We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicholas Evanko. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicholas below.
Nicholas, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I don’t know that I have ever been an overly confident person. I know growing up, I struggled with shyness, and I think overall I’m a pretty introverted person. This is probably why Jada and I work well together as she is a bit more outgoing. Honestly, her support, along side the support of my family, and that of the friends i’ve been fortunate enough to make, are a big reason why I have confidence in myself and in our business. Without them none of this would have come together.
The confidence I have in myself and when it comes to my work also comes from my background, and growing up studying film and photography, My first couple semesters at university is where I found my footing. I didn’t have high confidence in myself and my work until other people, such as my peers and professors shared their own opinions of it. Ive always been very grateful for opportunities I had while I was in school, along with the personal interest of my mentors.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
We are a production company. This includes many types of content creation including Photography, Live Audio Recording/Mixing, Videography and Filmmaking. We have experience shooting Photography for Live Events, Weddings, Arts and Music Festivals, and Portraits. We create music videos, wedding films, marketing material for bands, promotional videos for events and businesses. We do a little bit of everything. Niching down to one area of work has never really been appealing to us, which is why we have spent the last few years building more than one portfolio of work.
We have specials on our new packages for bands and performance groups. They are called Promotional Marketing Packages and bands can create custom packages that fit their needs. This could include concert photography, live audio capture, live music videos, creative band photography shoots, concept videos, and promotional videos to name a few. We also have a sweepstakes going on called Get Scene for any new bands that hire us between now and November. We will pull a random band in November and they will win a free music video or photography shoot.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think one of the most important qualities in my profession, as well as many others, is to never stop learning. Ive been doing this kind of work since 2008 when I first went to school for it, and even now I am learning something new almost every shoot we do. Whether that be learning new qualities about working with people, technical details when it comes to our gear, or even how to control and shape light, which is another important skill.
One of the first aspects of photography and film you would want to focus on is Light. The “exposure triangle” is a term used to describe the relationship between lens aperture, camera shutter speed, and ISO, which is the sensitivity of the film or sensor. These are the tools of light regulation and help with exposure. Lighting is also a major aspect of cinematography and film. You can’t go out and spend 35,000 dollars on an Arri Cinema Camera and expect your images to look like a Hollywood film if you don’t know how to shape and control light. So anyone getting into film or photography I would say focus on learning about light and lighting techniques early on. That is a rabbit hole you could spend days in, and I continue to learn something new about lighting every shoot we go on.
There is also the technical side, learning how to use your gear is essential. No one wants to be in a situation where their photographer is playing around on their camera trying to find settings. Learn your gear backwards and forwards before you take on important shoots such as weddings.
Lastly Id say working with people is also an essential quality. This is something I continue to work on all the time. Since we do a number of different types of shoots, one day we may be working with an engaged couple and their family, the next we may be working with rowdy band members pumped up for a show. So learning how to work with different types of people is pretty important.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
I think there’s a few people who have really helped me in overcoming challenges and developing skills. One of them is my partner in life, and in business, Jada. Jada and I started this business together and in the early days I certainly had my reservations. In order to really make the business a success it required me to go all in. I tried working a full-time job and doing this at the same time, but a project that would take me a few weeks to complete now, took months to complete while working the second job. There was very little growth because of this. Trying to book new clients required us to have a full portfolio of work, people need to see your abilities before they can trust you with their projects. The more we had in our portfolio, the more work would come in, the more growth we obtained. On the other hand, leaving the security of a paycheck every week was pretty intimidating, and early on it was definitely a struggle, and financially stressful. There were times where I wanted to give up and go back to working a regular job to re-gain that balance and stability. Jada was always there to find solutions, pick me back up and help me find the confidence I needed to continue. None of it would have been possible without her.
Ive also been fortunate enough to have the support from my family as well. My mom, Sarah, actually helped me start the business. And before that she helped me get back on my feet after some pretty difficult times in my life. It gave me a second chance to get back into this kind of work. My dad, Mark, has also always been there for me. He was always willing to help, and has always supported our work. I think this was always the path I was meant for, and I’m glad I found my way back to it, thanks to the people in my life.
The community has also been really supportive, and I want to thank them for everything they have done for us. Every time they share our work or refer clients our way, it really does help us and means a lot. We have met some really amazing people through our work.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mindovermediastudios/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mindovermediastudios7045/videos
Image Credits
KeepSafe – Image 1 The Side Piece – image 2 Tom Nevers Fields – Image 3 The Warped Band – Image 4-5 The AAHF Prom Night – image 6-7 Abydos – Images 8 Samara – Image 9 Take the Hit – Images 10-11
