Get to know the person behind the studio - 10 random facts about Katie Howey @ Katie Howey Studio

Hi I’m Katie, and when I refer to getting to know ‘us’, I mean me as I am the one and only face behind Katie Howey Studio. I started the Katie Howey brand in 2009 and renamed to Katie Howey Studio in 2023, after opening up my services to other genres of photography. It has been a super exciting, crazy, stressful, fun, frustrating, rewarding journey to get here, so let’s jump into some quick facts about me, business and the life of the person behind the business. 

1 - If you have been around since the beginning of Katie Howey, you’ll know that still life photography has been my ‘thing’ since my school days, but what you don’t know is where that attraction came from. Without writing a huge story it goes something like this: I was bored in a cover teacher’s maths class, I was sat by a lovely old window yearning to be outside, beautfiul sunlight was coming through the window, a pot of pens was on the windowsill, I had fun rearranging the pens in the pot so they looked good in the lighting, the end result was a beautiflly styled pot of pens in complimenting light. The spark for still life was lit at this moment. 

2 - My preferences in clothing colours and pop culture is very much like my photography style: bright, bold, impactful and unique. Back when I used to commute to college and my first two studios, packed onto the Central Line like sardines, in a sea of commuters wearing grey, black and muted tones with overcoats of the same fashion, there was always little ol’ me in bright primary and neon colours either in my clothing, my shoes or both combined. Life is dull without colour and this has always been a part of my being. I’ve even had the comment from a colleague in the old office one day that I was too bright for a dreary and rainy Tuesday. It made my day!  On days where a team is present or I am on an external set, I wear my location workwear. 

3 - I’ve always worn a t-shirt that either has a band, something from pop culture, TV, gaming, classic brand logos, and some with quite niche things on them that are only recognised by those who have the same interests. My t-shirts are a representation of my personality and humour. It’s an instant conversation starter and I’ve made new friends over the years just from my t-shirt choice that day. I’ve recently made a new friendship with another business owner, purely from our shared love of The Simpsons. Every time we get together for a business meet, we both wear a different Simpsons shirt. It’s the little things that make life so fun and connect with other people. I’ll need to do some digging in my extensive collection of hard drives, but I’ll find some snaps of me with some of those shirts and insert them here. 

4 - My music genre preferences are rock & punk, ska, ambient, electronic, classical. When I’m shooting, I put on a mix of the rock, punk and ska tracks. On retouching, admin and marketing days, a mix of ambient, chill/lo-fi/classical remixes of my favourite computer game tracks, music that without any words to stop the mental interference. I’ve listedn to video game music for many years and during that time, a lot of people have said that video game music is not real music. That’s simply not true. I am a true believer that video game music is probably the best music in existence. When you’ve grown up with that music being the soundtrack to your life, years before being able to afford to buy CDs and discover new music (I’m showing my age here!), these are the tracks that bring out the memories, nostalgia, happiness, joy and even sadness. Good for the days when you just want to have a good cry or feel on top of the world and let the healthy energy out! 

5 - This leads me onto hobbies outside of the business. I am a gamer, birdwatcher, gardener, bread-maker, lane swimmer, real ale and craft beer enthusiast and very much a photographer still. I do a lot of photography outside of ‘work’ and it’s not seen online much. Some of it ends up here @KatieHoweySnaps if you want to join. 

- Games - I grew up with computer games and I wanted to be a video game designer before my attraction to still life was sparked. That went alongside wanting to be an olympic swimmer but that never happened :-P.

- Birdwatching & the natural world - My grandad liked birds and that love passed to my dad. My dad has enjoyed birdwatching and I was always surrounded by birds and nature in my upbringing. That became part of my being and to this day I still call birds my favourite animal type and love the natural world dearly. The nautral world is so important to me and I actively do my bit for it in every way I can. I only grow bee/pollinator-friendly flowers in my garden so they get the right food to thrive and survive.

- Bread-maker - I’ve loved baking and something about bread just feels so rewarding (and I blooming love bread!). Yes it might take hours to do but the end result is a product with only the ingredients you’ve put into it and ones you can control the amounts of through experimentation. You’d be surprised by the ingredients in supermarket bread!

- Lane swimmer - Swimming has been ‘my sport’ since I was 4. I’ve qualified and competed in galas a few times in my life and no other sport has been able to give me the same wonderful feeling after a workout. Swimming is a big part of my weekly routine and you’ll often see me write/talk about it.

- Real ale & craft beer - Stealing those cheeky sips of my dad’s post-work beer as a child lead me to love the craft of real ale and later onto craft beers as their popularity grew. I was the only one with bottles of ale at parties when I was a teen drinking the ‘old man’s drink’. I had my fair share of mickey-takes by peers but some were converted by trying mine and they all drink it now too ;-P The real ale community is really lovely. I love supporting local and national breweries and the people that are behind them. It’s a way of connecting with people and it’s always lovely walking into a pub where the staff know you and your favourite flavour profiles, and know what to suggest if anything new is on tap. 

- Photography - goes without saying! I’ve written a seperate post here about this.

6 - I’ve been to both sides of the world (when you look at the world flat on a map!) Las Vegas, USA and Tokyo, Japan. I have a stong travel bug and want to see so many places, more to photograph them and freeze periodic moments in time. Looking back at photos and seeing the ages of the cars and signage design is something I really enjoy. The USA is defintely on my most wanted to explore list with the rest of Japan also.

7 - I can make a train whistle noise with my bare hands on cue. A skill that blew minds and recently earned me a little award and a free ticket to an event!

8 - I’ve been a computer whizz since the family PC arrived in 1995. I was always sought out to help with any computer problems for my peers in school and college. Apple Mac became my ‘expertise’ in Sixth Form and is my primary system. I use the PC mostly for specialist softwares and gaming nowadays.

9 - I have a large birthmark on my left arm that goes from my neck, down to my wrist and breastbone which has made my skin incredibly sensitive and can be quite sore and painful to touch without reason. In the Summer months I am one of the few wearing something with long sleeves not always by choice. Due to the heightened sensitivity, I get sunburn insanely quickly and even with mild exposure, a prolonged discomfort from the UV rays. Keeping my arm covered in all seasons gives me a barrier to the sensitivity, so I can go about my daily life perfectly well. People often mistake the part that’s on the neck for a lovebite!

10 - I used to be the old office in-house studio DJ! Every Friday when the studio started to wind down for the week to reset ready for the following week, I used to go hands-on with the music mixing so every curated song would flow perfectly into the next track with banger after banger. I started doing this as a way to power through the studio tidy process and to get team spirits high for the last push before weekend break. They became the weekly ‘Friday Funk’ days. People used to ask what time it was due to start every week, they loved it! It was so fun to do for the team and I really miss it!

So there you have it folks some random facts about me! I hope you enjoyed this post and if there is anything else you would like to know about me, send me a DM on Instagram.