About LKN Images Photography
Behind every great LKN Images experience.
LKN Images starts with Kathleen’s eye for personality, Cole’s creative command of light, and Ed’s quiet obsession with keeping every shoot organized. Around them is a trusted team of lead photographers who bring depth, range, and the same LKN Images standard to every kind of session we photograph.
A family business with range
Not a staff page. A story in many parts.
The best LKN Images sessions feel polished, prepared, relaxed, and alive. Ultimately, that happens because each person brings something different to the frame: origin, craft, momentum, logistics, and a shared belief that photographs should feel like the people in them.
Three points of view. One LKN Images standard.
Kathleen brings the connection, Cole brings the light and pace, and Ed keeps the details moving. Personal, technical, organized, and always human.
Founder and photographer
Kathleen Martin
It all started with a mouse…
My first camera was a Mick-A-Matic, shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head, and I have been hooked on photography ever since. Since then, the gear has changed a lot, but the pull has always been the same: capturing a moment, not just a picture.
Photography also runs through my family. For example, my grandfather was a photographer and an artist, developing his own images and doing beautiful color work in the darkroom. Today, some of his family photographs still hang on my parents’ walls, and a picture of one of his original cameras sits in my studio.
LKN Images officially began after our family moved to the Lake Norman area, but the business grew out of real life long before that. Before then, I was the mom on the sidelines with a camera at our kids’ rec-league games, never very good at just sitting in the stands.
Sessions with me are energetic. I move fast, talk a lot, and sometimes bring the energy of a five-year-old on a sugar high. As a result, people start to relax. Eventually, the camera starts to disappear, and what’s left is personality, confidence, emotion, and those little in-between moments that feel real.
Photographer and lighting craftsman
Cole Eveson
Great light. Easy confidence. Real expressions.
My photography journey started as a high school freshman. Friends knew I had a camera and asked if I could photograph their football games. From there, one request led to photographing every sport at my high school until graduation. Since then, the camera has not left my hands.
After meeting Kathleen and Ed on the sidelines at 17, I assisted and shot for Kathleen from there. Today, I’m a full-time LKN Images photographer and, meanwhile, a graduate of Appalachian State University, where I earned a degree in Commercial Photography and a minor in Business.
During college, I studied studio lighting and on-location lighting at App State. In practice, that training helps me get the picture right in camera. Whether we are outside, inside, working with athletes, families, seniors, or headshots, I want the session to feel confident, easy, and fun.
Business, scheduling, logistics
Ed Martin
Every button except the shutter button.
Before joining Kathleen in the family business in 2019, my career included 25 years in the video game industry – specifically, NASCAR video games at various companies including EA Sports and Hasbro… eventually leading to my own company, 704 Games. That racing connection explains how we ended up in North Carolina.
Along the way, I worked for big companies, small companies, and eventually started my own company. In that role, I had smart engineers and creative artists all reporting to me, which meant I spent my career managing the business, the projects, the licensing, and the relationships.
At LKN Images, I like to joke that I push every button in the company except the shutter button on the cameras. In practice, I’m the behind-the-scenes guy handling the business, scheduling, logistics, and occasionally serving as a human light stand.
For clients, the goal is simple: make sure everything is organized so that when LKN Images shows up, everyone is ready to have an incredible experience.
The depth behind the LKN Images standard.
Kathleen and Cole anchor the photography side of LKN Images, and the lead photographer team helps carry that same preparation, energy, and care across the sessions we photograph.
Terri Doak
Lead PhotographerBefore I started photographing everyone else’s memories, I was the kid with a camera in my hand.
I got my first camera in fifth grade, and I honestly never stopped looking at the world through a viewfinder after that. Photography wasn’t just a hobby in our house—it was part of our family. My dad was a photographer, so I grew up around cameras, stacks of printed photos, and the idea that the best photographs weren’t posed… they were lived.
Ironically, I grew up with what I call “photographer’s child syndrome.” My dad drove me nuts constantly taking pictures of us! There are so many of me looking grumpy because I yet again had to be at the end of his lens while he fiddled with settings and his little notebook, trying to get the perfect “recipe” for capturing the light. Those years of lived experiences allows me to bring out the best in the people that are reluctant to get in front of my camera.
