NICISEOUL: Photography & Videos

Dreamwalking in Wonderland. A Backstage/Fashion Film...

asiahighfive — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:33:00 +0900

Dreamwalking in Wonderland.

A Backstage/Fashion Film

I just uploaded a new video! It’s full of effects, isn’t it? But look at that “not-from-this-world” styling, the stunning makeup and extravagant Barbie hair, I couldn’t just sit down, do a simple edit…
So instead, theres all those colourful effects, dubstep, the creative team, MUA: Chloe Han, Stylist: Alexandra Greenhill and Hair Stylist: Lily Park doing their thing… et voila the backstage video/fashion film of David Sheldrick’s fashion shoot with Chanie Munn is ready!
Did you imagine the video turning out like this after seeing those backstage photos?

Happy dreamwalking…

Nicole x

Sneak peek of my next backstage...

asiahighfive — Wed, 23 May 2012 05:15:00 +0900

Sneak peek of my next backstage video/fashion film

with Chanie Munn, Chloe Han, David Sheldrick, Lily Park, Alexandra Greenhill and her hardworking assistants!
I believe that every single one of them are going to be big names one day ^_^
By the way, I turned one of those backstage photos into my background image of my new website: www.nicolemarkhoff.com
Check it out! That website still needs improvement, so if you have any feedback to give, please don’t hesitate and share!

I’m going to quickly go offline again, because its my personal “stay-away-from-the-computer-you-nerd”-day. Sometimes you need a break! I really swore I wasn’t going to open any adobe creative suite related programs…
But Lightroom really doesn’t count, does it? ^_^

Nicole x

It’s all really super. Fashion Film for Because...

asiahighfive — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:56:00 +0900

It’s all really super. Fashion Film for Because London

A few weeks ago, I edited this video for Because London. The footage was already done, and I just had to go “Super 8”! ^_^
I loved playing with all those vintagy effects and colours.
And I always love cutting up huge amounts of footage into neat, small pieces until those pieces turn into one single final edit.
Does that make sense to anybody?
Here is the link to the fashion film!

A few more videos are coming online in about 7-10 days. I hope you will see my attempt of taking my filmediting to another level.. You should get more effects, camera action and lights ;)
Watch this space!

Nicole x

Fashion Film Sportswear - Charli Cohen. A few days ago,...

asiahighfive — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:42:00 +0900

Fashion Film Sportswear - Charli Cohen.

A few days ago, you got to see our backstage photos, and now we’re going to share the Fashion Film!
It was really fun to edit this one, a rather sporty, cool video with some edginess.
Charli Cohen did a great job designing this collection. Oh! Did I mention, she’s not only a designer, she’s also a personal trainer? That means she knows exactly what she’s doing when designing sportswear.
Workout with style girls! You can check out her collection as soon her website goes online: http://www.charli-cohen.com Until then, you may watch the fashion film over and over again ;)
I hope you enjoy it!

Nicole x

Dear YouTube video maker: Devin Supertramp, let me be part...

asiahighfive — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:48:00 +0900

Dear YouTube video maker: Devin Supertramp, let me be part of your crew ^_^

I might be the last one to know about this guy, but I just found his YouTube videos today and I must say he is one cool, talented young man. Devin captures exciting outdoor action in a way I’ve never seen it before. He animates “his crew” to try out breathtaking moments - and I sure do love adrenalin kicks to bits!
Not only does he share his final videos, he comes back and shares his backstage videos too!
To some people backstage videos might seem boring, but I’m so into behind the scene stuff! I want to see whats under the mask, I want to know whats going on, I want to get the real stuff! ^_^
And Devin gives you the real stuff.
He explains how he makes his videos and it’s not what I expected. For instance that “Rope Swing” video - I thought he would hire a bunch of specialists to help his crew do the jump, but he didn’t.
My heart stopped beating for an instant when his friend slightly slipped - 1 metre from instant death! Check out the behind the scenes video!
My brain is saying “Outdoor action videos are D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S”, but my heart is shouting out loud “Yay! Awesome, I want to do that too!”

I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, theres so many videos to watch, but so far my favourites are “World’s Largest Rope Swing” and “The Mud Fight”, what are yours?

Super cute camera straps by Bloom Theory. I’m totally...

asiahighfive — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:58:05 +0900

Super cute camera straps by Bloom Theory.

