We were lucky to catch up with Ben Nichols recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ben , thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?
The biggest thing that you can do for anybody is to pray. I think haters are a big fuel to me obviously you’re gonna have haters and everything that you do and you’re never gonna have somebody who’s always rooting for you. They’re always be people who don’t like you, nor, do they want you to succeed. I think that if you actually pray for somebody and pray that they don’t see the hatred that’s inside of them that they might change and I think that’s what I learned with not only myself. I used to care way too much about what people thought of me then one day I was just “” I don’t need to worry anymore “”. because the same people that were hating on me when I was in high school and hating on my career choice are the same people that haven’t done anything with their lives and anytime I talk to those people I always ask them. Hey how’s it going? I try to be real with everybody and I hate to fake stuff.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a former United States Army photographer and I am a sports reporter. I mainly do senior photos and in game sports photos.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Overall, biggest skill that I learned was to work hard. I learned that you must work every day if you want to be really good at something. I think a lot of people think that you can just be naturally good at something and not put any work in. With photography, you can have the greatest equipment on the but the way that you present the photos and the way that you take them ultimately decides your fate. I think the photographers who do the same thing over and over again and don’t change things are the same photographers that themselves. What am I doing wrong? You can’t just keep taking the same photos in the same spots with the same people year after year and expect people to keep coming back to you you have to get unique and you have to go outside of the box nowadays parents are more interested in the more unique style of senior photo rather than, the traditional studio type photos.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
When I was in the army, I had the opportunity to shoot at nearby Murray State University. I was extremely fortunate to learn from a great group of people there, not only at Murray, but also on the road at places like Belmont, Southern, Illinois, and Indiana State. At Murray State, I basically had the full opportunity to do whatever I wanted, and at that time, it was something amazing that I was very grateful for. I was this kid whom nobody knew, and I just happened to walk in one day and show up out of nowhere. I learned a lot about my camera and the settings that I didn’t know how to use, but through the photographers at Murray State, they helped me understand what each thing does and how I can use it.They also took the time to just sit there and talk on some days
I met Scott, and he was one of the greatest people that I probably ever met in my life and the one who gave me one of the biggest opportunities that I’m so thankful for. Without Scott, I don’t think I would be in the position that I am today. During that time in my life, there were a lot of “No”s, but that just meant the next opportunity, and Scott gave me that opportunity. I’m forever thankful for that because I got to meet all these great people in the south, and I got to meet all these great students and student athletes and people whom I still talk to to this day.
Another challenge that I had was doing senior photos for a girl wrestler. Now, this wasn’t any ordinary girl wrestler; she was one of the best wrestlers in the state, if not the country. So the night before the photo shoot, I was a little nervous because I didn’t know much about wrestling. I watch pro wrestling, but I don’t watch actual wrestling. So all night, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to make these photos look amazing, how I’m going to do this and that. I get to the photo shoot that day, and it goes extremely well. I was very happy, and we did this blood photo that went viral, and people all across the internet were trying to cancel me, but it’s okay lol. After that, I tried to get myself into wrestling to fully experience and understand what it was like. So when the state tournament was happening, I knew, okay, this all makes sense now, and before it didn’t, so I learned a lot from that.
The blood photo was one of those photos that was like, “Whoa, this is crazy.” So the night before the photo shoot, I was watching a professional wrestling match that happened in Canada in 2023 with the wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling AEW. This match is probably regarded as one of the greatest pro wrestling matches of all time, and during that match, one of the wrestlers, his name is Will Osprey, got busted and started bleeding. So I’m sitting there, writing it down, then the next day when it’s time to do the shoot, I am in Party City standing there putting fake blood on my face, trying to figure out what would look the best.When the blood came, we took a towel and put it over her singlet because it was white, and I didn’t want it to stain or anything. So originally, I was going to take these little sponges that I got and wipe it on her face, but it didn’t look good, so I took the whole bottle and just poured it on her face and snapped the photo really quickly, and that’s how it became to be.
But then, I also go back and look at all the senior photo sessions I had before I got the equipment I have now, and I originally feel really bad because I didn’t have that equipment. I didn’t know what I was doing. So I’m very thankful that some people have reached back out and said, “Hey, could we redo these?” and I’m very happy that they reached back out because now I can also look back and see how much progress I’ve made, and it makes me extremely happy to know that I’ve come such a long way in such a short period of time.
Another great person that I have to mention is my guy, Vince. Vince has given me a lot of opportunities that I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten anywhere else. If there had to be a person within the last couple months that was there for me and believed in me, it’s definitely him I’ve gotten to do so much cool things through him. I don’t think I would’ve been able to do anywhere else or at least gotten the opportunities. He’s helped me out and I have a major respect for him.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bennichols.myportfolio.com/?fbclid=PAAaa_mbJVVP8hQCgKUT2Q4LIm02SK-BYg7M9ulQATv5klOxKCiPPSHUYmsQc_aem_AbyhFCc8DOp0orHBqHU7QU-9L7EwNcrvqFB8habwd53fEtth2ixMTawQV0RnAO4i_VM
- Instagram: Bennicholsmedia
Image Credits
Ben Nichols
