Meet Makenna Mackey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Makenna Mackey. 

Hi Makenna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My passion for photography started when I was very young as my father was a photographer. I have been surrounded by photography for a great portion of my life. I even took photography lessens in high school where I learned to build my own camera and develop photos in the darkroom. I then got my bachelor’s degree in film and television and began working full-time in the television industry. 

It wasn’t until the pandemic hit where I started to do pet photography. Like many people, I started to feel bored and in need of a hobby, so I busted out my old camera and began taking photos of my own cats while I was stuck at home. After sharing the photos with friends and family, I was encouraged to do more. That’s when I began photographing dogs outdoors and created my own pet photography business, Purfect Pose. I learned so much about photography and even started studying photography and photoshop again. While I was sharing photos of dogs, I kept getting emails online about clients wishing they could also get similar photos of their cats, but they were worried that it couldn’t be done, as most photographers in Colorado don’t photograph cats. 

This honestly made me sad. I am a crazy cat lady and very passionate about cats, so I decided to pivot my business to focus on cats and help cat parents to capture their babies. I started to train my own cats’ various tricks that would help them to become better models. After working with dogs for so long, I realized how much easier it was for me to photograph cats. I even started putting my cats on decorative sets that I have never seen done before. This created a whole new passion for me, now I wasn’t just photographing animals, I was creating art. 

With these photos, I hope to show the public that cats can be trained, and eliminate a lot of stereotypes about cats, also at the same time create art with these beautiful creatures. I love my job and I love getting to spend a lot of time with different cats every day. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
With the pandemic it has been difficult, there were times where I had so many cancelations, I was barely making enough money. Now because of the pandemic, people also have less money to spend on things like photos of their pets, so because of this business can be very slow. But I still want to help cats. I spend a lot of my time volunteering at various cat shelters around the state to help special needs cats get adopted by providing beautiful photos and helping with charity events 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
There are not many photographers out there in the world that specialize primarily in cats like me. Also, I do fine art photography of cats. I like to make cats look like Victorian paintings through photography. I can capture cats in costumes, posing on props, chasing butterflies, and surrounded by many vintage props. 

Also, I have two different styles, as I am gothic, I also have a separate art style where I capture black cats in a gothic style. I love spooky things, and I love black cats, so I like to combine the two to create art that hasn’t been done before. 

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think problem-solving is extremely important to my success. Most cats are not easy to work with, sometimes cats are so scared of me all they do is hide, or even bite/scratch me. So, I have to come up with creative solutions to get cats to pose, even if they don’t want to. To this day, I have never met a cat that I couldn’t capture beautifully. 

Pricing:

• Studio Services $250-$350
• Lifestyle Shoot In-home (natural) $250

Contact Info:

• Email: bookings@purfectpose.com
• Website: www.purfectpose.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purfectpose/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PurfectPose

Image Credits
Purfect Pose