About the Team
About Me
Hi! I’m Krista
Beauty, GLAMOUR, BOUDOIR photographer & Makeup/Hair Artist
My name is Krista Massey. I am a Raleigh native and a self-taught makeup artist with a passion for all things creative. I loved makeup, costumes, hair styling and photography at a very young age. I think it was the combination of how the right makeup and hair could make people feel, how certain makeup could transform you into something better, or more confident. I knew no matter what I choose to do in life, it would have to be something that made a person feel like their best self.
Being a person that has always struggled with my weight and self-esteem, I knew I needed to be a part of changing how people saw themselves, and how people felt about themselves on the outside as well as the inside. I never wanted anyone to beat themselves up when they would stare in the mirror, the way that I did.













That’s how I met Jack. He was so different in his process. His work was impeccable, but his attention to detail is what stood out to me. He had no desire to over Photoshop the faces he photographed. He kept them true to life only tweaking the smaller things to bring out their best self.

I’m older and heavier now. I started to feel so much anxiety when I thought about being on the other side of the camera. I stressed over what to wear, how to pose, smile or don’t smile ? How should I wear my hair? What will people think if the pictures don’t come out good? Why don’t I photograph as well as others? I started to think I should just cancel. I felt so nauseous.
I washed my makeup off 3 times. Sound familiar??? I built my entire life around making others feel beautiful, empowered, and confident. So why now, when I needed it for myself, could I not shake it off? I collected myself and headed to shoot with Jack. When I arrived he could tell I had been beating myself up. He immediately started reminding me of the “truths”. We are all unique. We all have our own beauty, and no one compares to each of us because of our individuality. We can’t take ourselves too seriously all the time, and there needs to be room to celebrate who we have become.
He kept talking as he adjusted his lighting, positioned me and began to click. With every click making my worries smaller and smaller, until the laughter started! I felt the joy take over, and I remembered that I am me, and that’s a great thing to celebrate. I didn’t even care how the pictures turned out (even though I knew I’d love them) because I felt gorgeous, accomplished, and hopeful.
That’s what a photo is suppose to capture. How you feel inside shining through. A imagine of how you are uniquely beautiful in your own way.
Jack and I together as a team can do this for you. We love nothing more than to prove you wrong in thinking anyone is just average or not photogenic. To us, there is just no such thing.



About Me
Hi! I’m Jack
Head photographeR, Retoucher,
CREATOR OF Dr CowlIcks
My name is Jack Carver, and i’m the camera shy one. A photographer who is camera shy, I know… I know! So no photos of me, but lot’s of my pups. We are most definitely dog crazy at Dr Cowlicks!
I get to spend my days photographing people, and sitting at my desk retouching beautiful photos, with my dogs visiting me. It’s pretty awesome.
#1 i’m a nerd. I was one of those whiz kids growing up, that used to hack computer systems just for fun. I went to college for computer science, and skipped most of my classes to spend time in the computer lab, learning more advanced stuff. I had been programming for 8 years already BEFORE I went to college for computers, so classes we’re a bit boring.
While in college, I took a lot of photography courses for fun, and my photography professor said I had an “amazing eye”, and that I needed to switch majors to become a professional photographer. I said “NOPE! Don’t want to be a starving artist”. So I had an early and accelerated computer science career, which I semi-retired from early.
Spent a few years figuring out what I wanted to do next, so I decided to start a photography company. Funny how things come full circle.
Photography had gone fully digital since my film days in college, which played directly into my techie strengths. Photoshop had become a very large complex, and powerful package. I was in love!
This allowed me to take photography well beyond what your typical photographer can do. I started doing “creative” artistic photography pieces for people, and really enjoyed it. Here is Mia, who got her Senior photos done with me. She is an AP classes student, high achiever, plays electric guitar and loves Van Halen. Mom told me to create one of my digital art pieces if I got inspired during her shoot. Here is a before and after shot. I couldn’t just let all that rocker girl hair go to waste.

Sookie the Dobey
Official Studio Hound #1

Steamy the Greyhound
Official Studio Hound #2
I then decided to start shooting Contemporary Glamour/Boudoir, and launched that arm of the business in 2016. We booked up immediately, shoots we’re made, clients went crazy, it was a huge success. Here are a couple of before/afters from my very first shoots.
Only problem was, I wasn’t happy with the process and dynamics around being a glamour/boudoir photographer. My workflow was far too time consuming, and I personally didn’t like all the attention. This made shoots awesome, but expensive, and created a mental block for me. When it was time to market for more shoots, I would avoid it, because I knew it would bring more attention my way. It was a conundrum for me. I’m an anti-peacock of sorts.
Then along came Krista, who I hired as one of my makeup artists. Over time I realized she had a really good eye for photography, and social ninja skills 1000X greater than mine. She is the kind of person you want to become good friends with within minutes of meeting her. This is HUGE for a womens photographer and really important for my clients. I asked if she would be interested in becoming a photographer, and the rest is history.
With Krista being the primary shooter and interacting with the clients, I could put my focus on the technical lighting, high end retouching, and running the business effectively. I became convinced we could be far more successful together as a team, and the clients would receive even better photographs, a better experience, all at a far lower price point.
I spent the last year mentoring Krista in photography and *ENGINEERING THE PERFECT WORKFLOW*. This means I have cut the time to process a photoshoot by 1/3rd, and can pass the cost savings onto my clients. Our shoots are now within reach of MOST women. I’m convinced you won’t find photography of this quality, at this price anywhere in our area. So i’m crazy excited to continue working on our shooting system, watching Krista grow into the best womens photographer in NC, and most importantly, watching our clients lose their fricken minds.
That was the one thing that really caught me by surprise in this business. PHOTOGRAPHY HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE YOU. Never would have believed it, until I saw it happen before my eyes, over and over again. This is a crazy rewarding profession to be in, and i’m incredibly lucky to have fallen into it. Maybe my photography professor was right after all. 😉

Sookie doing quality control and reviewing my work.
She has no understanding of personal space 🙂
In my free time, you will find me spending time with my wonderful significant other, Rebecca and our furry kids. If it’s summer time, we’re on Falls Lake, relaxing, wakeboarding, and fishing, most weekends.
