Photography: Chalk It Up

Over Labor Day weekend, I attended the 35th annual Chalk It Up event, a free open-art festival for families. My daughter had the privilege of opening the show with her G.I.R.L.S. Rock Sacramento band, Wisteria. It was a lovely, albeit hot, morning filled with art and music.

Let me know if you have a favorite shot and have a fantastic day!


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Photography: Chalk It Up

Labor Day weekend I visited our local Chalk It Up event, a free open-art festival for families. My daughter had the privilege of opening the show with her G.I.R.L.S. Rock Sacramento band. One of her friends was a featured alumni artist and created the first image below. This event has become a family tradition and this year felt even more special with lots of our friends and family attending. Life has been busy, but it’s never too late to share.

Let me know if you have a favorite image and have a fantastic day!


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  • The last photo is of my gorgeous daughter. I’m so proud of her. Keep playing!
  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.

52 Photo Challenge: Week 40-Environmental Portrait

“As long as there are kids who are pissed off and have no real way in venting out that anger, heavy metal will live on.”—Ozzy Osbourne

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to create an environmental portrait. Ideally, the image would be of a person in their surroundings and it would tell a story.

I didn’t quite follow the instructions. Instead of featuring a singular subject in an environment, I redefined it as featuring the environment itself. The place I focused on was Aftershock. It’s a four-day festival featuring 90 bands with more than 160,000 people in attendance.

As I wasn’t allowed to bring in my camera, all these photos are from my iPhone 13. I added a “gritty” look during editing which fits the mood of the audience and the music. Some of the bands featured on the day I attended were Avatar, Baby Metal, 311, and Korn. The temperature was hot. The crowds were wild. It was a lot of fun. I’m still tired.

  • If you are in the mood for some reading, here’s a short story I wrote this time last year. It’s one of my favorites. Week 40: Room 313

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  • Photos were taken with an iPhone 13 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
Week 19: Blurry Foreground
Week 20: Unique Perspective
Week 21: Shadow
Week 22: Food
Week 23: Abstract
Week 24: Reflection
Week 25: Contrast Color
Week 26: Think in Threes
Week 27: Starburst
Week 28: Low Perspective
Week 29: Macro
Week 30: Backlight
Week 31: Big Sky
Week 32: Dominant Color
Week 33: Fill the Frame
Week 34: Spot Metering
Week 35: Handheld Long Exposure
Week 36: S Curve
Week 37: Shoot Through
Week 38: Faces
Week 39: Blossom