Chelsea Nicole Photography – Las Vegas, Southern California and Destination Alternative Wedding Photographer » The latest work from Chelsea Nicole!

Every year I put together an annual group photo-shoot for the Vegas PUG (a local meetup group I lead for super-cool professional photographers). It’s a chance for everyone to get out on location, have fun shooting with others in the community and hopefully come away inspired and having picked up a new tip or two.  This year I wanted to do something a little different, so I surprised everyone with a styled shoot filled with eye-candy just begging to be photographed!

For for theme, I took inspiration from the unique style of Sofia Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’ (if you haven’t seen it, it’s a must!). I’ve always wanted to do my own take on it for a wedding-shoot and love how it turned out. Huge props go to my incredible team that pulled the vision together and made the shoot-out a huge success: AMAZING floral by Layers of Lovely, the epic cake and treats by Gimme Some Sugar, killer hair and makeup by Your Beauty Call, decor from The Pottery Shop, inspiring off-camera lighting demo by Steve Fogarty, an awesome behind-the-scenes video by Lighten Films, my girls Kristin Wilson and Liz Le for all their help bringing everything together and last but not least, our models: Carrie, Sarah and Lindsey – (all real and completely FABULOUS brides). Tons of love goes out to you all!

Here’s some of my images from the shoot:

Admittedly I always go a little crazy over Catherine at Layers of Lovely’s floral designs. Here’s Carrie modeling the pearl and peonies bouquet:

Lindsey’s rockin’ the macaroons - one thing a Marie Antoinette themed shoot would be incomplete without!

Towards the end of the shoot we topped things off with a surprise cake fight! While it was a bit sad seeing Gimme Some Sugar’s masterpiece getting torn apart, it was so much fun (and delicious too)! I couldn’t resist digging my fingers in for a little cake action – YUM!

Below is a fantastic behind the scenes video by one of my fave videographers, Terrence of Lighten Films!
You may notice that I sound like a complete dork at the beginning. I’m going to blame it on the cold, lol. It was freezing! Props go to the brides for rockin’ it out in the crazy weather we had that day.

**Click here to check out more images from this shoot in the feature on The Wedding Chicks!**

As this year comes to a close, I’ve started to look back on my 2010 goals. One huge check off that pretty audacious list was teaching at Pictage‘s Partner Conference 2010. I was chosen to lead a shooting workshop in New Orleans. PartnerCon is a photography conference that I attribute as one of the biggest parts of my growth since the start of my business, so it was a huge honor to be on the other end this year. I was also blown away at  how quick my class sold out. Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who attended and allowed me to give a piece of myself back to the photography community. I hope you came away with some solid tips and inspirations to make your own photography and connections stronger.

We had such an awesome group! Big thanks goes to my good friend Rueben Poon of Celebration Packages for helping out on the shoot and capturing these behind-the-scenes images for me to share.

Sometimes you have to get a bit dirty to get ‘the shot.’Also, thanks must go to our fantastic newlywed couple, Tiffany & Patrick! The workshop was the first day we met in person, but we instantly became great friends. These two are such awesome people and their love totally shines through — even in the chaos of 18 photographers, which I’m sure must be a bit awkward! They totally rocked it!

Here’s a few of my images from the shoot:

Tiffany’s dress was successfully trashed:Last, I want to share the other blog posts of some of the awesome photographers who attended! Everyone got completely unique and fantastic images! Click below to take a look and be sure to leave them some blog-love:

Aubrey Greene

Danielle Fuller

Reuben Poon

Sarah Deshaw

Stacy Conner

And if anybody else has images blogged, please send them my way. I’d love to share your link!

This post is for all the photographers out there!

I’m super excited to announce that I’ve been chosen to lead a shooting workshop at this year’s Pictage PartnerCon 2010 in New Orleans happening November 9-11th. PartnerCon is what I consider to be the one ‘MUST GO TO’ event of the year if you’re interested in taking your photography to the next level. I am very honored to be teaching alongside some of the best photographers in the industry including Mike Colon, David Beckstead, Jared Platt, The Youngrens, Justin & Mary Marantz and so many more (click here to see the full line-up). The shooting workshops are your chance to get away from the office, away from the classroom and onto the streets of NOLA to see how other photographers rock their stuff.

To keep them structured and intimate they will be limited to 15 people so I highly recommend not waiting. Last year there were many people that didn’t get to go to the workshops due to not jumping in early. (And you don’t even have to be a Pictage member to attend! The conference is open to all.)

So what will I be covering?
Something I’m very passionate about: a different kind of shooting style that I like to call ‘Connective Photography’. It’s not photojournalism, it’s not fine-art, it’s not editorial or fashion – it’s connecting with couples.

