Jim is primarily a self-taught photographer specializing in landscape, nature and travel images. With degrees in engineering and law, he has shifted his professional focus to photography.

Until relocating to New England, Jim found early photographic inspiration in the wide-open vistas and classic grandeur of the West, including Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and California. As he spends increased time at his craft, he now finds photographic opportunities in his travels coast to coast as well in Maine's stunning landscape. He lives in midcoast Maine with his wife and daughter.

Jim also contributes regularly to the VoxPhotographs blog on a variety of photography & technical subjects.

I am now represented exclusively by VoxPhotographs. You can view my gallery of represented work on the VoxPhotographs website and you can also purchase limited editions of represented work directly from the gallery. Work not represented by VoxPhotographs may be purchased from me directly.

 

Awards

• Maine Photography Show 2009, sponsored by Boothbay Region Art Foundation, jurored by Elizabeth Greenberg, awarded Best in Show and 1st Place in the Color Category

  Shows

• Maine Photographers: Ten Years Later, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME, October-December 2010
• Art Nouveau, Lewis Gallery, Portland Public Library, Portland, ME, Group Exhibition, November-December 2010
• Two Squared: Stacey Cramp and Jim Nickelson, VoxPhotographs, Portland, ME, July 2010-September 2010
• Natural Wonders, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT, Group Exhibition, June-July 2010
• Maine Photography Show 2010, sponsored by Boothbay Region Art Foundation, jurored by John Paul Caponigro, April-May 2010
• Scapes, Gallery 5, Lewiston, ME, Group Exhibition, April - June 2010
• 44N 69W: Radius Belfast Group Exhibition, Aarhus Gallery, Belfast, Maine, March 2010
• Pixels: Pieces of a Whole, Gallery 5, Lewiston, ME, Group Exhibition, January - March 2010
• Winter Light, Gallery 5, Lewiston, ME, Group Exhibition, November - December 2009
• Reflections, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT, Group Exhibition, October – November 2009
• Art Nouveau, VoxPhotographs, Portland, ME, Group Exhibition, September 2009
• Contours: Coastal Mountains Land Trust Benefit Exhibition, Carver Hill Gallery, Rockport, Maine, August-September 2009
• Maine Photography Show 2009, sponsored by Boothbay Region Art Foundation, jurored by Elizabeth Greenberg, April-May 2009
• Midcoast Chroma: Six Maine Fine Art Photographers, Carver Hill Gallery, Rockport, Maine, May-June 2009
• 44N 69W: Radius Belfast Group Exhibition, Aarhus Gallery, Belfast, Maine, March 2009
• 11th Annual Art Auction, Maine Audubon, Falmouth, Maine, September 2008
• Art Nouveau, VoxPhotographs, Portland, ME, Group Exhibition, September 2008
• My Favorite Maine Online Photography Show, online group show, 2008, curated by Carl Little
• Through the Window Group Exhibition, Gallery 5, Lewiston, ME, August-September 2008
• Barn Gallery Open Regional Juried Exhibition, Ogunquit, ME, July 2008, curated by Donna McNeil, Director, Maine Arts Commission
• Sands of Time Group Exhibition, Gallery 5, Lewiston, ME, April-May 2008
• Maine Photography Show 2007, sponsored by Boothbay Region Art Foundation, May 2007
• Contemporary Photographer Group Exhibition, VoxPhotographs, Portland Gallery, September 2007
• Denver Employee Art Fair and Group Exhibition, 2002, Selected for People’s Choice Award

For color prints, I print digitally using Epson photo printers. Using digital printing, I am able to produce a higher quality print than I could achieve with traditional color enlargements while retaining outstanding longevity (75+ years). One reason for the higher quality that may be achieved using digital printing is that I can control the color fidelity and look of my prints with a precision I was never able to achieve working with traditional processes. I personally sign each print.

Unquestionably, the quality and impact of a photograph directly results from the skill and artistic vision of the person behind the viewfinder. That being said, I, like many photographers, spend a large amount of time trying to find the tools that allow me to capture the images that I am seeking and produce a quality with which I am satisfied. Cameras are simply tools to take photographs and the skill of the photographer is paramount -- but, like in other arts or crafts, some tools are better than others.

Like most photographers, I started off by shooting 35 mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras (in my case, Minolta gear). In pursuit of higher quality, I quickly moved to medium format film systems, which provide significantly more "real estate" on the negative or slide and thus allow higher quality large prints. After experimenting with Mamiya and Fuji rangefinders, I now shoot primarily with a Bronica SQ system that provides interchangeable lenses and that produces square (56 mm x 56 mm, also known as 6x6 cm) images. The Bronica system was always popular with professional photographers, particularly wedding photographers, as a low cost yet high quality alternative to the Hasselblad system. Sadly, the Bronica system has long been discontinued as more and more medium format companies fold up or switch to digital - but the cameras still take superb pictures. For most of my work, I shoot slide film in the Bronica, scan the resulting slide, and print digitally.

I've also started shooting some of my work digitally with a Nikon D700 and D3X, a few zooms, and the superb Zeiss ZF manual focus lenses as a supplement to my medium format cameras.