Nicole Gates Photography

J E A N S

Denim, invented in 🇫🇷 France , yet nothing can be more 🇺🇸American than wearing them.

The gorgeous Fran Baker . I guess you could say Frances in France’s invention.

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Also….its Frances (girls name) and not Francis (boys name)😉

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Photographed in my gorgeous studio on Main Street in McAllen.

🖤 S L I T H E R 🖤

There is something about bo***ir. Something about using light or lack thereof to create a mood. Something about that little perfectly placed slither of light. ✨

***irmcallentexas ***irphotographer ***irphotography ***irphotographystudio ***irphotographer ***irphotography ***ir ***irphotography

M E M É

The most beautiful woman in the world and giver of great hugs.

We call her Memé. This woman is the strongest I know (she always disagrees on this fact 😂).

Born and raised in Chile to Scottish parents as Janet Joyce Kirk, she was known as Joyce, and later as “La gringa” or “gringita.”

She was born in Sewell, a small mining town in northern Chile, the youngest of three with two older brothers. At six, her world imploded when her mom died of breast cancer and her dad died of tuberculosis six months later. Suddenly, she was an orphan. Still a baby… vague memories of her childhood combined with a few photographs that survived a fire that would almost take every last memory of them.

Her oldest brother disappeared, and they reunited when mom was in her late 30s or early 40s. She discovered he had moved to Sweden and had three children she loves dearly. His departure…another loss.

Mom was placed with a great aunt who ran a boarding house for girls. There, she met her “best friend/sister,” Marta, who became family. The great aunt wasn’t much of a hugger, and Marta (La Martita) became her family. My mom loves hugs. They are deep and tight and long and their effects linger even after the hug has ended.

Her other brother, seven years her senior, went to live with another family, but stayed in mom’s life and paid for her to attend university. Education was her wheelhouse; she got her Master’s in Agricultural Engineering with a focus on plant pathology, specifically citrus fruit disease.

She always emphasized the importance of education and financial independence. She was one of four women in her agricultural engineering class and remains close with two of the 3 women, Annelore and Monica.

Then she met my dad, a Danish and Dutch blue eyed European engineer in Chile. It was love at first sight, and although he moved away to Europe, he returned years later to propose.

Mom has made such a difference in so many people’s lives. Those who know her well, know. Some of them know her better than I ever will.

She lives so fiercely and she is a source of joy, inspiration and strength for so many…and a giver of great hugs.

Love you mom!

G O N E G I R L G O N E

Back in studio after 7/12/2024!

🖤

B R O T H E R S

These two… they are so funny. 11 years apart. Cooper was exactly Logan’s age now when Logan was born. It seems like a lifetime ago. It seems like it was yesterday.

Great buddies. They actually have fun together. Sometimes they drive each other crazy. Well usually it’s Logan driving Cooper crazy because he is staying up too late laughing with me over funny meme’s when Cooper has to get some sleep…cause he has a real job haha.

The hardest part for Logan growing up was when Cooper left for college. How excited he was when he would come home. Logan always looked up to him so much. Wanted to be just like him. They share so many of the same interests. Animé, being able to solve a Rubik’s cube in less than a minute, drawing, gaming….so much gaming!!!!! And of course, swimming. Although Logan is not so sure anymore…but we shall wait to see.

They are so alike in so many ways. Same sense of humor and sometimes totally different. But little by little they each are discovering who they are and their individual personalities are becoming more evident.

One thing is certain, I am so glad they will always have each other. A forever bond that will outlive us. A deep friendship. And even though they are years apart, as they grow older, they will find that age and life gap closing. I am so thankful for both of them. Their faces and smiles make my heart swell.

PORTRAITS OF MY BOYS. These will go in a gorgeous luxury bespoke album made in Italy and will go up on the wall in a beautiful collage of framed portraits mixed with floating canvas and Italian cotton linen canvas, also made in Italy.

❤️

🖤 A L L O F A S U D D E N 🖤

A little fun in the studio yesterday to capture my own family. It’s been an absolute wake up call to me this past year how important family photos are. Life changes so quickly and before you know it, your life is different. And then nothing but regrets for all the things you never got around to doing, like taking family photos. All the reasons you put it off become so pointless. And trust me.

