Nicole Hill didn’t pick up an interest in photography until about 5 years ago. We’re lucky that she did.
Her interest began when she kept borrowing her friend’s point and shoot camera, and subsequently she became obsessed with taking photos of her friends in fields. “I got hooked on the feeling of freedom we found in those simple photos, and I just didn’t want to stop shooting,” Hill says. “I jumped at an excuse to get out of my hometown so I moved to Santa Barbara, Ca. and went to school at Brooks Institute of Photography.” She graduated last December and has been working professionally for almost a year now.
“The majority of my inspiration comes from nature,” she says. “Growing up in Southern California has made a large impact on that, I was always outside. There is nothing like feeling the wind on your face and getting those moments of freedom away from the city.”
The fashion editorial titled Still was inspired by musician, Trevor Hall and his song Brand New Day. Hill explains the lyrics, “There are a few lines in the song, ’Come rise up, come give love. What you waiting for? It’s a brand new day.’ I kind of based the shoot around that theme. I wanted these girls to be travelers/friends/sisters/runaways that are starting off new, finally waking up, finding freedom,” she says.
Hill shot with makeup artist and hair stylist Bethany Ruck, and worked with stylist Jacquie Lavaun for the shoot. Models Morgan Chelf and Sasha Blue are featured in the shoot and Hill explains how they were “really great together” on-set.
From looking at this shoot, the most apparent feature is the natural light that is used. Hill states,
“I’m a sucker for natural light. I really wanted to give the feeling of breaking free, so I wanted the lighting in the images to be very bright, soft and glowing.”
Looks like we’re ready for the light.
Credits
Photography - Nicole L. Hill
Videography - Miles O’ Sullivan
Video Editor - Nicole L. Hill
Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist - Bethany Ruck
Stylist - Jacqueline Lavaun
Styling Assistant - Michelle Faurer
Models - Morgan Chelf @ Photogenics and Sasha Blue @ Ford
Video from the set of Still
