The moments of their wedding day are something a bride and groom never want to forget, and Kyra Hansen, local photographer, makes certain these moments get captured.
When asked if she remembers the first time she picked up a camera, Hansen laughed, recalling a picture of her holding a camera at six months old. She describes it as “a little, pink Walmart camera” that she carried everywhere. She even used it to prove a babysitter was not actually playing with her siblings. Besides using photography to frame babysitters, Hansen describes it as something she was “always interested in and drawn to.”
Many are interested in photography, but few possess the natural skill and drive. After placing second in a state photography competition, Hansen began to realize her own talent. This self-awareness began her journey to start taking this hobby seriously.
Initially, the Siloam-Springs native started taking photos for the school newspaper, then senior portraits and eventually made the transition into wedding photography. When asked to shoot a family friend’s wedding, she was still only 16. Hansen began mentoring under seasoned photographers and acted as the second shooter for weddings or styled shoots. From there, she has grown Kyra Noel Photography into a successful business in Northwest Arkansas and beyond.
“It’s never dull, never the same and always something new and different and exciting happening,” Hansen said. She loves wedding photography for its more personal and intimate setting. “Everything is so relational … I always make it a really big focus to be intentional with my couples and getting to know them … so they feel like I’m someone they can trust and rely on throughout the day.”
Hansen touched on the importance of being flexible, especially at weddings. “There’s always something going wrong at weddings,” she said. “There’s nothing you can do besides make the best of it.” It is clear Hansen is a calming and grounded presence — a highly desirable quality in someone spending so much time in a chaotic environment.
Kate Smith, who recently used Hansen’s services for her wedding, gushed on social media, saying, “Kyra was the calm to the wedding chaos we needed. We felt seen, heard, and cared for by her patience and guidance through her camera lens.”
In terms of long-term goals, Hansen said that for now she “feels like she is doing what she is supposed to be doing,” and she expressed her thankfulness and passion for her job. Within the last year, she opened her own photography studio, Studio 57, which she named after her favorite Psalm. Although she is content with her current situation, Hansen remains realistic. She said with a laugh that she “probably won’t want to be 50 years old and at a wedding reception every weekend.” Nevertheless, Hansen is firm when she says, “I would like to always continue doing photography in some aspect.”
She is no stranger to the symptoms of burnout, though. Whenever Hansen feels unmotivated, she handles it with maturity as she rekindles the passion. “I normally take breaks. Oftentimes I’ll write. I’ll reevaluate where I’m at versus where I want to be. I think that time helps me reset and figure out the best course of action to take, but normally setting boundaries and finding rest is really helpful.” Hansen is a current student at John Brown University, and finding rest is difficult between the demanding schedules of both a photographer and college student.
In the end, Hansen is fueled and committed to her clients. “Anytime my brides call me after seeing their pictures with just the sweetest review or words of affirmation, it’s one of the best feelings. You spend so much time and pour so much into those photos you just really want them to love, so getting that feedback makes everything worth it.” She is dedicated to photographing authentic moments, and it makes her work stand out as exceptional.
Client Michaela Penner wrote, “The best thing I loved about your photography style during our wedding was that it was noninvasive. It didn’t recreate. It didn’t get in the way of the moment in order to make a new one, it simply caught the one that was in its original making. I honor that so much, especially as I looked back on our photos because I remember the moment, instead of something that had to be created to make it.”
Hansen has no plans to slow down anytime soon and will continue to capture magic for as long as she can.
Authored by Ali Jargo