One day….All you will have left are memories and hopefully hopefully you will have the photos to help you remember. Photos are so powerful and will mean more than you could possibly know now.

The time to schedule these family sessions is now. Because life takes unexpected turns. Stuff happens. It will. Your circumstances will change. Overnight. Things will happen.

Your kids will all of a sudden not have that baby face. All of a sudden Grampa will not be able to walk anymore. All of a sudden, your oldest will be off to college. All of a sudden one of you gets sick or cuts off a finger during a weekend warrior project. All of a sudden your parent is on hospice. All of a sudden your kid will get a job in another city and scheduling a shoot will be a task. All of a sudden one of your kids falls in love and your family dynamic changes (which is a great thing but you will want to remember the before…). All of a sudden your kids become more serious and lose that silliness and innocence before they become so self aware. All of a sudden you will find yourself with no photographs to remember all of the sudden little changes.

All of a sudden will happen even though you knew it was coming. All of a sudden you will not have that photo.

You owe it to yourself to take photos like these. You owe it to them. I know 😔.

This photo is for you dad. 🩷

PORTRAIT OF MY FAMILY

K A J A

My beautiful cousin-in-law . It was so fun to get the chance to photograph her and the whole family when they came to see us in November. Of course before family photos, we had to do shots with just her because mama needs some time to herself to be pampered and celebrated as a woman.

Moms need this. You need this.

Portrait of
Hair and Makeup

HELLO EVERYONE!

I’m late to the party this year! So as you read this, please know that TODAY is the last day to contribute !!!!! Please take a moment to read even if you are not able to contribute, but we hope you do.

SPINA BIFIDA

Something many people don’t know much about. Many people have never even met someone born with spina bifida. So it’s easy to overlook or never consider challenges that other families have.

Here are some statistics about spina bifida:

In the United States, spina bifida occurs in about 1 in 2,000 live births, or roughly 1,500 babies each year.

Spina bifida is the most common central nervous system birth defect.

The prevalence of spina bifida varies by geographic region and ethnicity.

In the United States, Hispanic women have the highest rate of having a child with spina bifida compared to non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black women.

The exact cause of spina bifida is unknown, but scientists suspect genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors all play a role.

In most cases, spina bifida is diagnosed before birth (prenatal).

The estimated lifetime cost of care for a person with spina bifida, with caregiving costs, is
🟧 $791,900. 🟧

Here is some information about my call for donations in this post (you can read more at www.suzannahsmiles.org)

Casey Swanson, an avid cyclist, and Jackie Swanson came up with the idea to start this challenging and grueling cycling event to fundraise for Spina Bifida Texas (SBTX) who helped them so much when they needed a resource and a supportive community to help them understand living and thriving with Spina Bifida for their daughter Suzi.

They now hold this event every year to give back to the Spina Bifida community and SBTX, an invaluable resource that was so supportive of the Swansons.

This particular fundraiser is in support of the SB250. It’s a two day bicycle ride from Edinburg to San Antonio, Texas to raise funds and awareness for Spina Bifida. Throughout two grueling hot Texas summer days, cyclists grind mile after mile in the heat of Texas.

🥵🚴🏻🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏻🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏻🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏾‍♀️🚴🏽🚴🏽🚴🏾‍♀️

Please consider donating to this amazing cause founded by the Swanson Family and named after their daughter Suzannah Swanson who I had the pleasure to photograph for her senior photos several years ago!!!! Also, I think Suzannah ROCKS!!!!!!!

She is not only beautiful, but sweet and smart and boy she does amazing things! Check out her photos! She was also a swimmer and competed in swimming in high school. There is nothing she cannot do.

She has been in the news several times too!

https://myrgv.com/publications/the-monitor/2018/05/12/more-than-able-mcallen-memorial-freshman-pushing-to-medal-in-state-wheelchair-finals/

(They got it back!)

https://images.app.goo.gl/E7tmZFW4JWC8usFB8

Every little bit helps. Thank you thank you!🙏🏻!!!! — with John Gates and Jackie Swanson.

