"The most important part of your camera is the 12 inches behind it."
- Ansel Adams
Hey! My name is Kiarah Tuttle, I am twenty-three and I have been photographing weddings since 2017! My life has been a whirl-wind the last 5 years in the BEST way! My husband and I welcomed our first baby girl into the world in 2016 and were married that same year! My first job, I worked at Retro Tool Inc. with my grandpa for a couple years and had the time of my life getting to visit with him each day and learn from him about his passion that he passed down to my father and younger brother as well (I have four brothers by the way!) and after finding out I was pregnant I decided to get another job to help support my family as a waitress at Pizza Hut with my older brother! After marrying my wonderful husband, we moved into our first apartment together and worked our butts off as my husband worked two jobs and went to school and I balanced two jobs (I also worked as a court reporter for a year) and being a new mom. Fast forward three years later, we welcomed our second daughter into the world in 2019 and are now homeowners as my husband works full time and I am blessed to be able to choose to be a stay at home mother with my girls and pursuing photography on the side!
MY TESTIMONY
I would also like to share that I chose to give my life to Christ when I was young and have continued to pursue my relationship with the Lord in my adult years. He has changed my life. As a teenager I lost my way, I rejected God and the role I felt forced into as a Christian growing up. I began lying, being deceitful, hurting people I loved, and making poor decisions. This was followed by a loneliness and darkness I had never experienced before. I was so confused, hurt, and listened to lie after lie about myself and others. The moment I found out I was pregnant, I woke up. I had been numb to my hurt and my darkness for so long, and even after seeing the positive on that pregnancy test, so much of me still felt numb - depression and numbness don't disappear that quickly. It was a slow process into feeling again, painful too. But I praise God for His grace and His mercy, after all the pain I had felt, after all the pain I had caused, that He still loved me and He used my precious daughter to draw me back to His heart, His love that covers me and welcomes me with wide open arms. My husband decided to give his life to Christ early in 2017 as the weight of the world was on our shoulders, two 19 years old in that shady apartment, all the pressure, hardship, and exhaustion that came with life, work, and raising a child. We found refuge and peace in Jesus. Since then, as a couple we have decided that Jesus is the only way and we desire to honor the Lord in our hearts and lives. He walks with us each day, even the days we don't feel Him and even though God's existence is not based on mere experiences with Him, I still wanted to share our experience of Christ in our lives, marriage, and parenthood. I'll end with sharing a verse from the Bible that has gotten me through many trials and I call it my Life Verse. My Life Verse is Colossians 1:17, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." I hope this encourages someone out there who may be experiencing something similar or is just looking for a sign of Hope. There is Hope. His name is Jesus. You are NEVER alone and He loves you so much.
ONE LAST THING: I run on coffee. My favorite coffee buddy is my beautiful amazing mother! Coffee is in our veins!!