By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Not long ago, Stacy Niedzwiecki, a Rockford graphic designer, began teaching herself how to handle a digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera.
Two weeks ago, the Grand Rapids First United Methodist Church selected her whimsical photo Holy Cow, an entry in the church's Celebration of the Arts juried show, for its permanent collection.
This week she learned that Spectrum Health and Houston-based American Art Resources selected 46 of her nature photographs to adorn the walls of the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion when it's completed later this year.
"I started doing photography as my own creative outlet to take a break from the graphic design," Niedzwiecki says.
Holy Cow came from a desire to shoot Parnell's St. Patrick Catholic Church from a particular angle. It took Niedzwiecki nearly two years to get the courage to knock on a nearby farmer's door and ask if she could get the shot from his field.
"I started taking pictures and there was no cow around, and then the cow wandered into the picture. I have serious images of the church without the cow, and never sold a one," she says with a laugh. "But Holy Cow is hands down my top selling photo."
Niedzwiecki, who owns Niedzwiecki Creative Solutions, began selling her note cards and framed photos online a year ago. Now local retailers, including Robinette's Apple Haus & Gift Barn and Elementals feature her work.
"In just a year's time, over 50 percent of my income comes from photography work," she says. "I went from driving around and just having fun with it to 'this is now a serious business.'"
Source: Stacy Niedzwiecki, Niedzwiecki Creative Solutions
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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