“One of my earliest memories is sitting on the floor taking apart a Brownie camera to see how it was made” – Danna Nicholson

Back before we all could whip out our phone and snap a selfie, Danna Nicholson was carrying an old school camera wherever she went. In the back of her head, she knew that photography was what she wanted to do and what she would eventually do, but her dream of raising a family and being a mother came first. “I wanted my children to be older before I dove into it because as much as I wanted to be a photographer, I also wanted to be a stay at home mom,” she said as she talked about doing photography part-time when her kids were younger. Today, her kids are grown (and one is even working with her) and she’s all in when it comes to taking photos. We talked about how she doesn’t have a particular niche, catching memories, and more.

Kendra: You do just about every type of photography under the sun from maternity to promotional to sports. That seems to be out of the norm as many photographers like to stick with one niche and run with that. Do you feel like you’ll ever want to do just one type or do you feel like that’s settling in a way?

Danna Nicholson: To me, being a photographer is all about documenting memories, life, moments, you name it. If something is in my sight, it is subject to being photographed. There are certain things that I do enjoy photographing more than others, but honestly, I love it all. I don’t ever see myself settling for just one thing or another. It’s not who I am. I just take pictures. Whatever it may be. Having all types of subjects to shoot just keeps it interesting!

Kendra: When it comes to your work, it’s all about real life in the real world. You don’t tend to work in a studio. How do you feel that adds to a photo in the end?

Danna Nicholson: Studio photography is not my style, although I do appreciate photographers who do studio work. I think there is a great dedication to this field of photography by so many talented, amazing artists, but it’s just not me. I am all about natural light and using what the good Lord has given us to use as my backdrops. I am just more interested in being as natural and using real-life in my photos as possible.

But I am thankful for studio photography! Studio photography has a huge purpose and the photographers in this area of photography serve it well. I have several friend/photographers who have studios and recommend people to them quite often.

Kendra: Say you were given the chance to spend an hour shooting one famous person, dead or alive, who would it be and where would you take them for a session?

Danna Nicholson: If the possibilities of picking any one person and taking them anywhere, were limitless, I would pick Jesus. And I would take him to some third world country and just capture him being him. I can only imagine!

Kendra: Lastly, tell the people what you have going on with your photography as we head deeper into the summer and 2019.

Danna Nicholson: I work with my daughter (she’s a videographer) and we are traveling for our shoots more than ever now. Senior sessions are in full swing since 2019 graduation. Weddings, seniors, maternity, families and more are filling up our schedule more than ever!