We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andrew Nichols a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Some of the best advice that I ever got was from my Dad. He simply said, “Learn how to do it before you get good at it”.

Learning to take pictures and becoming a visual artist is something that is never born overnight, but over time, it makes for something that can be quite gratifying. But before you can elevate yourself to anything to an artist level, the best thing to do is to learn how to do it first before you get good at it. The first thing that I needed to establish was to get familiar with a camera. What is a lens? What are the settings? What is focal length? Then, I needed to brush up on my skills of learning how to take a good picture. How to position myself where i need to be? What’s the correct posture? Learning how to do it before I get good at it, has had the biggest impact on my life and career.

The one thing that i’m always afraid of is taking a bad picture. However, one thing that I have learned from my time of being a photographer is the only bad photo is a photo not taken. So in order in to take good photos i needed to do one thing: take photos. A LOT of them. I didn’t care how bad they were. There could be one good one out of 200 pictures. If thats the case, then it is time well developed

the biggest obstacle is finding what your style is and what you can be good at. Everyone has their knack, but for me, i’ve always thought of things cinematically. I always pay attention to light, and i always look a different way when others are looking one direction. FInding beauty in small things has lead me to a greater chance of taking the best picture possible.

The skills i would say that have the most impact would be:
1. Know your equipment!! don’t figure it on the fly.
2. Have patience. Photography is about timing and chance.
3. If you don’t know what to photograph, the figure out what you DON’T want to photograph.
4. Don’t be afraid to mess up. You’re going to mess up so try and have fun.
5. Don’t be late.

Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into photography when i was in high school, but I really didn’t expand it into anything that would benefit me until I was in my twenties.

In college, I started taking pictures of our theatrical productions because there was no one else to do it. There wasn’t a dedicated photographer to do so, so I jumped right in and took the reigns because i was the only one who had a DSLR and knew how to work it.. Aside from being a part of the backstage and directing portion of theatre, taking photos both backstage and while productions were running seemed to connect with my style. I love to play around with lighting, theatre lighting always shapes people in the most artistic ways. Capturing that with a camera became my forte. So aside from capturing shows onstage, I also take pics for advertising of some of the plays that I’m involved with. I was in a stage production in 2016, and taking BTS pics got me to taking pics of rehearsals and eventually poster collaborations. Being a fan of cinematography, i always try to capture as much as I can cinematically, and I constantly think of ways of trying to capture things in a cinematic tone. Having done so has gotten me more work and i feel like it has set me at least a little bit apart.

Every single show that I take with my camera brings out a new set of ideas and its own challenges. But the best thing about it is I feel the more limitations that I have, the more creative i tend to get. However, there are key rules that helps me when i get onto a set.
– You have to make sure that your settings are correct.
– Make sure that your batteries are charged (I keep five on my person at all times)
– You have a memory card that is ready (i have at least two wherver I go)
– You have the right lenses (Again, always two. A Prime and a Zoom lens).
– Being aware of your stage surroundings. Making sure that you don’t get in the way of someone’s blocking.

The one thing that I’m most proud of is that I get to see a performance or a production that is entirely being created before my eyes. It’s thrilling to see a fresh face give light to something wholly original. Its exciting to see so many creative people come together in a room, and they are trusting you to capture that one moment that they have rehearsed for weeks, if not months, for.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Yes it did.

My first job outside of college was at Rogers State University as their auditorium/media supervisor. This means I was in charge of all theatrical spaces and cameras. I got to play a lot around with cameras and techniques, all the while getting to learn how to light people in a more creative way. On the side I was taking pictures for some fledgling theatrical companies, and covering some stories on my own with my Instagram. Now, I work as a photographer/videographer on the marketing team for Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, telling stories of students, faculty, and other events that go on on campus in a visual medium. It has allowed me to do this more for what I feel i was made to do.

Some milestones was winning several state awards for photography at state fairs over the years, I’ve participated and hosted five galleries of my own work in separate shows, I’m hired on with three theatrical companies to take pics for productions, as well as take pics for their advertising. Also, I’ve been nominated in the Top 5 Photographers in the Tulsa Area by Tulsa World.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Patience. Patience is best thing for being a photographer in ANY field. The right picture will come along for you to take. So be ready with your camera in hand.

Having a genuine love for the people around you. Developing a good working relationship makes the best for everything, especially for people who are on stage giving everything that they have and conquering their own fears and showing their talent is something truly special.

Also, if I don’t like how the picture looks, I say so. Speaking up about the creative process and getting it right is a lot better than trying to save face.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @c.andrewnicholsphotos
• Facebook: @C. Andrew Nichols Photos
• Linkedin: @ Andrew Nichols

Image Credits

1. Promotional Still for “Doubt, A Parable”. Produced by World Stage Theatre, 2021
2. Promotional Still for “I and You”. Produced by World Stage Theatre, 2023
3. Production Still for “Fiddler on the Roof”. Produced by Tulsa Performing Arts, 2024
4. Promotional Still for “Some Girls”. Produced by World Stage Theatre, 2023
5. Production Still for “Sunday in the Park with George”. Produced by American Theatre Company, 2019.
6. Production Still for “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!”. Produced by Tulsa Opera, 2024
7. Production Still for “The Song of Jacob Zulu”. Produced by World Stage Theatre, 2022.
8. Production Still for “The Chinese Lady”. Produced by World Stage Theatre, 2023