Chess

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Photography: #100DayProject-Recap


The #100DayProject ended on June 2nd. It was a wild, exhausting, fulfilling, and beautiful experience. Here’s my final images and a brief recap.

First, the numbers: I delivered 20 full galleries to photography clients, each with an average of 100 photos. I don’t have a count on total number of photos taken (that number would be embarrassing), but I edited 3,384 photos. That’s a lot of practice!

My biggest take aways:

  • Storytelling behind the lens is beautiful, and I love it more and more every day.
  • I really need a camera with a bigger sensor so I can capture low light easier.
  • Editing and color theory are so interesting, and I have a lot more to learn.
  • Documentary-style photography is my whole heart.
  • This can become a second career for me.
  • I can push through even on hard days.
  • Challenges work for me.

Not all of these are revelations, or even surprising, but they all give me information which can help shape my path forward. Let me know what you think of these images, if you have a favorite, and if you see improvement.

Thanks for following along!

If you missed the earlier posts and want to compare:

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  • These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, using various lenses and edited with Lightroom Classic.

What’s next for me?

I’ve got several more photo shoots lined up in the next few weeks, and then I’m taking a brief break to do a 100 day poetry project. My heart still wants to finish my book dedicated to Neil, and so, I’ll give myself that challenge. I’ll begin on July 1st and end on October 9th. My goal is to have the book published by Christmas. I hope you all will indulge me sharing lots of poems starting in July, with a smattering of photography as well.

Here’s hoping I can find balance and keep up my motivation!

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52 Photo Challenge: Week 19-Blurry Foreground

“Things blossom in their time. They bud and bloom, blossom and fade. Everything in its time.” —Neil Gaiman

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to create an image with a blurry foreground. My daughter and I went to the McKinley Rose Garden in downtown Sacramento at sunset, but I found it hard to not focus on close-up photos of the gorgeous petals. I spent hours messing around with the settings on my camera and getting very annoyed at myself. I left grumpy, covered in mosquito bites, and feeling like a fraud.

On Friday, in an attempt to feel better, I grabbed the camera and took a few shots of my darling nephew. Unfortunately, I’m not sure about those shots either. It seems I’m discontent with everything I create right now. It feels like I’m stagnant or perhaps I’m too close to see my own growth. It’s making me feel insecure, needy, and impatient. Ugh.

All this to say, I really need help in picking an image to share with the photography group this week. Any favorites? Also, any advice on beating the creativity blues is more than welcome. Thank you for stopping by and smelling the roses. I hope you have a fantastic 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
Week 14: One Lens
Week 15: Series
Week 16: Flat Lay
Week 17: Behind the Scenes
Week 18: Water