A little about us...


In case you don't know us...Hi! My name is Niki (the mom) pictured with my beautiful daughter Ellie Rose.


From the day I picked up a camera...more than 20 years ago....Ellie has been 1/3 of my passion/obsession of trying to capture the pure magic that are my three children. Hunter, Addie, and Ellie started my photography journey. Make no mistake…they are my real works of art and my lifetime achievement award. It is because of them that I started to SEE the world differently. How it should be. Filled to the brim with love, kindness, art, laughter, imagination, chaos, creativity, tears, magic and adventure.


...Fast forwarding to Ellie as a teenager....

Ellie met Coldren (aka the Cutie boyfriend) in 2019 who I believe sparked that same feeling for her. She started making these amazing heartfelt videos with such emotion and creativity. Capturing memories and clips of their relationship…and I realized that my baby has a storyteller’s soul.


....Fast forwarding again to a little over a year ago...

Life's direction changed. Plans put into place changed for both of us. This resulted in some pivoting, a lot of conversations, countless prayers and a big leap of faith. Ellie decided to join me in creating The Work of Wanderers. I knew starting it was going to be a lot of learning, teaching, and growing for both of us. I thought I was going to be doing the teaching but as it turns out Ellie has done her share of teaching me some things. 2023 has been a huge year of learning for us. Ellie is outstanding. She has learned so much and is thriving. Overcoming social anxiety and shyness has been her biggest accomplishment. She was already incredibly talented and she just has the "eye" so the rate that she is learning her artistry...MIND BLOWN. I am so proud of her.


Looking back on the last year I feel amazed by how much we have accomplished. Looking forward to the future... I know we have a long way to go but I could not be more excited.


We have so many people who make up our tribe. We are so blessed. I honestly do not know where we would be without the support of these amazing people. We would like to take a minute to recognize and thank.


Rusty-Niki's husband, Ellie's dad. This man has listened to his fair share of breakdowns and this year drove home from WV hunting to help with sessions and then turned around and went right back when they were over.

Coldren-Ellie's boyfriend. This guy is so talented and has helped us build so many things. He is also adorable and roped in to mannnnnny photo shoots. He is pretty loved around here.

Lil Nana-Niki's mom, Ellie's nana. Our BIGGEST cheerleader and my Ride or die from day one. We do not know where we would be without her. She does it all.

Addie-Niki's wild child, Ellie's sister. Photo creds for the photo above that she took in fuzzy bear pj pants in a coffee shop while making silly faces ,shaking the camera, and giving us looks of utter disappointment when we did not comply to her instructions while we both died of laughter. She is so funny and I don’t think she tries. We can normally count on Addie when we realllly need her to step in and help. She is forever the princess and she without a doubt will pout and sigh dramatically periodically.

Hunter-Niki's son, Ellie's brother & Kayla (my soon to be daughter in law!) I give these two barely any notice and they show up with the beautiful boys ready to smile whenever I need them.

Aunt Heidi-Niki's sister, Ellie's Aunt. Given a moments notice I have counted on her countless times to help with sessions. From set up to clean up. To showing up with my nieces for models. ALSO one of my biggest supporters no matter what.

Avabella & Lele-Niki’s beautiful nieces and Ellie's shadows-I cannot tell you how invaluable these two have been. They help set up, they model, they shoot behind the scenes footage. They are both so creative and I hope one day we will have them join The Work of Wanderers...officially.

Kelley,-Niki's bonus sister. Ellie's aunt. "I really want this prop and I am not sure how I can get it" Kelley to the rescue. She also has the cutest animals that participate in photo shoots.

Kohen-Niki's cute nephew. Ellie's cousin. This guy helped transport and tame our Easter lambs. He also modeled and ended up needing surgery right after. FYI - I did not injure him personally but I felt pretty bad.

Shelley-Niki's mother in law. Ellie's Nana K. Shelley has helped us on numerous occasions with animals, props, and overall being a constant sharer and supporter of our work.

The Smith/Ernest Family-"Framily" A Godsend support system. Mr. Roy Smith for reaching out to me and his guidance. I am not sure I will ever be able to put in to words how thankful I am for them in this journey and beyond. Jan, Theresa, and Kim for being amazing friends and also liking every single post and picture we share.

Barbara-Friend- This lady flew in with angel wings when I was sick. Made the best chocolate covered pretzels and showed up to help for two full exhausting days of photo shoots.

Misty and Kaya-Forever Friends- Misty is the BEST stylist I know. Kaya is ready to model and color with me for hours if need be and really just good for my mental health.


We have so many friends/clients to thank for their support.


Kari, Kelly, Kristin, Cheyenne, Cherrill, Mariah, Kiah, Laura, Melissa, Amy, Angie, Ashley, Amanda, Tracy, and Megan.


I am not sure if you know how big of a deal it is to us - Willing to share our posts and photos, passing out business cards, name dropping, cheering us on always, etc.


Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


Last but not least...To every single person who trusted us with your memories. Thank you to the moon and back.