DIXON, CA (MPG) - Nicolas Brown’s first photo job for the Dixon Independent Voice was to respond to a police call of a motorhome engulfed in flames. He was an ‘untested’ source at that time but had shown some examples of nice work. He had worked other jobs but hadn’t found work that was a good fit for his needs. Then-Publisher Dave Scholl made the call and was greatly impressed with Nic’s photos. The photo of that fire was clear, and it was run on the front page.

That was several years ago and in the past three years, our readers have enjoyed seeing his cool shots of community events, impressive citizens, and especially his outstanding football, and other high school sports photos. He’s also won some ribbons at our Dixon May Fair, plus he was written up in a magazine about a different photo. If you watch the nightly news, occasionally, Nic’s photos will make it to viewers.

“I don’t really have one favorite thing to photograph,” he admitted. “I get equal enjoyment from action figures to landscapes, from animals to people.” Brown says that his skills have expanded and so have his tools of the trade but has received a lot more than that as the job in itself brought unexpected benefits.

“The reward went far beyond what I ever imagined. It’s given me something constructive to do right here in my community and I feel like I’m giving back,” he said. If you see Nic with his camera, smile and say, “Cheese!”

He wears our Messenger Publishing Group Press Badge and will be around town as usual as our newspaper photographer.