In this article, I will go over the timeline of how NikPix Productions came to be, starting from awful street photography to a community based local business.

A profile pic I commissioned from GRVPHTE back in 2022! An official logo for NikPix Productions is on the way :)

It’s been a long time coming.

Back when I formed NikPix Productions in 2018, I honestly didn’t think I’d ever get over the initial hurdle of even learning how to properly learn how to use a camera.

See, I was in a pretty weird position back then. I had actually been using cameras since 2006, where I started going to a summer camp called USDAN. I signed up for a film and tv class because it sounded interesting, but also one of the only indoor classes during summer camp, and I hate the heat. So I figured, it’s the best of two worlds. But I had no idea what I was doing, or where I was going. I was definitely taught the basics of framing, direction, editing, and so forth. But we always shot everything AUTO.

“AUTO IS BAD”

“ONLY NOOBS USE AUTO”

“IF YOU CANT USE A CAMERA MANUALLY, YOU AREN’T A PROFESSIONAL”

Now I have the common sense to know that these things are just simply not true. You can shoot automatic and still produce lovely images. But in the back of my head, I still always felt like a fraud. I couldn’t use a camera unless it was on full auto, but I felt I had a deeper than average understanding of all of these film & photo techniques- so what’s really stopping me from just learning how to use a camera? I wanted so badly to get out of a job I had been in for almost 4 years at this point, and I was in desperate need of a new routine. A new outlet, something that I could constructively use my time towards and feel like I’m grinding real life skill points instead of pixels in World of Warcraft. So I decided, it was time to change my mentality. It was time to give it another go; afterall, I never really tried to go professional with a camera, all my training was with editing!

Leave the T3i, take the a6500.

I found up my college camera, the Canon T3i, in 2017. I was living in Manhattan, the upper east side, in a less than ideal apartment, all alone since most of my friends were back home on Long Island. My full time job paid the bills, but my career was lost. I was not progressing fast enough for my liking and I felt behind my peers. Something needed to change. I said to myself, “I went to school for video, so why can’t I try and make some side cash off photography? Video and photography are the same thing right?”. So I took my trusty ol’ Canon T3i and explored the world of street photography. And oooooohhh was I SO bad at it.

My friend Chris, in Astoria. Taken on my Canon T3i.

The thing is, I had been using this Canon for years at this point, taking random photos of strangers on the street, but without any intention behind it. I was doing the research and putting the time in to study professional street photographers, but why weren’t my photos looking the same? I started getting caught up in the whole “my gear just sucks” thing, but I’m not going to get into that whole debate here. Truth is, the gear wasn’t the issue holding me back, it was my knowledge of photography. But I’m also a firm believer that if you enjoy what you are shooting with, you will want to go out and shoot more. So looking at this, I decided to go in and invest in myself and buy a new camera. Because now I can’t blame the camera anymore; if I’m still bad, then I’m bad.

I went to B&H the next day and impulse bought a Sony a6500. I had previously only used Canon gear so this was a very strange change for me. But immediately, I was hooked, and that was the goal. I literally set the camera up, walked outside, and started taking photos.

A building on 34th street in New York City, across from B&H.

Back then I thought this was the greatest photo of a building. Ever. I made up my mind that I was going to get this professionally printed and sell it online. Maybe only make a few hundred bucks, but when I become a famous professional photographer, this image will be highly sought after.

Never have I been so wrong.

This photo isn’t bad but there’s nothing special about it. And now I look at it with more trained eyes and say, yeah this is just an overedited piece of junk. Maybe it fit the instagram vibes back in 2018, I don’t remember. But you’d never catch me posting this in my portfolio nowadays.

Alas, I continued to purse my passion for photography. I brought my camera around everywhere. To the zoo, to the park, birthday parties, walks around the city. And I decided I was going to learn to shoot manual. So I kept studying different books, YouTube videos, talking to friends, etc. But I just couldn’t seem to get it- I was constantly fighting the aperture with the ISO, and wait what’s the difference between shutter speed and FPS? Why do all my photos look green or purple?

Montana with her horse, Fable. Raw image from the Sony a6500.

Failure is the best way to learn.

I spent years continuing this trend, although I was still struggling a lot. Forget all of the physical camera issues I was struggling with, but now I need to learn LIGHTROOM?? UGH!

Everything I shot had weird colors, was out of focus, too over or underexposed; it was a mess. But I told myself, the only way to get better is to not give up again like I had years ago.

Oh I forgot to mention that part.

Back between 2012-2015, I was on and off using my camera for fun with my friends. After summer camp (this time, as an employee) I’d hang out with my friends Chris & Rachael and try new camera techniques. It was really fun and I have a ton of amazing memories with them, but the struggle with the camera was becoming too much for me. So I took a break and put the camera down for a few years. Everything felt too difficult and unobtainable. I had no idea why my photos were bad and no idea where to even start to improve them. Photography became stressful to me so I figured it was time to pack up and move on. And at the time, it was simply a hobby to me, so who cared?

A photo of Ruby, my friend Olivia’s dog, circa 2012 at the King’s Park Bluff.

Now or never; quite literally.

Back to 2017. I think to myself, I can’t give up because this is the only thing I know how to do. At risk of sounding dramatic, this was my line of thinking at the time:

I’m 5+ years into my career at this point and I don’t have the funds to go back to school
I’m unhappy at my day job, feeling stuck and considering dropping my track of becoming an editor to swap to a mangerial position
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in New York City; I want to own property on Long Island eventually

I think this was the point in time where it was a wake up call for me. I had to take a step back and take a long hard look at myself to see where I stood in the world. And I had to determine what I was that I needed to get to the next step in a series of steps towards my final goal: which was to be running my own video/photo freelance business.

