The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Teenage photographer snapped up chance for business in lockdown
An Arbroath teenager who took up photography as a hobby during lockdown has found success as a young business owner.
Kaelyn Robertson, 18, started sharing her photographs on social media three years ago, trying to get her name out there before she decided to take it further.
Last year, she had gained enough interest in her work to start up her own business, KMR Media.
Since then, she has been able to expand into various types of photography and videography including sports, music events and family shoots.
During the first lockdown, Kaelyn was looking for something that she could do to cure boredom.
Her father did some photography as a hobby, so Kaelyn decided to go along with him when he was taking pictures and started taking some of her own.
She said: “I had never done photography before and I was looking for a hobby I could fill my time with.
“It turns out I really liked it so I decided to take it as a subject in school, have taken it further in college and am now a young business owner.
“I started sharing my pictures on Instagram, just showing people what Scotland – and Arbroath – looked like and just what I was photographing.
“I noticed I was getting a lot of interest from sports teams and music events.
“I thought, why not start a wee business out of this?”
This interest prompted Kaelyn to start up various social media pages.
Originally, her page was called Kaelyn’s Art and Photography but she decided to start using KMR Media as it was “short and sweet and sounded more professional”.
Currently studying HND Photography at Dundee and Angus College, she has been able to use the skills she learned in her course to expand her portfolio.
“One of the challenges as a young business owner is time. I’m juggling college, a part-time job and the business. You just have to get really good at prioritising what’s most important on what day.”
Since starting her business, Kaelyn was the official photographer for The Science Fiction Rock Experience on their tour last year.
More recently, she has become the official photographer for the Montrose Junior Rugby and Dundee Michelin Ice Hockey teams.
When she was starting up, Kaelyn noticed that people were very supportive of her work.
She shared: “My first paid job was a two-day event at Dundee Ice Arena for a Scottish Recreational Cup. It was really exciting because I was actually getting paid for photography.
“They were really good with me because I was still young at the time, I was about 16.”
She added: “I definitely think that more young people should start their own business if they can.
“I know for a fact that if I didn’t have the confidence to get my name out there, I’d still be this shy girl taking photos as a hobby and not taking it seriously.”