Nick Fancher 1/31/23 Nick Fancher 1/31/23

Images From Latest Creative Portrait Workshop

This past weekend I taught a 2-day Creative Portrait workshop at my Columbus, Ohio studio. Students came in from Utah, Arizona, Texas, and New York. It was an intimate time of learning, experimentation, and creativity…

Nick Fancher 7/12/21 Nick Fancher 7/12/21

Creating Dappled Light with a DIY Reflector

What if I told you that i only used one light to create this image. It’s true. I used one of my favorite lighting modifiers— a DIY reflector…

Nick Fancher 2/10/21 Nick Fancher 2/10/21

Playing with Bold Colors and Silhouettes

This was a fun, quick little color study with Erin Hurt, who did her own hair, makeup, and wardrobe styling. I wanted to focus on color and silhouette, so I had her select items with interesting shapes, like suit jacket or an A-line dress…

Nick Fancher 11/15/20 Nick Fancher 11/15/20

Shutter Drag with Window Light / Creating Dappled Light with DIY Reflector

I wanted to create a dappled light effect, similar to sunlight reflected off of windows. I actually came across this effect by accident. I bought some mirror stickers used for crafting, which I adhered to a piece of cardboard. I had scored the cardboard on the back which made it an easy-to-carry tri-fold reflector. The happy accident came about in that the corrugated cardboard texture created the dappled light effect when lit with a bright light source, in this case a flash…

Nick Fancher 10/19/20 Nick Fancher 10/19/20

Collaboration with Clothing Designer Xuena Pu

This was a deceptively simple shoot. Designer Xuena Pu makes garments with bold shapes, so I decided to make a range of basic shapes in Photoshop which I projected onto fabric behind the model. I made the shapes orange and chose to light the model with a complementary color of cyan. I used a softbox to create even, flattering light, making to add a grid to in order to avoid overlighting the backdrop. I then posed Dajia so that her lines (or lines from the garment) either aligned or broke out of the projected shapes.

Nick Fancher 10/12/20 Nick Fancher 10/12/20

Make or Die

I recently collaborated with illustrator/designer/friend Dylan Menges. I wanted to explore shooting a subject through plexiglass while they painted and he was the first person that came to mind. Collaboration with another artist really takes a lot of the pressure of me as the photographer. I can give him some basic direction and then just capture the beauty that unfolds before me. An element that I really love but didn’t plan for are all the scuff marks on the plexiglass. It adds such a gorgeous tactility to the images…

Nick Fancher 9/9/20 Nick Fancher 9/9/20

My Travel Gear Kit

This is my travel kit. I’ve whittled down my gear over the years to get the leanest and meanest kit possible. With this two camera, two lens, two light setup I can easily travel and solo shoot, creating a broad range of indoor and outdoor scenarios.

Nick Fancher 6/30/20 Nick Fancher 6/30/20

Exorcise Routine

Yesterday I shot with Katy and really leaned into creating dreamlike (nightmarish?) images. I’ve been experimenting with mylar for over a year now and continue to find new ways of interpreting the material. I love the soft reflection it offers, which give the photos a painterly quality. With the warping of the material, otherwise dreamy images turn into those depicting an exorcism.