Here’s a bit about my workshop titled “Connective Photography: Allowing Your Cleint’s Personalities to Fuel Your Creative Fire”

As professional photographers, it’s funny that we tend to spend the majority of our time glued to our computer chair. We spend countless hours, many times way into the night, poring over our little boxes editing away. If you can relate to this, you can’t miss the free photographer meetup at our place next Wednesday. Lightroom guru, Jared Platt will be joining us to talk about optimizing your workflow and getting better results during post-production. Whether a beginner or a pro, you’ll be sure to walk away with invaluable information on how to streamline this part of your business, leaving you with more time and energy to put other places.

Here’s the details:

When: Wednesday, August 25th 6:30 – 9:00PM

What to bring: Your favorite dish to share and good vibes!

Agenda: Jared Platt will be speaking on “Work Faster with Better Results.” Take your photography portfolio and your individual events from good to great and save time in the process.  Come and learn the how to tap into the power of perception through positive selection.

- Learn the power of positive selection to speed your workflow and improve your photography.
- Learn how to become a better photographer during post-production.
- Learn how to elevate your brand by controlling public perception.
- Learn some tips and tricks for increasing productivity inside of  Lightroom 3.0.
- Question and Answer Period – (bring your toughest post production dilemmas to discuss)
- Door Prizes

If you feel bogged down in post-production or just need to boost your photography to the next level but don’t know where to start, then you need this time with Jared Platt.  And you will learn the latest and greatest in Adobe Lightroom 3.0 at the same time.

Click here for more info and to RSVP!

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Jared will also be hosting his full-day Lightroom Workflow Workshop the following day. The Lightroom Workflow Workshop is normally $300.  But by using the coupon code “pictage” at checkout, you will receive a 50% discount, making the workshop the incredible price of only $150. Here’s a video on what is covered:

For more information about Jared and his lecture schedule, go to www.jaredplattworkshops.com.

Last, here’s some pictures from the last two PUG meets! As you can see, it’s a fun-loving group that always welcomes new people.

Here are the brave souls from our photo critique session which was amazing. We also had some post-it fun!

For more info and to RSVP for the meeting, visit our Vegas PUG’s FB page here! It’s free and new faces are always welcome.

Can’t wait to see all my Vegas peeps soon!

xox
Chelsea

As the last Wednesday of each month rolls around, our home is filled with a wonderful group of fellow photographers! It’s always bound to be a great time – with the exchange of big hugs, hanging out over drinks and yummy munchies and catching up on things. And the best part: Everyone is welcome! The PUG is  totally free, non ‘click-ish’, and  is all about community and sharing and growing together.

Also, aside from hangin’ with a phenomenal group of people, there’s great topics, open discussions, group shoots, fun studio spotlights and incredible speakers (at past meets we’ve had our great friends Justin & Mary Marantz, the uber talented Mike Larson and the wonderful Michael & Anna Costa to name a few).

The next PUG meeting (coming this week) should be just awesome as I’ve been planning something really fun for everyone! Interested in joining? Here’s the scoop:

Date & Time: Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 – 6:30 P.M. for socializing; 7:00P.M. getting started!

TOPIC: “Learning from a Coordinator’s Perspective” – I’ve invited a panel of some of Vegas’s top wedding coordinators to speak and constructively share their thoughts on the various things each of them has and hasn’t liked about working with photographers throughout their coordination process – before, during and after the wedding day. It should be a really great learning experience and discussion, and is one PUG meeting not to miss!

Meet the coordinators:

Juliet of Green Orchid Events

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Stephanie Smith Events

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Tracey of Your Las Vegas Wedding Concierge

For directions and more details check out the PUG Page: http://vegaspug.wordpress.com. To RSVP, comment below or shoot me a quick email! New faces are always welcome.

I’ve been super busy lately, but I just have to blog about WPPI 2010: an incredible event filled with great photographer friends, new faces, parties, classes – the works!

The highlight of my week was Saturday’s “Lens & Learn” Charity event put together by the amazing team at Pictage for the children of The Boys & Girls Club here in Vegas.

I was invited to be the moderator of our group and teach things like lighting and composition with the fantastic photographers Mike Colón and Ray Santana. It’s always great having the opportunity to give back – and I loved the idea of working with and inspiring children through a subject that has inspired me so much. Many of the kids were underprivileged and had never had the opportunity to ever handle a camera – even a point and shoot. This made the experience even more special for them. We started the day with pizza, an introduction by Pictage’s fantastic CEO, Jim Collins and classroom instruction at the Boys & Girls Club: teaching the kids about the art and fun of photography.