Here’s the link!!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/9xf2gtXjf9GHiCPV/?mibextid=WC7FNe

🖤 W E L C O M E 🖤

Hello and welcome to my page!!!! I have had lots of new followers and thought it would be a good time to jump on, say hello and reintroduce myself!

Firstly, I want to say THANK YOU for being here and for following my work. We live in the age where social media has become the number one way for small business to THRIVE. It allows us to show what we do, talk about why we do it, and why you, the viewer, could benefit and enjoy our services. Ever since I opened my studio in 2019, I have seen the power that social media has, for good and for bad. And I remember the days when it was mostly good stuff. Positivity and connection was the reason why we all jumped on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Then it became a place for inspiration and education, cute dog videos, how to clean your house and where to find the cutest outfits for your body type hahaha.

The magic of social media is that it costs you nothing, but time (which is previous I know) to support small businesses like mine. I am SO SO APPRECIATIVE of the support I have. Every time you take the time to double tap an image, you are saying, I support you, I want you to succeed, I want others to see your work, and hopefully it means, more than any other reason, that you love my work and want to see more as I grow in my creative profession.

I love being a photographer. I love it. I opened my studio when I turned 50 😱 as a fun job after my retirement and it has been the single greatest endeavor of my life. I get to meet the most incredible people and remind them they are unique and amazing and perfectly imperfect. I get to show women (and sometimes guys) that taking space and making a statement and being photographed professionally doesn’t belong to just a certain group of people. This is your chance to feel like and LOOK LIKE a supermodel for a day. You don’t have to have a reason like a wedding or headshots for work to be photographed. Any reason is a good reason!

The other thing you should know about me is that almost always, I have something to say. So my photos may include a bit about the person or something I thought of when I looked at or recalled their amazing shoot. Con’t.

B I R T H D A Y G I R L 🖤

I’m a day late, but I believe birthdays should last all weekend! Happy Birthday to this gorgeous beauty Paulina. Elegance is her vibe. And this dress was just 🙌🏻. It’s my favorite red color.

The beautiful
Hair and Makeup

[If you believe that it is our duty to leave our children with beautiful portraits of ourselves, so that they will have a photographic timeline of your life, so they can remember your smile, the crinkle of your nose, the way your hair fell in your face, the way your eyes lit up when you saw them, then I would love to have you on my studio to help you create these important memories. One day, your children and your children’s children will go looking for photos of you…what will they find? To schedule a session, visit my website and fill out the contact form and let’s get the conversation started!]

🖤 S T Y L E 🖤

I love the ability to create an environment where women and I collaborate to create images that represent them in every way. Style, personality, image, vibe, and passions.

Whether you need images for branding, for social media or online presence, marketing, or simply to gift your family with images that will make them say “that is soooooo you mom!”

There will come a time when a woman might wake up one day and say “who am I?” Or “how did I change so much?” Or “I want to be my old self again.” Some women lose themselves a bit as they get older, change careers, when their children move away, their marriage changes shape for better or worse, and they change because they are older, wiser, and focused on other things. Sometimes we get lost in our roles or responsibilities and we stop having fun.

And all of that change is normal and okay and part of our journey. But we have to work hard to find ourselves again. We have to work hard at remembering. So being able to preserve parts of who you are at a younger age is so important. Photographs connect us to memories, feelings, state of mind. Our children will also benefit from seeing us throughout the years, embracing change as it may.

Who are you if you are not a mom, wife, daughter? How do you want to be remembered? Who do@you want to be when you grow up?

So whatever your reasons are for being photographed, I hope to earn your business one day, as long as I’m still a photographer, something that will always be an important part of my life’s journey.

Portrait of of
Hair and Makeup by

H E A D S H O T

Something a little different for what people usually see here in the RGV when it comes to headshots. It’s funny because usually people tend to ask for what they have seen others do. Keeping up with the Joneses thing ya know?

But does that make you stand out? Does that make people pay more attention to your headshot when they scroll in social media? What do you think? I personally love all styles of headshots, but this style of close up headshot is probably my favorite.

These are aaaaalllll about your personality and eye connection. I personally love this crop and letting your eyes do all the talking.

