Meet Nicole Smith of Nicole Cathryn Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Smith.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Nicole. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started taking pictures, just for fun, when I was a senior in high school. During the summers that followed high school my friends and I would go out and have fun little photoshoots here and there. I found that I loved being behind the camera, more so than being in front of it.

I got a lot of encouragement to start my own business with photography. I kept pushing it off until my friend, Chelsea, a fellow photographer, really pushed me and told me to “just go for it.” So, about this time last year, I bought my first camera: a used Canon 50D. There were many problems with the camera because it was used.

I also had a lot to learn about photography. This was a serious step up for me. Now, a year later, I have my very own website, a growing Instagram page, and a brand new Canon 7D. It’s been the hardest year of my life, with lots of doubts and failures, but also major successes and breakthroughs. More importantly: my love for what I do has grown immensely.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has had some ups and downs for sure. One struggle was that I needed to learn so much about my gear that I didn’t really know at all when I first picked up photography. It was such a fast learning curve, and it was kind of hard to keep up at times.

I am definitely still learning and growing, but I feel so much more comfortable with my camera now than I did a year ago. Another struggle has been feeling like I need to fit into a mold that I just wasn’t made for. There’s a lot of pressure to be a certain kind of photographer. I didn’t realize that until after I had jumped right in.

So, when I started to push back on that “mold”, I felt like I fell into this rut of comparing myself to other photographers and I spiraled; asking myself things like: is this was what I really want to do, amI even any good, I’m probably going to fail, etc.

Thankfully, I have a great support system with my husband and friends in my community around me where I got so much love and encouragement; I was able to pick myself up and keep going.

Nicole Cathryn Photography – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Nicole Cathryn Photography is honestly my pride and joy right now; it’s the first thing I’ve ever done “on my own.” I would say I am a photographer who specializes in couples and families.

Soon, I will be expanding my portfolio to include intimate weddings! I love any kind of love. I can’t get enough of it, so bring on all the couples, babies, weddings, families, all of it.

I would say I am known for wanting it to be so much more than just the photographer to client relationship. What sets me apart from others is that I want to not only document this part of your life but be a part of it. It’s such an intimate thing.

So, instead of having a stranger stick a camera in your face while you’re cuddling your loved one, you’ll have a friend that’ll make it just a little bit easier to be more vulnerable with your loved one(s). So, can my answer be that I specialize in friendship?

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I was asked to be someone’s wedding photographer because they loved me, they loved their engagement photos (which were the first ones I ever did), and they wanted to be the first couple I shot a wedding for.

Knowing that I had created a friendship with them so deeply that it went beyond just the surface was the proudest moment of my life. Not just in my photography career, but also as an individual.

Pricing:

• Weddings $500 (starting at)
• Engagements $100 (starting at)
• Proposals $100 (starting at)
• General shoot $75 (starting at)

Contact Info:

• Website: nicolecathrynphoto.com
• Email: nicolecathrynphotography@gmail.com
• Instagram: nicolecathrynphoto
• Facebook: Nicolecathryn Photo

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