One of the many beauties of running is that it can be done anywhere, it doesn’t require fancy equipment, and it can take you to some beautiful settings.  It is a great release, it is my meditation time, and I wanted to create a piece that explored these feelings. As a photographer I strive to create work that I would describe as quiet yet “impactful” and contains a sense of place. “The Runner” hits all those marks.

(*one quick technical note it is best to let the entire piece load first or depending on your internet speed you might experience some pausing while the video loads)

The Runner from Ryan Nicholson on Vimeo.

This is going to sound like an acceptance speech but there are a lot of people who helped on this piece that I need to thank. First of all thanks to my friend and fellow photographer Brandon Sullivan for helping me shoot the piece. Brandon and I both worked as camera operators on the shoot and very simply put this piece wouldn’t have happened without him.

Thank you to my buddy Dan Neal for once again getting up in the wee hours of the morning to run for me. Thanks also to his amazing wife (sorry girls Dan is taken) Neeley Neal for her “PA” help on the day of the shoot.

The piece was edited and color graded by Steve Hagelman who I can’t say enough good things about. In addition to the editing and color work Steve also created the original music for the piece. I don’t know what other hidden talents he possess but I hope to find out on many future projects together.

Thanks to copywriter Derek Anderson who took my loose script of ideas and made it into a cohesive piece. Derek provided some great input and really put his stamp on the final product. Again I hope to find or create projects that allow Derek and I to work together in the future.

And finally thank you to my big brother Jeffrey Nicholson who provided the voice over, script assistance, and general guidance throughout the project. I am blessed to have someone like my brother who I can call upon for help and guidance.

If you are a still photographer the last few paragraphs should catch your attention. Shooting motion is definitely a team effort that requires extensive collaboration. I am proud of this piece and the “team” that helped create it.

The neighborhood where I live in Kansas City is constantly visited by “door hangers” those advertisements that you find hanging on your front door. They are hard to miss and cheap to produce so I would imagine they are an effective marketing tool at least from a ROI standpoint. I usually remove these ads and immediately place them in the recycle bin but I have to say this particular version caught my attention.

For one it has some subtle humor which gave me a giggle.

Second the bold proclamation “You Name The Price” in all caps and “No reasonable offer refused” is hard to ignore. I have no idea what a reasonable price for bush trimming would be but if I were looking for that service I would at least call for some additional information.

I am guessing that you could put reactions to this sort of marketing into three different groups:

Group #1: This is the problem with America right now everyone is undercutting each other’s prices.

Group #2: This is a smart marketing tactic to drive visitors to their website or at least contact the company for a quote. It helps them build a base of potential clients that are looking for the services they offer.

Group #3: Who cares.

I think there are some parallels to this in the photography industry right now. There is a Group #1 in the industry who I would call “the old school” (generally photographers who have been around for awhile) that spend a lot of time and energy talking about how the industry has changed and missing the so called good old days.

Group #2: The New School bunch who are trying anything to increase business. They are probably going to fail in some of their attempts and they will definitely upset “the old school” bunch along the way.

The fact of the matter is both groups have a version of the truth. In a lot of ways the industry has changed and not all of them for the better and we should be aware of what happened in the past and learn from the experience. At the same time you have live in the reality of the day and compete according to the current marketplace.

As Billy Joel says, “The good old days weren’t always good and tomorrow isn’t as bad as it seems.”

I know photographers or anyone in a creative endeavor can relate to the feeling of being on the cusp of some major improvement or change. For those of you that aren’t in the midst of a creative journey let me try and explain.

Part of the challenge of being a freelancer is most of the time we spend working on our own. We have our circles that we “run” in that hopefully provide support and feedback but ultimately the only way we are going to reach our full potential is by showing up day in and day out to challenge ourselves and push ourselves to try and make “better” images. Of course what is a better image is completely in the eye of the beholder but that is a topic for another day.

I made this image with my oldest daughter last weekend during our time at the lake. It isn’t an image that will find a place in my next portfolio update but it is an image that I can look at and personally see the growth that I have made over the past year or two as an image maker. The work and effort I am putting into my craft is paying dividends and that is very rewarding.

Someone told me recently that you get to a level as a photographer where you eventually are competing against yourself and that really resonated with me. When I first started out I would look at other photographers work and think I will never get to their level and now I realize that the journey is much more personal. My journey isn’t about other photographers work it is about making my work.

The fireflies are out:

The pools/spray parks are open:

And in our family the Shave Ice is flowing:

And daily visits to the park never disappoint:

From the Dismas House website:

Over the last 35 years, Dismas House has accumulated a great deal of knowledge and expertise with leading men and women through the transition process from a life of lawlessness, substance abuse and other destructive behaviors to one of genuine freedom, accountability and responsibility.

I have spent a good amount of money and energy pulling together the necessary equipment to shoot motion based projects as well as educating myself on the process over the past few months. Being in charge of producing, directing, and shooting is a different equation than a still photography project and thankfully I am able to lean on some of the expertise and knowledge that exists in my family. My father Larry Nicholson has many years of video production under his belt as does my brother Jeff Nicholson. Between the three of us I believe we are off to a great start on this project.

A big public thank you to my brother and father for their help, to Sheriece and the folks at Dismas House for trusting me with this project, and most importantly to the people who have shared their stories with us.

Here is a “teaser” I put together with some of my favorite moments from the initial interviews (if you are an e-mail subscriber to this blog you will need to visit the blog itself to view the video).

Dismas House Project Teaser from Ryan Nicholson on Vimeo.

This project is just getting started and I am anxious to see where it leads. I love telling stories and these men definitely have some stories and knowledge to share with the world. Stay tuned…

For the gear heads out there this footage was shot on Canon 5D Mark II using a Hasselblad 150mm lens. Sound was captured on a Zoom H4N.

All I have to say is well played my friends!

I recently added a Canon 5D Mark II camera to my kit and have started playing with motion capture. As many have talked about before this camera is an amazing piece of equipment. Since I am new to the Canon line I don’t have a ton of glass to work with but I had been reading on various blogs about people who are using various non-Canon lenses on the 5D and after a bit of research I found there are a variety of adapters available. Thanks to my Dad I have a good amount of Hasselblad glass as well as my staple of Nikon glass from my many years of shooting Nikon.

I found a Nikon and Hasselblad adapter on Ebay and let my credit card do some talking. The adapters arrived last week and a few days ago I put together a very simple test that I thought other folks would find interesting. Basically I shot the same scene on the same settings (aperture/shutter speed/ISO) on a tripod to give as fair of a test as possible.

All of this footage is straight out of camera with no color grading and to my eye at least the Hasselblad was the winner (I suppose like anything it is a subjective choice). I found the footage that I have shot with the Hasselblad glass is more contrasty and it seems to have a little more exposure latitude.

I really enjoy the fact that lenses my dad purchased in the early 60’s can stand toe to toe with the latest and greatest glass being produced by Canon. Now that I have a decent amount of glass to put to use I need to work on my camera stabilization skills among many other factors that come into play in the motion world. Interesting days ahead…

If you are reading this blog in a reader you will need to visit my blog to view the video content.