Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Rucker.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My interest in photography started when I was very young, I can still remember getting my very first “real” camera for Christ, a little point and shoot film Nikon, when I was eight years old. It was a hobby that grew with me my whole life, and the “Grown Up Job” indreamed of having one day but stayed a hobby as I focused on school and, later, focused on a new marriage in a new environment. My now husband joined the Navy a year out of high school, we married a month after I turned 20, and three months later we were leaving my “home town” of Omaha Nebraska to live 6,000 miles away in Hawaii. I started working as an HR for a medical firm in Honolulu, it was a decent job, but my creative side never had an outlet and I quickly burnt out sitting in an office all day. When we moved to California three years ago, I decided it was my opportunity to turn my hobby into a business and get out of an office. It was the best decision I could have made, I’m now working at my “grown up dream job” in one of the most amazing cities I’ve ever been to and working with clients who mean the world to me.
Please tell us about your art.
I’m a photographer, I capture moments for people and try to keep things as natural and simplistic as possible while telling a unique story for each client I work with. I’m an overly sentimental person, memories are a big deal to me and being able to hold onto a moment in my life means the world to me. There are so many moments in my own personal life that I look back on and wish I could relive – my mother, still so young and beautiful, hugging me hello after school, my dad kissing my forehead, my husband’s face when we were newly weds-in the moments he would tell me he loved me, the wrinkles in my daughter’s hands the day she was born, or the little smirk she gets when at now two years old, she knows she’s in trouble, right before she grabs me by the cheeks to give me a kiss. These are moments that I can still see in my mind, but may forget over time. They were not posed, or perfect, but they were MINE, my story of my life. There’s a part of me that fills with panic when I think about one day forgetting these little moments. Photography gives me an outlet, a way for me to capture a memory and keep it alive, not just for me but for my clients too. I try not to pose clients, but to direct them for example, “look at your wife, tell her she’s beautiful” and with those words I can capture so many different reactions from different clients, some smile and kiss each other not caring about how sappy it may be, others crack up laughing and poke fun at each other, still others have a totally different reaction, but each come out of their session with their own personalities showing, moments and memories they can hold onto for a lifetime.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
Success for me is seeing growth, I started out as a hobbies knowing very little about professional photography or equipment, I was self-taught and worked hard to learn as much as I could to better myself. I definitely measure my personal views of success on how much my clients appreciate my work if my client contacts me after a gallery is delivered to tell me how much they love my work, I know I’m doing something right.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I’m on Facebook: Love Nicole Photography and Design, Instagram: @LoveNicolePhotography and you can visit my website.
I’m always looking to grow my client base, or connect with other business owners and love hearing from anyone who is interested in my work you can reach out to me on any of my social modes networks. The best way to support my work is to support small local businesses, see the value in working with a real person and in turn value the work the person does.
Contact Info:
- Website: Lovenicolephotography.com
- Phone: (402)680-5394
- Email: lovenicolephotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lovenicolephotography?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=171tp3z3dge77
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoveNicolePhotographyandDesign/
Image Credit:
Love Nicole Photography
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