Hi, I'm Kristyn!

I am the mom of two awesome boys (and wife to an amazingly patient midwestern gent), a suburban farmer and chicken lady, a documentary photographer of lovers and families, a lover of coffee and poems and slow cozy mornings, and a total homebody. I use the pronouns she/her.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia and started shooting on a Polaroid Cool Cam in 1988. Yep, I’m one of *those* kids. I believe that Black lives matter, and that Love is for everyone. I celebrate and welcome people, partners, and families of all kinds, colors, religions, and abilities in all of my work.

I do a few other fun things too – like coach creative womxn toward clarity, joy, and profit in their art and their lives through 1:1 coaching and a group coaching program called The Documented Heart, and I host a podcast of the same name.

I’ve had lots of different jobs, and a few different careers, and so far as I can see, I have just one calling: helping others to delight in the magic and joy in their own lives.

photographs are the tangible evidence that we were here together and it was good.

my approach

Life is complicated. Hard and messy. And also a total wonder. I believe that our photographs are evidence of all of these beautiful truths and that the unscripted, unposed photographs are the ones that can tell it best. I work with clients who want these candid, honest moments documented in a natural, easy way.

My approach is to create space for you to connect and have fun, and I will gently guide and facilitate in an unobtrusive way if it’s needed to help everyone feel comfortable. Don’t worry, I know what it’s like to feel awkward in front of the camera (but really, what do I do with my hands?) and I’ve totally felt that way too!

My goal is to make our time together as relaxed and fun as possible and to document your story in a way that feels truthful and easy for you and your people.

doing good while documenting good

I believe we have a responsibility to heal the world we touch – the world in our immediate proximity. Meals for neighbors and loaves of sourdough for friends and an extra batch of cookies for the new family down the street. Small things, that aren’t really small at all. Generosity is love in action, and I believe strongly that every individual has the chance to be an example of this in our daily lives. I believe that every business has this same responsibility, too. That’s why each year my LLC (Kristyn Miller Photography, LLC, which is responsible for both my photography and coaching businesses) donates a portion of revenue to local and national organizations that support all our neighbors in need and creative programs that encourage and support all kids.

Organizations that I love and have financially supported since I opened my doors in 2015:

Black Mamas Matter Alliance
100Cameras.org
Together Rising
The Mercy Learning Center
Yale New Haven Hospital Employee Fund
Preemptive Love Coalition
Operation Hope
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
BlinkNow.org
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Human Rights Campaign
Color of Change

Don’t hesitate to ask me about which organization this month’s bookings will be supporting, or suggest one that you love!

my every day

random things you should probably know before we work together

I LOVE COFFEE.
I might be shouting because I've had too much.

I've accidentally killed 23/28 succulents in the last 10 years.

Everything is better with butter. Ok, almost everything.

I learned how to drive a stickshift in a big field in CO on a double-clutch truck when I was 20 while feeding herds of horses. We stopped a lot. I blame the horses.

Speaking of trucks, I have a thing for F-350s. Big black ones.

I once tried to learn the cello. Now I just play the dashboard when I'm in traffic.

I have a thing for superhero-ish movies, i.e. the entire Marvel cinematic universe. I've been known to watch the same movie many times over, and then find all the nerdy BTS stuff on the interwebs.

I have a pony named Joshua, who I bought from a girl named Kirsten. He and I share a birthday.

I read the 7th Harry Potter book in 23 hours straight. Could’ve done it faster if I hadn’t cried for the last half of the book. Clearly, this was before kids.

I've been a horse trainer, a radio DJ, a stromboli maker, a barista, a grocery store clerk, an agency exec, an athletic trainer, a graphic designer, a photographer, an event producer, a podcast interviewer, a commercial voice-over artist, and there is still nothing harder or better than being a momma.