About Me

My interest in photography began at age 13 when I received a film developing kit for Christmas. This interest continued when I entered Churchill High School in Livonia, MI, where I took many of the photos for the yearbook. Also while still in high school, in 1972, I began working for Fox Photo in Plymouth, Michigan.

My first studio job came in early 1974, photographing high school bands, choirs, football teams, police and fire department, etc. in a location studio setting all around the country.

In June of 1975 I moved to Ottawa, Canada, to work in 3M's Photofinishing Division. It was during this same year that I got to meet Yousuf Karsh, the photographer I most admired, in his Ottawa studio.

Married in 1978, I was transferred to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada . It was a very cold winter.

When 3M closed their Photofinishing division in Canada in 1983, I moved south to the warmth of Westland, Michigan. There I took a job as District Manager for Hitec 1-hour Photo and In Focus studios. This same year, on September 20, my son, Edward Clayton Christopher Nicholson, was born.

In 1984, I opened Don Nicholson's Prism Photo Service. The first contract was taking Santa and Easter Bunny pictures in Winchester Mall, in Rochester, Michigan. For this contract, we did something a little different than the other companies: instead of polaroids we did next day service 5x7 photo's for the same price. We also offered re-orders of prints from wallets to posters. It was a hectic schedule of 18 hour days for 5 weeks. The day after Christmas that first year I was in bed for a week recuperating!

I did a lot of freelance work, from portraits to commercial, from glamour to nudes: anything legal that paid the bills. As the accounts grew, so did my dreams of opening my own lab and studio in a commercial location. This finally happened in May of 93, when I opened Prism Photo. We offered same-day quality processing and quality studio work, and actually broke even the first year.

Later, I did location photography for corporations like Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, Hannon Flowers, Maytag, Ideal Steel, Michigan Gem and Mineral Association, the Smithsonian Institution, and many others. Also through this business I sold and serviced Photo lab equipment and supplies.

From 1991 to 1997 I was the track photographer for Milan Dragway. I also wrote and photographed for Midwest Drag Racing magazine, and was a columnist for both the Michigan Community and the Observer Eccentric newspapers. In 1995, I had my own weekly TV show on local access cable, televising the local Car shows, Cruise Nights, and many Drag Racing events.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to photograph celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr., Gordon Jump, Richard Simmons (the workout guru) Eddie Fisher. I have also photographed many mayors and council men/women.

In recent years, I have enjoyed being chairman of the Burger Car Show. This event, which I began in 1993, raises funds for the Burger School for the Autistic in Garden City Michigan. This annual benefit show, which began with 58 cars, has now grown to showcase over 400 cars.

After 8 years of running the Burger Car show I decided to go off on my own. I wanted to have a show that benefited Special needs children in an educational way, rather than a recreational way. With the help of my good friend Vince Porcelli we started to organize and get sponsors for Don Nicholson's First Annual Charity Car Show. Having the Automotive Hall of Fame invite me to hold the first show at their location is definitely a feeling that is hard to explain. Located right next door to Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan. the first show was held June 2, 2001. Despite torrential downpours, the first event was still a success.

In the last couple of years so much has come around in my life that I did not have time to run the show. 2004 will be the next step in the show series. We will be hosting a series of car shows for the 2004 season. Stay tuned for more information.

In September of 1999 I was hired to manage the Dearborn Location of Master Photofinishing. The lab/studio has grown over the past few years as many things have changed in the industry. When I look back over the years in photofinishing I would have to say that the last three years have had the biggest change in photography. In the past we have had film changes, now we have a whole new invention - Digital. No one can say what direction this will take photography in the future. So many people are guessing rigt now,, but none can make a definate statement.

Computers have changed so many things in peoples lives. I know if it were not for the computer I never would have found the person I often thought about since High School. When I was young and 15 and probably very foolish, I asked Gayle out one time -- she even said yes. Then, too afraid of the answer I never asked her out a second time. Thanks to the internet and message boards I found her again, 27 years later. Now on June 7th 2003 almost 30 years to the day since we graduated together from High School, Gayle Napolitano and I were married in Hines Park............