Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nicholas Dujon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nicholas , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I never thought to be the one to take photography seriously, the only time i held an actual camera was when i worked at the central park zoo. I would be the ones that would try to get people to stop and take pictures and if they liked it they could buy the pictures afterwards. At the time I only saw it as work at the time and I was still in school so I didn’t take it seriously. But a few years down the road, I wanted to find some type of hobby to try and keep myself outside the house sometimes and I ended up going with a friend who had a camera and was just shooting candid shots around the city and as I watched him I thought to myself, “I can do this”. I ended up buying a camera not too long after and that same friend gave me a photography 101 book which I skimmed through and pretty much taught myself the ins and outs of my camera with trial and error and eventually was shooting with my friend showing the pictures we took. Going out to shoot by myself would have been the biggest thing I would have done to speed up the learning process for the simple fact that you can go to the same place 3 times and have a different picture each time with a different meaning behind it. This sticks with me because I’ve gone to central park in the summer and in the fall and the atmosphere and the scenery were night and day. I think the most essential skill is to have confidence. I myself are not at that level of confidence yet i can admit, but taking a picture and not liking how it came out doesn’t mean that someone else won’t like it and i kept that with me for the longest, i would always show the picture out of the camera to someone if they’re doing a photoshoot because it can always be edited in post, but there are very rare instances where pictures need absolutely no editing whatsoever.
The biggest obstacle that stood in my way of learning more is me being introverted. Trying to advertise that I take pictures is alot and the one way I did conquer that is when I brought my camera to an anime convention and took pictures of people that I thought had cool cosplays of. Most photographers were charging people for the pictures but I was just taking the pictures and giving it to them when I finished, and the only thing I would ask is for them to credit me if or when they post and for a follow on my photography page. I gained so many friends this way that actually appreciates my craft and it is by far the biggest hurdle I overcame.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started photography by just watching my friend take pictures and from there I just started doing it as a hobby and a year later I was actually getting paid for photoshoots. I try to be open for anytype of photoshoots, I’ve done a first look, engagement and birthday photoshoots. What sets me apart from others is that I really like to plan out things. If someone wants to do a photoshoot, I would take notes and brainstorm up until the day of the shoot to try and have the shoot go as smoothly as possible. I want clients to know that i take my time with the shoots so i wouldn’t rush and rapid fire unless the client is short on time, so we can also brainstorm on the fly, we don’t have to follow things by the book majority of the time, but planning i feel is the best thing to do. Eventually I want to try and do videos and I have been researching and doing the prep for it. I just need to find the time and practice recording and piercing together the clips. I managed to do one and it took me a very long time to edit, but it came out good. Hopefully in the future it can be second nature like photography and I can edit and make videos faster. I want my range in photography to expand to different ranges of photo/video shoots. I’m most proud of actually making money for my craft. I would have never thought that i would be making money taking pictures, i always thought of it as a hobby ever since i made my photography page on instagram,but then i kept getting told by friends that i can make some money off of it because my pictures were so good to them, it wouldn’t hurt to try.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

It’s hard as a small business as opposed to people that have their following already but everyone starts from the same spot but helping small businesses in the slightest goes a long way. I’ve watched friends get their exposure but people sharing their posts and that one share got them so many views. But nowadays with it being switched to shorts/reels it leaves a bad effect when people are reliant on pictures more than videos, so it forces us as creatives to adapt if they haven’t already.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Having people that support me is my biggest drive, even in my creative blocks I still get support from all my friends asking me if I have pictures to upload or if I’ve been out shooting. It also helps that it makes me want to try more styles of photography. I just got a drone so I’m excited to see what work I can get out of that. The compliments, the advice, people wanting to take pictures with me, it all helps and keeps me going to keep doing what I like to do and elevate to new areas if i can.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @NickNastyShoots

Image Credits
All Of These Photos Are Mine @NickNastyShoots