Author: Mike Higdon

I love showing people what’s important in their city and helping them make better choices. I'm a multi-talented communicator and storyteller who can write, design, photograph, video, build websites and manage events. I've used these skills to build a thought leadership and influencer brand in Reno. I am an expert on Reno’s urban evolution and I've been called the king of the hipsters. I covered Reno life — downtown and Midtown development, change, millennial issues, poverty and culture — for the Reno Gazette Journal. from 2015 to 2018. Now I am the marketing manager for Nevada's first business improvement district, the Downtown Reno Partnership. Our goal is to enhance downtown with marketing, economic development and hospitality and social outreach ambassadors. Starting in 2013, I broke news on and analyzed major developments shaping Reno. I explained the origin of Reno's cultural touchstones, such as unearthing the never-before-known origin of the legendary Picon punch cocktail and telling the complete story of Reno's 95-year obsession with arches. I am also an expert on Lime bikes and 747s parked in the desert. In addition to telling stories, my expertise allows me to extend my brand to more than just news. I've organized panels on Reno's housing crisis, served on the mayor's Operation Downtown committee and given more Ignite Reno presentations than anyone else in the city. Today, I use all those skills to bring new life to Reno's urban core.
Photo by Mike Higdon

Creativity is an exhausting slog, punctuated by moments of joy

by  on  in Words

Creativity vacillates between dopamine-fueled highs and soul-sucking lows. That’s what makes it so fun and terrifying. It’s not for everybody. People write all these blog posts about how to be creative, I assume, for the folks who are already creative but are currently living on the soul-sucking half of the wave and need someone to tell them how to be creative all. day.… Read more →

#NoFilter: The best 26 photos from the first 6 months of my 365 project

by  on  in Photos

The first six months of my photo project have changed the way I approach photography, both technically and artistically. But there’s more time to talk about that in the next few months. For now, let’s just all enjoy a bunch of photos from 2016.

For those of you just joining me, a quick recap: I’m shooting one photo a day on film. The goal is to photograph my life experiencing Reno and to get the photos displayed in a gallery at the end of it. The project started July 1, 2016 and will end June 30, 2017. Here’s a link to the #NoFilter blog tag to read more.

There are only 26 out of 216 pictures here. Think of what you’re missing out on.

