Ashley and Matt's Steam Whistle Brewery Wedding

Ok, to be perfectly honest I have always shied away from shooting weddings.  I have been asked on a few occasions to be the wedding photographer and I have always said no.  It's a lot of pressure, it's one photo session that can not be repeated if the images do not turn out.  So I turned them down one after the other.  I decided I needed to get over my wedding phobia sooner or later...I asked Ashley if I could be a second shooter at her wedding to get some experience without the pressure and she agreed.  Their primary photographer Andreea was super welcoming and did not mind me stepping on her toes a little throughout the night.  The wedding had a very comfortable relaxed atmosphere about it and I found that it fit my style quite nicely.  The bride and groom were radiant and they made my job incredibly easy.  The Steam Whistle Brewery staff were very accommodating and allowed us access to the actual brewery to get some cool pictures.  It was a fantastic night!

Decision's, Decision's, Decision's

About 18 months ago I created this blog.  I didn't do much to promote it and I wasn't very active on keeping it up to date with new work.  To be quite honest I didn't really know what my vision was for this blog or what direction I wanted my photography to take if any at all.  I just knew I liked taking pictures and I LOVED when other people liked them too!  For the past few years people have told me to pursue photography more seriously and to make into my career.  There were also the people that warned me to never take something you enjoy and turn it into a job.  As much as I love taking pictures I wasn't really sure if this is something I wanted as a career.  After working in Social Services for 10 years, I knew I needed a career change but I truly had no idea what I wanted to do.  I took my time and investigated a lot of career possibilities...after 3 years of career research I finally decided to become a Registered Massage Therapist.  
I chose it for a number of reasons...but one of the top reason's  was that being an RMT would provide me the freedom and flexibility to also pursue photography in a part time capacity.  From what I could tell it was kind of the best of both world's.  I won't need to depend on photography to pay my mortgage so it takes the pressure off of it being my sole source of income.  So with just 4 months left of my Massage Therapy program I have decided to start building the foundation for "Nicole Carter Photography" now.

Strategy #1

Practice, Practice, Practice...

From what I can tell if you don't have a good quality image to sell to your client you probably aren't going to have very many client's.   Makes logical sense...so even though I should be cracking down and studying in my final months of school I have decided to take on a few client's over the winter months.  It's a good thing I'm at my best when I am busy...make sure you have a look at the photo's from last weekend's maternity session!

From Hobbyist to Professional?

So I have decided to make this blog a bit more interesting...I have decided to document the journey of my attempt at becoming a semi-professional photographer.  So here's the deal I am going to blog the hard cold truth about this road that I am about to embark on because I can tell already, it's not going to be easy.  So will I fail or succeed? Only time will tell...

Sarah, Duffy and Dylan

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to photograph Sarah, Duffy and little Dylan.  Admittedly, I was a bit nervous for this shoot because prior to Sarah's and Mark's maternity session I had never choreographed a shoot before.  Usually, I just snap away at the candid moments that go on all around me.  The main difference is that there is a lot more prep involved in these sessions.  I spent hours looking at websites for ideas and inspiration.  I wrote out a list of poses that I wanted to do with the family.  I also went shopping for props that I could use for the shoot.  I had a vision for this session almost immediately of pearls and a fur coat (faux).  A quick trip to Value Village allowed me to purchase both of these items.  But when I arrived at Sarah's Mom's house she showed me a beautiful family fur (real) coat, so we decided to use that instead.  It didn't help the nerves that I had to drive in a snowstorm to get there.  I drove very slowly past car after car in the ditches... but I arrived safely and so did the family.  They were an awesome family to photograph and they were open to all of my ideas which was fantastic.  So here are the results of the session.  Hope you like them!

The Forgotten Files - Part 2

The Forgotten Files - Part 1

Fireworks at the Clay Farm