Mary Nickol Photography Rebrand & Website Launch

And the behind the scenes of how we got here!

Hello all!

First let me say welcome. I’m so happy you’re here. It’s very clear to me that I wouldn’t be here without the support of friends, family, and strangers alike. This business has been in the background of my life for a decade now, and it has been like a loyal friend to me, stepping up when I need it, and waiting patiently in the background when things gets a little hectic.

The story of how I made my way to photography is not a new one. Younger sibling spends long days watching older sibling sporting events, and eventually gets bored enough to pick up the family camera to pass the time. I was maybe 11 or 12 when I found myself at my sister’s gymnastics meet, holding a camera and trying to figure out which stop on the settings dial would made the photos sharp enough to get a clear image of the girls on the bars without motion blur.

Fast forward a few years, and I’m using my dad’s little Canon Rebel with a kit lens to take pictures of my friends every chance I got, taking the only photography class offered at my high school, and finally taking a paying client! I had taken lots of pictures of my own friends and family, but my sister’s roommate asked if I would be willing to take graduation/senior photos of herself and a friend before they graduated from college. I agreed and we settled on Reeder’s Alley (iykyk). I showed up half an hour early and was sooooo nervous. These two cool, grown-up women were trusting me to make them look good, and I did my best to deliver. I don’t remember how I edited these photos - probably an early version of Photoshop back before it was subscription-based (thanks Adobe). I delivered the photos on a thumb drive that I bought with some of the maybe $50 I charged. I felt like such an adult! I had made money taking pictures, and they liked them! Years later, my sister’s good friend who had “hired” me to take these photos, would also hire me for her wedding. What a contrast there is between the photos from 2015 and 2022. Shoutout Mallery if you’re reading this, you’re a real one.

Mal & Dylan’s stunning Bigfork wedding.

When it came time to decide what to do after high school, I seriously considered attending Rocky Mountain School of Photography, which was an in-person school in Missoula at the time. However, I had always pictured myself going to college. I knew MSU and I liked Bozeman, so off my mom and I went to tour the school of film & photo there, only getting lost once when we accidentally followed the wrong tour group.

I was mesmerized. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about film, developing, printing, color. Like most creatives, I debated about whether or not an art degree was an investment worthy of my time and money, even well into my time at college, but I stuck with my decision. I also added on a minor in writing (because your girl loves to yap in every format), and a certificate of business. I loved my time in the photo program, but loved less the weird competition and constant comparison, especially in the early years.

It was presented as there are two options to be a photographer in the world. You can be a fine art photographer who doesn’t conform to the expectations of society and is, at their core, an artist; or a commercial photographer who is a robot that recreates the same images over and over for clients who want pictures to post on Instagram. At least, this is the way I interpreted things. I knew that I wanted to photograph people, and I also knew that I wasn’t in a position to play the starving artist role that often accompanies being a fine art photographer, at least in the beginning. Most people were there with the goal of being one of these fine art photographers, and it felt as though it was quietly looked down upon to have any interest in being a commercial photographer, or God-forbid, a wedding photographer! Gasp!

Despite this, the summer before my senior year of college, I photographed my very first wedding. The client was, once again, a friend of my sister’s. The bride attended law school with my sister Tori at UM, and the couple was planning a somewhat small, low-key wedding, and I was so excited at the opportunity to gain experience in the wedding world. I had been waiting to buy new gear, and this is what finally made me pull the trigger. I worked as a host and a barback all summer to save up my tips and buy a Canon 5D Mark IV. It was the most expensive thing I had ever purchased or owned. I still use and love this camera nearly seven years later.

The wedding day went smoothly. I was a ball of nerves all morning, getting up and ready to go a few hours before I needed to be anywhere. I triple checked all my gear, counting batteries and memory cards, even packing an emergency kit with things that no person could ever need. We danced and partied and had a great time, and the bride & groom were happy. Looking back, I’m proud of the work I did at this wedding with the resources and gear that I had at the time.

From my very first wedding - featuring Roger!

