Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Newkham-Sjostrom.
Hi Kelsey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was always a creative child, endlessly dreaming about my future job—one week a fashion designer, the next an artist. When I was 15, I decided I wanted to try photography. My parents, used to my shenanigans by that point, gave me my stepdad’s old film camera and a few rolls of 35mm film. They told me that if I could figure it out, they’d consider buying me a digital camera. That’s when the obsession began.
I ran around our 30-acre property photographing anything and everything that interested me. When I got my first roll back, I was absolutely captivated by the way the images turned out and by the beauty film brought to them. I was hooked. Suddenly, a whole world opened up—I could translate the way I saw the world into something tangible: memories frozen in time. Looking back at that first roll, I still see the roots of the way I photograph today: intentional composition, slight motion blur, and sunlight dancing through hair.
By 16, I was photographing families and senior photos for pretty much anyone who wanted to hire me, and arranging photoshoots with my friends in my spare time. By 18, I was asked to photograph my first wedding. Talon, who is now my husband, and I had just met, and I asked if he wanted to join me as a second photographer. We have very complementary strengths, and we immediately learned how well we work together. I’m more of a “dive right in” kind of person, and he’s more methodical—where I’m emotional, he’s analytical.
After photographing weddings together for two years, we decided to pursue it full-time. In 2012, we founded the first iteration of our company, Feather & Twine. In 2015, we reintroduced film photography into our business, which felt like returning to my roots. In 2020, we expanded in to lifestyle and brand photography from just specializing in weddings. Then, in 2024, we relaunched as Ruét Photo.
Ruét (pronounced “roo-ay”) is an artistic rearranging of the letters in “true,” reflecting the heart of our business: creating through an honest lens and celebrating wholehearted love. It felt like the most natural next step for us—an intentional representation of what we want to bring into the world. Since we began, we’ve photographed over 400 weddings all over the glob as a team, along with too many family and branding sessions to count.
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?
There are always struggles when you run your own business, especially a creative one in my experience. There’s a lot of self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and comparison. If you let those feelings overtake you, they can pull you away from creating work that’s true to you. I’ve mostly tried to follow my gut, tune out the noise when I notice I’m not centered, and focus on what is truly in front of me.
Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed by outside noise, I look at what’s right in front of me: the love, the laughter, and the little moments, and I ask myself, how can I best bring this to light? Tuning inward has never led me astray. I also feel especially grateful that my partner and I have worked together for nearly the entire duration of our business. Having someone with the opposite thinking style as mine helps calm any storms. I always have someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to help reframe a crisis.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Ruét Photo is a wedding and family photography studio founded by my husband Talon and me. We specialize in artful, honest, and joyful imagery that feels both elevated and deeply sentimental. Our work is rooted in a documentary approach, meaning we’re always looking for the real moments as they unfold, while also creating intentional, refined portraits that feel timeless and true to you.
We’re best known for blending digital and film photography, with a strong love for 35mm and medium format film. Film has a softness and emotion to it that feels enduring, and it allows us to create images that feel like heirlooms. Our couples are often drawn to modern, stylish weddings with thoughtful details, beautiful florals, and a strong sense of intention behind every part of the day. We love photographing weddings that feel like living art, full of movement, laughter, connection, and meaning.
What I’m most proud of is the trust our clients place in us. It’s an honor to document people at their most present and most human, and to create photographs that help them remember not just how it all looked, but how it felt. We’ve photographed over 400 weddings together, and even after all these years, we still feel deeply grateful every time we get to step into someone’s story and preserve it with care.
What sets us apart is the way we balance emotion and artistry. Talon and I have complementary strengths, so we work seamlessly as a team, bringing both intuition and calm guidance to the day. We’re intentional with composition, light, and storytelling, but we never force moments that aren’t real. Our goal is always to create imagery that feels sincere, expressive, and lasting, so our clients can look back and feel like they’re right there again.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Photograph any and every chance you get. I did so many shoots and weddings for a discount, or even free, when I was starting out just trying to get as much experience as I could. Be absolutely obsessed with learning and researching and, if you don’t know something, find a book or hire someone to mentor you. Also, I think doing a self-evaluation of what you feel like your strengths are as a person and then centering your client experience around that will never steer you wrong. I also like to make each year have a distinctive focus in our business (like artistry, systems, marketing, client process) and then all of my extra work & energy goes to improving upon that element.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ruetphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruetphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruetphoto
- Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ruetphoto
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/ruetphoto/
Image Credits
Ruét Photo
