28Feb
I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who took the time to write and let me know how much you enjoyed the short film I put together for the Creative Memories regional events this past month. Your comments were so flattering and so much fun. They really touched me. (Seriously, I’m not kidding. They really did. I really, really mean it.)
Many of you have asked how you can get a copy of the DVD to use in your business. The management folks at CM and I are trying to make that happen as fast as possible. I can’t give you a date, but we’re working on it.
Some of the scenes from the film (my mother-in- law, my sister-in-law, etc.) were taken from my new DVD How to Photograph Your Baby. If you got a kick out of the Creative Memories presentation, you’ll love How to Photograph Your Baby. It’s the same attitude and same approach to photography tips—there’s just a lot more of it. You could easily share this with your clients as a photography primer and get the same reaction. (My wife wants me to say here that it’s America’s great baby shower gift.)
I’ve always felt that if you learn to photograph a baby you’re now qualified to photograph that little human growing up. All of the tips in my DVD apply to everything you may want to photograph—even if there’s not a baby in sight.
Here’s a link to check out my DVD:
www.howtophotographyourbaby.com/dvd
Also, I’d love to stay in touch with all of you on a Creative Memories website blog. If your think that’s a good idea please let them know. Here’s CM’s suggestion site:
www.creativememories.com/CompanyLinks/Contact-Us/Suggestion
It would be terrific if you could pass this note along to your memory keeper friends.
Once again, thank you for your kind words. It’s a privilege to have you for an audience.
Nick
P.S. My mother-in-law thinks she’s a big star now. She’s impossible to deal with! Some things never change.
20Jul
Mastery of Simplicitycategories: inspiration, photography
Although I've taken a few hundred piano lessons in my life, I can't play the piano. I didn't practice — funny how that works. But that doesn't mean I didn't learn anything.
My most accomplished teacher always stressed that, even when playing a lowly scale, play it with heart. Make people feel it. He said that no great pianist would ever scoff at a simple scale played as art. One hand — eight notes up and back — can change the way you feel about music. It can change the way you listen, not to mention your relationship with your fingers.
Shooting a simple close-up portrait of your baby in some beautiful light is a visual exercise that can change the way you feel about photography. It can change the way you look at other people's photographs and the way you approach more complicated subjects in the future — all of them need to played with heart.
My goal is to get new parents (and any other new baby lovers with cameras) to an elegant and satisfying mountaintop quickly. The simple headshot in some gorgeous light (with no flash) is the way to go. The motto for www.howtophotographyourbaby.com could very well be, "Wow, you are a good photographer."
And believe me, no great photographer would ever scoff at a technically unsophisticated but exquisite portrait.
Do it with heart and make people feel it.
This is my son, Teddy, on his first birthday last January. We had just returned from a late-afternoon walk and I happened to park his stroller in a nice patch of sunlight bouncing off the snow in the driveway into the dark garage. We were getting ready to go in the house for dinner. I hung up my coat and turned around. This is what I found.
I will let my eyes —and my heart — speak for me.
16Jul
the language of lovecategories: family, inspiration, photography
The superior method for learning a foreign language is actually simple, obvious, and ironically, the most enjoyable — fall in love with someone who speaks the language. Linguists have observed that it cuts years off the process.
It's why the simplest, most obvious, and ironically most enjoyable time to learn photography is at the birth of a baby. A wedding would probably be a close second if anyone photographed their own, but it's rare.
If you're one of those countless self-proclaimed bad photographers you can ride the wave of wanting to document that beautiful child's life all the way to photographic accomplishment. You can take the satisfaction of having created beauty in the face of diversity to your grave — and I mean that in the most upbeat, congratulatory way.
This website is for people with less than perfect cameras and an angel in the crib. There are two things you need to do at this crazy, stressed-out time in your life to make your point-and-shoot sing:
1. Keep your photographic method simple.
2. Love your baby.
I will do what I can to help with the photographic method. I am assuming you will have no problem with #2.
15Jul
I guess you couldn't stop yourself, huh? / ask nickcategories: f-stop, photography, shutter, the ask nick show
I guess I couldn't. My wife just shook her head when she saw the first two episodes of THE ASK NICK SHOW.
It was supposed to be an exercise in scholarship. I simply wanted to explain basic photography concepts in a way that would be helpful to amateur photographers. But I guess the fact that I'm the proud recipient of the Ben Franklin Junior High School's Best Comedy Performance by a Male got the best of me. (Fargo Public School System, 1968, Little Merry Sunshine. Role: Corporal "Billy" Jester.)
I'm still convinced that any amateur who wants to understand this stuff without wasting too many brain cells will still learn something.
It's true, dear. I absolutely could not stop myself. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to.
Here are the links for the first two episodes:
- 1 of 2
- ››