I’m totally in love with the strap “WASHED ASHORE” (inspired by Grecian goddesses and Odysseus’ mermaids.) ^_^
However, its quite pricey.. Check out this link if you want to try make your own camera straps.
Again thank you Vero Nika for showing me these!

x

BEHIND THE SCENES at Charli Cohen’s...

asiahighfive — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:06:00 +0900

BEHIND THE SCENES at Charli Cohen’s Shoot!

I took those photos while filming for the talented sportswear designer Charli Cohen!
You can follow her on twitter too. You’ll find so many awesome tips if you want to get in shape ^_^
I had such a great time at this shoot, on top of that the team was awesome, just to name a few: Tom Laurance - the photograper, Emily Grove - the hair and makeup artist and the sportsmodel - Ugne Liuksaityte…
There were so many more at this shoot, but ..sorry I’m so bad at remembering names :(
About Charli Cohen’s collection: Her clothes are super cool, I mean if I were wearing those clothes I would just keep them on even if I wasn’t working out. I mean it’s seriously fashionable sportswear! ^_^
Speaking of sportswear, I finally made it back to gym today.
Editing that kind of fashion film definitely keeps reminding me, that I have/want to go ^_^

Nicole x

Nerd Talk: Filter Mania. Those long...

asiahighfive — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:30:25 +0900

Nerd Talk: Filter Mania.

Those long film-rendering hours are forcing me to take breaks in between.. but I might as well do something good and share this cool photography app with you!
It’s so much fun! ^_^ Add cool, fun, gorgeous, or whatever other filter to your photographs.
Their library is full with filters and I don’t think theres another free app like this one.
Once your photo has been “edited” you just choose whether you want to save it, edit again, publish it on Instagram or print it. It’s K-I-S-S! (KISS - keep it simple and stupid!)
All those backstage photos above have been taken by me those last 3 days. I went to 3 different fashion photoshoots to shoot movies! I loved every single photoshoot so much and I can’t wait to share more! ^_^
I might upload my proper edits here or into my Facebook album: “All the cool kids are backstage” anytime soon, but for now “Filter Mania” shall suffice..
Not bad?
Oh! My break is over, I will continue filmediting now..

Nicole x

So, you want to start making videos? But which camera shall you...

asiahighfive — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:28:00 +0900

So, you want to start making videos? But which camera shall you use?
When you go shopping for a new pair of jeans, don’t buy the smaller sized jeans because you think you will lose weight, it will most likely not happen. Hello?!
Try the slightly bigger sized ones first, it’ll make your day.
Buy the right fitting jeans - nothing else.
In fact, to begin with, I recommend you guys to NOT buy a video camera specifically for filming, chances are you already have one that is good enough to start with.

