What do celebrity photographer Matthew Jordan Smith, well-known stylist Susie Theodorou and the cover of Saveur magazine have in common? Each have featured the work of local gal Nicole Hill.

Nicole is a freelance and commercial photographer based in Utah County. There’s no question that this girl knows what she’s doing when it comes to the camera lens. And her sharp sense of style and warm personal charisma have a way of making themselves present in the images she captures—whether of a wedding or watercress.

A budding talent, Nicole has already taken noteworthy career strides and snapped handfuls of great images. But what we love about this Utah girl is her go-getter attitude and her knack for choosing fun and eclectic vehicles for realizing her dreams: ne’er afraid to make a capricious pit-stop or follow leads from Mr. Opportunity.

Her romance with the camera started when Nicole’s (smart) parents gave her a Canon Rebel G for her birthday in 7th grade. By the time her first year of high school rolled around, she ended up co-teaching her school’s photography class and shooting her first weddings.

After graduating a year early from high school, Nicole headed to the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. When she realized she was more interested in capturing food than people, she traded the sunshine for the city and headed to culinary school in New York. “I thought that learning more about food couldn’t hurt,” she says.

While in the Big Apple, she interned with beauty and celebrity photographer Matthew Jordan Smith, and assisted food stylist Susie Theodorou for projects in Real Simple, House & Garden, and Gourmet. Last year’s June issue had a steak she grilled on the cover. We like a girl who’s good on the barbi.

After returning to Brooks to receive her bachelor’s degree, Nicole traded coasts again and moved to Boston to intern with TV’s “America’s Test Kitchen” and Cook’s Illustrated, where she worked directly with such heavy hitters as celebrity chef Julia Collin Davison. Then it was back to New York for a quick internship with Saveur magazine, where she styled a cover shot, and assisted with food styling for Real Simple and Quick & Simple.

Nicole planned a trip home to Utah, just for the summer, but ended up getting happily hung-up on a position as photo editor and photographer with a local stock photography company called Rubberball Productions, where she’s been for a year. We daresay they’re happy to have her. And so are we.

Check out Nicole’s work at:

• Nicole Hill Photo
• Getty Images
• Rubberball Productions (perform an “advanced search,” then “search by photographer”)

Nicole has a fun-and-stylish blog playfully titled A Little Sussy, a great daily read. A new, all-cooking blog called Nicole Cooks is currently in the works. (We know the food featured there is gonna look fabulous.) In her spare time, Nicole also designs websites. But here’s a chance to get a little more info than the blog might provide:

Name: Nicole Hill

Occupation: Photo Editor/Photographer

When I grow up, I want to be: A teacher, artist and mother

The best thing about growing up in Utah was: Four seasons! I loved my spring birthday, summers skiing at Lake Powell, horsing around in the fall and winters skiing in Deer Valley.

If/when I have 24 hours in Utah, I always:

1. Have “Sundee” dinner on the back porch with family and friends.

2. Eat at Cafe Rio

3. Eat homemade frozen yogurt

4. Talk (or cry) to my sisters and parents on their bed.

5. Play my piano

Utah has the best: Parking lots! They’re huge!

Now I live in: Orem; just bought a home!

Five hearts:

• Homemade froyo
• Fresh herbs
• Eating on the back deck
• Pilates
• Rook

Five hates:

• Mortgage payments
• Mean people
• Running
• Early mornings
• Shopping on an empty stomach

I can’t live without my: Computer

The last party I went to was: Hmm … I can’t even remember one. How sad. I’m not cool.

Favorite product on your blog: I’m still obsessed with the Me & Ro diamond ring I found years ago that was just featured in Martha Stewart Weddings.

Favorite product on earth: Dead Sea Salt eye cream

  

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 7:52 am and is filed under Hatched In The Hive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.