Meet Nick Sparks: Photographer (https://www.nicksparksweddings.com)

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

Hi Nick, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
When I got into photography 9 years ago, I had almost nothing to lose. At the time, the only possession I had of value was a ten year old 1999 4runner. I quite my job and went all in on photography business after I made about half of what I actually needed to survive over the course of a year. I took a part time position doing family photography for a local company and spent every waking moment working on my own business. The next year I 2X’d by profit from photography. It’s best to take risks when you are young and don’t have many obligations yet. What the worst that can happen? Having less material things? Judgement of friends and family? My advice: Your possessions are not you and anyone who judges you taking the risk of starting a business probably does not work a job that would interest you.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Truly mastering your artistic craft involves intense repetition. When you first start out, the marking of progress are easy to see. After you have been at your craft for a while, then those markers seemingly slow down. When you are really good at something it becomes like riding a bike– you think less as you are doing it. There’s many days that fly by for me know without much else but subconscious thought because my fingers adjust my camera’s settings without thinking much about it. I still see immense progress as I look through my pictures at the end of wedding season. The progress is hard to see, but I know that repetition and hard work shows up even if I am not realizing it. What seemed hard yesterday is second nature today and it just keeps building and exponentially growing.

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 feel blessed to be in Denver, where we are surrounded with some of the best hikes and landscapes around! A first timer to the mountains here should check out Rocky Mountain National Park, Lake Brainard, Mt. Evans, and the Great Sand Danes. All great places for hikes and making your Instagram feed look nice.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The book Applied Empathy: The New Language of Leadership by Michael Ventura really changed the way I look at creating product. The book focuses on case studies of ways to help your product and design connect with customers through an empathetic approach. I believe a renewed sense of empathy towards my customer base has been the fuel of my business.

Website: https://www.nicksparksweddings.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicksparksphotography/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicksparksweddings
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NickSparksPhotography

Image Credits
Denver Wedding Photographer Nick Sparks https://www.nicksparksweddings.com