Do you own a smartphone? Samsung Galaxy, Droid X, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S etc.? Congratulations, your phone can now capture high-definition videos.
Do you own a slim digital point and shoot camera? I am pretty sure, that your camera can capture high-definition videos too. I recorded an entire event with a hot pink Sony Cybershot camera. They even fit in my jeans pocket. Who cares what others think if you’re using that little camera?! ^_^ Just do your thing and get over your shyness to press “record”! If you do not want to use your phone or any point & shoot cameras, then I recommend the Flip Camera. When I attended some courses at Raindance Film School, they kept recommending this specific camera. Unfortunately, the factories stopped producing them, but you can still find new ones on Amazon or Ebay. They said that they even use Flip Cameras backstage at the Oscars.
All you have to do is press the red button to start recording, then press the red button to stop recording.
How simple is that? Simple is good. Recording videos, editing videos, publishing videos - it’s all so easy if you know the basics and if you know how to keep things simple. Yes, mirrorless cameras are A M A Z I N G. Currently, I am using a Sony Nex 5N with the standard kit lens and a manual Nikon 50mm lens for all my new videos since Paris.
Who says you need a DSLR to shoot cool videos or photos? :P
However, it’s not a camera to use if you’re just a beginner. If you already own one, well… good luck! Last but not least, you might already own a DLSR with that pretty video icon on it. I guess you already tried that out.
But again, I have to pull up my finger and warn, if you’re a beginner don’t start with a DSLR. Remember? Don’t buy the smaller sized jeans, that don’t fit you at the moment…
DLSR cameras are big, bulky things with too many buttons to play around with, they record in high definition. Oh! There’s field of depth or bokeh…, blablabla, but you will need to invest a lot of time and money in other equipment to get the most out of shooting video with a DSLR. If you really want to start spending money now. Then go invest in a new strong Macbook pro.
No! I can’t say anything good about Windows, and I won’t bother to do so.
Too many crashes, too many virus attacks, its just not good for you.
You will need editing softwares - No! I do not recommend illegal versions.
Don’t forget card readers and memory cards if you’re using cameras. I use HD Video SanDisk Extreme 16 GB 30 MB/s.
While you’re at it, buy one strong external harddrive too. My current external harddrive is 1.5TB large, and I’ve got 3 other ones about the same size. Yes, after time you will need a lot of space! I believe you should start filming with your smallest and simplest device to learn as much as possible about filming - FAST!
You will be able to experiment a lot, for example you can try out all the different angles without spending a monstrous amount of money on other equipment (like lenses, tripods, rigs..). You will film more and get more footage on camera.
The best camera is the one thats with you, and I’m pretty sure that your phone is in reach right now. It will be easy to catch a moment on film as soon as it happens.
And theres another plus point: You will train your hands to become more steady! I know advanced photographers who record super shaky videos with their DSLR, whereas my videos are completely stable now. I’m not boasting here, it all came with time and a lot of practice, baby!
In total, you will get more and more experienced in filming. You will slowly learn where your limits are and you will slowly want more. You will be able to specify what you want, and you will be able to smartly invest in new toys. That’s all the fun part about learning how to make videos. My own filming experiences started way back with my parent’s video camera as a 6 year old rockstar wannabe. I used a tripod and filmed my girls and myself performing to Spice Girls. We thought we were going to rule the world.
I was still using tapes back then. I used a lot of them! I was the kid who would bring her parent’s video camera to school…
During university I used DSLRs or professional video cameras for diverse filming projects. When I graduated with a BA in Digital Media, I didn’t have the money to buy a proper camera. My mom bought me a pink Sony cybershot camera and even that little thing records amazing footage. Check out my “Banyan Tree Hotel - Event” video, if you haven’t done it yet.
The guests at this event surely did think it was amusing when I came across filming with that cute little hot pink camera.
But hey, check out the quality. Amazing, huh?
And then, I used my iPhone 4, blue iPod Nano and a Flip Camera. They served me well - they still do.
Check out my YouTube Channel to see my first videos shot in Seoul, South Korea. I really don’t like the editing of my earlier videos. I was seriously thinking of taking my old videos down, but we all started somewhere, and it’s kind of rewarding to go back and see how you’ve developed your skills.
Like I already mentioned, I currently shoot videos with my mirrorless Sony Nex 5N. It’s still no real video camera, and I don’t plan to buy one anytime soon. Well, I’m just saving some pounds to buy a GoPro HD next. It will be perfect for our trip to the beach this summer! ^_^ In summary, start filming now with your smallest and simplest device like your smartphone or point & shoot camera.
Chances are they capture high-definition videos already. Take everything on footage, you will become a better shooter and you will be able to specify which new toys you need to buy next.
Remember! Go out there and press “record”, right now. You will need plenty of video footage for editing.
I will blog about filmediting anytime soon. Depends whether you liked my “sexy nerd talk” article about the first camera you should use for filming. Oh dear, all this drama and typing, just to underline that the best camera you can use for filming is obviously the one thats with you right now.

Now stop reading! It’s time to press “record”. ^_^

Nicole x

Printstagram Who will print out your Instagram photos? Are...

asiahighfive — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:21:00 +0900

Printstagram

Who will print out your Instagram photos? Are you looking for high quality prints and a good price?
Do you want to use Printstagram?
Then let me share our Printstagram experience, you lovely instagram-users.

Printstagram printed out our photos and I must admit that I am very pleased with the results.
Some of the photos seemed to be kind of blurry on my iPhone, therefore I was worried the printed photos won’t come out nicely, but instead, it came out crystal clear! The colours are perfect - what you see on your screen is what you will get!
The matt paper feels “expensive” and looks good too.
Quality: 5/5 stars!

At first the white borders annoyed me, but printed out, the Instagram photos look like cool polaroids.

I guess they didn’t buy any or enough printing machines…
And THATS the minus point. Outsourcing your products/services isn’t always a good idea.
Why?
1) When we discoverd our little package from Taiwan, we did get excited.
2) When we figured our neatly printed Instagram photos were inside, we got super excited.
3) When we realized half of the photos were missing… No, not excited about that.

We received 48 photos, and I am pretty sure I ordered over 90. I am that sure, because the photo-set we really wanted to have printed, didn’t show up.
Ha! Tried to trick us..
Maybe the photos arrive in 2 different packages. We’ll see.
However, the price is good enough and the wait was still worth it.

