52 Photo Challenge

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52 Photo Challenge: Week 15-Series

“She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
Winter is dead.” —A.A. Milne

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to create a series of images that went together. I do this every week and so I decided to try and tell a story with my images. My daughter and I went to a creek by our house and took a nice stroll together with our cameras.

The light was harsh and the animals scarce. I did get a few bird shots and one of a turtle, but nothing I could turn into a series. So, I walked along the trail and took pictures of the flowers for a bit. I started thinking about when we sprinkled my grandmother’s ashes in the Oregon mountains and how butterflies followed our truck. I sort of jokingly said, “Grandma, could you bring some butterflies my way. I can’t do just flowers.”

A few minutes later about a dozen butterflies arrived. I chased them around the field. The light was bad and I couldn’t get the shots I wanted, but I was in heaven. Chasing butterflies in a field of wildflowers is how to spend the day. I put the images in order from far away to close up. Let me know what you think and if you have a favorite.

Also, to everyone who commented on my last post, thank you. I’ve been overwhelmed by the love and support. It means the world to me.

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Bonus photos:

  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
  • If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com

52 Photo Challenge
Week 1: Bokeh
Week 2: Silhouette
Week 3: Black and White
Week 4: Motion Blur
Week 5: Texture
Week 6: Framing
Week 7: Leading Lines
Week 8: Negative Space
Week 9: Patterns
Week 10: Symmetry
Week 11: Green
Week 12: Sidelight
Week 13: Sense of Scale
Week 14: One Lens

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52 Photo Challenge: Week 14-One Lens

“Behind the camera, I was invisible. When I lifted it up to my eye it was like I crawled into the lens, losing myself there. and everything else fell away.”—Sarah Dessen

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to use one lens. I only have one and was originally going to try and modify the challenge by setting it at only 50mm. However, once on the trip, it felt like one too many things to worry about. Instead, I focused on capturing things I love—lichen, moss, and the dark greens of the Oregon and Washington coast. I spent time as a fairy sitting in the woods and as a romantic staring at the ocean waves.

The cemetery shots are from one of the oldest in Washington State, Oysterville Cemetery. The broken wagon, chuch, bible, and roof photo are from the Oregon ghost town of Golden. It was established in the early 1840s and some of its buildings were restored in the 1950s as film sets for the TV show “Bonanza” and a few Western movies.

Wouldn’t it be nice if every day could be filled with mossy adventure? Let me know what photo you like best and have a wonderful week.

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  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
  • If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com

52 Photo Challenge
Week 1: Bokeh
Week 2: Silhouette
Week 3: Black and White
Week 4: Motion Blur
Week 5: Texture
Week 6: Framing
Week 7: Leading Lines
Week 8: Negative Space
Week 9: Patterns
Week 10: Symmetry
Week 11: Green
Week 12: Sidelight
Week 13: Sense of Scale

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52 Photo Challenge: Week 13-Sense of Scale

“Anything is grand if it’s done on a large enough scale.”
—Donna Tartt, The Secret History

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to capture a sense of scale. After finding an old photo of my dad in a rice field for my Shoebox Poetry series, I wanted to take photos of my daughter in a field. I figured it would do two things—show a sense of scale and give us a chance to recreate the image.

We found a field near my sister-in-law’s house filled with bright yellow flowers. It was muddy and a bit difficult, but I’m extremely happy with these photos. I hope you like them too! The rest of the photos were taken driving around looking for cranes. We found a few, but they were never quite in the right position. The clouds ended up being the star of the day. Let me know which of these best fits the assignment or if you have a favorite. Have a wonderful week!

Note: These photos were taken last Thursday. I’m currently on an emotional trip moving my mother to Washington state. I’ll post more about it later this week.

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  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
  • If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com

52 Photo Challenge
Week 1: Bokeh
Week 2: Silhouette
Week 3: Black and White
Week 4: Motion Blur
Week 5: Texture
Week 6: Framing
Week 7: Leading Lines
Week 8: Negative Space
Week 9: Patterns
Week 10: Symmetry
Week 11: Green
Week 12: Sidelight

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52 Photo Challenge: Week 7-Leading Lines

“Nature creates curved lines while humans create straight lines.” -Hideki Yukawa

This week my assignment for the 52-week photo challenge was to capture leading lines, which simply means looking for lines that lead your eye toward a certain direction in the photo. It was a fun assignment and although I think it would have been easier to do in a city setting, I’m overall happy with my images.

My daughter and I went to one of our favorite places, Effie Yeaw Nature Center, and met up with an old friend who happens to be a fantastic photographer. She gave me some excellent pointers and we had a wonderful time catching up and shooting together.

Let me know which shot you think best uses the concept of leading lines. I’ve numbered the photos again this week and I’ve included some fun extra images outside the assignment. Which is your favorite? Thanks for supporting me!

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  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
  • If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com

52 Photo Challenge
Week 1: Bokeh
Week 2: Silhouette
Week 3: Black and White
Week 4: Motion Blur
Week 5: Texture
Week 6: Framing

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52 Photo Challenge: Week 4-Motion Blur

“Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” -Neil Gaiman

Welcome back to the 52-week photo challenge. This week our assignment was to photograph motion blur, which was something I’d never attempted before. I was required to get more comfortable with using my camera in manual mode and to use a slow shutter speed. Mistakes were made. Lots of them.

While most of my photos were an epic failure, I did learn a lot. Next time I’ll need to buy or borrow a tripod and perhaps a flash. So many of these images are so close to being good but are blurred in places I don’t want them to be. Not quite there. I went out twice (once during the day and once at night) and these are the best images I was able to capture. While I love the one with my daughter, I think the one with the fire is the best example of motion blur. Let me know what you think.

Thanks as always for cheering me on and have a wonderful day!

Here are some bonus photos not using motion blur also taken this week:

  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
  • If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com.
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52 Photo Challenge: Week 2-Silhouette

“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.” —Michel Legrand

A dear friend of mine invited me to participate in a 52-week photo challenge and I happily agreed. Each week a different aspect of photography will be explored. I’m excited to play along and hopefully learn as I do.

This week we were asked to feature a silhouette. As it’s been raining and stormy outside, I did my best to use a sliver of sunlight to backlight some trees and birds. I’m not sure these are successful, but I had fun trying. As I can only submit one photo to the challenge, I’d love to know which of these is your favorite.

Thanks as always for cheering me on and have a wonderful day!

  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW

Week One’s assignment was to create an image that shows bokeh or shallow depth of field. I used the freeway image from Stormy Downtown Sacramento as my first submission. It wasn’t my best bokeh shot ever, but I’m trying to stick to photos taken within the week of the challenge.

Finally, my camellia has its first baby bloom and it’s too adorable not to share.

  • If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com.