About Mark Nolan
How did you get started in photography? I first became interested in photography in my teens when I decided to go on an adventure and maybe do some travel writing and take a few photos. My brother and I went up to Alaska for the summer, where I earned money working for a gold company. When winter came we headed off to Hawaii. We had a lot of good times and didn't have a care in the world. I took some pictures and wrote a few articles for the local entertainment newspaper. I liked Hawaii so much I ended up staying a while... for over a year. It certainly was a cool place to spend a part of my youth. I was the proverbial starving artist, but enjoying every minute of it. My "real" job, when I wasn't surfing, was to sell t-shirts and suntan lotion to tourists girls at a beachside shop in Waikiki. Life was good. Later on I started an advertising agency and all of a sudden my press release work was appearing in places like The Wall Street Journal, on the front page above the fold. You can't buy an ad there for any price. People in the advertising business notice these things, so my phone started to ring off the hook. Soon my work was in Reader's Digest, National Geographic, Parade, Associated Press and in almost every newspaper you can imagine. I still remember one story that filled up an entire full page on the front of section C in a major metropolitan newspaper. I also had clients getting publicity on radio and television and on the Internet, you name it. We even got into the tabloids like the National Enquirer. One of my own projects was featured on the front cover of the Sun tabloid and had a two-page story that included photos of Oprah Winfrey and Cindy Crawford. Getting publicity is always a lot of fun. Getting swept up in the busy-ness world In the direct mail field I had even more good luck. I mailed millions of pieces of mail and sold millions of dollars worth of books I had written -- one was a bestseller and sold over 100,000 copies for $3 million in sales. I was just as surprised by this as I imagine that most of my former school teachers probably were. I marketed many other products and became incredibly busy. I was asked to give talks at seminars with folks like Dan Kennedy and Jim Rohn, sometimes traveling as far as from the USA to Europe to teach at a conference. It was a wild ride and it wore me out. I burned the candle at both ends and ended up with some serious health problems. In the back of my mind was this memory that what I had originally wanted to do was simply to travel to beautiful places, take some photographs, meet interesting people and do some writing. Although working as my own boss of my company was pretty cool, I'd still often daydream of all the fun I'd had in Hawaii. I've always leaned more towards the Jimmy Buffet lifestyle than the corporate office kind. I wondered how I had been caught up in the rat race? I guess it just snuck up on me. It happens to lots of people, maybe it has happened to you too. Meanwhile my brother had stayed in Hawaii and lived there for years and years, enjoying the sunshine, clean air and island lifestyle. Smart guy. John Lennon said life is what happens while we are busy making other plans. It's true. When we are old and looking back on our lives will we honestly wish we had spent more time at the office? I don't think so. If you read The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss you will get ideas of how you could get more living out of life, and only do work that you enjoy. These days I'm enjoying life Now I own a variety of niche websites that earn income for me while I'm free to do other fun things, like nature photography and model photography, spending time at the beach, etc. After all of the business busy-ness, here I am back to the simple life, doing work I enjoy, and taking time to smell the roses. And a good life it is, for me at least. I can work at home, wear comfortable clothes and listen to my favorite music. I have no commute, no meetings, no boss, no employees, and very little customer contact. I can spend time in nature, and work with models, and enjoy leisurely travel, etc. if I want to. It's peaceful and fun. Ask yourself this question: How many happy memories do you have? There is an old saying "Memories of happy things are better than the gold of kings." When you look back on your life will you wish that you spent more time at work and watching reruns on television? Or will you wish you had taken time to do more of those happy things you keep putting off until someday? Don't live on that island of "someday isle." Live right now in the present day and enjoy life before it passes by. "Sometimes I think life is all about what you focus on. If you want to 'live the good life,' try to focus on the good in each day. The world is a mix of good and bad but if you seek the good you will find it. By living in the moment and one day at a time your good moments and days can add up to a good life. All we have is this moment, this day, and the opportunity to make it a good one. Just for today, focus on the good." -- Mark Nolan Keep smiling, Mark
Copyright (c) 1998-2008 by Nolan Photography - All Rights Reserved. This material may not be copied, quoted or used in any format without written permission. |
As a writer and photographer, my philosophy is
to look for and "focus on" the beauty and the good in
life. I know that
my
small contribution to the world isn't going to change
history but I hope it may encourage a few people
along the way. It might even help them to appreciate every
day, and have