As a new empty nester in the 2010s, Sheridan, Wyoming-based Rebecca Pickrel, M.Photog., CPP enjoyed many creative pursuits—painting, interior design, music. It was her husband’s gift of a camera that ultimately sparked an interest in photography, which she quickly built into a business. “At the beginning, I realized I knew nothing about photography at all. I didn’t know what any of the buttons on the camera did,” Pickrel remembers. After researching the best educational opportunities, she joined PPA in 2015, and earned her CPP in 2017 and her master of photography degree in 2021. Last year, Pickrel won the Diamond Award in the sports category in the International Photographic Competition and became president of the Wyoming Professional Photographers Association, one of PPA’s Community Networks. “Our local organization is really what has caused me to become a better photographer,” she says. “If nothing else, just for the sense of camaraderie, and knowing I’ve got the help available, and the mentoring.”

JOY IN VARIETY

Photographers are often advised to find one niche and stick with it, but Pickrel says that strategy doesn’t suit her personality. Her life is full of variety, reflected in everything from her home décor to her fashion sense. “Sometimes I wear cowboy boots, sometimes I wear Birkenstocks,” she explains. “I like diversity in my life. If I see something pretty, I just want to photograph it.” Her business, Pickrel Photography, covers a wide range of genres: family, headshot, event, fashion, branding, and fine art. Most of her work is in headshot, event, and family photography. “I like to do conceptual portraits. I like street photography. I like pet portraits,” she says. “I find there’s just too much beauty to photograph, in everyone and everything.”

Her editing style is also eclectic. “I might want moody or I might want bright,” she says, adding that she often asks clients what look they prefer and customizes her edits to reflect their styles. “I like to edit. That’s part of the fun of what I do.” Pickrel’s approach during sessions is to over-capture, which allows her to catch spontaneous moments, she explains. “When I’m scrolling through [images after a session], there’s that one unexpected image, and that’s the one I want to land on,” she says. “Even if the clients are posed, I still want there to be life in the image.”

The outtakes from a session often become treasured. “A couple years ago, I did a family session. We’re outside, and I got this beautiful picture of them all,” she recalls. “Then the next minute, the wind came in. The hair is blowing everywhere, and they’re squinting, and it’s one of my favorite pictures because it’s so Wyoming. This is what we are here.”

Pickrel runs her business out of her Wyoming ranch at the base of the Bighorn Mountains. Wyoming offers beautiful vistas across the state, but her favorite location is her own backyard. “We go to the hayfields, or down by the reservoir, or up the mountain. We have an almost 180-degree view of the mountains,” she says.

With all the beautiful outdoor locations to choose from, Pickrel could easily stick with natural light photography. But true to her nature—and for flexibility—she also photographs in studio, though she does not have her own anymore. She brings backdrops and lighting to rented studio space, an office, or even a client’s home, so she can decide in the moment what will make a good photo. “Originally, I was a natural light photographer. Then I realized that if I was going to progress, I needed to know how to use lights. I started out with a really easy Paul C. Buff system,” Pickrel explains. “Now I use Godox, and love the diversity of what you can create with the light. And the funny thing is, once I learned the light, I still find at times that I don’t want to use it. I sometimes prefer to go back to the natural light.”

MORE THAN PHOTOS

For Pickrel, her work is not just about capturing photos but about the experience and the human connection of the session. Pickrel and her husband were pastors at a church when their children were young, and today still take mission trips, primarily to support a nonprofit scholarship organization called The Mission Haiti. Pickrel photographs the students there and sponsors several of the about 1,000 Haitian children who participate in the program. Her years in ministry and her work in Haiti influence her perspective on what connections mean to people. “I just want people to know that I see them and hear them. I want people to leave feeling better for having been through a session with me,” she says. “Photography can be incredibly healing and uplifting. This is where I try and excel the most as a photographer. My primary goal is to help people feel as good about themselves as I see them. It takes nothing to encourage someone about their beautiful eyes, smile, or how they chose their outfit.”

Pickrel says she tries to make a personal connection with every client. “When I am taking photos, I won’t be disingenuous, but I will frequently look at the back of my camera and tell someone how beautiful they look, or how natural they are in front of the lens. It’s not uncommon for someone to say, ‘Thank you for making me feel pretty. It’s been a while.’”

Part of creating a safe space for clients is being willing to be vulnerable herself. “I did a self-portrait project just to practice using a remote and lights, and posted it on my social media page,” she says. “They weren’t my favorite photos of me, but they still showed something raw and honest.” Her post moved a local woman to reach out, Pickrel recalls. “It struck a nerve in her and where she was in her life, and she wanted to do something that portrayed those emotions.” After the client’s photo session, Pickrel says, “she said it felt healing to let those emotions out.”

Pickrel remembers another transformational experience with a client. “I had a mom ask if I’d take photos of her teen daughter, who was going through some really tough things emotionally. She wanted her daughter to have something special to reflect on, not just the hurtful things,” she says. “It was so empowering for her daughter to see the photos, and it changed some perspectives for her about herself. She’s a stunning girl but just letting her be a model and try some new things brought her out of her shell. Her images are some of my favorites from this past year.”

ALWAYS GROWING

With her CPP and M.Photog. credentials secured, Pickrel is eyeing her next level: PPA’s master artist degree. “I love that process of something being much more artistic than just a portrait,” she says. “I want to have my work feel like art.” Pickrel is also comingling her previous art hobby with her photography by embellishing some of her photos with paint. “I took a picture of two of our Highland cows and then painted it with acrylics,” she explains. “It’s different and fun.” She is also selling her fine art photographs through a local art gallery and is currently setting up an online shop.

Pickrel has won many photography awards, including Wyoming PPA Master Photographer of the Year. In 2018 in PPA’s International Photographic Competition, she placed second in the Grand Imaging Awards. “That was exciting to me, yet that’s when I realized what imposter syndrome was all about,” she remembers. “I was standing on the stage, and my community of photographers were excited and hooting and hollering, and the whole time I was standing up there in dread. Inside I was just shriveling up, thinking, Everybody’s wondering why I’m standing up here.” While photography is subjective, Pickrel says her goal with her images is to evoke an emotional response from viewers, whether positive or negative. “I think we are so critical of our own work, and so, when somebody says, ‘Wow, that’s really great,’ our first instinct is to say, ‘No, it’s not,’” she says. “I have to keep reminding myself that art is different for everybody.”

Having started photography later in life, Pickrel says it is important to keep growing and learning. “Photography opens the world back up. As we age, the risk is that our world begins to shrink. But photography expands those boundaries again,” she says. “Every time I take on a client or create art just for beauty’s sake, it’s with the intention of continuing to mature and develop my skill set and hopefully encourage others to do the same.”  

Janet Howard is a photographer, author, and business coach based in Atlanta.