Food Photography: Styling a Sandwich June 11, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Food Photography, Food Styling, Personal, Tips & Tricks , 15 comments
The last few days I’ve posted photos from a food shoot I did, and I thought I’d share some tips on how I styled it.
When you make yourself a sandwich at home they don’t usually look all poofy and airy, they usually end up flattened with all the ingredients mushed together. Well, I wanted my sandwich to look like all of the ingredients were stacked up beautifully, and wanted those nice little curls to the deli meat, so I did more than just place all the pieces on top of each other.
In order to keep the sandwich from being flat and saggy I cut small pieces of cardboard and layered them as-needed in-between the elements. I put one under and on-top of the lettuce, and then I used tooth-pick halves to pin the bunched-up deli meat in place. The toothpicks also helped to add bulk and hold up the tomatoes, which were placed (along with the top piece of bread) directly on the deli meat.
One Year June 8, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Personal, Photography , 7 comments
Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer, flower-shaped aperture, Double-Glass w/ +10 macro attachment, 1/60th sec at ISO 200
Exactly one year ago this month I moved to Utah. The past year has been challenging, in both good ways and bad, but I made it out the other side intact. I’d say I’m a changed person and have learned a lot about myself, both personally and professionally, and it never seems to stop. It’s always a wonderful thing when you can surprise yourself and accomplish something you didn’t think you could do, even when it’s a seemingly small task.
It’s quite appropriate that on my one-year anniversary of moving to Utah I participated in a Photowalking Utah event, a ladies-only photowalk at a rose garden in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The photography community in Utah is amazing … I’ve made so many friends because of it and I know I made the right choice when I packed up and settled down in the Salt Lake Valley.
I’ve mentioned this before in my blog but it’s so important that it’s worth repeating: Life is about people. I moved to Utah because of friends and photographers from the internet that I barely knew personally and had met only once or twice. I’ve gotten to know people all around the world and keep in touch with them because of iStock, Twitter, Flickr, etc, and my life has definitely changed for the better because of the people I’ve met and the friendships I’ve made. :)
Are You Who You Want to Be? March 4, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Personal, Photography , 2 comments
Canon 7D, Canon 24-105 ƒ/4L IS Lens, 1/30 sec at ƒ/4, ISO 3200
A few days ago I was blasting Switchfoot on my iPod and tuned it to my favorite song, “This is Your Life”. One of the verses in it really made me think about it in terms of my life in general but I also started thinking about it as a photographer. it’s really a very simple phrase, but has so much meaning to it:
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
Try to put his into perspective as a photographer. I’m not talking about the photos you create or the amount of photography knowledge that you know, or how “good” you are at photography. Set aside the idea of how much money you make (or want to make), how many books you’ve written or contests you’ve won. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about you, who you are and if you as a photographer reflect that as well.
When you are photographing someone do you talk with them and treat them with respect? When you interact with clients are you fair and just, even though it is business? Are you kind to other photographers, even though they are the competition? Now I am of course under the assumption that most people want to be good, fair, honest and nice, but sometimes we tend to only want to apply that principle in our personal lives.
I’m not saying that you can’t have high prices for your services, or that you have to give all your “secrets” away to other photographers. For me photography is my job, it’s how I earn my living and it’s a very big part of who I am. But I want to run my photography business in a way that I can feel good about. I want to treat other photographers with respect and courtesy, even though they might be my competition. Part of how I do this is by sharing my knowledge with other people – that’s just a part of who I am.
You can be as cutthroat, rude and mean of a photographer as you want … but if that’s not who you are as a person then why are you that person when it comes to photography? Life is about people, it always has been and it always will be. Be who you want to be, be yourself and you can never go wrong.
My Favorite Hobby December 11, 2009
Posted by Nicole : Personal, Photography , 1 comment so far
Canon 7D, Canon 24-105 ƒ/4L lens, 1/100th sec at ƒ/4, ISO 400
Photography is definitely my favorite thing to do (for both work and play), but my next favorite thing is knitting – I guess you could call it my favorite hobby. It’s very relaxing to sit next to a fire, watch TV and knit … and thankfully my cat is unusual in the fact that he doesn’t chase after my yarn. :)
It’s definitely nice to be somewhere cold again, so I can actually wear the things I make – the scarf in the above photo is my most recent and most favorite thing to wear out in the cold (and inside my freezing house). I think I’ll make an effort to photograph all of my future knitting creations; there’s just something about the texture of the yarn that cries out to be photographed. Plus, it might make a cool wall decoration one day to hang a photo-collage of all my projects.
One way I’ve worked this hobby into my photography is by bringing some of the hats I’ve knitted along as props when I photograph people, especially little kids. The hat in this photo is one of my favorites. The colors and textures can add so much to an image, plus it keeps their little noggins warm. :)
Veteran's Day November 11, 2009
Posted by Nicole : Personal , 5 comments
Today is Veteran’s Day, and, for those of you who don’t know I served in the US Navy for over eight years before I was a full-time photographer (from 1999-2007). I was looking through some of my old photos from my time in the service and found this one of me while I was stationed in Misawa, Japan in 2002. My primary job while in the Navy was a linguist (CTI), but I also did some security forces training and had the opportunity to become weapons qualified (that’s me shooting an M16).
Being in the military taught me several things and I am a much stronger, more confident person because of it. I love my job right now because I’m doing what I have always wanted to do, but I would never change anything about my past, especially the opportunity to enlist in the Navy.
Thanks to those of you who have served or who are currently serving in the US Military … you are wholeheartedly appreciated.