If life had taken me down a different path, I would have been a photojournalist. I’ve always had a camera of some sort in my hand. The draw to the real moments prevents me from leaving it behind—the laugh that wasn’t planned, the look between people when they think no one is watching, the split second that tells the whole story. Those are the photographs that matter years from now.
And yes… after years of photographing families, athletes, seniors, and friends, there’s a very good chance I have at least one photo that could qualify as blackmail material. Don’t worry… I promise to use my powers for good.
At the end of the day, I love creating photographs that make people laugh, remember, and maybe even get a little emotional years later. Because the best images aren’t just seen—they’re felt.
John Heggie
Lead PhotographerMy photography journey began at age 13 with a 35mm film camera, photography books and magazines, four years of high school photography classes and a fellow shutterbug neighbor who, in his retirement, was eager to share his photography knowledge. By my senior year of high school, I became the yearbook photography editor. But life took a scientific turn, and I traded my darkroom chemicals for chemistry, biology, and anatomy textbooks, eventually moving to South Carolina to become a chiropractor.
My wife and I opened our practice in Huntersville, NC, back in 1997. When we aren’t busy with patients, we are bragging about our two children, now adults, to anyone who will listen.
The camera, however, never stayed far away. In 2021, I was shooting basketball action shots at my kid’s high school when I met Kathleen and Ed, who were there taking Senior Night portraits. They told me about their growing photography business and asked if I would be interested in photographing for LKN Images. I told them I didn’t know the first thing about sports portraiture, but I was willing to learn. Luckily, Kathleen and Ed built such an incredible, reproducible system that learning to create Kathleen’s style of creative and beautiful images did not take long.
On media days, I’m the quiet one. I don’t say much, but I smile and laugh a lot. I know the athletes are often nervous, so I channel my inner encouraging coach. I use a simple, steady cadence of instructions to make them feel confident and relaxed. I shift my game plan slightly depending on whether I’m photographing a kindergartner or a high school senior.
Behind the scenes, my biggest quirk is my obsession with the clock. Being late drives me crazy. I make it a point to show up early to every photo shoot. It has actually turned into a game with some of the LKN Images team, who try to beat me to the location, and they have managed to beat me a few times. I truly feel blessed to work with such a talented crew.
Samy Kadous
Lead PhotographerHey, I’m Samy!
I got my first camera in middle school, and what started as taking photos of friends for the yearbook quickly turned into covering just about every sport I could get access to in high school. Since then, I’ve spent countless hours on sidelines, in gyms, and on fields chasing moments that happen in a split second and never quite the same way twice.
These days, I shoot mostly sports, but I’ve also grown to love portraits, weddings, and the chance to photograph people during some of the biggest moments in their lives. No matter what I’m shooting, I enjoy creating images that feel natural and that people will cherish forever.
Outside of my photography, I’m usually staying active, lifting, hiking around North Carolina, or finding an excuse to be outside with a camera in hand. I’m probably also always carrying more gear than I need…
For me, photography has always been about preserving moments people want to remember and helping them enjoy the experience while we’re making them!
Rich Tucker
Lead PhotographerI’ve been behind the camera since I was 16, which means I’ve officially spent more time looking through a lens than not. My first love was fashion and product photography, which led to five years with Social Status (formerly Flava Factory) in Charlotte, NC, and guest spots in Hypebeast, NiceKicks, and SneakerNews. Then, in a plot twist worthy of a Netflix docuseries, I pivoted into game development, earned a CS degree, and ended up working at 704 Games.
That’s where I crossed paths (again) with the guy who would later help me land at LKN Images—because the universe is weird and sometimes your old boss’s wife becomes your new boss.
Since joining LKN Images three years ago, I’ve found a rare balance: the freedom to get weird (in the good, creative way) while still delivering consistent, professional work. I’m all about sessions that feel more like collaborations—filled with laughs, unexpected poses, and ideas you wouldn’t normally try with a stranger pointing a camera at you.
LKN Images has helped me grow both as a photographer and a professional, and I’m genuinely excited for what’s next. I can’t wait to shoot with you this season.
Why it works
The LKN Images experience is one standard carried by all.
Kathleen, Cole, and Ed set the tone for the experience: personal, creative, organized, and prepared. Terri, John, Samy, and Rich extend that same standard across the sessions we photograph, giving LKN Images the depth to stay consistent without making every shoot feel the same.