When she asked if I could take some family portraits for her I was delighted.  Her parents drove up from York and we all went down to the beach.  It had been nice and sunny in the morning, but of course as soon as we got there it clouded over and got a bit blustery.  But being the no complaining about the weather Brits that we are we soldiered on, and had a great time.  Dad, Ian, was finding strings of seaweed as tall as Hannah and having a little munch on them, as you do, while the rest of us were trying to staying warm.  I had a great time shooting their portrait and miss them dearly already.

I have your room ready for you here when you make it across the Atlantic and there will be a bowl of soup waiting, not stew, but soup.

Call me: 323.240.4407

Email me: nicola@nicolaborland.com

In my business and line of work I am always talking about memories.  Making them, capturing them and just having them in general.  I always try and tell my clients how important it is to have photography and a good professional photographer in your life.  I sometimes feel like a broken record saying the same things to everyone and it can feel a little cheesy at times.  The phrases “Memories that will last a Lifetime” and “For Generations to Come” seem to come out of my mouth on a daily basis!

It is not until I come back home and visit with my family and old friends that it really hits me.  Its true, the memories do last a lifetime and for generations to come.  I just had a look through a photo album that my grandmother, known as Babí to the family, made of my sister and I as kids and some trips she took with my Granddad, known as Dêda (d-yeda).  It was so cool to look at that album and see what images she loved and wanted to keep, what was important to her, and to just remember her.  Her smile, her style, her grace, adventurous spirit and green thumb.

Babí had the best green thumb!  One photograph was of Babí and myself standing in her veggie garden and it brought back some of my favorite memories of having Sunday lunch on the tiny patch of grass surrounded by the bounty of all her hard work.  There were potatoes, strawberries, gooseberries, chives, poppies, carrots and so much more.  We would have whatever cold foods and goodies we could pack into containers, and enjoy the weather while Babí watered and looked after her plants.  Dêda would have to cut the grass with the hand mower, but there was always hay fever and a bad back to contend with, and of course, once the back goes, well that’s it gone!

I talked with my mother and sister about it and we all smiled and laughed and paused for a second to remember the scene in our heads.  Yes, the memory could have come up of its own accord, but that picture was the starting point for me for that one memory.  Then all the other ones come rolling out of the woodwork and before you know it you are on the floor laughing at something obscure that happened 20 years ago in a distant land, but is still funny today.

What makes us people?  Is it the houses we live in, the jobs we have, and the places we are going? Or is it the places we have been and what we have learned from them?  Sure I like to look forward.  To look ahead to the future, keep moving on and learning and growing.  But what we have done in the past, places we have been, and people we have met are what I think truly shapes us.  We learn from the past, the good things and the bad things.  The happy memories and the sad memories.  Our lives are no longer quite with little distraction, but loud and quite frankly all over the place.  Meetings, classes, phones, work, computers, obligations, kids, pets, the gym and so many other things fill our lives.  We forget the people that make up our lives.  I forget the people in my life.  I forget people that I haven’t seen in a few years.  Does that mean I hold their teachings any differently?  No.  It just means I am looking ahead a little too much and need to slow down and look back.  To sit with a photo album and remember.  To read a diary, or an old birthday card sentiment, and laugh.

To look at my old photos at home brings back so much I feel like I want to bring them all back to California with me!  To hold them close and never forget.  To show people why I love photography so much.  That before I was even able to hold a camera, photos were already a huge part of my life.  To try and convey that those baby pictures of myself, and my sister and not just a quick shot that doesn’t mean anything, but something so big and important I may never be able to convey what it really means to me.  To show my clients that when I say that the images I capture will be “memories to last a lifetime”, and the images will be here “for generations to come”, that its true.  There kids will hold them close, and their grand kids and great grand kids.  They will look at them as I do mine, and wonder do I have her nose, her eyes or her style.  And of course the one that most of us are heard saying as we look as childhood photographs, “What on earth was I wearing!”

So next time you are about to snap a quick shot with your point and shoot or hire a photographer to do a family portrait, remember that it is not just a picture, but actually a memory that you will cherish, and your kids, friends and family will love even after you are gone, as I do with Babí’s pictures from so long ago.

I want to say a big thank you to my fellow wedding mafia who participated and made the day the success that it was.  Thanks to Laurel with Bella Sophia Events.  The candy was ridiculously cute and so, so morish.  Thanks to Craig from Pollen Botanical Designs who brought the most adorable flower designs that we were all sticking our faces in to smell all day.  I managed to keep one and am walking it around the house with me when I move from room to room so I can keep enjoying it!  Thanks to Laurie Zadeh, one of my fav make-up artists, who set up her little airbrush machine and gave us a demonstration.  We were all smooth and polished by the end of the day and made me want to go out dancing once I was all dolled up.

Here are a few images from the day!  Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Makes you wanna eat and eat and eat and eat!

Craig’s amazing design, so organic, I love it!

Goodie boxes made with home grown organic lemons and sweet delicious honey.

Baby Antonio made an appearance, and was the life of the party! So cute!

My oldest Cayleigh, and myself, doing a little self portrait action.

Congratulations to all the winners in the raffle.  I loved hearing all the cheers and screams at the announcements.  Especially the grand prize winner, Amaya.  I can’t wait to spend time on your engagement session soon! You are going to be such a beautiful bride.

For those that couldn’t make it, but still want to tap into my wedding knowledge I would love to meet up and help you with planning the big day.  Contact me to set up a chat soon!

I was so excited when Diana asked if I was able to shoot her family portrait that we arranged it for only a few days later.  We met and went off to a local park to have some fun and take some pics for their new family portrait, earlier this month.  Of course, Luca we entertaining us all with his mad ideas and playful nature, and the time just flew by while we were having all the fun.  I love the way these images really capture Luca’s fun side, Diana’s gentle fun nature and Michael’s role of devoted father.  I can’t wait to be able to play with this gang again and am dying for my next massage with Diana.  Yay for new neighbors becoming new friends!  Let me know what you think!

When my friend Kim asked me to take some pictures of Delta I was more than happy to oblige. After she gave me some tips on how to move and act around a horse I got the camera out. Delta was very curious about my camera and had a few sniffs. It was really cool for me to see her up close and see her lines. She is very well formed and has lots of muscles. We just hung out for a bit while she ran around and showed off to me. Photographically it was a first for me and I look forward to photographing more horsies in the future!