Reflecting on 2010

Sometimes I just loose track of how much has been done in one year! It seems like month after month, time just flies by incredibly fast. I am so thankful to God for His provision and guidance. To my supportive boyfriend, family (and extended family too - aunty, uncles & cousins) and close buddies who have been so wonderful, i am truly grateful - when there's so much things to say & so little words, it's hard to express how i feel - but know that I am so thankful to God for having you guys in my life <3 To my wonderful readers, fellow bloggers and customers (aka my NTB gals) whom I've grown to know, your constant emails, tweets & comments really lift my spirits and pull me through my days of doubts.

I would say, to sum up this year in what seems to be a constant refining and retuning of my career, that this was the year I found photography. True, I had my dslr in July 2009 but really, I wanted it more for a functional reason - my boutique & documenting street style for the blog. But this year, an interest for photography that grew into a passion and love just sparked off and I will take you through my journey.




March 2010: So it's march, and I'm just business as usual when i got a surprising email from Vanessa from Her World saying that her editors have been following my blog and would love me to shoot some street style for them. It was an amazing opportunity and I'm so grateful to the editors Elisabeth & Patrick for the opportunity. Plus a shout out to Vanessa & Lili whom i miss working and chatting up with! Although I am not shooting street style for Her World.com due to time constraint, it's been a great experience and Viona's doing a wonderful job ;)

APRIL 2010: Did my first photography workshop! Was really quite fun preparing for it. haha, so I'm making time to plan for a photography workshop of my own. Whether you are a compact camera user or a dslr user, I'm hoping to plan a fun and practical workshop. Email me at info@nicolethen.com with the subject with your name, short intro (what you'd like to learn) and contact details so that I can inform you when the course material is ready to go!

May 2010: Not sure whether any of you still remember this shoot that I styled & photographed with the beautiful Saraphina for multi-label boutique To The Nines haha. It was an honour to work for them and I really am grateful that they took a chance with me. (not forgetting my cuz danny who helped with the wind effect haha, he was an awesome assistant)


JULY 2010: I attended my first wedding! No, not true. But I attended my first REAL wedding from start (the sabo) to the church wedding where I actually knew what went on. Not only that but Marcus & Wendy invited me to second shoot at the wedding and the love these two people just embraced each other and everyone else with at the wedding was just so inspiring! They, I would say made me fall in love with wedding photography. Just celebrating love and capturing all these beautiful memories got me hooked on wedding photography and then...there's more to come!

AUGUST 2010:

• August, I got an email from the beautiful Velda to shoot for Love Bonito and it has been a blast working for them ;) I'm excited with 2011 and hope to continue "UP-ing" the pictures that will go on the site. Working with such talented, passionate and dedicated ladies has been a blessing
• Did a street style "event photography" styled photography with the Make Up For Ever girls. I really enjoyed this shoot because ladies on the street will get a mini make over and i get to coax out their inner glamour and beauty! (think this is the core of my love for photography. bringing out that inner glamour and beauty in people <3 )
• Did a mini shoot for the doc marten sanrio boots, that was fun!
• Ahh and another wedding and then i got hooked on shooting engagement pictures :D I'm prepping for an engagement shoot with a beautiful loving couple and i can't WAIT. The best part? The bride-to-be shares my love for vintage!! Yay <3 Now i just need to convince the groom-to-be to wear suspenders or a bow tie perhaps? haha

SEPTEMBER 2010:

• Met Shirley at an event, editor for inSing.com, and it spiraled from there and I am now shooting street style for inSing.com. I thoroughly enjoy "picking" up these stylish urban young individuals. Look out for the next segment ;)

OCTOBER 2010: These pictures are very important to me because they mark very crucial points for me as a photographer. Although my interest sparked in 2010 but I really took my photography seriously in October. Ok, so that's not that long ago. But I only dared to tell people I'm a photographer really late in the year. Partly, I wasn't convinced myself, haha. The shot above that I shot for MIMCO with Nadia was a shoot where I was disciplined in my photography and really pushed myself to make the pictures look as good as I could as well as coax a style out of my photography. The "My Muse" picture? Well, this period of time i was feeling slightly jaded and then I realized that from time to time I must pursue personal projects without a client setting rules & guidelines for me. I had to create photos for me ;) An important lesson that I learned that month. It was liberating!

NOVEMBER 2010: November, I shot another tear-jerking wedding! It was just incredible <3 Thank you PW & JS for the amazing opportunity and blessing. Although I shot it with my little 500D and a fixed lens, I had a wonderful time just being involved in this celebration of Love. I also began to be more aware of my style of photography which has this vintage whimsical fashion flair to it.


DECEMBER 2010: Shot the look book for Almost Famous and also learnt alot from great photographers from the internet-sphere like Jasmine Star, Joey L, Zack Arias, Jeremy Cowart and David duChemin with special thanks to the team from CreativeLive. I've learnt so much and I look forward to what I can learn and photograph in 2011 :)

# I thought this would be a good post just to reflect and give thanks on 2010 with regards to my work in photography and just went through my blog & flick account. Although I would like to wear a cape and say it was a wonderful year and I had it all together, don't be fooled by that. There are times when I'm discouraged, feel lousy and get frustrated. But with prayer, perseverance, problem solving, encouragement from people around me I push through those times day by day. haha I just wanted to let you guys know so that you won't feel like "I wish I had it together" because if we're honest, no one really has it together all the time. I just thought it would encourage you whether in school or in your career :) And may all of you have a wonderful 2011 too!