Nicole Friedler Photography

I’ve frequently been asked via email “Can you please send more information about how you work?”

Well, I was asked that very same question by the writers at Martha’s Vineyard Weddings magazine.  The answer ended up being a feature in the current issue of the magazine, entitled “What Makes Nicole Friedler Click?”  Cheeky title, evoking a slight shake of the head, but it does explain my philosophy and how I approach a wedding and the way I like to shoot.

I like to think that what I’m doing is truly handing the couple’s wedding day back to them, eventually in a beautiful fully custom album.  There’s nothing better than being able to review your own story again and again.

By the way, my April 2, 2011 wedding was featured in this same issue of the magazine.  It was very fun to share our wonderful day with the readers of the magazine!

It is full-on summer now and I’m shooting at least one family session per day.  I love it!  I also love seeing families come back year after year and seeing the children change – physically and otherwise.  Sometimes they kids don’t look at the camera, but I think that’s awesome: you will get a photo of the real child at that particular age.  Maybe they’re at that age when “no” is the magic word and there’s no way they are going to look into the lens (even when I tell them that Elmo or Dora or Snoopy are in the camera and can they see them).  Maybe they’re at the age where they love the camera and want to be the center of attention in every photo.  Maybe they’re into throwing rocks in the water or playing with sand or holding shells.  It’s all okay with me, and I hope to be able to convey that to the parents: these are your kids and they are adorable no matter what.  It’s not particularly a normal situation to be dressed up, sitting on a beach and looking at the photographer with a very large camera, but the kids acting as they do is normal, right?

Wow.  How did it get to be March 11, 2011??

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my engagement. So many things have happened since then, and I have now had the opportunity to go inside the experience of wedding planning, and have such an incredible understanding of what my clients go through in the process!!

With 22 days to go, I think everything has fallen into place.  We are lucky enough to live on Martha’s Vineyard and to have a strong connection with so many wonderful people in “the industry” here, many of whom have gone above and beyond to help us put on the wedding of our dreams.  Quite frankly, I think it will exceed our dreams, as our original intent was to have no more than 80 guests.  Oops.  Guess that didn’t happen. (In truth, Michael’s real desire was to have no more than 30, something that is a complete impossibility considering the number of dear friends we have).

In the next few days, I will try to outline my process in planning, perhaps providing some help to those of you who read my blog.  And maybe, just maybe, you’ll write to me.  I’d love to share my experiences with you.

To begin with, we attempted to choose a date! 

We had limitations as to when we could have our wedding as Michael opens his restaurant at the end of April and we wanted to have our anniversary at a time when we would always have the time to celebrate it, envisioning being somewhere special each year (that was Michael’s desire – he’s quite the thoughtful romantic).  We originally chose March 12th (tomorrow!) because it was close to our engagement anniversary and far enough away from the restaurant’s reopening to allow for a honeymoon.

Now here’s the thing: try to be as receptive to advice (even if unsolicited and from a parent) as possible: my mother commented that the weather might be crappy in different parts of the country, making it more difficult for our friends and family from farther away to reach the Vineyard.  I hemmed and hawed a little, but then realized that she was right.  We then chose April 2nd, which gave us enough time to take our honeymoon AND it was a much more “hopeful”-sounding date.  And it might be warmer.  AND daylight savings time begins on March 13th!  So, all in all, it was a great decision.

Once we had the date set, we made a list of what we needed to do.

Which I will share in my next blog entry.