Nicole Friedler Photography

“How do you work?”

nicole — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:30:26 +0000

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!

Gathering the Family Together

nicole — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:45:54 +0000

So many of my clients say that there are too many great shots from their portrait session that it’s difficult to choose which ones they want to print and frame! That’s such a compliment, and something that warms my heart. To me, a photograph, as in the physical object, is such a treasure, and something that just doesn’t translate on an iPad or iPhone. Although it’s a wonderful thing to be able to “carry around” your family with you, there is nothing like sitting in a room surrounded by the presence of your loved ones.

One of my clients this year loved all the photos so much that she chose to make a collage out of her favorite images, gathering the family together, if you will, in one big wall portrait.

It’s important to me that my people feel comfortable in front of my camera, and that they feel free enough to be themselves. There is such an openness and vulnerability in children that they often let me in to capture their true personalities. Look at the difference in the kids above, for example: their ages, their genders, and their own personalities shine through.

So as the holidays approach, why not gather the family together and consider giving a wonderful memory to your loved ones? More information will be coming shortly about purchasing framed prints!

Summer’s Here

nicole — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:28:31 +0000

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?

So here are some of my favorites of the season so far:

Step One in wedding planning – Choosing a Wedding Date and How We Did It.

nicole — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:19:16 +0000

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.

Skye & Ryan’s album

nicole — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:09:23 +0000

Oh my – it’s been months since my last blog entry! As promised, here is the album design for Skye & Ryan’s lovely New Hampshire wedding.

Click on the link below to view their album:
Annica-Orr3.mov

Ah, Wedding Planning (not so much)

nicole — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:52:39 +0000

Now that I’m planning my own wedding – we’ve set the official date as April 2, 2011 – I am receiving daily emails from theknot.com. Now, I sometimes find it annoying that they remind me daily that I need to plan my wedding, but today I found something beneficial to me as a PHOTOGRAPHER that I would love to share with my clients (and all prospective clients and all those other people getting married or who have gotten married and have not made a wedding album)!

And yes, it’s about your WEDDING ALBUM!! My clients, Skye and Ryan, who were married June 12th in New Hampshire, have already gotten me their favorites and the design is being put together now (will post it on the blog soon).

Today’s email was entitled “10 Rules For Every Bride”. Here’s number 10:

I’ll make my photo album within one year of the wedding.

When
you come back from your honeymoon, putting together your wedding album
may seem like a daunting task. There will be so many beautiful and funny
photos to choose from, and after months of daily wedding-related
decisions, you may decide to take a break and do the album later. Not to
mention the fact that a nice album doesn’t come cheap, so it’ll be
tempting to wait until your funds have been replenished before shelling
out for it. But as many of your married friends who had similar plans
will tell you, the years slip by quickly, and it’s all too easy to wind
up with nothing but a proof book and some Snapfish albums on your fifth
anniversary. So bite the bullet and order your album while the memories
are fresh and you still have a little wedding planning momentum driving
you forward.

So that’s my advice for the day.

But please don’t ask who’s photographing our wedding, because the jury is still out on that one!

The Price of Wedding Photography and How Much Should I Expect to Spend??

nicole — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:04:53 +0000

A photographer friend of mine just posted this on her facebook page and it’s the perfect answer to this question. If you’re planning a wedding (as I currently am!), please read this. I think it will be enlightening. And I’d like to thank the author for putting this into words.

Written up on WellWed’s blog!

nicole — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:05:16 +0000

Well, I suppose I should google myself more or something, because it wasn’t until receiving a voicemail this afternoon from a client and (now, what else is new?) dear friend that I learned that their wedding had been written up on the WellWed blog on September 1st! Take a peak at just a wee bit of their wonderful day.

happy summer – family portrait time is here!

nicole — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:49:32 +0000

Wow, how did it get to be June 21st so quickly?? I find it so interesting how the winters seem to both crawl and fly by and the same time and when you look up it’s July 4th…and then it’s October.

The summers are crazy here on the Vineyard (or they can be), and some people wish them away, looking toward the slower fall months to be able to enjoy the island and relax, but I sincerely hope that time will slow down a bit and that I can savor the experiences that the coming months will bring: new faces, new clients, beach time, dog walks (taken in shorts, not jackets and pants, though checking for tics of course!), spending quiet nights in the office editing, cookouts, listening to the waves, watching the boats in the harbor…all of it. This is the best time of year to get your family portrait done: when you’re tan and relaxed and chilling out from the stress of the rest of your year…

So here’s to lemonades, and sunsets on porches and peace and long, lovely days.
Happy Summer one and all – look forward to seeing you on the other side of the camera.

Spring on Martha’s Vineyard

nicole — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:43:27 +0000

And so it was, weeks ago, driving down-island from Chilmark, that I saw something so sweet, so spring-like, so Vineyard-like, that I pulled over to the side of the road and shot a quick photo.

It seems like ages ago that the light was so clean and bright. It is now June, when the light seems softer, warmer, as if it’s waiting for the heat of July to arrive. I just loved how there was a hillside full of daffodils, surrounding the beautiful red of that old gas pump.

It’s the small things that make me happy, I guess. Happy June!