Artist Profile: Erika Pinkley
Erika Pinkley
1910 NE 4th Street
Blue Springs, MO 64014
Bio:
My photography journey started back in the year 2000 after I gave birth to my first child. When she was only a month old I took her over to a friend’s place and set up a little impromptu photoshoot out on the balcony and snapped a few images with my little Kodak camera on a roll of black & white ISO 400 film. A few days later I went to the photo lab to pick up my prints and right then & there I was hooked! Now, naturally I am biased in thinking that my child was the most beautiful thing in the world, but there was one image that simply pulled at my heart strings. I wanted to know how I actually created such a magical shot and more importantly I had to learn how to take a shot like that again, but on purpose! Right then and there I began to learn all that I could about photography. I started to attend every workshop, seminar, and lecture that was within driving distance to me. I gobbled up every bit of info, insights, and tips & tricks that I could find on the internet and in the library, and I practiced shooting anything that came across my path. As my journey started to unfold, I gave up my film camera for a Canon DLSR and I never looked back. Quickly I started to notice, however, that often times my imagery was quite different that many of my fellow digital artist and I started to wonder why. Soon it became apparent to me that while other artists were diving into the land of Photo Shop, my approach was something quite different. Even though I had made the transition to digital imagery I realized that I was still asking myself “How can I make this shot sing right out of the camera?†and that one simple question has transformed my world yet again. Not only has my journey made a complete 180 from that first black & white image as my vision has become this wildly explosive world of vivid colors that seemingly pop of the page, my insatiable search to create magic happen right in the lens has sent my imagery off to another world with my fans eagerly following me. They have witnessed me shoot weddings, mommies & newborns, high school seniors, models and actors. And on the corporate side of this journey I’ve shot for companies such as Showtime, Toyota, HBO, Frito Lay, the Salvation Army, and Dos Equis, just to name a few. I have been fortunate enough to also have in front of my lens countless celebrities such as NFL & NBA players, TV anchors, city & state representatives, and even the Former First Lady, Laura Bush (the younger one!). With all that being said, to say that my photography journey has been an incredible ride is an understatement! Photography has impacted my life in ways that I never could have imagined and even though it has slowly evolved for me over the last 17 years, one thing still remains the same ... Every time I pick up the camera I want to create something wonderful and something that my clients will fall in love with. Photography for me has become less about just taking a pretty picture and is more about making beautiful art. I want to wow my viewers with images that they never imagined possible. Hearing questions like “How did you do that?†and “You seriously didn’t Photo Shop this?!†are some of the biggest compliments I can ever get. Not only do I enjoy hearing of people’s excitement over my images, I also then get to enjoy sharing how the shot was done. For me photography has become more than taking a pretty picture. It has become about enjoying the journey of this art that I love so much but also, it has become about inspiring others to find their passion within them. Together we can all make this world live in the moment and in vivid color!
