Say Hi To Katharine: Kelly Prizel's Studio Manager

Many of you have secretly interacted with Katharine. If you have scheduled an appointment, taken the engagement questionnaire or done a whole host of other things, Katharine is the master behind it all. Katharine is taking on more and more duties as Studio Manager here at the office. So you’ll probably be interactive with her on email a whole lot more! So it’s finally time she made an appearance on the blog since she’s here 4 days a week 😀


I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and am probably Buffalo’s most loyal and enthusiastic defender in Southern Connecticut. I moved to New Haven to attend Yale, where I completed my undergraduate degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. While my classroom activities all mostly related to the sciences, I devoted my time outside of the classroom to music, filling my schedule with as many rehearsals and performances as possible. A singer and an instrumentalist, I have been involved in various musical pursuits throughout my life, starting at a very young age with piano and then beginning viola at age 7. My most recent musical endeavor has been to pick up the viola da gamba, a six-stringed Renaissance instrument played similarly to a modern cello, which I play with the Yale Temperament. I am a soprano in the professional choir at Christ Church in New Haven, where I have sung for the past 4 years, and have also been a part of various vocal projects and ensembles in New Haven and at Yale, including the Yale Glee Club.

I really like food. I like to plan my next meal while I’m eating my current meal. I have developed a recent obsession with cooking Indian food, and am slowly working my way through Raghavan Iyer’s 660 Curries (and becoming very friendly with my local Indian bazaar). I believe that baking, however, is where food’s real magic lies. My most ambitious baking project to date will be making my friend’s wedding cake for 70 people in October. I have a number of other food-related projects up my sleeve, including developing “dinner party kits” — detailed recipes, timelines, shopping lists, and how-to instructions that maximize a host’s efficiency by consolidating the planning stage — and I am still working on perfecting the best curry-flavored baked good. This summer, I am delving into ice cream-making.

I love early music, champagne mangos, and Harry Potter. I also love Martha Stewart.

At Kelly Prizel Photography, I do a lot of behind-the-scenes work — scheduling, emailing, and designing standard operating procedures so that Kelly and I can work more efficiently and serve her clients better. I also do my very best to crystallize Kelly’s brilliant ideas into clear, actionable items, and help her make decisions. I like supporting artists in their work and helping passionate people like Kelly do what they love more efficiently and with less hassle.