Five Featured Photographers - Details by Nicole Danielle

Check out the 4 other Five Featured Photographers:

Jeffrey Nordstrom
#5 of Five Featured Photographers - Jeffrey Nordstrom

Darren McDonald
#4 of Five Featured Photographers - Darren McDonald

Salt Studios
#3 of Five Featured Photographers - Salt Studios

Sarah Sovereign
#1 of Five Featured Photographers - Sarah Sovereign

Five Featured Photographers - Chilliwack Photographers

Who are you and where can people find you?

Hi! I'm Nicole of Details by Nicole Danielle, and I'm a Fraser Valley photographer. Peoples can find me on IG @detailsbynicoledanielle, on FB facebook.com/detailsbynicoledanielle or at my website detailsbynicoledanielle.com

I'm a doer who likes to do! Unless I am tired, then I am a sleeper who likes to sleep. In my 9-5 I work in Marketing & Communications, and I love a good creative project - but I also really love making lists. I adore my family and friends, my dog Mabel-Jupiter, carbohydrates, and signing at the very top of my lungs.

Why do you take photos?

It's interesting...I got my first mid-level hobbyist camera many years ago. I just wanted to take rad looking pictures and that was it - not surprisingly, my interest didn't last long and I didn't pick a camera back up for years. But then as time went on I felt this tug to try to see life (my own and others) and try to explain it...the last few years I had a renewed desire to pick up a camera again. But my focus was different; I wanted to share my own and others experiences - the truth, including the good and the hard. So I sort of quietly started reading books and taking online tutorials, doing classes, was wildly lucky to be connected with a jedi-master mentor, upgraded to full-frame and kept learning. And then I took the leap to letting the world know I was doing this and have been blessed to be able to take photos of people!

I didn't think about it much then, but when I look back - honestly it was during a time when I was struggling with some serious health issues and wanted to do something that could share what I was going through and feeling, but I could still have control over. And that has sort of evolved into my process. Photography is a way to express myself while helping to tell other people's stories and truths; either through the images themselves or sometimes the creative process behind the image. Either way I think I sneak a little piece of myself into each photo I take - and hope they look a little bit rad lol.

What's your favourite lens?

I am one with my 50mm - I love getting up in peoples faces with it. I do also like my 35mm and will switch to it for a few shots every session but my heart belongs to my good old trustworthy 50. I don't use my zooms at all..prime all the way. I want an 85mm next I think.

What is your favourite type of shoot?

It's hard to say...I definitely do have a soft spot for collaborations. I like the energy of all these creatives coming together with their different ideas and working out how to tie all the visions together to make this beautiful cohesive thing. But, I also really love sitting in my friend's backyards with their kids, catching those real life moments - all the laughs and sunshine and ice cream running down hands. I just want to share life.

One photo you've taken that still speaks to you?

Hard to choose just one...One project and series of photos that I have a soft spot for is "The Homestead". I took photos of my best friend's daughter at a hobby farm in Greendale, sort of hearkening a modern day Little House on the Prairie (which her and her mom love). I think it was interesting because it was the first time I felt free to do absolutely whatever I felt. An 8 year old has no preconceived notions of what a "creative" shoot should be, or if I didn't feel confident, or if she should smile or carry herself a certain way...she was just having a fun day at a farm with her Mom and Auntie.

And I think that because of this, I ended up getting some of the most honest images I will ever get - the connection, the trust, the story was so sincere. My favourite image from the series was published ("The Homestead - Hope" in Stubborn Mag), and it's just a constant reminder for me that my best work seems to happen when I am coming from a place not of "what should I do because others are doing or telling me to" but of sincerity, and by trusting and connecting with the subject on a personal level.

I've also taken some images of my friend and their families, and my family that I rather love - it's cliche but it's true to cherish those ones!

Images Credits/Info
1) My pretty friend
2) Model Lacey Cebula, collaboration with The Jubilee Collection
3) "The Homestead - Sincerity" 2018
4) Sister Sunflower
5) Model Jalen Saip, collaboration with De la Flore

Details by Nicole Danielle

www.detailsbynicoledanielle.com
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Instagram: @detailsbynicoledanielle