Guitar

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Photography: Fourth of July parade

Spent the morning at a Fourth of July parade cheering on horses, marching bands and old cars. Here’s a few of my favorite shots for you. Hope you stayed safe today and all your pets got lots of extra cuddles.

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Photography: Gritty Vegas

The last few weeks I was in Vegas with my daughter and her best friend house-sitting. I’ve been doing a lot of polished portraits lately, so I used this as an excuse to play with a different style of photography. For these, I really embraced grain as it seems to fit the grittiness of the city. I tried to focus more on composition and on catching interesting moments. These photos are from Fremont Street and edited to give them a more documentary feel.

How did I do?

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  • These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, 12-50mm lens.

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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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Photography: No Flower Moon and Graduation

I missed the full moon. My daughter graduated high school. Sleep eludes me.

So many emotions follow me around these days, and it’s no coincidence I’ve thrown myself into photography like jumping off a cliff. In the last month I’ve done ten photos shoots.

I’m not sure I was prepared for all this. I need a faster computer, a camera that handles low light better, and more time. Always more time.

But I’m learning and growing. This is how I step toward my fifties, with camera in hand, watching both my kids crafting adventures for themselves, discovering career paths, and falling in love. I watch them and remember both being their age, and nursing them.

My daughter walked across the stage on Thursday, moved the tassel to the other side, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She’s talented, beautiful, funny, and incredibly loving. Whatever she does, I’ll be here to watch and cheer her on. I’ll probably also take photos of it!

So, here are some photos I took instead of the moon, and just a few shots of my daughter’s senior session we did last month. Isn’t she incredible?

Have a wonderful week!

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  • These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, using a 14-150mm lens and edited with Lightroom Classic.

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Photography: Folsom Farmers Market

This weekend I helped my sister with her booth at the Folsom Farmers Market. Of course, I had to spend some time walking around with my camera. I’m getting faster at switching up my settings, and I met some pretty cute dogs. And a pig! Let me know if you have a favorite and have a great week.

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  • My sister’s business: Hook, Line, and Layer
  • Photos taken with the Olympus E-M1 MarkII, using a 14-150mm lens and edited with Lightroom Classic.
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52 Photo Challenge: Week 26-Think in Threes

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”—Patrick Rothfuss 

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to think in threes. I had technical challenges and ended up getting sick, but I did manage to get a few images. The first shots are from the Vietnam Memorial in the Sacramento State Capitol Park. The second is from my daughter’s G.I.R.L.S. Rock Sacramento show on Saturday at Harlow’s.

I’ve not been sick in years and I’m feeling quite rundown. I’ll be resting while it’s over 100 degrees again today and hoping this cold passes quickly. Let me know if you have a favorite image and have a great week.

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Bonus images (not threes):

  • 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
Week 19: Blurry Foreground
Week 20: Unique Perspective
Week 21: Shadow
Week 22: Food
Week 23: Abstract
Week 24: Reflection
Week 25: Contrast Color