Stay tuned for announcements for my next petite session day in August. That would be a great time to come in for a quickie headshot session too!

The gorgeous when she had blonde hair!
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🖤 6th G R A D E 🖤

My sweet, smart, precocious, funny, naughty, cool, way too smart for his own good, little Logan. I won’t be able to call him “my little Logan” for much longer. He is a cool kid. Every kid I know wants to be his friend. He loves having friends. He is a great friend. He loves to talk and laugh and sometimes make weird noises. Incredible swimmer, math and science whiz. Avid gamer, amazing artist, meme and funny GiF lover, and simply hilarious. Also, stubborn. Oh my God soooooo stubborn….ahem, I mean, confident, principled and strong-willed. Love him so.

My favorite shoots, by far, have to be the ones of my kids. Even if it is extremely painful the entire time 😂(photographerskidproblems- if you know, you know). Hahaha

There was a time when he was such a willing participant. But, having a mom who always wants to take your picture can make that be not so fun. Plus, I want to try a little of this, and a little of that and experiment so it can drag on a bit for him. But, we still get magic. I still get 100% him. In between the “I don’t want to be here” faces. And that’s just it, I tell mamas not to stress when it’s their kids, but I get it. I promise we will still get the shots. My crazy laugh even works on my little kid. We shot for about 40 minutes and I got enough photos to fill an album and a gallery wall of images. These are just a few of my favorites.

🖤 L I T T L E 🖤

I love taking photos of children when they are not doing what moms want them to do during a photoshoot. Smile, sit still, sit pretty.

There is such genuineness about children. If they are happy, you know it. If they are angry or upset, you know it. If they are bored, you know it. If they are goofballs, introverts, silly, grumpy, serious, energetic, you know it. They have not yet been exposed to societal rules of disguising one’s feelings for the comfort of others.

I love when kids just plop down and sit there. I love when kids make silly faces or dance or even bite their sister’s toe during a family shoot. (Yep, that happened and it’s one of my favorite family photos ever but I don’t have permission to share it 😔).

The best photos happen when they forget about me and my camera and do their thing. I love love love it. Knowing this about me that I love the realness, it helps parents relax during their shoots with their kids too. No expectations. No worrying or getting frustrated.

Because you will get real photos of your kids doing real things, giving funny expressions, even crying. And you will cherish those photos more than you know. And yea of course we will try and get the smiles, and we usually do. But these images are the ones that make my mama heart melt.

🖤 L E G S F O R D A Y S 🖤

I mean…. I don’t know a woman who doesn’t want a portrait like this. I know I would. I really really photograph women in the way that I would like to be photographed…how I would like to be seen. How I would like to feel like.

Gaby showed me some inspiration photos that led us here. Photos that were totally different, because it was in a different space, different person, different photographer etc etc, but it led me to putting this look together for her using her favorite “bought it during C$vid” top. My trusty black tulle skirt rocks. Every time.

And out came a side of Gaby that was insanely awesome and amazing! I mean, her whole shoot was amazing, but there was a transformation here.

I style my clients with looks that I love. I buy things for my studio closet that I would wear. I give women a supermodel for a day experience because we all have that supermodel inside of us. Sometimes we don’t know it. We are too used to self deprecation or self critique that says “oh me? Aw hell no.” Or “I could never pull that off!” Or “I don’t have the body.” Or “I’m too old.” Or “I don’t have the legs.” Etcetera etcetera.

Sound familiar? I get it. I have been there. Hating my body or what I’ve let happen, what I’ve done to myself. All of those feelings. And then I meet young women who are a size 2-4-6 and they think the same about their body that I do at a larger size. And I think…oh my gawd I would love to look like her, be healthy like her. Comparison is the thief of all of joy. And we all need to stop.

That’s why I’m here to tell you that no matter your age, your shape, your size, you CAN be photographed in this way. Maybe the pose changes slightly because…mechanics…but there is a way that every woman can connect with her unique beauty and let it shine during a photo shoot. I love this about my job.

I have more photos from this part of Gaby’s shoot but will just leave this one here for now.

