Cheryl Jacobs NicolaiPhotography

Featuring

by napcp

N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F P R O F E S S I O N A L C H I L D P H O T O G R A P H E R S

I N S P I R E DM A R C H 2 0 1 4

Industry News &Announcements,

Workshops,Updatesandmuch more!

TheLATEST

INSIDEA Look at Animoto Pro + Giveaway Details

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March has finally arrived – and that means spring is on the horizon! We’re

all ready to bid farewell to the freezing temperatures, slush, snow and overall

polar vortex that has been this winter. We’re looking forward to getting outside in

the beautiful weather, enjoying alfresco activities and capturing some sun-kissed

shots along the way.

The spotlight shines this month on the lovely Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai. A self-

proclaimed “dinosaur” - meaning that she works only in black and white film and

primarily with older cameras - Cheryl splits her time between photography and

singing in her band (yes, really!). She loves Cocoa Puffs and red wine, but never at

the same time. As one of the most enthusiastic educators in the industry, you can

often find her teaching independent workshops. Talented, soulful and just an all-

around cool person, we’re so excited she’s our member spotlight!

Stay tuned for the results of the NAPCP 2014 International Image Competi-

tion in early April - we had some truly remarkable entries! The judges have been

hard at work and will soon be wrapping up the scoring process.

The grass is always greener come spring…. so get ready, those sunny days

are right around the corner!

Hello friends!

SincerelyThe NAPCP Team

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pg. 5.Featured Photographer: Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai

Pg. 19 ..................................Camera Bag Essentials

Pg. 21 ............................................Video Resources

Pg. 22 ................................. Apply For Membership

Pg. 3 .......................................Image Competition

Pg. 4 ................................News & Announcements

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COMPETITION UPDATE

The February 2014 NAPCP International Image Competition closed last month

and we are finalizing the scores and preparing to announce our lovely winners

in the coming weeks. The purpose of NAPCP’s Image Competitions is to recog-

nize the accomplishments and creative excellence of our members, rewarding

their talent with medallions, priority listing on our directory, vendor endorse-

ments, member points, titles and professional recognition.

Thank you to everyone who submitted!

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NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

We hope that everyone will continue

to partake in our NAPCP Facebook

Community page! Join now and get

involved with the latest discussions,

trending topics, news and updates,

and much more! Click here to

request to join today!

Facebook Community

COMPETITION UPDATE

Several of our amazing vendors have

contributed FREE downloads exclusively

for NAPCP members. These downloads

include template designs, educational

videos, and much more! We will be add-

ing new downloads every month so make

sure to check it out periodically! To view

all of our fabulour downloads simply

click on the "Resources" tab and select

"Vendor Downloads."

Vendor Download Page

Images by Cher yl Jacobs Nicolai of Cher yl Jacobs Nicolai Photography

FEATUREDPHOTOGRAPHERC H E R Y L J A C O B S N I C O L A I

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dedicated film shooter and lover of vintage cam-

eras, Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai epitomizes the “soulful” photog-

rapher. She is known for her incredible workshops, which

have been praised and followed since she taught her first

one outside London in 2005. Since then, she has instructed

hundreds of photographers, and her work has been featured

by the Analog Photography User Group (apug.org), Kodak’s

ProPass Magazine and Black and White Photography Maga-

zine. Turn the page to learn how Cheryl balances her time

between photography and singing. (Yes, singing! She’s in a

band – so cool, right?)

A

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Tell us your story. How you started and how your photography, brand, and

business transformed over the last few years?

Like so many, I started photography when my kids were very young, and grew

along with them. I had my first solo gallery show before I opened my portrait

business, and have always been glad I did. It forced me to know myself, my

style, and my message before accepting money to create an image. My work

has changed as my children have grown up, from working primarily with

young children, to working with teens and adults. I think we naturally learn

to relate to people who are the same age as are kids, so they've been a great

source of learning for me. I love photographing people of every age.

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We love that your medium of choice is film. Tell us why you decided to go

that route and how it's affected your business.

Film wasn't really a choice; I started with it when digital wasn't so prevalent,

loved it, and never felt the need or desire to change. I love the organic feel

of creating negatives with my own hands, of creating a physical thing in my

camera, of pulling film out of a tank of chemicals. Working with film forced

me to learn discipline, to really understand technique with dollar signs at-

tached; I couldn't afford to make the same mistakes over and over. It made

me learn pre-visualization and anticipation, which I think are two skills that

are becoming rare these days.

