I was so excited to photograph this couple for their engagement. I have known Kendra since high school, Sunday nights dancing at Pla Mor Ballroom and working at Hy-Vee together. She was also the first Art Klicks client, photographing her maternity and her daughter’s photos since.

So when she asked me, well actually, when she told me that I was going to photograph her wedding, I was filled with emotions.

I have gotten to know her fiance, Jordan, and see their relationship develop, I actually SEE the love between the two of them, which is rare these days. The support they have for eachother is admirable, I hope to find a guy that love me like Jordan loves Kendra.
Excited for August 29th.

I had the pleasure in photographing Miss. Taydem and what a pleasure it was. She revealed herself to the world in early March. I’m so delighted to see this beautiful family grow. With loving parents, and an older brother, Taydem will be more then protected.

I’m excited to watch her grow and flourish into a wonderful little girl.

This time I’m going to congratulate my beautiful and wonderful mother! She is one of the strongest people that I know. She kicked breast cancer butt with full force.

Five years ago, my mother went in for her usual mammogram. While she was finishing up, the doctor came in and wanted to additional testing. “Really?” Knowing that hearing that was not a good sign. They did a biopsy and we then began the wait.

Even though we do have cancer in the family (what family doesn’t these days) there was never breast cancer, so the wait was confusing.

About 3 days later, the Friday before Mother’s Day, we got the call. I was just about to leave work when I looked at my phone and saw a text from my mom, “Call me when you get home.” Yeah right, like I was going to wait until I got all the way home. I called her before even leaving the parking lot.

Me, “Hey, what did they say?”

Mom, “Hi, are you home?”

Me, “No, what did you find out?”

Mom, “Why don’t you call me when you get home.” Well right there I knew that it wasn’t good.

Me, “No, just tell me what’s going on.” Knowing that I can be quite the emotional person, my mom made me promise to get home safely.

Hearing the words “I have breast cancer” come from my mother’s lips freaked me out. I don’t remember much more about the drive home. But as soon as I got home, I opened the front door, looked at my roommate and she asked what was wrong, (apparently I don’t hide my feels very well) I then collapsed to the floor, with tears running down my face, I yelled “MY MOM HAS CANCER!” I then picked myself up and knew that is was no longer in my hands and God would do what needed to be done.

A week later she was scheduled for her mastectomy. Not only did she get one removed, two weeks after that, she had another surgery to get the other one reduced, then chemo, and of course that’s not it. At a normal check up, they discovered a blood clot extending from below her knee all the way to her hip, the hole vein cloted. I don’t know about you, but I would have been like, “screw this, I’m done.” Not my mother, she went to work every day, took care of the house all the while going to chemo. Seeing my mother go through that kind of pain and discomfort broke my heart.

I can’t imagine going through all of that in such a short about of time. I’m glad to say that with the help and support of her friends and family, with her faith in Jesus Christ, and her love of life she is ‘cancer free.’

I can't stress enoough about preventive care, go to the doctor before, get checked on a regular basis, a little discomfort once and a while, can save you months or even years of horrible pain.

One of my friends once said to me, " You are VERY strong Katrina, don’t sell yourself short! You are your mother's daughter, its genetic!" I can only hope that that is true and that I am half as strong as my mother.

Congratulations mom to saying, “Oh hell no” to cancer and on your continued good health. I love you!

Art Klicks Photography

I want to take some time to say congratulations to my wonderful 2015 graduating seniors. I loved getting to know each of you this year. I’ve had so much fun with you and I’m glad you chose me to photograph your senior portraits.

Remember your roots, remember where you came from and use that as inspiration to drive the next few years in your life. Good luck next year in College Jeralyn, Jacob, Ashley, Derek & Shaelyn and continue to do the greatness that I know you will.

*Katrina

 artklicksphotography.com

I have a client that really inspired me to write this piece in addition to my continued frustration to really educate clients about why Photographer charge what we charge. I wish that people would understand what we do, what we give up to pursue our dreams, and how much time it really does take to truly call oneself a Professional Photographer.

• 1+ hours of prepping (emails, consult, etc.)

We spend time talking this out clients making sure that they are taken care of, answering their questions, and making sure that we are the right fit for each other. Personally, I want to make sure that your experience with me is pleasant and stress free. To help with that I talk with you and happily answer any questions that you have so that you are well prepared for your session.

• 1-3 hours photographing

Clearly we spend time photographing our clients, and this is an obvious factor that people are aware of.

• 5-20 minutes of editing per photo (4-12 hours)

Usually the first questions out of peoples mouths is, “Do you photoshop?” In this day, if a photographer is shooting digital, 99% of the time they retouch their images. Personally I’m taking the time to correct skin, color, contrast, density, and any other requests that clients want.

• 5+ hours of everything else (driving, posting, ordering, packaging, delivering, etc.) PER SESSION

People usually don’t take these thing into consideration when they think about a professional photographer, but it’s just as important as everything else. How would you know who we are if we aren’t taking the time to market ourselves? How would we get anywhere without driving to the session, or any other appointments?

• We also invest thousands of dollars in equipment, software, and props and spend countless hours learning how to produce beautiful images, with conferences and continued education.

Yes, we choose to pay for these things, but to create images above the mom down the street’s images, we should purchase lighting equipment and software, and take more classes to learn about what is new and different that clients our responding too.

• We don't get paid vacations or sick days. We don't get bonuses for outstanding performances or for holidays. We don't have insurance plans or any benefits and 35% of our profits goes straight to taxes.

This fact really hits hard. If we don’t work, we don’t get paid. We can produce this outstanding image, award winning even, but we don’t get a bonus check. Now think about all the changes with health insurance these days… we pay for everything ourselves. Then lets add more taxes on to the ever growing expenses that we have.

I came across these facts and found them interesting even being a photographer I didn’t put all of these factors into account. We spend time with your family on the weekends instead of our own.

Please understand that we are business owners and we have a LOVE for photography but that LOVE won't pay the bills.

So #RespectyourPhotographer