibited at EPCOT were tremendous honors, but longevity may be the accomplishment that means the most to me. This profession has changed repeatedly, and I’ve been willing to keep learning and adapting without losing sight of the fundamentals.
Teaching other photographers has also become a significant part of my career. Through seminars, conventions, and Pro4uM, I share what I’ve learned about lighting, posing, sales, marketing, and surviving the business side of a creative profession.
More recently, I’ve expanded my storytelling into writing novels. Photography taught me to tell a story in one frame; writing allows me to build that picture with words. What sets me apart is probably that combination of technical experience, curiosity, and genuine interest in people. Whether I’m creating a portrait or writing a scene, I’m trying to capture something honest…something that looks or feels real.
How do you think about happiness?
My family makes me happiest. My wife, Tammy, has been beside me through nearly my entire professional journey, and watching our daughter, Scarlett, build her own photography career has been one of my greatest joys.
I’m also happiest when I’m creating something. It might be the click of the shutter when I know I captured the right expression, finishing a scene in a novel that finally says what I wanted it to say, or helping another photographer understand something that once seemed difficult.
I also love playing golf, although golf doesn’t always seem equally happy to have me there.
Ultimately, happiness for me comes from doing meaningful work, spending time with the people I love, and continuing to learn. I’ve been fortunate to make a living doing something many people consider a hobby, and now I spend part of my free time doing something else I love: writing books. That’s a pretty good life.
Pricing:
- Photography pricing varies according to the type of session, location, time involved, and finished products requested.
- Customized estimates are available by contacting Kirk Voclain Photography at info@kvphoto.com or 985-851-4314.
- Kirk’s novels are available in print and digital formats through Amazon and other major booksellers.
Contact Info:
- Website: kvphoto.com and kirkvoclain.com
- Instagram: @kirkvoclain
- Facebook: @kirk.voclain
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kirkvoclain
- Twitter: @kirkvoclain.com
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/kirkvoclain
- Other: https://goodreads.com/kirkvoclain
