A silent, slight fog makes its way in from the lakeshore and up the city streets — covering concrete sidewalks, creeping underneath parked cars and below the front porches of Duluth residences. 

The harbor city takes on a different persona during the midnight hours; quiet enough to hear the flicker of a stoplight as it changes color, illuminating the parked cars in red light. Dark behind their curtains, porch lights remind the night owls that Duluth is still in fact inhabited. 

The swift steps of trail runners break the midnight silence. Kicking up loose gravel, soft footsteps quickly make their way down the sidewalk. A car door opens and slams closed as the engine ignites. The driver looks down at the radio. It’s 3:15 a.m. 

Bags packed the night before, clothes laid out for the early departure, down jacket never forgotten on brisk mornings like these. Not five minutes later, two others make their way into the car, now departing Duluth on their way up the North Shore.

The driver, Reece Hickman, makes a pitstop. 

“We always have to stop at Kwik Trip for gas, weird breakfast sandwiches and we need more coffee by that time,” Hickman said.

It’s not long before they’re on the road again.

“Usually the rides are pretty quiet,” Hickman noted. “If i’m not driving, I will fall back to sleep.”

The next time the vehicle parks, it's a mad dash to grab camera bags and gear.

“By the time we roll up to the Tettegouche parking lot, sunrise is officially in five minutes,” Hickman said. “We usually sprint up the whole hiking trail of Shovel Point.”

Just in time to see daylight begin to illuminate the sky above Lake Superior, revealing its cliffs and the shore below in pink and golden light. Hickman has her camera at the ready, along with Tucker Olson and George Illustrup, her settings are adjusted and their morning photoshoot begins.

Hickman, a 2019 UMD alum with a major in communication, began her career in outdoor photography in the first semester of her senior year.

 She spent some time as a photography marketing intern for the locally famous Duluth Pack, originated in 1882 by French-Canadian immigrant Camille Poirier. Duluth Pack is known for their overbuilt and extremely sturdy portage and daily use packs. 

Hickman spent a lot of time along the North Shore, photographing dynamic snapshots of Palisade Head and Shovel Point, vibrant pink and orange sunrises over Lake Superior and foggy lakes in the Boundary Waters. 

Hickman now shoots on a Sony A7r2, a mirrorless DSLR camera, she acquired in 2018, a major upgrade from the Nikon D3400 she had been using for years. That camera was passed on to a close friend of Hickman’s.

“Usually I would be hiking for three hours to get that photo, just using Sony equipment, it’s lighter,” Hickman said, “It’s a lot nicer if a lot of your photography is hiking just cause it cuts back on weight.” 

“[Sony] is really big on getting females into the industry, which that has kind of slowly become important to me,” Hickman said referring to the Alpha Females program. 

The Alpha females program, created by Sony in 2018, has so far awarded three grant winners; Lisa Janae, Mary Bel, and Shravya Kag. Awards grants of up to 5,000 dollars as well as providing Women photographers with a full-frame Sony camera and lenses, for the specific project. 

The program also includes full access to the adobe suite, and a one year membership to the adobe PRO program, which aids grant winners with pro training to help photographers get the most out of their gear.  

Hickman’s career in photography showed no signs of slowing down after graduation. 

“There is this jobsite called outdoorindustryjobs.com,” Hickman said. “I applied to, I think, every job in the marketing sector of the outdoor industry when I was looking for a job.”

The relentless search paid off, as she was offered a position in Seattle working as the U.S. Sales and Marketing Coordinator for a company called Sidas. Sidas, the parent company of Therm-ic Wear, is an outdoor retailer that creates insoles for ski boots as well as heated vests. 

“Coming out of college I really wanted to live outside of Minnesota,” Hickman said in an interview with Up North Trading Co. “I have wanted to live in the [Pacific Northwest] since my freshman year of college.” 

Hickman, one of three women to work in her department for the company. Statistically, women make up less than 15% of career photographers, a startling drop as women make up 75% of photography students. 

Hickman’s work and experience have brought her all over the United States, as she has been interviewed for jobs from various companies in Montana and Alaska as well.   

Hickman has since returned to the great state of Minnesota, as her work at Sidas came to a close when the coronavirus pandemic began. Since March of 2020, Hickman has worked with Askov Finlayson, as an Influencer relations and content strategist, and as a Freelance photographer for Thursday Boots, and WarmMe. 

Hickman has plans to return to Duluth, who is currently residing in Elk River, in the coming months. 

“I really love Duluth. It has the best of everything,” Hickman said.

Plans to return to her morning ‘candy colored’ sunrise photoshoots along the north shore are not yet determined. Most of Hickman’s impressive work — freelance, personal, or otherwise — can be found via Instagram @reece_hickman or on her portfolio website https://reecehickman.com.