Truthfully, my goal was never to become a freelance business owner full time. I always wanted something that could be my side hustle to bring in extra cash, and if it became something more, then cool. But I needed a brand to seem a bit more official, so I started thinking of potential business names. At the time, I had gone by the oh-so-cliche “Nikki Marie Photography”. I liked it because it rhymed and it had my name in it so it was easy to explain.

So this is where NikPix was born. I created an instagram account @NikPixNYC and started posting every time I went out for street photography (because again, I had some weird obession with becoming a “street photographer” even though there really isn’t any money to be made here unless you are the top .005%).

A screenshot of my instagram account as of Feb 2nd, 2025.

The humble beginnings of NikPix online

Naturally, I started posting a ton of photos from my sessions in New York and around Long Island with my friends. I started shooting with purpose; trying to find ways to make me more marketable to different audiences. I decided I wanted to master all different types of photography, ranging from portraits to product to street (again, why?). I was going to have 100k followers in a year, and soon I’d start getting people in my DMs asking me to do shoots for them because my photos were going viral.

I did a product photography shoot with my vans and a pair of jeans. I thought it was groundbreaking at the time, but looking back, I’m not quite sure what this was. This is an example of what I would post on Instagram.

Then I woke up and realized that social media is fake and the algorithms are horrible.

I spent a few years doing the grind trying to chase numbers- and for what? I got like 20 organic followers, which were probably just bots. This eventually led to burnout again for me and I stopped going out to shoot.

2020 was the slowest year for me photography wise, which is ironic considering it was the first year I ever had remote work and a ton more free time due to COVID. This was arguably the best time to take photos as I lived in NYC during lockdown. It was surreal seeing the streets empty in this once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) worldwide event.

Yet, I still struggled to break out the camera. None of this was captured and it is one of my largest regrets to this day. What was still holding me back? I ask this question to myself every day.

A photo of my friend, Alex B., circa 2021 in Astoria, NY. I used a Fujifilm x100F, one that I bought off Alex just prior to this photo being taken!

Realizing the real reason I enjoy photography.

After lockdown restrictions started loosening up, my friend and roommate Alex B. moved back into our apartment after spending a few months at home. He sold me his Fujifilm x100F during the Fujifilm color phase that the community was experiencing, and I was super excited to shoot on a compact, low key camera that would draw less attention than my Sony on the street. And we would go on walks a few times a month to get exercise and just take photos. My friend Devan, who is an amazing street photographer, would come down to the city every once in a while and we would also go on photo walks. He introduced me to GoGo Curry which is still one of my favorite fast food chains, and I’m so mad that a bunch of locations closed down. That was some good curry.

This is when I realized that my favorite part of creating art is capturing experiences.

Even now, some 10+ years after looking at these photos, I instantly go back to where I was when I took the photo. I remember everthing; where I was, who I was with, and all the fun experiences that came with it. So I started going out more and realizing that THIS is what I was supposed to be doing to get better. Enjoying the experiences I had while taking photos, and using them to help me remember years down the line. Because anyone who knows me knows I have the worst memory out of anyone they know, and I finally had found a way to help alleviate that.

2021 has the most photo shoots out of any year since I picked up a camera.

One of the last images I took from my Astoria apartment. You can see the subway station down the street and the beginnings of the Target that was being built. You can also just barely see Manhattan off on the left hand side of the image.

Fast forward to 2022.

2022 was a life changing year for me. I had the most amount of self reflection and growth of my 30 years on this planet. This year was full of heartbreak, anxiety, a huge move, loneliness, abandonment, and finding love again in many areas of my life.

My love for my home.
My love for another.
My love for myself.

Shortly after moving back in with my parents, my car came in and I felt a renewed sense of independence. No more relying on my parents or public transportaion- I can go wherever I want, whenever I want.

The day after I pick up this car, I met my partner in crime on a date. The reason I bring this up is because he is the reason NikPix still exists today.

He encouraged me to pick my camera back up after I had so many people in my life be less than supportive of my hobbies. I have found that many people do not understand how my ADHD brain works, and I don’t fault them for not understanding, but I do hold them accountable for how they made me feel. I was torn down for many years by people who would mock my hobbies or passion. With my partner, none of that exists. He always supports me to try new things and to continue to grow and improve on what I already know.

He is the reason that I reached out to Rebecca at the LI TCG Show, to do their video work, after having almost 0 professional paid work under my belt. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have touched my camera since I moved back home.

A still from the LI TCG Show June ‘24 hype reel that I shot & edited, featuring Dan Green and a fan.

Present day.

It’s now 2024, and I sit here writing my life story with photography & video. Well, almost all of it. I didn’t have the patience to write about my origin story back in 2006; maybe eventually I’ll dive into that? Could be fun revealing my old haircut…unfortunately, evidence of that still exists.

The reason I sat here for 3 hours writing all this information out is because I want to make it clear that this is more than a business for me. This is what keeps me going in life; a creative outlet that I can share with friends and myself years down the line. I love helping others remember their amazing experiences at events too. And all that stuff I used to worry about, like aperture and ISO? That’s all natural to me now, and I’m starting to focus on new techniques.

I’m still afraid to mess things up now that money is involved, because of course you want your client to have the best possible product. But now I have the confidence to tell myself that I am good enough to grow. That’s it. I am capable of learning and improvement, when years ago I was just so lost that I felt I’d never understand it.

It might take me longer than others to learn. It might take me 10x more tries than others to get it right. But I will practice and research until my skills are where they need to be. And I will not be afraid to experiment and venture into new types of creations.

This is why NikPix Productions, LLC exists. It now represents that I am confident in myself and it’s only going up from here.

NikPix Productions is now officially a LLC!