Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Berkley.
Nicole, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Oh goodness! My start with photography is actually kind of a sad story. Nevertheless, it is how I got my start and thankfully I can use my experiences to fuel my passion and desire for my art today!
I met my wonderful husband and got married in the fall of 2011. I was not a photographer at the time and the only real experience with photography I had at all was from a few classes I took in high school. Being young… and broke… and perhaps a little naive and uneducated about the importance of preserving my family history, I made the common mistake of entrusting some of the most important memories of my life to an inexperienced photographer. I, like many young families I come across today, was more concerned with the cost of the service I would be receiving than I was ensuring the adequate preservation of one of the most amazing days of my life. Ultimately, what I didn’t spend monetarily for a great photographer, I ended up paying in plenty of regret. I didn’t understand the importance of budgeting to hire a reputable and experienced wedding photographer and because of that, I have no portraits from my wedding day to look back on. I was heartbroken. I am still heartbroken! I can’t get that day back and I have nothing to remember it by except for my progressively unreliable memory. Of course, I do have an amazing marriage and husband to show for that day but as I grow older and as my children grow older, I don’t have any tangible memories to pass along to them or to share with them about the day we were married. Future generations will never see it.
Fast forward just a bit and my now sassy 6-year-old daughter was born! She was breathtaking. I had this teeny-tiny, perfect, little human-being that I was SO proud to have brought into this world… and having already learned the valuable lesson in the importance of documenting life’s little moments, I knew I had to hire a photographer to do her newborn portraits. However, I was still young… and still broke…. and I remember staying up late one night pouring over website after website after website, I was in tears because as much as I loved the work of the many talented newborn photographers I came across, I just couldn’t afford them at the time. They were more than worth their rates… but I just couldn’t make it happen. I was, again, heartbroken but this time I refused to have another milestone of my life go entirely undocumented. So I did what any determined mama on a budget does and I set out to do her newborn photos myself! [Insert well deserved “Pinterest Fail” joke here] I excitedly put together a little “set” in my living room floor and I carefully positioned her in my favorite little outfit and clicked away. I downloaded a free photo editor I found online that seemed like it might be what I would need to edit her pictures and I spent all night long working on them. I was SO excited and SO proud of what I had created! They were perfect! (In case you were wondering, they were actually absolutely terrible… but at the time, I had what I thought were beautiful portraits of my baby and that’s what matters!)
This is truthfully when my LOVE for photography was born. While I was absolutely TERRIBLE at it, I thoroughly enjoyed taking photos of my daughter and playing with all the tools and features my little photo editor offered! It soon became a hobby that I was interested in pursuing more seriously, but I quickly learned that it wasn’t at all as easy as I thought it would be. I got my first DSLR camera for my birthday in 2012 and even with a nice camera, I was still TERRIBLE at photography! This is not at all what I expected! It all seemed like it would be so much easier looking at pictures and tutorials online but it was much harder than I anticipated to get any good photos of my children! I soon realized I had no idea how to work my camera to even take a good photo, much less edit it! There was so much to learn but I was absolutely determined to learn it. I signed up for some DSLR classes in my area and spent every single day with a camera in my hand practicing, taking photos of my kids, my sisters kids, my neighbors kids…. figuring it all out. Eventually, I branched out to take a few photos for a family friend…. and then a complete stranger and the business was born.
Six years later, I still spend (almost) every day with a camera in my hand and I have just opened a beautiful newborn portrait studio on Highway 377 in Aubrey! I have since become Aubrey’s top recommended newborn photographer and to date, I have photographed over 400 newborn babies and am still going strong! I absolutely LOVE what I do and love getting to meet and work with some of North Texas’ newest members!
While I may not have the “typical”, romantic start-up story, I feel it’s what fuels my passion and desire to serve my clients well. I am a HUGE advocate for preserving and documenting your family history, whether it’s with me or any of the other amazing photographers in the area. Just do it! Much like your wedding day, your newborn, child and family is ever-changing and ever-evolving and everything is only ever just so for a short while. Take the time to document it! You can’t get those precious first days back and I now passionately and, with good reason, advocate for the importance of doing your research, finding a reputable and experienced photographer and capturing those important moments before they are gone.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s been many things… smooth is most definitely not one of them!
I think any business owner, in any industry, faces a unique set of challenges. To me, challenges are a good thing! They help us to grow, to reach new heights and to learn more about ourselves, our clients and our craft. All of which, I appreciate and need in order to flourish.
I would say one of the hardest challenges I have faced as a photographer and an entrepreneur has been learning to value myself regardless of what other businesses around me are doing. I refuse to compromise my worth because another business does not value themselves. I have learned, in order to continue to do what I love, I have to value my years of experience by charging a sustainable rate that will not only enable me to keep my studio doors open to serve the community, but also to be a present for my children and a part of THEIR memories. The last thing I want to do is be so busy filling the walls of everyone else’s homes, I forget to fill my own.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Nicole Berkley Studios story. Tell us more about the business.
I am Nicole, the owner/photographer of Nicole Berkley Studios. I opened my studio in 2012 and I specialize in Maternity, Newborn & Baby’s First Year portraiture and am located just north of Denton on Highway 377 in small town Aubrey, Texas, also known as Horse Country, USA!
I am most known for my Newborn and Baby portrait work and my use of color and bright, clean editing techniques. Many of my clients jokingly call me the “baby whisperer” and have said that my patience and love for children is what makes their portrait sessions as beautiful and successful as they are! I absolutely love children and am so blessed to do what I love every day!
I am proud to be the top recommended Newborn photographer in Aubrey and so thrilled to offer a beautiful, heirloom quality portrait product to the many clients I serve every year. I think my work, my dedication to my clients and the amazing experience I aim to provide sets me apart from the many options available in the area. I have a professional and dedicated portrait studio space full of anything and everything a client will need for their maternity, newborn and baby portrait session and years of experience and training in handling/posing your baby safely and beautifully retouching your portraits to perfection! Customer satisfaction is my absolute priority!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
If I were to lose every dollar I have and never book another session or make another dime off my photography again, I would still consider myself to be successful. Why? Because real success to me is not measured by your bank account or a full client calendar, but by the experiences and memories you build with those you love and the way you feel about yourself and your efforts when you lay down at night. It’s nice to be able to build a lucrative business off of my art and my passion…. but that’s not the end game for me.
If I am being frank, I can’t take any of this with me to the grave. While I love photography, and will continue to work hard to serve my family and my community for as long as the good Lord allows, I would rather invest my energy and effort in experiences and memories with my family and our legacy than spend all of my time trying to build a house of cards.
Pricing:
- A custom newborn session with Nicole Berkley Studios starts at $400.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5295 US 377, Suite #6
Krugerville, TX 76227 - Website: www.nicoleberkley.com
- Phone: 940-465-5132
- Email: hello@nicoleberkley.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicoleberkleystudios
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/nicoleberkleystudios
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
