# Breaking Into Commercial Photography with Kara Mercer

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/summer-school-a-photography-creative-podcast-6646284/breaking-into-commercial-photography-with-kara-mercer
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/summer-school-a-photography-creative-podcast-6646284/breaking-into-commercial-photography-with-kara-mercer.md
Podcast: [Summer School - A Photography + Creative Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/summer-school-a-photography-creative-podcast-6646284)
Published: 2026-06-19T18:17:35+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/summer-grace/episodes/Breaking-Into-Commercial-Photography-with-Kara-Mercer-e3l11n0
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/107feb250/podcast/play/121717920/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-19%2Fb93b380e-c1bc-b225-bf3a-8146997c1c91.m4a
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/summer-school-a-photography-creative-podcast-6646284/episodes/breaking-into-commercial-photography-with-kara-mercer
Duration seconds: 3324

## Resource

In this episode, I sat down with Kara Mercer, whose career has taken her from photographing weddings to working with tourism boards, hotels, designers, and brands all over the world. We talk about what it looked like to make the jump into commercial photography, how she built a career beyond weddings, and the realities of motherhood, entrepreneurship, and reinventing yourself as a creative along the way. Meet Kara: Kara Mercer is a commercial photographer and creative director specializing in interior, architectural, lifestyle, and travel photography. With over 17 years of experience behind the camera, she’s known for her refined editorial style, artful use of light, and ability to tell a story in a single frame. She graduated with a Speech Pathology degree, but wedding photography led her around the world ultimately working for tourism boards worldwide and fashion campaigns before expanding her focus to commercial work. This experience informs her editorial eye and the emotional resonance that runs through her photography. Kara is based in Seattle and regularly works in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and beyond. Her work has been published worldwide in magazines such as House Beautiful, Arch Digest, Traditional Home, Dwell, and more. Connect with Me: Join us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Summer Camp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a Member of Summer School ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to our emails for updates on all things Summer School! Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@summergrace.photo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the_summerschool⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop My Products: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Summer Grace x G-Presets ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ disco…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/summer-school-a-photography-creative-podcast-6646284/episodes/breaking-into-commercial-photography-with-kara-mercer/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/summer-school-a-photography-creative-podcast-6646284/breaking-into-commercial-photography-with-kara-mercer.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.