The following semester I had to complete my senior thesis project that’s required to graduate, and I learned a lot throughout the process. My project was studio-based. I loved being in the studio & playing with lighting. I was really excited with how the project turned out. I’ll save you the sob story, but the long and short of it is that when it was my turn at our final critique, I got torn to shreds. Not one kind or positive thing was said about my project. I cried in the bathroom after. The judges didn’t see or understand what I was trying to do with the project. Even writing this now is raising my heart rate.

One of my favorite images from said project.

I felt like I had failed. I wanted to create something beautiful for the sake of creating something beautiful, and to make the subjects feel beautiful in the process. I took me a long time to realize that maybe it was okay that they didn’t get it. I knew that the subjects loved their images, and I did too. My work has always been about making the people in the images feel seen and feel good about themselves. Not everyone will understand every session or portrait, and that’s okay. The key to art is find your audience. Not everything appeals to everyone.

Months later, I finished by Bachelors degree in spring 2020, amidst the Covid pandemic. Poor timing to say the least. I hadn’t really had any plans post-grad anyway, but now I was really lost. I had been bartending in downtown Bozeman for several months, and I went full time for that summer and the next. I wasn’t photographing much, but was really enjoying it when I did. I had done a short mentorship with a photographer I really admired and looked up to and made myself a website. I tried to create a brand but I didn’t really understand what that meant or how to do it. I carried on this way for the next three-ish years, shooting and posting my work occasionally, but never really making it a priority.

In 2022 I had my busiest season ever, shooting 13 sessions, five weddings, and attending my first ever content day. I was also back in school full-time, working two other jobs, and planning my own wedding during this time, and the extra income was life-saving. (PS, I would not recommend planning a wedding as a full-time student.) More than that, I was really getting in a groove and finding my style around this time. I finished my Associates in Interior Design and started working in high-end interior design in Bozeman in 2023, right after our wedding. I did this for almost two years and found that it was not what I expected. I didn’t like the career that I had spent the last two years working towards. I loved the design aspect, but the reality is that the fun design things are only maybe 10% of what a designer does. I don’t like sitting at a computer all day. Funny for someone who has spent countless hours behind a screen editing photos, but I digress.

Since April of this year, I’ve been working with an amazing local plaster company as their color specialist. I get to work with my hands and play with color, something that my background in both design and photography had me well-prepared for, rather by happy accident.

Around the time I left the design world, I realized I was really itching to get more into the photo world. I reached out to Avery of Avery Page Marketing after seeing some of her other websites, and we got to work together. The summer picked up as it always seems to, and I let this project fall to the wayside more than I would care to admit. Once things had finally slowed down enough, we finalized everything and were ready to launch.

Avery took the time to understand my style & approach to both photography and life, and she build both a website and a brand that feel like home to me. My website had sat largely untouched since I launched it myself in early 2020, and I felt embarrassed for people to see it. Last year I began posting more consistently on socials and putting work out into the world that I love and feels true to my style, but praying people wouldn’t tap the link in my bio. The images were from sessions and weddings years ago that I still love, but that didn’t reflect my current work or style. There was no cohesive color scheme, and I didn’t even really have a logo. It almost feels funny to call this a rebrand, because can you re-do something that never really existed to begin with?

One of my favorite recent images. It embodies everything I hope to reflect: warmth, emotion, playfulness, connection, and a little bit of drama.

I wanted my brand to reflect the fun & whimsical side of me, while still feeling put together and professional. I love bright colors, fun fonts, vintage and handmade things, and my friends might call my style cottage-core. I wanted to encompass all of that. Avery pulled it all together and created something that now I’m excited for people to see. I don’t feel like I have to hide behind my instagram grid. I hope that now when people find their way here, they can immediately get a feel for who I am and how I do things.

Happiest in warm weather surrounded by beautiful things.

Thank you again for being here. If you’ve read this far, thank you again. I’ve spent many of the last years telling stories only through my imagery, and lately I’ve found myself itching to write. I hope to do more storytelling in this format moving forward. To be a creative is to constantly be second-guessing yourself and adjusting and readjusting to be more authentic to yourself. It’s certainly been a journey to get here now, and I’m excited to see what’s in store.

Until next time,

Mary