Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Tre. Smith.
Hi Nick, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been an active professional photographer for over 19 years covering competitive sports. I originally started my photography journey after being injured while playing football at East High School (KCMO). While sidelined, I still wanted to contribute to my team in some way, so I picked up a camera. It was at this point that I fell in love! After high school, I continued shooting as a hobbyist, taking images of landscapes, sunsets, scenic images, and everything in between. However, my passion for competitive sports was still strong.
I first attended Lincoln University, which is an HBCU in Missouri, where I started noticing staff photographers covering football games. At the time, I knew very little about photojournalism, and I did not fully pursue it. I left the university to pursue work opportunities outside of photography until I hit my late 20s. I decided to return to school at the University of Kansas, and from there, I became a member of the University Daily Kansan (UDK), covering Kansas sports, including football, cross country, basketball, volleyball, and everything in between. At this point, my passion for storytelling was at an all-time high!
As time passed, I became both locally and nationally contracted with organizations such as:
The Associated Press, IMAGN/USA Today as both a photographer and live photo editor, ICON Sportswire, and the Kansas City Star.
Currently, I am contracted as photographer and editor for the Pittsburgh Steelers and photographer with Sporting Kansas City.
I also serve as a contract photographer with organizations such as the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Seattle Sounders (MLS), Houston Dynamo (MLS), University of Texas, TCU, with an honorable mention to Kansas Athletics during my grad year, to name a few.
These contracts have led to me either creating and/or being a part of various photo teams covering a multitude of high profile games, such as the FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl LVII, Super Bowl LVIII, The MEAC/SWAC Challenge, The Celebration Bowl, National Band of the Year competition through ESPN, two Sugar Bowls, Cotton Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Orange Bowl, MLS Cup Finals, and NCAA college football championships, to name a few.
This has been a very bittersweet experience, to say the least.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This is a very interesting question to answer while both being as transparent and humble as I can while also speaking earnestly. The short answer is no, it hasn’t been a smooth journey, and in some ways, it’s actually getting more difficult. With that being said, I have been luckier than most.
Sports photography is extremely saturated, and is a “who you know” vs “what you know” industry. What I have observed over the last decade is that sometimes the people who get the opportunity are not necessarily the people with the deepest experience, but one who just happens to be at the “right place at the right time”.
An example would be if someone were to be playing a slot machine at the adult arcade for hours. That person gets up to go to the restroom and comes back to see that someone just won the jackpot on the very same machine. I can imagine the feeling that person would inherently feel in that moment. Was it the person who won’s fault for winning, no. They just happened to be at the right place at the right time.
That can be frustrating because, on paper, you would think that the more experience you gain, the more opportunities you would have to move into staff, management, or leadership roles.
Instead, experienced photographers are often competing with younger photographers being chosen by organizations because they are willing to work for much less, or interns willing to work for free. It’s hard to compete with “free.”
That’s not a knock on younger photographers… I was once the person trying to get an opportunity too. But after nearly two decades in this industry, the challenge has become finding organizations that see experience as something worth investing in. That is the part that is tough to swallow for me.
Experience is a double edged sword that as you get older and more established, you naturally want to transition into leadership roles and seek opportunities that would allow you to train and develop teams and implement standards of success including community outreach. My concern is what happens when organizations begin treating long term photography experience as an “unnecessary expense” rather than something of value to an organization.
At this point, I’m not just looking for another sideline or another credential. I want opportunities where I can use what I’ve learned to contribute, lead, mentor, and help build something that lasts beyond my own images.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
One thing about me is that I am first and foremost a band-head having myself marched for Lincoln University’s
Marching Musical Storm during my initial undergrad period. As such, I have a passion for telling the complete
HBCU story due to personal and family ties with the HBCU culture. Because of this, I have covered events such as the
Bayou Classic, Southern Heritage Classic, Orange Blossom Classic, Florida Classic and Celebration Bowls. My true passion is covering HBCU athletics, Bands and the pageantry associated with them.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
It will be tough. I wish I understood earlier that everyone who enters this industry do not have the same “badges”, access and “benefit of the doubt”, and that there are unseen structural barriers with some organizations.
However, if you can get in with the right team, right mindset and right network for the right reasons, then it would be totally worth the journey. Learn video techniques as well. The industry has been trending toward the video format for years. Having that piece also makes you more marketable as organizations are attempting to consolidate all digital elements into one person. For better or for worse, that is becoming the norm.
Finally, my goal is not to sound dire to the audience, on the contrary. There have been far too many content creators who are not honest in their delivery. I am up front and honest. It is not an easy road but not impossible either. You can find success as a contractor but understand the market is competitive.
The positive is that photography is NOT dying nor going anywhere soon.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://azerophoto.photoshelter.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ntreyaz09/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ntreyaz09/
