Nick Fancher 11/13/23 Nick Fancher 11/13/23

Photo Shoot with a Projector and Prisms

New work with @fulltime_babe. Been continuing my trip down the prism rabbit hole. I’ve learned the importance of waiting to edit a shoot until I’m in the proper headspace to really explore where the images want to go. The smallest tweak to my color grade can completely change the vibe of an image.

Nick Fancher 11/2/23 Nick Fancher 11/2/23

Glowing Halo Photo Shoot (In Camera Effect)

This glowing halo effect is latest technique that I’ve been exploring. The possibilities are as exciting to me as they are overwhelming. I want to dive in and try everything at once, but I’ve learned to let the process dictate the pace…

Nick Fancher 10/24/23 Nick Fancher 10/24/23

I Discovered a New In-Camera Glow Effect

This was my first shoot exploring a new technique, and I’m ecstatic at the potential. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’d love to shoot a music video in this style, so hit me up if you’re in the market for one.

Nick Fancher 10/20/23 Nick Fancher 10/20/23

More Images From Glow Workshop

Here are some of my favorites from my latest workshop. Thank you @ademolarizzy for bringing so much energy to the images and thank you to my students for coming out to make art with me.

Nick Fancher 2/3/23 Nick Fancher 2/3/23

Images From the Previous Icon Session and New Event Announcement

Back in October I opened up my studio to host a day of portraits, which I call Icon Sessions. The idea behind it was to have a reduced session fee, making it more accessible for people to have creative images of themselves. Sessions are limited to 15 minutes, which allows for two outfits and lighting scenarios. Below you can get an idea of the range of portraits that were created that day…

Nick Fancher 10/20/22 Nick Fancher 10/20/22

Photographic Interpretations of the Book of Revelation: A Commission by Rock City Church

I was recently commissioned by @rockcitychurch to create a library of images based on the book of Revelation (themes such as confusion, suffering, dying, and persevering). To create these images I employed a range of camera and lighting techniques to capture @repotrash, @priscilladwomoh, @ninjalascriss, and @johnathondarcelle, as well as create some abstract images to represent these themes. Creative direction by @mitchellaadams.

Nick Fancher 9/28/22 Nick Fancher 9/28/22

Elastic Plastic: Exploring a New Material with Alayna

Here's some recent work with @a.bean.sprout. It's been a couple years since our last collaboration and was a great time of conversation and art-making. I especially had fun exploring shooting through a piece of plastic that my friend @davidtsigler salvaged from an old Mac monitor. The red in that first image is actually a warped reflection of the red shirt I happened to be wearing at the shoot. My mind is still pouring over the possibilities that this material affords me.

Nick Fancher 8/29/22 Nick Fancher 8/29/22

Images From My Latest Creative Portrait Workshop

Last week I taught a two-day photography workshop called The Creative Portrait. I taught my students a range of innovative camera and lighting techniques that allow them to capture subjects in creative ways. Here are a few of my favorite images from the weekend.

Nick Fancher 12/30/21 Nick Fancher 12/30/21

Colorful Long Exposure Portrait Shoot with Lily

It was a blast exploring color and motion and shapes with @humbleflowers for my final shoot of 2021…

Nick Fancher 10/4/21 Nick Fancher 10/4/21

Femme Fatale Vibes with Molly Ridge

This was a short, impromptu study of color and mood, with Molly Ridge. Once again I used the Lindsay Adler Optical Spot to create sharp, bold shadows.

Nick Fancher 9/28/21 Nick Fancher 9/28/21

All the Things with Annika

This was my first shoot with Annika Peterson and we did all the things. I started off with some light lighting, using a black fiber optic brush and orange gel from Light Painting Brushes. After that I explored making long exposures while rotating a linear prism FX filter and multi-strobing my flash. Finally, I took some shots with my fungus-filled lens, using shutter drag and an LED with changing colors.

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 7/5/21 Nick Fancher 7/5/21

Water Drops, Light Painting, and Lens Fungus (Oh My)

When Lily arrived at my studio I decided to start off with some colorful water drop portraits before getting into the light painting…

Nick Fancher 3/15/21 Nick Fancher 3/15/21

Kind of Blue: Exploring Black Masculinity with Khalil

Khalil and I had been planning this shoot for the better part of a year. He reached out to me last June and said he had an idea for a shoot that he wanted to explore. He knew that he wanted to use chains in the images as well as explore themes of black masculinity. When he arrived at my studio one morning last month and began to lay out the chains that he brought with him, I immediately recognized that we’d need much more to really make the images work. I suggested that we make a quick run to the hardware store, and he agreed. We ended up leaving the store with every inch of chain that they had…

Nick Fancher 10/23/20 Nick Fancher 10/23/20

Ryan Bingham X Easyriders Magazine

Back in February I had the opportunity to shoot this video of Ryan Bingham for Easyriders magazine. I’m super proud of this piece, which I also co-wrote, directed, and edited. Big thank you to everyone who made it happen:

Nick Fancher 10/16/20 Nick Fancher 10/16/20

Technophobia: Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars Photo Shoot

I listened to more than my share of darkwave and industrial synth back in the day so I was more than a little stoked when the DC-based duo Technophobia reached out to me to shoot press photos for their upcoming album cycle. They left much of the creative direction up to me, inviting me to “do what I do”, which I interpreted as “whatever I’ve been experimenting with lately”…

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 10/5/20 Nick Fancher 10/5/20

Long Exposures with Dancers Wrapped in LEDs

In my last post I mentioned how I’ve struggled for years to capture the essence of a dancer in a single frame. These are more attempts in this ongoing quest…

Nick Fancher 10/2/20 Nick Fancher 10/2/20

A Window to the Soul: Long Exposures of Ballet Dancers

Sometimes all you need is time. I photographed Caitlin and Karen last week, two dancers from Ballet Met. The sessions were deceptively simple. A dancer, a window, and a tripod. For some of the shots I froze their movement, highlighting their pose and their poise. I also explored making long exposures in an effort to capture the grace and fluidity of their movements (for years I’ve struggled to adequately capture a dancer in a single frame). I also used my fungus-filled lens on a few of the long exposures, resulting in especially ghostly images. Here are some of my favorites: