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Light is Short

Nicole — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:45:28 +0000

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 50mm f/1.4, 1/125 sec at f/4.0, ISO 800 (both images)

This is the view from the window of my condo. I have an entire wall that is almost completely covered with windows (minus a few feet of drywall at the bottom) so it was pretty easy to spot the gorgeous golden clouds as the sun was rising. I had my camera nearby so I grabbed a few photos, then put my camera down and made coffee.

When I peeked outside five minutes later and noticed that all the color in the clouds was gone. It took only five minutes for the gorgeous, beautiful light to be replaced by boring normal-ness. If you’ve ever photographed landscapes or portraits outdoors you already understand that there is literally just a few minutes of this type of gorgeous light in any given day, the kind of light that glows orange and red and is so soft you would stand in it for hours if you could.

And don’t you just love all of the parallels with light & photography … and life? I titled this “cleverly” to mimic the phrase “life is short” because, well, it is. Why not rush outside with your camera when you see something beautiful to hold on to it for as long as you can? Why not get up at 4:00 am to head out to a gorgeous mountain and capture the sun as it rises?

We should do things every day that are filled with meaning, spend time with people we love and do things just because they feel good … because life is short. We should want to hold on to them as long as possible, really live for each moment … and not pass up on opportunities because we were too lazy, tired or scared. We should take more risks, find balance and be adventurous … the great moments in life pass by as quickly as the golden light of the morning sun, so don’t let them pass by without your camera (… or your heart … but they are kinda one in the same if you ask me). :)

Hello, Seattle!

Nicole — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:43:38 +0000

Fuji x100 (panorama mode), 1/110 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800

A little over a week ago I moved into my new place in Seattle. And if you haven’t noticed, things have been pretty quiet here on the blog … an out-of-state move plus a heavier-than-usual stream of work would be the culprit. I might still be sitting in a home full of unopened boxes, but I anticipate my productivity level will skyrocket and I’ll start tackling some writing projects I’ve had in my mind, and also photo-shoots that are still sitting on my hard-drive which desperately need to make their way to my stock portfolio.

This journey has been exciting, bittersweet and chaotic … yet definitely worth it. I’m excited to get my space set up so that I can start cooking and photographing food once again, and maybe get enough work done on the computer so I can run around and so some shooting in the area before the sun hibernates for the winter. This has definitely been an adventure, and something tells me my journey to “what’s next?” is nowhere close to being finished. :)

Goodbye, Utah …

Nicole — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:20:33 +0000

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II lens, 0.3 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Last night I said goodbye to my friends, shed a few tears and spent my last night in Utah. This morning I was on the road at 7 am to start a new chapter in life … and 850 miles later I’m just a few miles away from my new home in Seattle. It’s been a bittersweet journey, but one that I think has (so far) been extremely rewarding and uplifting. I’m definitely going to miss my friends dearly, but know that I’ll see them again in the future. :)

To me, life is about risk, change and going against the grain. This move is a big leap into the unknown for me … and sometimes you just have to jump right in to test the water. Thankfully I have my trusty sidekick, Fuji, to keep me company. :)

Food Photography Book Giveaway

Nicole — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:39:24 +0000

In celebration of my book being released and on the shelves, I’m going to be giving away four copies!

Here’s what you need to know to enter (with more specific rules below):

Create a food photograph that follows the theme “Sweet” between now and the cut-off date/time of the contest, and then post a link with a story/description about the photo in the comments below. It’s not a “photo” contest, but more of a story-telling contest … but you do need to create a photo in order to have a valid entry. I’ll be selecting one random winner here, and one random winner over on a similar contest on Google+, and then will choose two more winners (my favorite photos/stories) from each site. You can enter both contests on both sites, but can only enter once per site (blog & Google+). Image quality is not as important as creativity, so be sure to keep that in mind. :)

Also, if you don’t yet have a Google+ account, now’s a good time to start! I have some invites to give away (click here) if you need one.

Here are the rules:

The theme for the giveaway on this blog is “Sweet”.
The photo needs to be new … in other words, it needs to be photographed and uploaded any time between the date/time of this blog post and the cut-off time (listed below).
Only one entry on each site per person is allowed. (Click here to access the contest on Google+)
Upload the image to the photo hosting site of your choice (Flickr, G+, your blog, etc.). Then, post a link to your photo along with a description/story about the photograph in the comments below.
Two books will be given away randomly (one here, one on G+), and two additional books will be given away which I will personally select (one here, one on G+). For the winners I select, creativity is key … image quality is not nearly as important as the story behind the food.
The cut-off time for posting your entry for this giveaway is Saturday, September 3rd at 11:59 PM MST.

Good luck!

BTW, the giveaway is open to anyone from any country. :)

Now is My Moment

Nicole — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:54:59 +0000

These are my nieces and nephews … and are arguably the cutest darn kids ever. :)

When was the last time you said “if only…” or “after (something cool happens) everything will be better…”? Maybe it’s buying a shiny new toy, or going on a trip, moving to a new home, getting married, having kids, or finding a new job. The list of things you are waiting for can go on … and on.

When we do this, we are trying to live in the future. The problem is that there’s always something around the corner to capture your interest and make you believe that life will be better “after”. My life, right now (and in the next four months) is already hectic, busy and exhausting. There’s a part of me that can’t wait until December when I can finally relax, but I know that there will be something around the corner (who knows what) to make me want that month to finally pass so I can take a break from it all.

My solution to the stress? I’m desperately trying to be present right now.

As I write this I’m putting all of my energy into the words, trying to form my thoughts into a palpable blog post that is easy to understand. I’m doing my best to not get distracted by Twitter, Google+ and email (and mostly failing at that attempt). So, I (just now) turned on Think (a really great app that helps you focus on one computer task at a time), closed all of the other tabs in my browser and continued to write this post.

You see, all we have is now. Literally right now. Have you ever been talking to someone and they weren’t paying attention because they were thinking about tomorrow, or the next few hours, or maybe even dwelling on what happend yesterday? Have you ever been that person? (I think we all have.) Have you ever lost (or almost lost) someone you loved dearly and tried to remember the last thing you said to them? If you feel something, and it’s important to you, don’t hold it in. If something crosses your path that could be life-changing, what would happen if you weren’t looking?

As much as we may try, we can’t live in the future. If the next four months fly by for me and I don’t embrace each moment, then the amazing experiences I’m about to go through will have been for naught. My moment is right now, not next month or next year. I don’t want my life to fly by, I want to enjoy it. I want to listen deeply when my friends and I are having a conversation. I want to give my full attention to my nieces and nephews when they’re showing me something that they consider to be extremely cool. I want to focus on my photography, writing and work without getting distracted. I want to live with clarity.

Next year, next month or even next week may never happen. You just never know. Now is all we ever have, so why not consciously live in each tiny moment? They might be painful moments, but we can’t live without pain. Difficult moments make us stronger, and they also make the not-so-difficult moments feel like a cool breeze on a hot day. Living in this moment right now makes me feel very little (or no) stress about the days to come, and more importantly it makes me present and available to those I love.