Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika Stewart.
Hi Erika, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always been the kid with a camera in her hand- stealing my mom’s polaroid, begging for disposable cameras whenever we went to CVS, and asking every year for a digital camera for my birthday. It is something I literally thought about all the time and eventually started to carry my thin little camera with me in my purse throughout all of high school to capture all of those little moments, the happiness of my friends, and anything I found interesting, like an overgrown field. And for whatever reason, I decided I was applying for school to be a radiologist. It was still image-taking in a sense, but in the medical field, which made my parents happy.
The night before I packed and left for Grand Valley State University, I had a daydream of sitting in front of a giant circle window with a plate of cookies marking what film frames I wanted to develop from the shoot I just did- and that vision stuck with me, hard.
So, as I started my degree in radiology, I learned a few things- FAST. I loved the chemistry lab and understood chemical processes like second nature, anything hands-on was my favorite thing ever, I detest lectures and they put me to sleep and give me anxiety- and, the most important- GVSU had a photography major, and your first 2-3 years of the degree is spent in the darkroom processing and developing photographs. Serendipity.
I quickly switched my major to photography + minor in business, told my parents, and my mom was furious at first. Once she realized I was following my passion, she told me to make her proud and bought me my first DSLR.
Fastforward to 2013, I earned my degree and this is where It Clicks Photo was born. After graduating, I knew I needed to lock down a job while building my career + business, and I stumbled upon a bridal stylist position at The Wedding Shoppe. I instantly thought about Say Yes To The Dress, Project Runway, and all alike shows that I LOVED watching, and hounded down the job!
After meeting, connecting, and helping my brides find their dream gowns, I knew I wanted to see these dreams turn into reality. After taking on a few friend weddings, and feeling comfortable enough with the stress from a wedding day, I decided to start telling my brides while helping them into gowns that I did wedding photography.
The next thing I knew, I was taking on 15-20 weddings and juggling being a full-time stylist. You can imagine that this ate up all my free time, and I was faced with a decision; stay at The Wedding Shoppe and cap out what I can do for my business, OR leave the shop, find a position a little less demanding, and continue to grow.
I took the second route, and found I grown to about 28-30 weddings a year- phew! It was intense.
In 2017, after about 2 years of leaving, my best friend at The Wedding Shoppe, Codi called me asking if I would be interested in coming back to the shoppe- not to be a stylist, but to help with processing of gowns and social media.
I told her I would be interested in talking to the owners and seeing what we could work out. After all, I was working with a bunch of guys in an office, and that creative flow I once had was gone. I missed the interaction I had with brides in a more casual scene, and I certainly missed everyone working at TWS.
During our meeting, the owner said I could make my own schedule so I could book as many weddings as my heart desired! I was in and totally back!!!
Because I was able to focus more on the social media part of things, I acquired a real taste for commercial + product photography- capturing all the details of the new gowns, creating styled shoots, and making some epic photographs. I was in my glory!
During the pandemic, weddings were stripped away from us, which left me with a ton of reschedules and not too much work in 2020. It was the year I really grew the commercial side of It Clicks. Everyone I knew were creating online platforms for their businesses to turn their in-person sales and storefronts digital to keep afloat. I was more than eager to help people with this transition and found I really loved helping brands find their inner voice and projecting it to the outer world.
And now that weddings are back, we have brought back our reigns on how many we book each year to ensure we have time for all of our clients.
So today, you can find It Clicks have their hands in a variety of things: weddings, engagements, lifestyle, branding, and product photography. We can’t help but to help. We truly care and nurture our relationships, because at the end of the day, we are all trying to help one another.
It Clicks is composed of myself, and my associate photographer, Sara. We offer wedding packages starting at 3 hours and going up to 12. We also help our businesses by hosting mini brand events for the budget savvy entrepreneur, or full-blown shoots for the biz who needs an entire storefront photographed. And if we can’t find a prop that we need for a shoot, we create it.
I do all the editing, and love creating beautiful, true-to-color photographs that are bright, cheery, and cohesive.
When we get ready to be behind the camera, we first dive into who we are even photographing- what is your back story? What has your heart and what do you love to do? What speaks to your soul and what do you find yourself thinking about in idle.
These are the things that matter to us before we even take one single photo, because we are here to help you be in the most authentic, truest spotlight- the most “you” essence. THAT’S what we strive for. Because we are the photographers who care.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As all businesses, we have faced a few challenges, but nothing that has knocked us off our feet. I believe to my core that struggles are learning opportunities and redirect us on the path we need to be on.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work is very heartfelt. Whenever I meet a client for the first time, I can’t tell if I am their photographer or not, but the only way to tell is to ask the less serious questions, and see if they are playful, want bright + fun colorful photos. I specialize in making people feel comfortable. I know that is vague, but that is the truth. We are open and honest with our clients and create a safe space where they can share ideas they want to make for their business.
From there, I make custom schedules based on their needs and make it clear anything can change if it doesn’t fit with their vision.
We make props if we can’t find what we need. We bring fun elements, like sparklers, smoke bombs, and beyond to give dimension.
We are known for happy photography- where people actually look like they’re having fun- because honestly, they are in their bliss moments during the shoot.
I am most proud of sticking my guns and being true to myself. You might think, what does that even mean? Well, not everyone is going to be a fan- I said that in the first few sentences of this answer! And that is perfectly fine- everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have been told my colors are too vibrant, they aren’t moody enough, there should be more mystery- etc., etc.
But that’s not my style. I love showing the sunshiney photographs. I 100% am a photographer who uses full color and edits the photographs true to color. I have a responsibility to properly tell someone’s story- and that is the entire story- colors and all.
When it comes to brands + weddings, not having the real color will confuse people, and yourself. For a business, for example- if they sell a pink shirt, and in the photograph, it looks more mauve, then the customer will be upset with the business because they “lied” about the color.
With a wedding, years will pass and your memory will fade. You want to be able to preserve your exact lip color, or bridesmaid color, or flower colors. Having it muted is not the full story- you know what I mean?
After the shoot is done, all you will be left with are the photographs for a LIFETIME. I am here to deliver the most easy, honest, and beautiful imagery experience for my people.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory would be lounging during the summertime after eating a few ice pops at my grandparent’s pool with my best friend, Casey sunbathing on some floaties in the water singing “Sailing” by N*SYNC. It was a simplistic, happy moment as we pushed our feet off the edge of the pool to float to the other side, and repeat over and over again- that will forever stay in my mind.
Pricing:
- Wedding Photography $1649-$3499
- Branding Minis starting at $200
- Commercial Photography starting at $389
- Lifestyle Photography starting at $289
Contact Info:
- Email: erika@itclicksphoto.com
- Website: www.itclicksphoto.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/itclicksphoto
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/itclicksphoto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVzQhOWPACPnfqz5i5Rvpw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/it-clicks-photo-north-providence-5
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/erika-richardson-80079760
- Other: https://itclicksphoto.pic-time.com/client
Image Credits
It Clicks Photo