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What is one business lesson you wish you learned a long time ago?

I would have hired a business manager right off the bat! People who are as

right-brained and free-thinking as I am are rarely the ones you wanted organiz-

ing your business and running your finances. Best to leave that to the people

who are good at it.

What is the best advice you can pass along to newer photographers to help

them develop a better critical eye on their own work? You cannot effectively

assess your own work without first figuring out who you are and what story you

want to tell. Everything should support that story; if it doesn't add, it probably

takes away. It all starts with looking inward and figuring out what moves you

and how you want to convey that.

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Your style is very unique and raw, yet spontaneous and natural. Can

you tell us how you approach your sessions and capture your subjects

so beautifully? I've always made it my mission to approach my subjects

with the goal to develop a common ground, to find something deeply

meaningful that we have in common. That's the same whether that sub-

ject is two years old or ninety. The session has to be its own reward; I

want the subject to want to make a portrait with me, to collaborate to

say something significant about each of us in a single frame. Above all, I

want them to leave a session feeling valued and understood.

How has your business changed over the last few years? Tell us your

daily schedule and how you manage to make it all work!

I am a juggler. I make my living with a combination of commissioned

photography, art print sales, teaching, mentoring, writing, and three dif-

ferent musical projects. It's a crazy schedule along with raising teenagers

as a single mom, but I love my nutty life and the strange opportunities it

presents.

Where do you see your life 5 years from now?

I have no idea whatsoever. I had my kids very young, so it will my first

real chance to do whatever I want, as my kids will all be graduated from

high school and gone. Travel? Write? Focus on music? Move abroad? I

don't know. It's exciting.

To see more of Cheryl's work, please visit her site here!

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Thank you so much Cheryl!

1) Bronica SQ-Ai with 80mm 2.8 lens and a new 110 mm f/4

macro that I just picked up and haven't played with yet

2) Holga 120N toy camera

3) 1929 Agfa folding 6x9 camera, which is my point and shoot

4) 1930's Leica 35mm camera

5) Cheapie little Polaris handheld meter

6) Bag of various sizes and varieties of film

W I T H C H E R Y L J A C O B S N I C O L A I

E S S E N T I A L ST H E C A ME R A B AG

T H E C A M E R A B A G

7) A plastic ziploc bag that I sometimes shoot through for a bit of

artistic blur

8) My infamous Sh!t filter (a yellow filter smudged with dirt,

chapstick, vaseline, whatever is on hand) for diffusing images

9) Various assortment of chapstick, lip gloss, rubber bands, tape,

paper clips, hair ties, and spare change for meters

As many of you know, Animoto brings our industry a video creation service (online

AND mobile) that makes it easy and fun for us to create and share extraordinary

videos using own own photography, video, words and music. With Animoto Pro,

enjoy pro-exclusive styles designed with top photographers like Tamera Lackey

and Kelly Brown. They also boast a Triple Scoop Music library of over 1000+ songs!

You'll also love video quality at 720p and 1080p!

NAPCP is thrilled to host an exclusive Giveaway with Animoto for One Free Year of

Animoto Pro! Be sure to check back for full details on the NAPCP blog tomorrow!

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WORKSHOPS

NAPCP’s July 2012 International Image Com-

petition opened on Monday! The purpose of

NAPCP’s Image Competitions is to recognize the

accomplishments and creative excellence of our

members, rewarding their talent with medal-

lions, priority listing on our directory, vendor

endorsements, member points, titles and pro-

fessional recognition. Members each receive

a total of 2 Competition Credits per Competi-

tion with their Membership. Details are online!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words

… and yours may be featured in our next press

release. For the past two International Im-

age Competitions, the winners announcement

highlighted the names of the competition win-

ners and received great exposure – collecting

thousands of views, postings to other websites,

and search index hits. Wouldn’t you like to see

your name and photo sent over the wire too?

Members, you can start submitting your best

images here!

Start Submitting Now!

WORKSHOPS

please visit napcp.com or email us at info@napcp.com with questions or inquiries.

MembershipInterested in applying for

membership? Learn more

about the benefits of a NAPCP

membership on our site!

Directory

Looking for a photographer in

your area? Visit our exclusive

NAPCP Member Directory on

the site today!

DIRECTORYAPPLY NOW

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