Nichol Krupp Photography

I have a personal scrapbook that I am working on which may sound a little bit vein to you, but when you stop and think about it, who is going to do a scrapbook for me? Who is going to have listed what my favorite books were? What my favorite movies were? What my favorite places to travel were? My favorite songs? What really make me tick? What inspires me? WHO INSPIRES ME???

No one!!! That is why my friend Rebe and I started doing our personal scrapbook about three years ago. I feel like it is just as important if not more on some levels to do this book for my children over doing their scrapbooks. This quote is in there. We used to drive downstate to Detroit often to listen to Marianne Williamson speak at “THE CHURCH OF TODAY.” Let me just say that she is a wise woman beyond her years and a brilliant speaker to boot. You may have see her on Oprah several times over the years. This poem touched me greatly and that is why it is in my personal book. I wish I was the one who wrote it!!! LOL! I just wanted to share.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually who are we not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine as children do.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And when we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson

YOU WERE BORN AN ORIGINAL. DON’T DIE A COPY.

~AUTHOR UNKNOWN

I heard a panel of speakers at my convention speaking about many different things but one thing that stuck in my mind and is yet to leave is this:

“CREATIVE PEOPLE HAVE TO SUFFER THE CLASSICS BECAUSE THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ART AND ACCIDENTS.”

With the availability of digital cameras these days, there is such a trend right now to say, “oh, I am a photographer too.” I hear it all of the the time from people where ever I go. I think in a way it has affected the industry a bit. Anyone can eventually get a great picture if they take enough images but really knowing the technical aspects of photography, lighting, and how to really work your camera and what lenses to use WHEN is what sets a professional apart from an amateur.

These are the things that we as photographers do day in and day out that are consistent and well done each and every time. That is what makes someone a professional. Be sure that you look for these things when choosing YOUR photographer.

In the past year, I have had several clients commission me to do pictures that for them are a REDO. WHY? Because they wanted to spend less money by going elsewhere to someone who called themselves a PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, but did not end up having the skills to back that title up. As a result, their pictures did not turn out and they were then coming to me after all to get their pictures redone. In the end, they are spending way more money than if they had gone to a REAL PROFESSIONAL to begin with.

Does it always pay to go the cheaper route? The answer is NO! When it comes to an OVERALL EXPERIENCE, SKILLS, and QUALITY…. I am a FIRM believer that you get what you pay for. Please keep this in mind when choosing your future photographer. Especially when you are needing images captured from a moment in time that you just cannot get back(ie. a newborn baby, your wedding day, and even high-school seniors).

Do your research. Analyze their work. What have you heard about them? Is it good? Is it bad? Look at the BIG pictures on their walls. Is the quality good? Are the images in FOCUS? Are there NO BIG PICTURES up in their studio(a huge red flag IMO). Are they affiliated with any professional photography organizations? Do they have a great website to showcase their style and work. These are all things that one should look at when making an investment in their photographer. Are their prices too good to be true? Then, they probably are. You simply cannot get exceptional quality work for next to NOTHING.

On average, my studio puts in approximately 10-15 hours per client from the very first session, to the proofing, post processing, the ordering appointment, retouching, final printing and actual delivery to the client. It is an investment.

I consider myself an artist. I consider the images I provide my clientelle with art for their walls. I consider it an investment in their future. I consider the images I create something that will be of good quality 80 years later as well as something that one will not be able to put a price on in the future because of its sentimental value alone.

Choose your artist wisely. Suffering the classics(knowing what you are doing) is what makes the difference between art and accidents.

Just a little food for thought.

Have a good one!

~Niki

Thanks honey for the SHOUT OUT! Hugh…to think I thought I would have to TOOT MY OWN HORN. Your blog was so sweet. Hey I wonder if I can use your post as one of my 365. Will it still count? I will have to ask Pete and Steve. They WILL let me know. I assure you.

This is very exciting! I have been planning on submitting prints for a few years now and have just never done it. I was ready to do it this year. I am so grateful that I did. Cassie, thank you SO MUCH for helping me get all of these prints ready to go out on time and for helping me agonize over titles. I guess I really can say it now…I am an award winning photographer. Now if I could just take the PERFECT image to get a GRAND AWARD. That comes with a huge amount of recognition and I would love to receive something like that in my lifetime and photographic career.

The prints will be proudly displayed in my studio windows with their ribbons when they arrive back to me. Thanks to all of my great clients who provided me with such beautiful subjects to use for these images.

~Niki

Congratulations Nik!!!! This is a post from her husband, Keith. Niki is now an award winning photographer! Did she start small and enter her prints in the local, state or regional competitions? Nope. Her first entries in a competition came last week in an INTERNATIONAL competition at the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) annual convention in Las Vegas. She won Awards of Excellence on 4 of her prints in several categories including Photojournalism/Editorial, Children’s Portraits, and Premier. One of her prints “Sweet Cheeks” will be published in the annual print album reserved for the best of the best!

