Happy Halloween

For all you suffering Chiefs fans out there (and I know there are many of you) my "assistants" Manoa and Malia are here to brighten your Halloween day at least for a moment.



You can say what you want about the Chiefs as a football team, but their cheerleaders are without question the cutest in the NFL. Of course I might be a little biased...




Happy Halloween!

A walk down memory lane...

As a former high school teacher senior photo sessions always feel a little familiar. I have to say I really prefer working with the seniors one on one and without having to worry about lessons plans and educational objectives (not to mention the fact I don't have to wear a tie).

My most recent senior session felt familiar for completely different reasons. My subject was the ring bearer at my wedding. David is my wife's cousin and I have literally known him his entire life.


He has gone from a little kid to a full grown man.


Since we are family he is required to laugh at my jokes.

He is an offensive lineman for Harrisonville High School.

The "Wildcats" are three time defending state champions and David has the rings to prove it.

After knocking out the "standard" senior photos it was time to have some fun. One of David's favorite toys is his four wheeler. He wanted a quick shot with it...

And since it was out we had to get some shots with him riding the four wheeler...and there just happened to be a jump...



Never one to leave good enough alone. I wanted to try and push the photo to the next level. If you look closely and the next shot David is jumping over my Profoto 7b pack probably not the smartest thing I have ever done (and trust me that is saying something).

Thankfully David is pretty skilled on the four wheeler and all of us (equipment included) finished the shoot unscathed.

Wind, wind, and a little more wind....

I had a photo shoot in Arizona once on a really windy day. When I arrived at the shoot the client ran up to me and asked what I could do about the wind. I told her we could hold hands and say a little prayer. I don't think she enjoyed my sense of humor.

We had one of those exceptionally windy days yesterday in Kansas City and I had two sessions scheduled. Thankfully I was working with families I am familiar with and I didn't have to make any bad jokes. I am sure I still made some bad jokes but just not about the wind.

Anyhow, I have known Gary since middle school (he had a little more hair back then) but not sure he has changed otherwise. He is one of those friends you can always count on. His wife Kim and my wife have actually known each other even longer growing up together in church. So to say they are friends is a bit of an understatement, they really are like family to us.


They welcomed the amazing Bridget into the world back in April. I love seeing my friends with their babies and it is truly rewarding to know that the images that we create together will become part of their family history.



Kim's sister Kristy and her husband Bruce joined in on the windy fun as well. They also have a beautiful daughter named Bailey who is just a few weeks older than Bridget. They were great sports despite the conditions (did I mention it was windy?).


I think they like Bailey just a little bit :)

The wait for the bridge was worth it.

Thanks you guys!

Ryno run fast...

I think one of the best things about blogging is that it allows clients and potential clients to get to know me better than any "bio" or "info" page on a website ever could.

This post is one of those "get to know me a little bit better" posts....

In my 30's I have turned into a runner. My wife (a physical therapist/personal trainer) is mostly to blame but it has turned into one of my favorite activities whether I am rocking out to some music on my Ipod or just enjoying being outside.

I recently ran the Kansas City Marathon 5k in lovely downtown Kansas City. I was originally going to do the half marathon but my crazy week in Phoenix in September and a tight training schedule (was trying to get ready in 10 weeks) was a little too much. As they say on the northside of Chicago every Fall "next year."

Anyhow, I don't brag on myself very much but I just pulled up the results of the race today and I placed in the top ten in my age group. Game on!

A weekend in St. Louis...

I spent the past weekend shooting at Webster's University in St. Louis. I shot a total of 14 actors 12 of which are graduating from Webster's this year with their degrees from the conservatory. This was my second time shooting the graduating class there and hopefully it will become a yearly adventure.

For you photographers out there let me just say that shooting fourteen people in two days has its challenges. How do you give fourteen people unique images when you are shooting in the same place with limited time? How do you connect with fourteen people with different needs and personalities so they feel comfortable enough with you to take their picture and again on limited time? Well you just do...

