Meet Courtney Nicholson-Paine | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Courtney Nicholson-Paine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Courtney, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Well I think people really like the photographs I take, so that’s a good start 🙂
But honestly, I’d have to say that one of the things that makes me really successful as a photographer is that I truly enjoy getting to know people. I have so many returning clients tell me that they’re choosing to work with me again because I make them feel at ease and it feels more like we’re hanging out and chatting than doing a professional photo shoot. I like that. I love knowing that I make people feel comfortable in their skin.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I actually feel so lucky that I get to do this for a job. Photography has been a passion of mine for a long time. I started taking photos really seriously in high school and then I started to have friends asking me to take photos for them for various projects and artistic endeavors; I had neighbors offering to pay me to take family photos for graduation announcements and holiday cards… and then more and more people just continued to reach out to me for different projects. It’s something that I’m good at and that I love to do, and then realizing that there’s a market for it feels like such a “Yahtzee!” moment for me.

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?
Oh my goodness I love this question! When my friends come to town I always make sure we have time to spend a day on South Broadway in Denver. There is such a rad little collection of thrift stores, music venues, antique shops, and dive bars; what could be better than that?! If we’re giving specific shout outs, I love to play a game of stump at Dougherty’s, and play a game of chess at Mutiny. The Hi Dive is an awesome little music venue, and you know I have to give a shout out to my favorite: Illegal Petes- I truly believe Petes has the best margs in town.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m so fortunate to have so many cool people in my life who make art and music. So many of my friends have supported my work and my art and taken me along on tours to capture shows or hired me to take photographs for album art or merch or promotion… But my shoutout is going to go to my friends Laura and Carly of Foxfeather who hired me for their very first band photoshoot waaaay back in 2014 and have supported me ever since <3

Website: http://www.thewildernessgems.com/livemusic

Instagram: cnphotos_wildernessgems