Afterward we took the kids on a field trip to the one of my favorite shooting places, the Springs Preserve for some hands-on-shooting! And, to help inspire the them to think outside-the-box, a photo scavenger hunt was planned: The kids had to shoot things like “happiness without including a person”. Or “Create an image of an “A” shape without using a sign or any text.” Or “Take a picture of something large but make it appear small.” Challenging stuff for sure and it was so cool seeing how much the children got into it. We definitely had a few aspiring photographers in the mix.  Watching their faces light-up when they saw the results of their work was something I’ll never forget.

Bellow is fellow photographer Matt Savage, Jim Collins and myself with our great group of kids:

And a big group shot with all the kids, photographers and volunteers taken by Kenny Kim:

At the end of the day, Mike Larson did his infamous camera toss where he throws his (very expensive) camera into the air. One of many favorite moments of the day was all the kids yelling in unison “Higher – Higher – Higher!” Haha, loved it!

I came in hoping to inspire and give what I could to this wonderful group of kids – but what I didn’t expect was that at the end of the day I would leave so incredibly refreshed, recharged and inspired by them. It was such a great experience. And a big, HUGE thanks goes to the Pictage team and to Jim Collins for having the vision and heart to make this happen!

Also a big shout goes out to all the other photographers/friends involved: Mike Colón, Zack & Jody Gray, Will Jacks, Kenny Kim, Mike Larson, Justin & Mary Marantz, Shawn Reeder, Ray Santana, Matt & Stevi Savage, René Tate, Monty Jessop and Joe Buissink.It was great to experience it with you guys!

Saving the best for last, here’s a video created by Ron Dawson that perfectly captures the energy and vibe of the day-long event:

I had a blast hanging out with friends (and making many new ones) that were in town for the first annual Skip’s Summer School seminar (a mini convention for professional photographers). Here’s some photos from my friend Candice’s Camera Slinger Party overlooking the Vegas strip. We rocked that photo booth!

In these photos: Jayse, myself, Robert Evans, Carole, Alicia and Chris Purdum, Melissa Diep, and Jessica Conroy.

Now I must tell you about the crazy fun-filled week I had during the WPPI convention! WPPI is a big event held just for wedding and portrait photographers – so if you love your work – chances are you’ll be there. Luckily – it’s held in Vegas so it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away.

Sunday ~ Justin and Mary

We had the immense pleasure of having Justin and Mary Marantz speak at our house for our Vegas PUG. When Jayse and I first saw Justin and Mary at PartnerCon in LA, we knew we had met kindred souls. We just had to share these two wonderful people with whomever we could! We figured if we begged, pleaded and offered out first born they MIGHT come speak at our little PUG. Well, the groveling must’ve worked becauase last Sunday night they gave a presentation that blew our members away!

They drew in a good crowd too – in addition to our local photogs, we were so fortunate to meet some very special friends that we’d only corresponded with via online previously: Andrew Smith (and bro Adam) who do awesome video magic, and the very talented photographers Abigail Smith and Jamie Delaine.  Thanks for coming everyone!

Photo by the wonderful Eric Stakley – In this photo: Top row – Gabriel, Jayse, Ami Davenport, Adam Smith, Andrew Smith; Middle row – Justin Marantz, Ashley Bartoletti, Trish Stakley, Mary Marantz, me, Abigail Smith, Jamie Delaine, Terri; Bottom – Suzi Lighten and Iris Dumuk

Monday through Thursday ~ Shoots and Parties!

The rest of the week was spent catching up with great friends, meeting lots of new people, and learning lots in the process!
Some photos from the week…

The icing on the cake was the Pictage Party Tuesday night at Sudio 54! Pictage definitely knows how to throw it down! …
Photo-booth fun with Justin Marantz, Michael, me, Geoff Chesman, and my dancin’ buddy Miss Michelle Zuniga

Me and the gorgeous Mary Marantz

Justin and Mary got a great picture of the four of us at Studio 54 on their blogsite – check it out!

Coming soon!

Images from the GO|BEE party – and a bit about Dalisa and John Michael (alt-f) Cooper’s  great little  Anti-Party at the Double Down Saloon.

Post WPPI Get-Together!!

I’m throwing a little get-together hike up at Red Rock – Thursday the 19th around 10am. Everyone’s invited!! So come on out to chill – enjoy the awesome weather – and celebrate a fun end to WPPI with great photographer friends. Be sure to bring a backpack filled with goodies, water, some subs, or whatever you want… we’ll be enjoying lunch up on the rocks!

Here’s some photos from last years fun little get-together that we randomly planned one day prior:

In this photo: kick butt photographers Shawn Reeder, Jessica Del Vecchio and Sarah Hodzic – me, Jayse, and Bella!

If you plan on coming – join the Facebook event page.

Whether it turns out to be a small group of friends or a bit bigger group – one things for sure – I’m ready for a great time! Can’t wait to see everyone soon!