Here are some highlights:

I started with Robert from Memphis. Robert and I got to watch the sunrise together at 6:30 a.m. and he even took me on a bit of a field trip to start his shoot but I thought it was cool that he had put some thought into his shots and brought ideas to the table:

Next up was Brian he had me from the moment he started quoting Anchorman:


Spot #3 went to Miriam who had a great confidence to her on camera. Her mom is a photo assistant in the making working the reflector for me (you know if that whole lawyer thing doesn't work out for her):

I worked with Ian next. Ian is from Santa Fe and seriously might be the nicest person in the world or at the minimum in the top 1 percent of the nicest people in the world.


Gabe was my next victim. Gabe is from Baldwin City, Kansas which earned him some bonus points. He also got the award for the most dramatic difference between his first and second look. Who would think shaving a beard would make such a difference?

Gabe sans beard:


Next I shot Jef who is a faculty member at Webster. Jef still does some acting and directing in addition to teaching at the conservatory. You could tell by his interaction with the students that they not only respect him but enjoy him as a teacher (despite the fact he is a communist):


Shayla was victim number seven of day one. She is from Booneville, Indiana and gets my "best smirk" award for the weekend and I have to say there wasn't even a close second in the category:


Liz was my second to last person of Day one and provided me with my "small world" moment of the weekend. Liz is from Phoenix and I have shot pretty much all her actor friends during my time in the valley. Strange that she and I would meet in St. Louis but I am glad we did.

Day One finished with Adam who has one of the most genuine smiles I have ever shot. Just don't ask him to wear a tie.


Day Two thankfully didn't start quite as early...although we did have to call campus police to open the makeup room for us. Cesar was up first and despite the fact he is a big UT fan (he is from Texas so I forgave him) we got along just fine:


Corley was another Texas native although we talked music and not football. Corley gets two awards from me. One for the coolest name of the weekend and the second for my favorite outfit choice. She rocked the red sweater:

And then there is Abby. I am a little biased because Abby was the student coordinator who helped me pull together all the plans for the weekend, hotel, scheduling, etc...but she is a beautiful person inside and out. Just want to go on record as being a big fan of Abby. Not to mention her mom is dangerous with a hair pick so she has that going for her as well:

Heather was my partner in crime for the weekend, doing hair/makeup for those that needed it. She is an actor first and one of my new favorite people. She made me laugh, she brought me tasty turkey sandwiches from Einstein Bagels. All I can say is "How you doin' Heather?"

And the shoot came to a close with Dan Ford. Dan was very easy to shoot and we were blessed with some great end of the day light which resulted in some of my favorite images from the entire weekend.

Thanks to all the Webster folks I enjoyed meeting and shooting with all of you.

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Ryno

Behind every successful Ryno there is a even more successful Mrs. Ryno.

Yesterday was my wife's birthday. The girls and I collaborated on a "project" in honor of her special day.

First of all I have to say that I am truly blessed.

Second, when I do "projects" like this I am always amazed at the power of adding sound to still images. It is one of the tools I am going to continue to explore as a photographer. I want to do more storytelling and add the element of sound whether it be music, interviews, or a child's sweet singing voice. As simple as this short 30 second video is it is something my wife treasures and ultimately that is what I want to do for my clients.

Headshots by Ryan Nicholson

A small (and quick) sample of the headshot work I have completed over the last few years.

Back to the PHX one more time in the 08'

For all my Phoenix peeps...I am heading back to the valley in November. I will be available for bookings from November 14th to the 18th (five days of headshot goodness). If you are interested in shooting with me drop me an e-mail at ryno@ryno-photo.com.

This will be my last Phoenix trip of 2008 and the calendar will fill up quickly so if you want a spot I would suggest letting me know as soon as possible.

I am looking forward to seeing the desert and eating at Cibo.