Some Days You Gotta Dance...

I am sitting here tonight with a great cup of chai tea, watching Bill & Giuliana (don't judge they make me laugh) and editing photos from this weekend. And as I look back on my weekend I can't help but smile a gigantic smile and think of how blessed I am. I had such a great shoot with a best friend of mine and her son in Ojai, Ca. Then I got to hang out with my brother who was in from San Diego and his girlfriend who I love! We laughed, talked a whole lot, acted like kids again and enjoyed the beautiful sun! Sometimes when I realize just how much I still have ahead of me, it can be stressful. But days like these allow me to forget about all the hoopla, and focus on the love! And I sure love my friends and family! 

I will be posting the photos from our session soon, but for now I will leave you with maybe one of my favorite pictures of all time, with some of my favorite people of all time. This mother and sun are so incredibly loving with each other and are such a unit. A team. And I think this picture just screams the sunshine they bring to this world!

Let Them Eat Cake!!

I think that the last month I have had a big sign on me saying.. if your child is turning one, hire me!! ha ha I have just had such a blast with kids these past weeks, and this past weekend was no different. I went to to Carlsbad, Ca to shoot my beautiful cousin Danielle's baby boy Brando. He was turning a whopping one, and he absolutely melted my heart. They had the party at a gorgeous courtyard/clubhouse in their La Costa community, and the amount of natural light coming in made my heart skip a beat.

I just love when the light is open, and streaming through! The kids had a blast and Danielle and Enzo were the hosts with the most! It was so great seeing past clients whose families I shot previously, and meeting all the new friendly faces!

Although I love all the pictures from the day, I cant help but always loving the cake shots!! If I am taking pictures of your children for a one year old birthday in the future.... if there is a cake shot involved don't freak out if you see me act like a kid and jump up and down squealing! :)

Here are some of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!

Here is the birthday boy himself. In his very own chair, looking regal. ;)

Mom and Dad having a quiet moment with their guy, before the madness of the day begins. 

The yummy cake. Loved the colors!

Brothers, Brando and Diego before their friends arrived.

Cousins having girl time in the jumper

Some of the cutest guests ever...

Testing out the cake...

Oh yeah it is on cake!!!

Maybe this is too much?

Uh oh. Sugar Coma.

Just kidding.. I am good guys!

A little more jumping....

And let's call it a day.

New Website Is Launched!!!

I can hardly breathe I am so excited. Neigh. Yes I just said neigh. I am more then excited. I am ecstatic! My beautiful website is finally ready to share with the world! And I have a very, very special and talented man to thank! Thank you thank you Jake Perlingos! For those of you who don't already know of his amazing work, I will be featuring Jake on my blog very soon!

Check out the new home at www.nicolettaphotography.com 

My blog will still be my main line of communication with you all, and you can either take a second and drag the web address into your favorites bar! Or you can access my blog from my website. Either way, I am not going anywhere so don't fear! Because I know you were having a panic attach about it. :)

This year is a huge year for me, and having this beautiful new website is just the start! Thanks Jake and enjoy peeps! I will be on cloud 9 for the next year or so! :)

Oh and here is a sneak peek of my newest shoot!

Calling Out To All Past Clients!!

Hi there! So........ I kind of have a favor to ask! ;) Believe me.. I feel weird asking any one of my peeps to go out of there way to help me out with something, but I don't know how else to reach everyone at once! 

I am launching my brand spanking new website VERY soon, and I decided that I would have a spot with my clients comments about me. I have a few already and they are so great I thought I would throw it out there on the new site. So I was thinking, that if any of you feel up to it and wanted to write something about our time together, that would be super fantastic! ha ha!

If you happen to be super rad and write something, please send it to my email.. nicolekandrews@gmail.com Thank you so much to all my clients, I am seriously sooo lucky to have met such amazing people and wether or not you write anything, just know that you have helped make me who I am today and I could never thank YOU enough for that! 

Stay warm in this rain! Oh and here is a sneak peak pic at my last session! More to come soon! xoxo

New Wedding Albums!!!

Black, tan, leather, matted, flush, photo plate, raised frame, full bleed, bind, hingeless. And this continues on and on and on. I was picking out my album that will be included in my new packages. The album of my dreams. However, when I entered the world of wedding albums, I had no idea just how intense that world was! I had so many options that my head spun. But after 2 hours of looking, viewing and choosing. I have found the album of my dreams!