In total, Printstagram gets 4 from 5 stars.
I’m sure that we will get the missing photos somehow. Let’s see how many stars they get for customer service… ;)

Nicole x

P.S Follow me on Instagram ^_^
Printstagram: http://printstagr.am/

NEON Colours. I’m loving them so much right now!...

asiahighfive — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:43:07 +0900

NEON Colours.

I’m loving them so much right now!
Today I am going to share my 8 favourite items on ETSY. Instead of the regular photo-blogpost…
Have you heard of ETSY before?
It’s something like Ebay, just more expensive and with more style. It’s also my current favourite online destination whenever I get bored or freaked out ;)
All those items above are hand-made, creative & neon coloured.
Help me choose, please ^_^

About the “being freaked out” part: After watching the Korean horror movie “I saw the Devil” with handsome Byung-hun Lee, I couldn’t sleep at all, so I spent hours surfing throughout Etsy finding all those hidden gems.
Seriously, whoever told my boyfriend we have to watch this movie… well, that wasn’t very nice.
My body is still full of goosebumps and I’m trying to push those images away with pretty neon coloured items ^_^
Which one is your favourite eye candy?

Here are the links to the shops:
Bonjourfrenchie
TINNLILY
DolorisPetunia
BooandBooFactory
minifabo
lovesexton
oneeyeddog

Happy surfing!

Nicole x

SAATCHI Gallery. A place to get inspired for free! Did you...

asiahighfive — Mon, 07 May 2012 06:07:32 +0900

SAATCHI Gallery. A place to get inspired for free! Did you see our “Kiss on the cheeks” photo above? Well, here is the original photo ^_^

I loved the old Marilyn portrait (I’m such a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe!),

and - No, I don’t like that old man, but the bunnies are cute ^_^

Queen Elizabeth’s portrait is a good one too.

There was also a so-called “education” cinema. And all we found was a wall full of YouTube videos. Hilarious…

We took photos of ourselves playing around, instead of educating ourselves, sorry Saatchi Gallery.

Something not so funny, rather serious is located in the basement. The oil-installation by Richard Wilson. That whole room stank, and we were all pretty insecure, if this room was really meant to be filled with oil.

So, this was Saatchi Gallery. A place to get inspired - for free!

Nicole x

Hello, hello, I’m relaunching my first Tumblr blog....

asiahighfive — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:06:49 +0900

Hello, hello, I’m relaunching my first Tumblr blog. It’s now called: ASIA HIGH FIVE! ^_^

I originally started my first Tumblr blog in January 2010 as “nicolekathrin.tumblr.com”.
I would collect anything cool from the internet. For example viral campaigns, new social media networks, cool websites.
Back then during my Digital Media studies, I was/am totally obsessed with that.

“nicolekathrin.tumblr.com” turned into “supermemorybox” and “supermemorybox” turned into

“ASIA HIGH FIVE”

“ASIA HIGH FIVE” is anything and everything asia-related. K-Pop, Fashion, cool gifs & photography. It’s inspirational, cool and happy reblogging stuff!
It’s also stuff I don’t want to post on my own personal blog “niciseoul.com”- my mom follows me here as well…
Check it out, you will know what I mean ;)

Nicole x

Fashion Blogger PEONY LIM, Makeup Artist KAY...

asiahighfive — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:42:00 +0900

Fashion Blogger PEONY LIM, Makeup Artist KAY MONTANO at Becauselondon.com

Peony Lim is a londoner fashion blogger, halfchinese and halfbritish who was travelling throughout Asia buying stock for her online boutique. I follow her on Twitter… ;)
Kay Montano is a make up genius who has worked with all the photographic greats, including Helmut Newton,Testino, von Unwerth, on campaigns such as Kate Moss Obsession, Versace, Calvin Klein, Fendi, Ralph Lauren and American, French, Italian, Russian and Asian Vogues, W magazine, Allure, Pop, I-D etc.

So, you can imagine how excited I got when Gemma at Becauselondon.com took me backstage for my blog!

I hope you like the short video and photos, you should also check out the final beauty video, here.
Last but not least, here are the two awesome filmeditors doing their thing. Gemma and Kim. They deserve more credit for all the fabulous video work they do at Tank Magazine/Becauselondon.com !

