Images for a Cure welcomes Tater and Haley Kieser from Bloomington, IL! They seriously rival some as the cutest husband-wife photography duo! As a side note, I also just spent about 20 minutes perusing their blog…. such fabulous light and color! They really know how to capture family dynamic, and I have a feeling their sessions will snap up fast! Perfect timing for your Christmas session (just something to keep in mind)

Website: www.capturingroots.com |  Blog: www.capturingroots.com/blog

Why did you want to get involved with Images for a Cure?
Our whole reason for getting into photography professionally was to provide people with timeless images of loved ones, especially those with sudden life changing illnesses or events. We have had several loved ones fight breast cancer first hand. We know breast cancer has affected a lot of people in many ways. In honor of them and those that we love, we are happy to take part in this great cause.

How has Breast Cancer (or any cancer) made an impact on our lives?
We recently had a close friend pass away after battling it for about 10 years. We were able to photograph her and her family 3 months before she went home to be with Jesus. We are so thankful that she was able to see the birth of her first grandson and take care of him the first few months of his life. Those images are still so precious to us and the family. She was one to always do things for others, and we are so thankful for the memories that we have of her.

Hitting a little closer to home, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2005. At first, when you hear the words, it seems so surreal and hard to believe. Thankfully she did not have to undergo chemo or radiation. She had a double bilateral mastectomy in December 2005. We can still remember how horrible it was to watch her come out of that surgery. At one point, Tater noticed her breathing only 2 times a minute and had to notify the medical staff. It was a tough first week of recovery, but we are so blessed to have her healthy and with us today. My grandma has also had to fight the fight of breast cancer, and thankfully is a survivor too.

How in the world did you get here?
This question seems to come up from time to time and when we look back we are truly amazed at all that has happened.  Haley was an elementary education teacher, teaching 1st grade at a Christian school.  She did this for three years. God blessed us with Landon, our son, 4 years ago and we decided it would be best if Haley stay home with our children.  God had also blessed us to allow her to be able to do this.  Tater was working as a nurse in an ER and after doing that for 7 years, he decided to go back to school to get his masters as a nurse practitioner. During this time, we had a nephew go home to be with Jesus at the age of 6 months from SIDS. As we gathered photographs for his visitation, we realized that we only had a few photographs. We wanted so many more and felt like we couldn’t get enough. His pictures are still so priceless. We believe that this was when our interest in photography was sparked.  Once school was completed and we started having a little extra money, we decided to buy our first camera.  Baby number two was on the way so that made it even more exciting for us to have a nice camera.  Tater had been researching cameras and trying to decide which camera he wanted for at least 1 year.  We didn’t want to rush into anything, but we were very excited to have our camera.  Tater was the type that whenever we were at weddings or other events and there were photographers there, he wanted to “steal” their equipment.  ;) Once we started taking pictures of our children and started showing family, we started getting requests. So, we decided to take the plunge and start a small business.  Of course this was going to be a side job because Tater still works three jobs at the hospital. We had a lot to learn and we both began learning as much as possible about photography and everything that goes with it.  We attended a couple workshops and were blessed by those who would help us out when we needed it.  We continue to offer a unique boutique style photography for our clients, and within the last year were able to remodel our basement to include a viewing room, studio, and our own office space.  I’m sure this is way more than any wanted to know, but that is how it all came about. It just shows you… you never know what the future holds.