This album really represents what I am all about and what I think love should represent. It is classic, timeless, clean, sleek, simple and sexy. Yes, an album is all of those things. Who knew!? :)

Here are some examples of the album! 

The customized page layouts! I will customize your photos and the layout to tell your story in a timeless way!

These albums are made so fantastically and on such ageless paper, that your grandkids CHILDREN will be able to look at your album as if it were today!

I want to take a moment to say a big fat THANK YOU to Ira from Leather Craftsmen. He took an overwhelmed semi freaked out client (me) and spent 2 hours with me. Really going through every single detail until we found the perfect album for my clients and myself. He is a wonderful professional who has been doing this for 26 years, so he knows his stuff. But he was also able to be enthusiastic, excited and really listen to what it was I needed. Thank you so much Ira!! I am so excited for the many years to come working together on albums!

The Ruby Family

Sometimes you meet someone, and you just know that they are "good". When I met the Ruby family, I could see right away that they were a warm, loving family and that it would be a breeze to shoot them. And I was right. As usual. (KIDDING!) They were here visiting from Kentucky, and I was lucky enough to be asked to take their family photos for them! Chris and Sandy were so sweet, low key and relaxed. You can't ask for more. They were so at ease with the camera and with their seriously adorable daughter Emma. I really enjoyed hanging out with them! 

One thing that I will never forget, is how kind Chris was. When we drove to our location, he and Sandy noticed that my back brake light was out. I said thank you for letting me know and I would fix it that week sometime. Well, while I was inside yakking away to their family after the shoot, he and his cousin went to the store and replaced my brake light for me. without me even knowing. I was in shock. It really meant so much to me and I will forever remember their act of kindness. Especially since I am sure that I would have left it like that for FAR too long, ended up being pulled over and ticketed I am sure! :) But thank you so much Ruby family for a great time. Have a safe trip back to Kentucky! Here are a few of my favorites from their shoot. Sandy, you are gorgeous!

Santiago Engagement - Slideshow

I have discovered an amazing way to post video and slideshows easily on the web! Vimeo! I love this site and just to test it out, here is a little video of one of my couples whose wedding is coming up this next year! The Santiagos, really they are too sweet together!

Santiago Engagement from Nicole Andrews on Vimeo.

Amazing Promotion For Wedding Season!!!

Wedding season is right around the corner! Many people are either newly engaged, or just about to become engaged and then the madness will begin! I just so happen to LOVE wedding season, especially because I have some incredibly beautiful weddings booked for this new year!

As many of you know from previous posts, I am going to slowly be transferring most of my time to weddings. It isn't that I don't absolutely LOVE doing family and children sessions. Because I absolutely do. It is that I believe that we should follow our hearts in what we do, and truly, telling a love story is where my passion lays.  There is something that draws me like a magnet, to capturing love. I actually lay awake at night thinking of fabulous new spots, camera angles, etc to take my couples to! Insane right? 

So with that said, I have decided to give a fantastic deal to the next 5 weddings I book from this point forward. The next 5 weddings booked will receive their engagement session absolutely free of cost!!!! That is right, no addition cost for an entire engagement session!!

For those weddings that I have already booked from last year, don't worry. My prices have changed so you had an amazing deal to begin with! :)

If you or anyone that you know of is looking for a wedding photographer, contact me and tell me you saw my post and you will get the discounted deal!

Wedding season... let's get ready to rumble!!!!

Can't wait to hear from you! email: nicolekandrews@gmail.com

If You're A Bird...I'm A Bird...

When love is not madness, it is not love - Pedro Calderon De La Barca

This quote makes me melt in a way I don't know how to explain. I love this quote. I love it because it is so true. Love and everything about love to me is madness. Madness in the best possible way. Not the crazy, jealousy, out of your mind madness. That is left to the high school years we have most experienced. But the soul searching, heart wrenching, grow old together, inspiring kind of madness. The if you're a bird, I'm a bird kind of madness. (If you don't know that saying, stop reading this immediately, grab your keys and rent The Notebook right away)

Basically, I love, love. I know that my "madness" is there somewhere looking for me too, but until then, I will enjoy other people's "madness", and here are some pictures for you to enjoy from some of my favorite couples this past year!