Special Needs Photographer
Hello and welcome :) My name is Nicole X Byington and I am a portrait photographer who specializes in photographing special needs children in the Central Valley. I live in Modesto California, but travel all through San Joaquin County to Stanislaus County. I proudly earned my Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art in late 2013 from Brooks Institute of Photography in beautiful Santa Barbara, California.
I wanted to share how I got involved in the special needs community and photographing special needs children! I guess you could say my first exposure to special needs children started when my mom. She was Special Educational teacher in San Jose for several years. I remember she would bring me into her special ed class on my days off of school, and I always remember always having so much fun with the kids! I remember we would all go outside and all the kids would sit and cheer me on while I played wall ball and bounced the ball really high off the wall. I also remember reading to kids and they always loved that. It was really the simple things that made them so happy. They were always so happy and ready to play, they didn't see themselves as different and neither did I (they were kids to me).
I started getting involved personally one-on-one with special needs children when I first moved to Manteca in late 2013 after I graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography. When I moved here I knew that I wanted to volunteer and get involved in the local community somehow. I randomly one day went to the Parks and Recreation Office at the City of Manteca and found a "Challenger League" flyer; that is where it all started. I didn't know what it was but I saw a cartoon of a child in a wheelchair and a basketball, I was hooked seeing a basketball because I love playing sports. I started volunteering as a coach for the Parks and Recreation of Manteca Challenger League (A non-competitive fun and interactive sports league for children with mild/severe disabilities) and absolutely fell in love from day one. Ever since I started volunteer coaching over the last several years, it was truly a privilege watching the kids make long life friends, have lots of enthusiasm playing sports, always happy, seeing their progress grow over the years, and finally seeing their love for eachother was the best! From there I became a respite provider (while still volunteering with the Challenger League) for children with mild/severe disabilities in home. Soon after that, I started working for San Joaquin County of Education as a paraprofessional in a severely handicapped classroom for almost two years. I learned so much volunteering with the Challenger League and working in the severely handicapped classroom, it was truly the best best experience I've every had. To be surrounded by so much love, happiness and positivity no matter the "disability" is something I cherish and fortunate to have been a part of.
I wanted to share how I got involved in the special needs community and photographing special needs children! I guess you could say my first exposure to special needs children started when my mom. She was Special Educational teacher in San Jose for several years. I remember she would bring me into her special ed class on my days off of school, and I always remember always having so much fun with the kids! I remember we would all go outside and all the kids would sit and cheer me on while I played wall ball and bounced the ball really high off the wall. I also remember reading to kids and they always loved that. It was really the simple things that made them so happy. They were always so happy and ready to play, they didn't see themselves as different and neither did I (they were kids to me).
I started getting involved personally one-on-one with special needs children when I first moved to Manteca in late 2013 after I graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography. When I moved here I knew that I wanted to volunteer and get involved in the local community somehow. I randomly one day went to the Parks and Recreation Office at the City of Manteca and found a "Challenger League" flyer; that is where it all started. I didn't know what it was but I saw a cartoon of a child in a wheelchair and a basketball, I was hooked seeing a basketball because I love playing sports. I started volunteering as a coach for the Parks and Recreation of Manteca Challenger League (A non-competitive fun and interactive sports league for children with mild/severe disabilities) and absolutely fell in love from day one. Ever since I started volunteer coaching over the last several years, it was truly a privilege watching the kids make long life friends, have lots of enthusiasm playing sports, always happy, seeing their progress grow over the years, and finally seeing their love for eachother was the best! From there I became a respite provider (while still volunteering with the Challenger League) for children with mild/severe disabilities in home. Soon after that, I started working for San Joaquin County of Education as a paraprofessional in a severely handicapped classroom for almost two years. I learned so much volunteering with the Challenger League and working in the severely handicapped classroom, it was truly the best best experience I've every had. To be surrounded by so much love, happiness and positivity no matter the "disability" is something I cherish and fortunate to have been a part of.
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In early 2014 I took the time and completed online/home base training to educate myself in photographing children who have mild/severe disabilities. With the completion of training I was awarded an accreditation and certificate with Special Kids Photography of America www.specialkidsphotography.com/
On July 25th 2014 I was honored to be featured on the front page of Manteca Bulletin's newspaper where I talked about my accreditation with SKPA, how I starting getting involved with the special needs community and lastly photographing special needs children. Later that evening on the 25th I received an email from executive producer at Good Day Sacramento and they wanted to do a live feature on their evening news. I was so nervous that day because I am not a big fan of being behind the camera especially on video, but the crew made me feel very comfortable so it all went smoothly. It was a crazy and exciting few days but I was given the amazing opportunity to spread the word about about the special needs community and all the wonderful kids! http://www.mantecabulletin.com/archives/111368/
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Check out this short Behind The Scene Video of my session with Angelina :)
Navigate to SKPA in Galleries to view more photos!
