Kate Taylor

Kate Taylor: Capturing

Moments Kate Taylor loves photographing weddings, saying that it is a gift to be part of such a special day.

* Story by Brittnee Nave & Photos Contributed *

Sometimes quitting your job to follow your passion is the right thing to do. This was true in the case of Kate Taylor.

Kate Taylor has been a professional photographer for the past nine years, and has over 7,000 people following her photography Facebook page.

Taylor said she began photography once she became a mother.

“I sort of started my business accidentally,” she said. “After my daughter was born, I started studying to take better pictures of her and then I wanted a better camera to take pictures of her. I was a teacher at the time and a friend I worked with asked me to take photos of her and her family even though I said I didn’t do that, and soon other coworkers did too.”

From this, Taylor began balancing her teaching and work with photography with about four families, until it became too much. “I couldn’t keep doing both, and everyone thought I was crazy, especially my parents, but I quit my job and that was nine years ago,” she said. Taylor says she hasn’t regretted this decision. She said one of her favorite things to shoot are weddings. “Just to be able to be apart of something so personal and be able to tell that story for them, that’s just amazing to me to be able to do something like that,” she said. “It’s such a personal and intimate day, and to be able to share in that joy and get to know them throughout the day and those moments to hopefully share that story with their children and grandchildren someday is an incredible gift to me.”

In addition to weddings, Taylor also said she loves to photograph births,

which includes a father seeing his child for the first time or a baby being laid on a mother’s chest for the first time.

Taylor said that she has bonded with some clients, telling the story of being able to capture the first steps of a baby of one of her first clients and the mother’s reaction.

In regards to photography itself, Taylor said she loves capturing moments and never stops learning, something she also encourages fellow photographers to also do.

For more information on Kate Taylor Photography, you can check out her Facebook page, go to her website at www.katetaylorphotography.com or call 423-408-8114.

“Just to be able to be apart of something so personal and be able to tell that story for them, that’s just amazing to me to be able to do something like that.”

— Kate Taylor

C & C Outfitters:

Where a father and son are living a dream

* Story by Danny Blevins & Photos Contributed *

Passion. The very word means to have a strong desire, an adventure. Passion is the first word that comes to mind when you meet the father and son duo of Chip and Colton Chambers.

Together the two have turned a love for the outdoors into a passion and taken countless clients along on the adventure as customers of C & C Outfitters.

“We had this idea about four years ago that there was no one in this area that offered a full line of hunting and fishing trips for trophy game,” said Chip Chambers. “We decided to open C & C Outfitters to correct that.”

Chip and Colton offer a wide variety of hunting trips, including trips for bear, turkey, and deer, and most of their clients are very successful.

“We had one client last fall who took two huge 8-point bucks and tagged out. These two deer would have scored a respectable 125 and 135 inches in the Boone and Crockett Record Books,” stated Colton with a sheepish grin.

“The biggest deer we have ever taken though was by Colton himself,” stated his father Chip. “He killed a 21-point buck that was living in a 20acre wood lot near a main highway.” The two also guide bear hunters who want to take the bear of a lifetime. They are rarely disappointed.

“We had two clients last fall take bears that were over 400 pounds and one a few years ago killed a bear that weighed around 485 pounds,” stated Colton. “But the biggest bear we have killed was killed by dad. It weighed around 500 pounds.” Though the two are successful hunters, their true passion lies in fishing the many quality waters in East Tennessee. “We guide clients on a jet boat this time of year up the South Fork of the Holston River,” said Chip. We also do float trips for trout and smallmouth bass and guided trips for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and walleye.” Both Chip and Colton had a dream of competing in the FLW Professional Bass Fishing Tour, and they have lived to see this dream come true. So far Chip has fished 20 BFL (Bass Fishing League) tournaments and finished four times in the top ten, while Colton has fished 21 BFL tournaments and has finished in the top ten in five of them. “Colton has qualified for the hardest tournament in the pro fishing circuit, the BFL All-American Tournament, and that is an accomplishment itself,” said Chip with pride in his voice. “During this tournament, he caught the largest bass, an 8.90-pound largemouth bass.” C & C Outfitter clients catch a big variety of fish, in good numbers and good sizes. They take these clients to South Holston, Boone, Cherokee, and Watauga lakes as well as South Holston and Watauga rivers, and have watched as their clients fill the boat full of fish. “On the Holston River, we will see people catch 50 or 60 fish with an average of around 30-40. We generally use jerk baits for the trout and swim baits for the smallmouth bass and walleye in Watauga Lake. March and April are really good times to catch bass on any of the local lakes,” said Chip.

“We use custom-built baits and know where to fish in this area to catch fish in good numbers and size,” stated Colton.

“We have clients from all over the South. If I am not mistaken, we had 71 nights last year where these clients used lodging and local restaurants, and when they come, we do our best not to disappoint them,” said Chip.

“We had one client catch a walleye from Watauga Lake that

Photo Contributed

Chip Chambers is pictured with a giant smallmouth.

Photo Contributed

Caleb Chambers is pictured with a monster largemouth. Caleb is Chip’s oldest son.

was just short of 16 pounds,” added Chip. “Another client caught a sixpound rainbow trout, and we had another catch an eight-and-a-halfpound brown trout.

“We guide a lot of families and kids, and we do our best not to disappoint them. Not too long ago one 10-year-old boy hooked a six-pound smallmouth. He fought it for about 15 minutes, and when he got it in, he was as happy as a 10-year-old can get. It was a lot of fun to watch.”

“We also guide for striped bass on Boone Lake,” Chip continued. “I know Boone is not the best lake in the area right now, but once they refill it, it will be an excellent lake in about five years.”

Chip summed up everything in one very profound statement.

“We have been blessed in that we have great partners, and we can do something to also bring in tourists and business to Carter County. We are blessed indeed.”

When you talk to Chip Chambers and his son Colton Chambers, it is impossible not to see the passion in their eyes for what they do. They are not only sharing their love for the outdoors with others, but they are making memories together that will last both of them a lifetime.

To book your next adventure with C & C Outfitters, call them at 423707-8822. To see more photos of their adventures and their trophies, go to their Facebook page at C & C Outfitters.

The early spring is the perfect time for walleye fishing on Watauga Lake.

Colton Chambers holding two nice largemouth bass caught back to back. Another happy client put on the fish by C & C Outfitters.