Portrait of
Hair and Makeup
Studio Asisstant
Backdrop “Wheat”
Lighting

🖤 WWBDD🖤

IYKYK.
The fabulous channeling a little sexiness in front of my “Montana” wall.

Having a nice 🥃 that was my dad’s Johnny Walker stash here at the studio. I had it here with the hopes he would come hang out with me years ago at my studio and sit and have a small whiskey. Neat. Just how he liked it. Now it will only happen in my dreams.

But for Angela we had to break out one of those amazing round ice “cubes”- what do you call it if it’s not a cube? An ice ball?

Love this amazing coat from which lives in my studio closet!

Ready for your turn? The wall may not be here too much longer…or should it stay?

To inquire about a shoot with me, visit my website and fill out the form to set up a quick call with me. I can answer all your questions to help you decide if I’m the right photographer for you! 🤠

Portrait of Angela Gevock
Hair and Makeup

🖤 S T A Y T R U E 🖤

To who you are. Believe in yourself and don’t let anyone make you feel less than. Do right by people, be kind, work hard, and the rewards will come at you in ♠️.

The gorgeous . Frances Baker.

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Backdrops painted by
Photographed in my gorgeous natural light studio.

🖤 S W E E T S L U M B E R 🖤

It’s giving Prince Charming where are you vibes. The gorgeous photographed in my last studio.

Hair and Makeup

🖤 J E A N S S E R I E S 🖤

I was always a fan of Calvin Klein and Guess Jeans ads. It’s why I love simple denim anything for shoots….I love it all….jeans, shirts, jackets, the Canadian tuxedo look, jeans and a tank, jeans and a white blouse…it’s all good…🖤

The beautiful in the studio
Hair and Makeup
Backdrop

🖤 R O C K E R C H I C 🖤

Thought I would retouch another image from this shoot…from 2022!!!! Emilia has been a great model and test subject for me. She always makes herself available when I want to try new things, new lighting, new styling and new equipment.

The other thing she is great about is she patiently waits for photos (she gets any and all photos I choose to retouch and post) and has never demanded or asked for anything. I retouch her images between clients.

That’s why I love to just keep sending her images. Even years later. She also gives me the artistic license to choose the ones I like best.

🖤Did you know that MOST often, I like photos of clients that they don’t like of themselves? So sometimes I don’t even get to show my favorite images from my sessions because the clients didn’t choose them. And I respect their decisions and opinions 100%. I always like the unique and interesting, edgy and different.

However, it is a reminder that I see you so differently than you do; I have no attachments and no preconceived notions of what your face “should” look like, or what expressions are “more you” or what your desired body shape is.

Sometimes clients don’t choose amazing images of themselves because of a multitude of reasons like “my face is too round” or “I don’t like my hand in this,” or “that doesn’t look like me,” or “my nose is crooked,” or “I look short/fat/old etc etc.”

So I invite you, current and old and clients to be, to give yourself some grace, and trust your photographer… after all, you hire a professional photographer BECAUSE you want something different than your every day…BECAUSE you want to step outside of your comfort zone,…BECAUSE you like their work…and trust me, that photographer (I.e. “me”) wouldn’t choose a photo of you where you look “ugly” or bad in any way… we look at people differently…people are art…and every wrinkle, every crooked nose, every round face, every pair of lanky long legs is what we live for!!!!!! And if that photo is of you…it DOES look like you.

🖤

🖤 V A N E S S A 🖤

A blast from the past with photos of this gorgeous beauty! Vanessa Tovar .v.tovar She had a photo session to commemorate an important time period in her life before she moved to pursue her dream career. There are many reasons to have a photo session. And they are all good reasons.

The most important thing is to have one because years down the road you will still love your photos. Even more as you get older. Your family, your kids, the people who love you will be so glad you did this. And so will you.

I love having a big studio to create these lifestyle type images. I love that I don’t have to go anywhere to get this look. I also love that we can change things up enough to make each shoot look slightly different.

I’m constantly looking for ways to add variety to my shoots and to show something different, while still creating photos that are recognizable as my work. The best way to do that is by listening to what you as my client want to create. You being the vibe and the inspiration and I create my version of it.

Portrait of Vanessa Tovar
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