Meet Tkacia and Rick Fred | Nature & Travel Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tkacia and Rick Fred and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tkacia and Rick, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We both love photography and nature, and it first started out as fun. Going on drives to the mountain to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and taking pictures of all the beauty around us. After a while, we decided that we wanted to share that beauty with others. So that is what we did. We wanted to be in charge of the things we did and starting our own business allowed that. We are still in the early stages of our business, but it has been an exciting new adventure that we are able to do together. We feel that is so important, that we are doing this together. We have each other to lean on when things have got rough and it helps us push through.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Our art is based upon the beauty around us. Nature is out there just begging to be admired. We have an appreciation for everything that surrounds us and love to get out and explore. We make sure to leave everything the same as we found it, if not better. Our goal is to make sure that others can enjoy the beauty that we capture through our lenses, especially those who are not able to get out and explore themselves. We also love to show others what is available to them just out their backdoor.

Nothing about this has been easy, except for the actual picture taking; but it has been worth it. Being able to capture that moment in time of an exciting hike or an animal crossing has been worth all the struggles. We overcome the challenges by thinking about what we would be doing, if we weren’t doing this. We also have learned a few things along the way. The main thing is knowing our limits, both mentally and physically.

We started this after my husband had a stroke and a heart attack and realized we needed to take a step back. That is when we start going out on our drives to decompress and we always brought our cameras. One thing lead to another and here we are.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
To start, we would have to go to In-N-Out. All of our family and friends live up north and the north does not get to enjoy their amazing animal style fries. For breakfast places our favorite go to is Morning Squeeze, we can seriously eat there every day and not get sick of it. We also enjoy Snooze A.M. Eatery and the Daily Jam. Besides In-N-Out our lunch go to is Slices located in Tempe Marketplace, you cannot go wrong with their Mac&Cheese and bacon pizza! Seriously, try it! We also love lunch at Macayo’s. For dinner, we would go to Rusty Taco or Culinary Dropout. Rusty Taco has the best queso and chips we have ever had!

As for showing them around, we would take them to Papago park to either hike or bike ride with a visit to Hole in the Rock. We would also explore the Desert Botanical Gardens, as it shows all the beauty of the desert. Old Town Scottsdale is another go to for sure. There are so many little shops and restaurants that we could stay busy all day. I feel that we would have to do all the normal tourist stuff with our friends for their first visit, Grand Canyon and a trip to Sedona.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We have to give a huge shoutout to our friends and family who have been in our corner this whole time. They are there to bounce ideas off of and the first ones to encourage us when we are feeling down. We do not know where we would be without them. Even when we moved over a thousand miles away they are still there to support us.

Website: https://pricklypearoriginals.com

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PricklyPearOriginals/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pricklypearoriginals

Image Credits
Prickly Pear Originals