Best of 2016

Photo by Mike Higdon
A Vision of Christmas. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
Nathan and Sarah working together at the RGJ. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
This is so Reno. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
What happens when you cross a tree with the Star of David? Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
I see stars…for one eighth of a second. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
Jason Bean and I trying out Midtown Tacos. He posed because he’s an asshole. Apparently it’s a Napoleon Dynamite reference, but it looks good anyway. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
On Election Day, I took a picture of a red stop signal on a traffic light to represent the GOP win. Photo by Mike Higdon
On the front lawn of the IGT-Mathewson Knowledge Center at UNR, Mischell Riley’s DaVinci head from Burning Man now has a new place to rest. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
I found a woman hiding in an empty jungle gym near Renown hospital. It turned out her boyfriend was in the hospital for surgery and he told her he was going to die today so, in a fit of anger and sadness, she left him in his room. When she told me this, she started crying because she also felt guilty for leaving him. She talked a little more before I snapped two photos of her her saddened face. She thanked me for coming up to the jungle gym and asking her about her day. We sat together in the playground for a while before I eventually left. Some days I take pictures of blurry ducks and other days I take pictures of souls. This project has taken me places I never imagined. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon.
Followed by the beautiful shapes of indoor plants. Photo by Mike Higdon.
Photo by Mike Higdon.
The beautiful shapes of winter. Photo by Mike Higdon.
Photo by Mike Higdon.
A series of flags set out on the lawn of the Joe Crowley Student Union at UNR. Photo by Mike Higdon.
Photo by Mike Higdon.
A discard photo: Beautiful fall trees. Photo by Mike Higdon.
Photo by Mike Higdon
Great glasses. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
People play in the Truckee River. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
At The Generator, an art space dominated by Burning Man artists, Mischell Riley shows off her DaVinci head models. The models helped her pay for and build the full-sized Burning Man exhibit. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
Aurelia Holman avoiding Cali hunting for hot dogs. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
Amalie on the floor of Old World Coffee playing with keys that her father keeps throwing around. Photo by Mike Higdon
By Mike Higdon
WASH ME | NO. Nevada doesn’t take kindly to your cleanliness. Photo by Mike Higdon
By Mike Higdon
These hot dogs sticking out of a bin at Street Vibrations are cooler than all of us. Photos by Mike Higdon.
Photo by Mike Higdon
Issa pulls into Trader Joe’s parking lot with Max and Nilly. Issa immigrated from Jordan in August 1996 and soon became homeless. He had a job and life again until 10 days ago. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
Kayla sits in front of the Lucky Motel on Fourth Street. “Just hustling, trying to make some money,” she said. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
Afternoon light through the RGJ lobby. Photo by Mike Higdon
Jack sits on his Harley Davidson motorcycle behind Junkee Clothing Exchange. Joe C. Rock’s newest murals is behind him. Photo by Mike Higdon
Black mannequin on the ground in front of Simple Ice Cream Sandwiches and Visionary while Joe C. Rock paints the asphalt with Battle Born Nevada, construction workers build the Visionary and Jessica Schneider watches in the background. Photo by Mike Higdon
A dog barks at passersby while standing on an old car in a backyard on Lakeside Drive. Photo by Mike Higdon
Frank Manfredonia, a TEC Equipment parts specialist helps Kayla Blackwell, artist at Invictus Tattoo Studio, in the parking lot of a 7-11 on Wells and Second streets. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon.
People playing a game of pool inside Shea’s Tavern. Photo by Mike Higdon.
Photo by Mike Higdon.
My Election Day selfie using multiple mirrors and a desk lamp. Photo by Mike Higdon.
Photo by Mike Higdon
I waded into the Truckee River, almost falling, to photograph the “Hobo Artist’s” rock people. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon
Mark Estee makes a face at me before coming into Old World Coffee for a meeting. Photo by Mike Higdon
Photo by Mike Higdon.

#NoFilter: On photography’s metaphysical relationship between time and shape

by  on  in Photos

In November, a new photographic theme emerged: repeated shapes and revisited narratives. In November, I changed my approach and it illuminated new ways to capture images. But I couldn’t have done that without October. November marks the fifth month of my 365 photo a day on film project that started July 1. On June 30, 2017, I will take my last photo.… Read more →

Chuck Norris: The Manliest Man Alive

by  on  in Words

A blast from the past, I interviewed Chuck Norris back in 2006. It was one of my favorite stories I wrote in college. It was lost when the hosting for the Nevada Sagebrush expired, so here it is again for old time sake. Denting the world, one kick at a time According to “facts” floating around on the Internet, Chuck… Read more →

Lighting lessons you can learn at monster truck rallies

by  on  in Photos

First rule of photography, always shoot in RAW, don’t be lazy

 

So I broke the first rule (that I totally just made up), and shot in JPEG for the Octane Fest Monster Truck Spring Nationals in Fallon, Nev. June 13. What happened because of that? I lost my ability to color correct these images to a perfect white balance, because JPEG just doesn’t allow for that. So what did I learn? Science.

Time Flys Monster Truck

Notice the color shift? Photo by Mike Higdon

This GIF is the most obvious if you look carefully. The color cast rotates between violet and green. This comes from inexpensive fluorescent bleacher lighting and American AC electricity. Power to the light comes in alternative waves (a sine wave) and on one side of the wave you get green and the other side you get violet. With a high-speed shutter such that can capture this monster truck’s high-speed spin, you will also catch that sine wave because it takes 1/60th of a second to shift from one to the other. If I had shot at 1/60th shutter speed it would’ve been white but then the truck would be a blurry mess. And in JPEG, you can’t really fix the color as well (it was way worse than what you see here). Source.

 

But enough about science, here’s some cool monster truck show pics

WildFlower-GIF