Meet Nicholas Donner | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicholas Donner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicholas, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
What is the most important lesson your business has taught you?

I will never “arrive.” Starting a business and staying in business is a process that never ends. If I don’t enjoy the process, consistently showing up every day to make new things, I am going to be frustrated and disappointed.

Of course, it’s important to have goals and milestones. Those things help you keep your compass heading and push you to keep moving forward. They also feel good to achieve—at least for a moment. But you can’t rest there. The world keeps turning and all the feelings we chase don’t last long. Feelings like status and security. And no matter what I’ve achieved, I might feel important today but irrelevant tomorrow. I might feel financially secure today and stressed tomorrow.

When I started working as a photographer in 2005, I had it in my mind that I needed to get contracted to do editorial work with a magazine because that’s what all the best photographers were doing. I wanted to work with important people and to get paid ridiculous amounts to do it. I wanted my work to live forever, in print! I wanted to be like my heroes: Art Streiber, Annie Leibovitz, Peggy Sirota, Mark Seliger, and Jeremy Cowart. If anyone had “arrived,” they had.

I never made it to their level, but I did photograph some important people and was published a little in some magazines and newspapers. Those felt like big wins for me, but did very little to help keep the lights on at my studio, and the winning feeling never lasted long.

These artists I named are still my photography heroes, but not for the work that they did back then (which I still love). It’s because they are still doing great work, still making new things, and still contributing to the culture. Even though they all had to make the switch from film to digital, even though magazines are now mostly irrelevant, even though new, younger talents have emerged, even though Photoshop and AI are rapidly changing photography. Even today, these artists are still engaged in the process. I don’t know for sure, but I would also guess that most of them also started out struggling with status and security like I did. It seems to be a normal for people in the business of being creative.

My memory is capricious, so most days I have to remind myself of this: life and art and business are all a road that I’m choosing to walk down, so I might as well enjoy it. Just keep doing your thing, showing up, and putting great things out into the world.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Every person, organization, or company has unique needs and unique challenges and wants to communicate its unique message to the world. My job is to listen and learn and then translate the message into photos or videos that make the desired impression. My clients in South Florida are mostly professionals: doctors, lawyers, real estate developers, financial advisors, insurance professionals, general contractors, non-profits, trade organizations, and small business owners.

Many different skills are needed to be great at photography, like: empathy/people skills, technical/equipment skills, an eye for art & design, organization and logistics, keeping up with technology, and basic business sense.. I feel like I have worked hard to be a well rounded photographer so that I can meet the needs of many very different clients. All my capabilities are great and really helpful day-to-day, but I would attribute most of my professional success to being likable. Is that presumptuous?! If I’m not likable, then I’m just lucky!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I have a few go-to activities for visitors: 1. Go on a boat cruise down the intracoastal and into downtown Fort Lauderdale. Stop at Shooters for lunch or dinner.
2. Go snorkeling in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. We normally swim out on the south side of the pier, just to the first reef, because it’s easy and there is usually a lot to see. Get some tacos from Tacocraft.
3. Take a bike ride down the Venetian Causeway from Miami to South Beach. It’s an easy ride and most of it is separate from cars. I’ll usually stop for a Cubano at Las Olas Cafe
4. Ride bikes along the Shark Valley loop in Everglades National Park
5. We like taking our kids (and visitors with kids) to the Palm Beach zoo. It’s really easy to see a lot of cool animals and not very expensive. We like to get lunch at Grandview Market afterward.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to Erin. She’s my wife, but also my partner in raising a family and running a small business. She’s the first person I bounce new ideas off of and the first person I go to when I can’t remember why I’m working so hard. We’ve worked together for 10+ years now so she understands my business like no one else. Erin also helps me with my “tone,” so I don’t sound angry or annoyed all the time.

Website: www.donnerphotos.com

Instagram: @donnerphotos

Facebook: www.facebook.com/donnerphotos

Youtube: youtube.com/@donnerphotos