HI, I’M KOLE.
Actually, it’s Nikole. Or Nikki. I’ll answer to all three.
I’m a Mississippi Gulf Coast photographer, a creative at heart, a wife, and a mama to five + three. After nearly 20 years of photographing weddings and families, and working for publications, I’ve learned that the photographs that matter most aren’t always the perfectly posed ones.
They’re the ones that take you right back to how it felt to be there.
THE GULF COAST
I grew up in central Indiana and studied photojournalism at Ball State University. Somewhere along the way, though, I knew there was another place calling me home. I eventually made my way to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and honestly, I think I was always meant to be here.
Maybe it was the sunshine calling me south. Maybe the slower coastal rhythm. Or maybe I just needed to trade those Indiana winters for a little more barefoot weather.
Whatever it was, I’m incredibly grateful it led me here.
A LITTLE ABOUT MY LOVES
Outside of photography, I’m happiest around my family with a really good mug of coffee, listening to my children pour out the details of their day. I will absolutely stop for beautiful light, and I’m easily distracted by a good sunset. I like making things, even when I have absolutely no business attempting them. I believe a good meal and good company can fix a surprising number of things.
And if the sun is shining, there’s a pretty good chance I’m chasing it somewhere in my Jeep.
If I had to choose a love language, it would probably be a tie between gift giving and quality time. There’s something special about saying, “I saw this and thought of you”—a little reminder that you are loved, thought of often, and held close, even when life keeps you minutes or miles apart.
I think that says a lot about the way I want to photograph people, too. I don’t want our time together to feel rushed or impersonal. I genuinely want to know you, laugh with you, hear what matters to you, and create something that feels personal to your life.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
As a little girl, I spent a lot of time with my great-grandmother, who almost always seemed to have a camera in her hand. She loved photographing the people she loved—the ordinary days, family gatherings, and little moments that might not have seemed especially important at the time.
When she passed away, I was given the family photographs she had collected over the years. Holding them, I understood something I hadn’t fully realized as a child:
Photographs become more valuable with time.
Some were beautiful professional portraits. Others were crooked, imperfect snapshots and Polaroids. But every one held a piece of our family that could no longer be recreated.
They showed me people as they really were, places that had changed, and moments I was grateful someone thought to preserve. They gave me a way to know parts of my family and remember people I might otherwise only know through stories.
THE LITTLE THINGS.
I notice things. The little details, fleeting moments, and all the things that make something feel entirely its own. I’m always looking beyond what’s expected for what feels personal and unmistakably you.
At a wedding, that might be the worn ribbon around a bouquet, beautiful light across a table, a handwritten note, or the nervous laugh before walking down the aisle. A hand reaching for another. The way someone looks at the person they love when they don’t realize anyone is watching.
For families, especially those with little ones, I love the beautiful chaos of it all—the curious eyes, little hands, crooked smiles, bare feet, big personalities, and wonderfully wild energy of childhood. Whether we’re adventuring outside or slowing down together at home, I want to photograph your family as it really is.
Those are the moments I’m always watching for—the beautiful, messy, completely unplanned in-between moments that could never be recreated quite the same way twice.
A LITTLE DIRECTION. A LOT OF ROOM TO BE YOURSELVES.
During our time together, I’ll guide you into a beautiful image and help you feel comfortable in front of my camera, but I’ll also step back and let things unfold.
Laugh, wander, snuggle your babies, hold your person a little tighter, and simply be yourselves.
I don’t want your photographs to feel like a version of you trying to be perfect for the camera.
I want them to feel like you.
Ultimately, I hope the photographs we create together help you remember not just how it looked, but how it felt—the people, the laughter, the little things you didn’t even know I was capturing.
Beautifully made. Deeply felt. Completely yours.