Photographer, writer and event stylist by trade, Ericka Kastner lives in historic downtown Salida with her three school-aged children. She has
worked as a photojournalist for The Chaffee County Times, The Mountain Mail and Colorado Central Magazine and shoots event photography for local running races.
Her career highlights include interviews with the artist Christo and Senator Mark Udall and being stung in the face by a bee smashed behind
her camera while photographing 2,400,000 honeybees for a Colorado Central submission.
She developed a curiosity for photography as a young girl in Minnesota, observing her father capturing intimate moments between people as a wedding photographer. Her interest piqued while developing photos in the darkroom in high school and college. Her photojournalistic inspiration
comes from the Sunday New York Times each week, and her primary artistic influence in hobby photography is the painter Georgia O’Keefe. Ericka
prefers to photograph small, close-up details on people and in nature, making them larger, and bringing attention to characteristics passersby might otherwise miss.
She is also owner and chief stylist at Ululani Event Design, a full-service event and wedding planning business based in Chaffee County. Ericka created the business to allow her to pursue photojournalism year-round. Her experience and eye for photography help her daily in designing weddings and in working with wedding photographers.
Ululani also plans fundraising events for nonprofit groups at reduced rates or probono, because she believes giving back to the community is a responsibility of local business owners. Ericka loves wandering in the woods, experiencing big snows, digging in the dirt and sharing home-cooked meals with friends. She yearns to have a darkroom in her home and envisions working as a travel writer once her
children are grown.
To view more of her work, visit erickakastner.com.