Nicole x

LONDON EYE! Finally, we got to ride...

asiahighfive — Thu, 03 May 2012 06:34:07 +0900

LONDON EYE!
Finally, we got to ride this Ferris wheel, or Millennium Wheel, or whatever you wish to call it.
They say it is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe and it is visited by over 3.5 million people annually.
And hooray! My mom and I were one of those…
If you come early, like on a Monday around 10 am, you will have to wait for about 30 minutes.
Don’t let the queue scare you off, it really isn’t that bad and the wait is totally worth it.
Let the photographs say they rest…

Nicole x

I secretly watch k-pop videos. And this is my new...

asiahighfive — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:12:00 +0900

I secretly watch k-pop videos.
And this is my new video-crush: TaeTiSeo’s “Twinkle”.
K-Pop videos always get me. It doesn’t matter, how cheesy they may get.. I think their videos are awesome.
Period ^_^

Nicole x.
P.S: TaeTiSeo is the official sub-group of South Korean girl group, Girls’ Generation.

NERD TALK! So, I came across...

asiahighfive — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:13:00 +0900

NERD TALK!
So, I came across this app “Gifrus” and since discovering this App, I just can’t stop using it.
Why?
1. It simplifies your life! ^_^
2. Like Instagram you can choose from various filters to create the look you want within seconds.
3. Animated photos are full with memories - So, 1 photo may be worth a thousand words, but imagine how much more “words” you could capture with animated photos/gifs?
4. Last but not least, it’s for free.

I really highly recommend this brilliant app!

My mom has seen quite of bit of London now. She even got to ride a Routemaster bus. A big thank you to David for being the best guide ever! Today it’s shopping day… and I think that I will be able to handle without any help! ;)
I wish you all a great Sunday!
Nicole x

My mom is in London! ^_^ I picked her up from the...

asiahighfive — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:07:17 +0900

My mom is in London! ^_^
I picked her up from the Airport and we headed to Central London as soon as possible.
She really wanted to ride one of those “high red” buses and got disappointed when we took some boring old train.
But, at least the weather decided to magically stay sunny - it has been raining A LOT lately.
Above you see some impressions of the day!
I used the App ‘GifRus’ to create those animated gifs.
It’s so easy to use and I’m a huge fan of anything that simplifies your life! If I knew this existed before, I wouldn’t have spent so many hours making my own ones!
Anyways, instead of editing some gifs or photos I will go to bed early for a change. I have a feeling we will need a lot of energy tomorrow ^_^

Good night, sleep tight!
Nicole x

CHOCCYWOCCYDOODAH!! Choccywoccydoo - What?! No, no, its not...

asiahighfive — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:28:00 +0900

CHOCCYWOCCYDOODAH!!

Choccywoccydoo - What?! No, no, its not about skulls or puppies. It’s a coffee/cake shop. A very stylish one indeed.

David and I were originally looking for Hurwendeki. One of my favourite friends recommended me to this place. I take every word she says for gold, so I really wanted to find Hurwendeki. But instead Google Maps lead us to Choccywoccydoodah.

A big black building and red walls. It looks very “suspicious”, but the smell of chocolate simply lured us in.

I loved their interior design. Especially what they did with the lamps!

Their main attractions were those beautiful looking cakes. I wasn’t even sure if they were edible. But yep! It’s sugar ;)

The menu is… quite large. I guess they didn’t have any menues left, but this one goes up till my hips. And I’m tall: 174 cm.

I had coconut cake. It didn’t blow my mind. But at least it came with ice-cream and raspberry sirup.

I should have tried one of their chocolate instead. Thats what got us in the first place.

Side note: I really want those lamps!!

So this was Choccywoccydoodah!
It’s just in the hidden streets near Liberty, Carnarby or Oxford Street. Sometimes you just have to get lost to find awesome places! It’s definitely a quiet and cool coffee shop to hang out with friends or your boy/girlfriend after long shopping hours.
The cakes from the French Bakery are still my favourites, but the French Backery is quite posh and expensive. Whereas Choccywoccydoodah is the place to spend hours without going broke. It actually also inspired me a bit for my next project. For example, I have to build in those lamps. Somehow! Like everywhere and in every corner!!
I assume you saw my simple blogpost last night, the photo “Soulmates”.
“Soulmates” is the title of a short fashion film and I can’t wait to publish more details. We’ve got such a great team and we are going to need heaps of your help, so please stay tuned on niciseoul.com! ^_^

Nicole x

Fashion Film “SOULMATES” coming up soon. Nicole x

asiahighfive — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:40:00 +0900

Fashion Film “SOULMATES” coming up soon.
Nicole x