We are very proud of her and she also learned alot about what the judges are looking for in print judging. She also sparked controversy with her print entitled “Reality Exposed” (part of her Breast Cancer Survivor / Awareness project) and also her print titled “Homeless in Central Park” (my favorite). You know Nik, always up for a little controversy. She met with many former Grand Award winners (best print of the Year in a category) and print judges and is now inspired to top this years performance next year as well as work toward becoming a print judge herself in the future!

So if you see her soon, tell her Congrats! It’s good to get a little recognition once in a while for all of the long hours over the past 8 years.

XOXOX,
Keith

Here are the prints that received recognition as they hung in the showroom at WPPI.

“CAMERA SHY”

“REALITY EXPOSED”

“STEVIE”

“SWEET CHEEKS”

Just sending you all an Easter Blessing from my family to yours. I would share a picture with you but I am a professional photographer. Contrary to what everyone thinks….we rarely take pictures of our own kids.

God Bless!

The Krupps

(p.s. One more post down and 14 to go)

Okay, how adorable is this guy? I saw him just sitting down, taking a break and eating some ice cream with his family. As many of you know, I am not a real shy person. That would be my husband who I was with. LOL! Anyhow, I told him I was going to go over and ask this man if I could photograph him really quick for my friend back home who is a die hard St. Patrick’s Day Lover.

So meet Don(The Best Looking “Leprechan” I have ever seen):

Don’s wife emailed me today and said this, “Thank you so much. You helped to make Don’s day special. We were celebrating his birthday along with St. Patrick’s.”

You never know who’s life you can touch or the smile that you can put on their face if you just put yourself out there a little bit and share your gifts with them. In this case the feeling was mutual and Don was a breathe of fresh air which can be tough to find in Las Vegas. Thanks Don!!!

Okay, so one highlight of the week was that my hubby got stuck in the elevator for over an hour. We were on our way to a vendor party at THE PALMS. We stop at the front door of our hotel(Bally’s) and he went up to get our jackets because it was pretty chilly out. We had a group of people waiting there and he never came back.

So I am kind of telling the group that he can sometimes take a long time to do things but not usually in a situation like this. I try to call and cannot reach him. Just about when I am on the verge of LOSING MY PEACE(getting really mad), he calls me on his cell phone.

He told me that on his way down that the elevator just came to a very abrupt stop and that was it. He could not get the Emergency phone to work in the elevator and started to get a little nervous at that point. Then
he finally got the phone to work and got a hold of someone. A very stressful hour later, he said it started moving again and he was out.

I then called him and asked if he could go BACK UP in a different elevator and get my camera for the party. He was reluctant but he LOVES ME and trust me….he is glad he got my camera. It was well worth it. All said and DONE, Bally’s gave us a $50 food voucher for his inconvenience. Now, for those of you who know my husband, he is the most laid back guy ever. He was not happy with just a $50 food voucher as it had been one thing after another with this hotel since the day I arrived. I will just say this,”WE WILL NEVER EVER GIVE BALLY’S OUR BUSINESS OR MONEY EVER AGAIN.”

I am not one to give on-line reviews but the lack of CUSTOMER SERVICE….or SERVICE of any kind for that matter was horrible. It is odd to believe that Paris Paris and Bally’s are the same owner. We had great service at Paris Paris last year.

Here is a picture of Keith in the elevator that shut down on him. We seemed to get that elevator every time for the rest of the week after his little incident. He was not too happy about it. Better him than I because I would have completely lost it.

Still recovering from sheer exhaustion. Vegas was a great time and I gained a wealth of information while I was there. We were in classes from 8:30 am to sometimes 10:00 at night depending on the day with a few breaks inbetween. You could take as many breaks as you wanted but it was my goal to soak up all of the knowledge I could about bettering my business.

Don’t get me wrong, we would have fun after the classes were out. The problem is that in Vegas, you can end up staying in your big bubble of a hotel for a few days at a time without even seeing daylight or seeing very little of it anyways. So, before you know it it is 3:00 in the morning or EVEN LATER.

I got to meet up with old friends and meet photographers from all over the world. Very cool. There were approximately 60,000 photographers there from all over the world.

A good time was had by all. I will be doing several different posts about my trip with one really exciting thing that happened to me along the way.

Here is a snapshot of some of my old and new photographer friends whom I adore.

Thanks Ladies for making my trip so much fun! I will see you next year.

To keep with my 365…. It looks like I am around 20 posts behind. I guess I better get to blogging. If I have to I will do 300 of them in the last week before my end of the bargain “Snicker”

I just got back from Vegas…More about that later. For now let’s start with a cool quote I have heard before but was reintroduced to in Vegas.

This is a keeper!

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Champagne in one hand – strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, “WOO HOO – What a Ride!”

~UNKNOWN