Shutterbug of Many Countries

Ellen Nichols at The Gallery in the Village, written by Marje Koërber, photography by Manriquez Studios

Shutterbug. Many people call themselves shutterbugs but how many of us are really any good at taking photos? Ellen Nichols, who found her outlet for art in photography, has seen her endeavor for taking beautiful photographs, with the advent of digital cameras, really grow. Nichols says: “I was not good at drawing like my mother and sister but photography has opened up a wonderful way for me to express myself in the art world.”
Nichols, a native of Denmark came to America for a year, went to work and decided to stay in her adopted country. She retired in1988, after a long corporate career with Southern California Edison, and moved fulltime to Sugarloaf. She became immersed in community affairs and has served on the Board of Friends of the Big Bear Valley Library as president for two terms. She is a member of Soroptimist International, and currently serving as corresponding secretary as well as having served in other board positions. She is the current president of the Arts Council, 2005/2006. The Art Gallery opened in November 2002 and Ellen starting showing her photography in the Gallery in 2004.
Through her company, Ellen Nichols Photography and Graphic Design, she enjoys creating graphic designs and brochures for individuals as well as businesses. She also creates greeting cards, custom stationary, post cards, and rack cards.
She has traveled extensively back and forth to her native Denmark as well as visiting Russia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Spain, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic (Prague), Holland, Belgium, England, and all across the U.S. including Alaska.
Nichols has taken 700 to 800 photographs of our national parks. She goes through the photos, picks out the best ones to create slide presentations, determining which ones to blow up, frame, and display in the gallery and on her website, www.ellennichols.com. She has also fine tuned her ability to find and capture unusual and interesting sites where ever she goes. It takes a good eye and years of practice to recognize which settings will provide photos that speak and touch a special place inside
The front cover photo of Big Bear Magazine was taken by Nichols at sunset, looking west from Stanfield Cutoff. She also took one looking east at the same time of day, but the second one is totally different due to the topography, the colors and light, yet creating a beautiful scene of the same area, same day, and same time. Nichols’s current collection includes photographs of Big Bear, the California coast, Western National Parks, Alaska, China, Australia, Spain and her native Denmark. Email her at ellen@ellennichols.com or visit her website or The Gallery in the Village to view her work.