Fun With Nicole & Brian

It was such a blast getting to do an episode of The Chat with Nicole S. Young! We actually recorded that one awhile back. She was one of my first intrepid friends to step up as I was still working out my format, flow and style for the show. Nicole is fearless – and she proved that by helping me my Chat project off the ground!

Later on in the summer, she and hubby Brian Matiash came up for a weekend with Kodak the Wonder Dog and joined me and my hubs Joe Dolister for some hangin’ and shootin’ fun. One of the places we went was the abandoned train tunnels above Truckee, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. They’re fun and spooky – and are full of the work of graffiti artists who change the wallscape up there on a regular basis. Here, Nicole paused for a pose!

As did Brian. Hahaha!! Had to include them both. Such a pair of powerhouses!

The thing I’ve learned about shooting with Nicole is that her brain is always on fire with ideas. For instance, she may shoot a scene – like these tunnels – with a variety of fun compositions with a wide angle or 24-105 length lens. She’ll be thinking: Nice! The cover of a book or promo for a texture pack, as well as a memory of the day and great print for the wall.

Next thing you know, she’ll be up close and person with the wall and her tripod, shooting texture detail with her 100mm macro lens. These will be for her own texture work, of course… but she came up with the idea for a “Grunge Pack” of texture to sell in her online store. She shot up enough frames to make 3 or 4 packs! To her, it’s all photography, therefore all super good fun, since she’s out shooting and spending time with friends. Living life as an artist! So it goes, hanging out with Nicole.

Over the course of the weekend, we swapped ideas about stuff that we’re each good at; I got tips about work flow and and better ideas about how to plan ahead for re-purposing material… and gave her tips on speaking and some of that media stuff I know so well. Then we air-designed the perfect camera backpack for women and decided we should get the thing made, one way or another! I couldn’t help thinking how much I love hanging out with young folks in general – and these two in particular. I am alway so grateful when they want to share time with us! I just adore Nicole and Brian and consider them family.

The next day, Joe and I took them over to Hope Valley. Along the way stopped at Eagle’s Nest on Tahoe’s west side and asked some tourist to take our picture. NOW who’s the tourist!! hahaha!

This is Joe, me, Brian, Nicole and Kodak having a moment. I look forward to many more to come!!