Nicole Sanchez is a documentary family photographer & filmmaker based in Northern Virginia and also one of our valued FilmingLifers here at the FilmingLife® Academy + Network

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I'm a mom to three boys and live with my family in northern Virginia. Documentary photography and family filmmaking is my primary creative outlet, but I love exploring all kinds of mediums to see where it takes me.⠀

Tell us about the kind of photography & films you create…

Documentary family. I primarily shoot my own family, but also take a few clients each year.

For my own family, I love shooting traditions - vacations, summer at home, Christmas Day. I also make annual "interview" films with each of my boys around their birthdays.

How did you first get started in photography?

I've loved photography since I was a kid shooting pictures of my friends with disposable cameras at school. But I didn't really make the effort to learn it as a craft until my oldest son was born. I started a 365 project in 2014 and haven't stopped learning since.

What made you decide to learn video? What was your motivation?

I saw Xanthe Berkeley's everyday films on Instagram in 2016 and saw them as the next iteration of what I was trying to accomplish by incessantly photographing my family.

Short films bottle up the essence of what family life is like in any given moment. I wanted to remember all those little things that were unique to my kids and I wanted them to be able to see their childhood selves when they were all grown up with families of their own.

What was your biggest challenge when you first started learning video and how did you overcome it?

Developing a growth mindset. I used to get so frustrated every time I made a film because there was always something new that I needed to learn (or relearn). Once I took that to be part of the fun, I started to appreciate the challenges because it meant I was growing.

Tell us about your favourite film and why it's special to you…

My favorite film is a beach vacation film I did a few years ago. It was the first film I shot and edited with story in mind and features my extended family. It's not perfect, but watching that film still makes me proud of how much I've learned.