Nick Carver earns his living photographing office blocks and industrial buildings, but the work that truly lights him up is shot on large-format film, on cameras you have to duck under a dark cloth to use. He is also, almost by accident, one of the most prolific analogue film educators on YouTube.
Nick spent a couple of hours chatting with us about his craft. Beyond the gear talk, there is a lot here for any photographer thinking about craft, perfectionism, and where their pictures are meant to end up.
Your side project might be the main event
Nick did not start his YouTube channel to talk about film. It was meant to funnel people into his paid lessons, and the videos capturing on-location large-format photography were an afterthought he very nearly skipped.
“I actually felt like those videos didn't fit in with what I was trying to do on YouTube, so I almost didn't pursue it. I thought it wouldn't lead to anything. And then of course, ironically, that's what grew my channel, and then it became much more film-centric.”
There is a lesson there for anyone sitting on an idea that feels like a detour. The thing you are tempted to dismiss can be exactly what connects with people. YouTube also gave Nick’s images a purpose they did not have before.
“It's better than the alternative, which is you have no avenue to make your photos carry weight with anybody. I sell prints now. I didn't before YouTube.”
Perfectionism is a skill and a trap
One of the most resounding threads of conversation that really stayed with us was about perfectionism, which Nick sees as both the engine of good work and a curse.
“It's this constant one-upmanship where you get a little bit better, so you start to see the blemishes, so then you've got to learn a little more. You get so good at noticing things that are off that you kind of have to become an expert on it. I actually legitimately envy the people that can just be happy that it looks this way.”
During our conversation, Nick told a story that has stuck with him. Assisting a veteran car photographer who shot on large-format reversal film, the totally unforgiving kind where there is no Photoshop to save you, Nick watched the man spot a faint green cast on a glossy black hot rod that Nick simply could not see.
“He'd been doing it for 40 years, so he sees, oh, that needs plus two yellow to be perfect. That stuck with me because I kind of hope I never reach that point.”
The point for the rest of us is a steadying one. Getting better means seeing more flaws, which can drag you down a rabbit hole chasing a two percent better print. Part of the craft is knowing when a picture is actually finished.
Film for love, digital for work
Nick is refreshingly clear that his two camera systems do two different jobs, and only one of them is about feeling.
“Digital cameras don't do a whole lot for me like film cameras do. I'm super excited to get a new film camera even if I don't need it. But a digital camera is kind of just a means to an end.”
On the film side, that means a Shenhao 6x17 panoramic and a 4x5 field camera, the slow, deliberate tools he genuinely loves. His commercial architecture work runs on a Canon 5D Mark IV with the 17mm and 24mm tilt-shift lenses, the 17mm being the reason he stays on full frame. He is planning to add a Canon R6 Mark II for its flip-out screen, which helps when a camera is jammed into a corner or perched high, and he films his videos on a Canon R50V. The lesson is not which system wins. It is that your gear can serve completely different parts of your creative life without any contradiction.
Trust your instincts, then let the bad ones go
Some of the most useful advice Nick gave was for photographers still finding their feet.
“You have to trust those instincts. If you're relatively early in your photography career, you also have to accept that those instincts will be wrong a lot of the time. A lot of the pictures I took in the beginning that I thought everyone's gonna love, they're some of the hackiest photos you can imagine. You have to get them out of your system so your brain can move on to the next thing.”
Make the work, trust your gut, and don’t be precious when some of it turns out to be rubbish. That is how the next, better idea arrives.
The print is the point
For Nick, none of his creative work or outcomes finishes on a digital screen. He is a serious printmaker, and he lights up when he talks about it, from the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 he runs to his slow migration away from matte papers toward baryta and pearl Hahnemühle stocks. He will happily go down the rabbit hole on pigment prints versus chromogenic ones, and why the archival ratings printed on the box are wildly optimistic. The deeper idea is worth borrowing even if you never make a print this involved. Decide on the final form of your photography, and let that goal drive the work forward.
Listen to the full conversation
Nick went much deeper when he joined us on The Camera Life, including how those desert large-format videos took over his channel, a 3D-printed 6x17 camera he is helping develop, and a proper nerd-out on panoramic formats and printing. You can watch or listen to the whole conversation on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The show is backed by Lucky Straps, who make handmade leather camera straps in Bendigo. You will find them at luckystraps.com
