Ease, elegance and whimsy says it all. The moment you meet Julia Nichols Prem you can feel her warmth and creative energy. She is not just a photographer but an artist and a humanitarian.

Background

Julia has spent most of her life in Manhattan and began making art at age 2. She was inspired to become a wedding photographer after looking at pictures she had taken of a friend's wedding in the mid 90's while living in California. "I found out at the rehearsal dinner that no one would be shooting black and white and I freaked. I borrowed an old Olympus from the bride to be's father. I hadn't taken a picture in almost 20 years and only knew I needed to get the red needle in the right place and focus. When I got the prints back the hair on my arms literally stood up. My friend told me that my images were the only ones that let them know what the day had really felt like from an emotional place. I starting shooting a mix of color and black and white after a client insisted on all color. When their prints came back I realized that I didn't hate color wedding pictures after all."

She currently splits the time she is not on location between the Hudson Valley and NYC where she paints, as well as hunts for trash and treasure to incorporate into her art. A recent project is creating Native American celebration sticks and beautiful chuppah poles made out of tree limbs bejeweled with metal leafing and inlayed with malachite and other colored semi-precious stones.

Experience/Style/Strengths

Julia is a master at making her subjects feel comfortable, allowing her to capture raw emotion. She is a person that sees the beauty that surrounds and the beauty that is within, then captures it in her art and her photos. She is proudest of the fact that much of her work comes from word of mouth, repeat business within a family, and even from people who have watched her at work without yet having seen the finished product. She was thrilled by the wording in a recent email from a now soon to be client which reads in part "when I compare their photographs with yours, it is like the difference between something from a newspaper and an image in a museum".

Her style and strengths are best described in client testimonials:

"She is like a wildlife photographer, capturing the moment without disturbing the environment."

--Laura & Max Warren, Berkeley, CA

"Julia moved about our ceremony and reception nearly unnoticed and the people who did talk to her all commented on her kind, easy-going personality. She has a sensitive, patient eye that gives her the ability to recognize the moment when a person's true essence is being revealed. It was the most incredible experience to see all these beautiful portraits of our family members and guests. Julia was insistent that she come and take pictures of me, my husband, and our bridal party getting dressed for the ceremony. I am so glad I trusted her because they are some of the most intimate, hilarious photographs of the day.

The pictures from our wedding were unlike any wedding photos I had ever seen. Her style is classic and elegant; many people have commented that they look like the portraits taken of John and Jacqueline Kennedy and their family. I absolutely cherish the pictures of our most important day; she captured the spirit of our wedding, and the personalities of all our guests. Julia was completely reliable, professional, and a great pleasure to work with."

--Heidi Andersen-Swan, Huntington Beach, CA

"As Molly and I approach our 8 month anniversary (way longer than other celebrities), we are busy sharing our breathtaking wedding photos - your wedding photos - with relatives and friends. The wedding album you compiled strikes a balance like no other I've seen; it is both manageable and good looking, which makes it the ivory-billed woodpecker of wedding albums.

From our first meeting with you until we received the final product, we enjoyed you. In what could have been a stressful situation, your lightheartedness was refreshing and so was your professionalism. We knew we could count on you to have fun, keep track of crazy aunt so-and-so and compose spectacular photographs without being a picture nazi."

--Taylor Kirkpatrick, Denver, Colorado (Married at Gedney Farm, Monterey, MA)

Service

Julia shoots film, not only because she is a purist but because she feels it is the most secure medium since discs can be corrupted and may eventually become outdated. With film she has all of the capabilities film offers yet she can still digitize images to be photoshopped and easily emailed.

Her standard contract is $3,000 for up to six hours and includes bordered 4x6 prints "of everything I've shot that won't embarrass me or the bride", all negatives,as well as digital CDs with every image in both low and high resolution. Albums (she prefers a high end "coffee table" book which she lays out , prints herself and has professionally bound) are additional.

For more information about Julia Nichols Prem and her availability to shoot your event call 518.392.7766 or contact us.