Meet Mckenna Pendergrass
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hey ladies! My name is McKenna and I’m a newborn and family photographer based out of Southern California. I have an amazing husband and the cutest little boy that you’ve ever seen! ;)
Where is home? I grew up in Victorville, CA, but moved to LA while my husband was attending school at UCLA. We recently moved back to Victorville, but who knows what the next couple of years will bring?!
A website/blog you frequently visit. Oh, I have too many to count! I frequent a lot of photography blogs, and anything that has to do with cooking, crafting, or sewing. One of my dear friends started a blog called Girls Using their Strengths (http://girlsusingtheirstrengths.com/) and has some pretty powerful stuff!
If you could have lunch with one person who would be? Dorothy. She was like a grandmother to me, and was an amazing, strong, beautiful, Godly woman. She passed away a several years ago, and I would love to talk to her about all the things I never had the chance to when I was younger… marriage, kids, her meatloaf recipe… you know, the big things in life. ;)
What are five words friends would use to describe you? Caring, helpful, easy-going, kind, and compassionate. (yes, I had to ask some friends what they thought! Lol)Where do you see yourself five years from now? My goal is to have a permanent studio space, and hopefully a couple more kids by then. Lol.
If you had to choose one lens, which one would it be? 50mm hands down! I’m a Canon girl, so I started off with the 50mm f/1.4 because it’s pretty decently priced. I recently upgraded to the 50mm f/1.2L and fell in love with it all over again!! Seriously though, it’s on my camera about 98% of the time.
What’s in your camera bag? 5D Mark II, 50mm f/1.2L, 100mm f/2.8L macro, and the 24-105 f/4L. Plus lots of little things like extra batteries, business cards, extra CF cards, and snacks. You can read more about it on my blog here. (http://wp.me/p331LX-1Tx)
How long have you been doing photography? I’ve been pursuing photography professionally for a little over 3 years now, but I’ve always had a love for it.
What type of photography do you focus on? I specialize in newborns and families, but that means that I do a lot of maternity and senior portraits too. I also prefer to work with natural light, including with my newborn studio set ups.
Did you go to photography school? Nope! I’m self taught all the way! I just bought a lot of books, and practiced a lot. It also helps to have a seasoned photographer that you can talk to or mentor with.
What advice would you give to your 15 year old self? Learn to go with the flow and put your trust in God’s plan and life doesn’t have to be as hard as you try to make it.
How does your relationship with God affect the way you do business? I treat my clients the way God wants me to treat them, with love and respect. By being candid with them and showing them God’s love through my actions towards them, I earn their respect in return, and it usually ends in a pretty great friendship.
Favorite verse? All through my high school years (and even still now) 1Timothy 14:12 meant a lot to me. I finished my AA and got married at 18, and I felt like a lot of people didn’t take me seriously, so this verse really helped me through that.
How would you describe your style? I’m an old soul. My family tells me that I should have been alive in the 50’s and I tend to agree with them! Haha. I love anything vintage and lacy, and I tend to prefer muted or pastel colors to bright ones. I’m also pretty modest and laid back, so anything that’s comfy, but still cute. Oh, and I hate wearing shoes, so I’m almost always either barefoot on in sandals.
Who or what is the greatest love of your life? My husband is the best thing that ever happened to me, hands down. He’s absolutely amazing, and compliments me in the areas where I lack. Our son also stole a pretty big part of my heart when he was born, and the last year that I’ve spent getting to be his mama is something I wouldn’t trade for the world.
Who has been the most influential person in your life? My mama. Everything I’ve learned about being a God fearing woman has been through watching her example.
If you could shoot with another photographer, who would it be? I would LOVE the chance to work with Barb Uil of JinkyArt. She’s a child photographer based out of Australia, and she’s absolutely amazing! I would also of course love to see Jasmine Star in action. So much of what I’ve learned about client posing and interaction has been from her blog.
Where do you find your inspiration? Of course I find things that inspire me on Pinterest or other photographers’ blogs, but I really do me best to be inspired by my clients. I try really hard to find out as much about them as I can before the session so that I can really try and bring out their natural personalities and family interactions during the shoot
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If you could choose one person to photograph, who would it be? I’ve always thought it would be cool to do some sort of celebrity newborn or family shoot, just to see how they would act. Haha! Realistically though, I would love to be able to photograph all of the big life events for my son (and any other kids we may have), and eventually my grandchildren. I would love to be able to pass on something like that to the future generations of our family.
website: www.mckennapendergrass.com
blog: www.mckennapendergrasblog.com
