26 Comments
User's avatar
Andrea Hoffmann's avatar

So good.

You make me want to dig for that big ol’ book of ideas I used to keep.

I love the way your mind works.

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

I bet you'll find some gold in that book 😊

Expand full comment
Rachel Collins's avatar

It’s wild how often we talk ourselves out of something simply because it doesn’t exist yet or feels “too simple.” But what you’ve shared here is exactly what so many people want—real moments, captured effortlessly.

Expand full comment
Brent Lorenz's avatar

As usual Kristi......SOLID GOLD!!! You are truly one of the good ones. PS. Cup went in the mail today. :-)

Expand full comment
Erik Hogan's avatar

That’s an interesting idea! I’ve done 1 Senior Portrait photo shoot and it was pretty stressful. I’m much better at candid shots.

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

I think humans in general are better at candid shots. Sad that we lost sight of candid life.

Expand full comment
Stacy Millican's avatar

what a brilliant idea!

Expand full comment
Henny Hiemenz's avatar

I 100% wouldn’t pay for this service, but I’m 100% sure my wife would.

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

The dog park one or the vacation one? I'd pay for both, 100% 😁

Expand full comment
Henny Hiemenz's avatar

Her too

Expand full comment
Beth's avatar

Great post. I always think that if you have one idea you will think of another one and another one. It’s contiguous. The ideas get better or we get more confident in our ability to execute them.

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

That's right, Beth. Life is one big practice round 😊

Expand full comment
Marlo Leaman's avatar

What a fun idea! I love taking photos and I love Shadow Shots as the name! (And I still hope you’re getting paid/charging for some of these brain dumps!!)

Expand full comment
Marlo Leaman's avatar

Great!!!

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

Hahaha I am, don't worry about me! I always find a way...just like I always have a new idea for everything lol.

Expand full comment
Mica Merrill Rice's avatar

I love this idea of being shadowed by a photographer! That’s brilliant. I love stills that capture everyday, candid moments

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

Same here, Mica! I value my candid shots over posed ones ANY day! I don't know how to live a fake life 😊

Expand full comment
Tim Ebl 🇨🇦's avatar

This is a fantastic idea, live the name!

Funny thing about this: we do shadow shots at work. It’s an x-ray of industrial piping that shows it just like you see an xray of a skeleton on a show. We use them to tell where there is erosion and corrosion.

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

No way, now that's something I would've never learned in my life lol. That's so interesting!

Expand full comment
Tracy Lewis-Currie's avatar

It's a treat just to read about your brilliant ideas and the bonus part? I get to enjoy your writing and story telling along with it. Always a pleasure.

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

Aww thanks Tracy. I'm so glad you enjoy the time you spend reading here. I appreciate you 😊

Expand full comment
Davor Katusic's avatar

To photograph people casually - that sounds like a good idea. If you're struggling with self-doubt—like wondering whether you're good enough or if your service is worth paying for—try offering it for free first. Do it once, then again, and again. That kind of practice might give you the confidence to take the leap.

But on the other hand—do you actually want this?

Maybe the idea has kind of “clogged up” over time, and now what’s left is just a sense of regret. If there’s even any of that.

We're all searching for something, aren’t we? I’d call it creative fulfillment. I once had the idea to shoot weddings as a “back” photographer—capturing the candid, unposed moments from the sidelines. I tested it out at two weddings, and the results were great.

But—I never built a website, never advertised it, simply because… I couldn’t be bothered.

Maybe it just wasn’t interesting enough for me to fully commit to it.

Expand full comment
Davor Katusic's avatar

Candid shots are a true novelty in a staged world🙌

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

That's so neat that you actually tried a version of this. I love candid shots so much and I think in this age of social media, people have forgotten how to have natural fun. It's way too posed.

I've got some photos of myself that other people took without my knowledge and they're all my favorites.

Expand full comment
Donna McArthur's avatar

There are people in our world who don't walk around thinking about how they could have done it different, possibly to great success. Like you, I am not one of them. Mostly I think back to my early days of online teaching, knowing if I would have structured it different and put it out into the world with a solid plan, I may have actually made a decent income from it.

I try to hold steady that every step we take, or don't take, has led us to where we are and we have to be okay with that but it's not always easy.

Shadow Shoots (or any of the great names) is an awesome idea!

Expand full comment
Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

You're right Donna. I rarely regret the things I didn't try because in place of those, I've tried SO MANY THINGS! Whether they worked or not, the learning experience is never not worth it.

Expand full comment