I’ve borrowed a few cameras that I’m playing with on vacation. I’m experimenting with lenses and systems much different than my own. My biggest take away—I can use any camera. I think that was good for me to learn. While the colors of the Sony Alpha 7 IV where beautiful, I was really blown away by the feel of the Leica Q2. Dude, that camera feels GOOD in your hand.
I’ve mixed up the images in this post, some taken with the two borrowed cameras, and some with my Olympus. Honestly, editing them all, it wasn’t as big a difference as I’d thought. It really seems it’s the lens that matters more than anything. I ordered a new/used one that’s 50mm with a much lower f1.8. I’ll be testing it out next week at the State Fair and report back.
For those not following my slight nerd rant, can I interest you in deer triplets?? (see below) They were seriously so cute!
Let me know if you have a favorite shot and have a fantastic day!
#1#2#3#4#5#6#7 (I love this camera)#8#9#10#11 (testing out focus points)#12#13 (as promised)#14#15#16#17#18#19#20
*There were shot on a variety of cameras and lenses, but all edited on Lightroom Classic.
expose my roots in warm sunlight soften all stems let pearls fall lean in closer geosmin scented breath see how twisted old thoughts grow don’t go yet shine through the particles show me yours
*9/100: For the next 100 days, I’ll be writing and posting a poem every day. **All photos are mine, taken with an Olympus E-M1 MarkII and edited with Lightroom Classic.
cars zoom past to anywhere but here, each carrying someone’s entire world. bees swarm inside my chest, heavy and frantic, a hum vibrating beneath my ribs. only my finger moves, pressing each letter into my phone, like sitting years ago in the sand, pushing rocks down as far as they would go. maybe if i press hard enough now it will reach you. a little gift from my hand to yours. a single bee let loose across the distance. do you see the sun cutting through the leaves too? does the air taste like honey there? i need everything to be okay, for you, for us.
clouds streak white, smudges in pale blue. buzzing slows to a quiet ache.
i just need to hear you say— it’s all going to be okay. one more thread for us.
*2/100: For the next 100 days, I’ll be writing and posting a poem every day. **All photos are mine, taken with an Olympus E-M1 MarkII and edited with Lightroom Classic.
These were taken at Cornish Pasty, Red Rock Canyon overlook, and near Fremont Street. I wanted these to look out of time, so I focused on a different color palette using a vintage preset as a launching place. I left the grain on these, and love how they turned out.
Let me know what you think and if you have a favorite.
#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10#11#12#13#14#15#16#17#18#19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27#28#29#30#31#32#33#34 (my ride for the trip)#35 (my buddy Paris)
These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, 12-50mm lens.
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:
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!
As you may remember, I’m doing photography for the #100DayProject. This means, every single day for 100 days I’m out taking photos, editing them, and sharing them with my friends. In addition, I’ve started doing photography sessions for people I know. I’ve done three senior sessions, a family shoot, and several portraits.
I’m loving this! It feels like I’m understanding my camera more and more. I’m still battling with computer storage and editing, but those are getting easier too. I’m having fun experimenting with different lenses, playing around with color, and dabbling in street photography. I still have an editing class to take, but each session I’m learning something new. The project ends June 2, which means there’s still lots of images to take and skills to learn.
Here’s a ton of my best photos from the last few weeks. Let me know if you have a favorite (and I totally understand if viewing 40 photos is a bit much!) These appear in order of photos taken, not favorites. I thought you might like to see how each grouping was edited differently. Among these was my first photograph of lightening, some crazy macro bug shots from my yard, and some really cute animals.
Oh, and if you were curious if the egret’s had their babies…I think so? I was able to capture what looks like heron babies being fed in the nest (#33), but they are pretty large. A quick google search says they grow super fast, so maybe?
One more thing, at the last minute I added some photos I took yesterday (the ones I mentioned to you, Michael!)
A few weeks ago, a friend showed me this nesting tree near me. It’s located behind a fast food restaurant, in between two strip malls, if you can believe it. I pulled out the tripod Neil left me, and sat behind the stores to watch these beautiful creatures flying in and out of their nests.
I couldn’t get close, so I used my lens with the greatest zoom. These aren’t the best quality, but I still like them. They tell a story of resilience and community. You’ll notice that among the egrets, there was a pair of herons, and several red-winged blackbirds.
Let me know if you have a favorite and have a fantastic Monday.
#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10#11#12#13#14#15#16#17#18#19#20: Here’s my setup and how far away I was (taken with my iphone).
These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, using a 75-300mm lens and edited with Lightroom Classic.
It’s Day 45 of the #100DayProject and I’m still going strong. Since we are almost at the halfway point, it felt like a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned so far.
Storage: I ran out of space on my hard drive. It was inevitable, but I finally had to do something about it. I now have an external hard drive, and I’ve moved several years’ worth of photos onto it, organized into folders by date and subject.
Editing: Once I tackled spacing issues, I had to face my inconsistent workflow. I was using multiple programs to edit and save photos with no long-term planning. It’s embarrassing, but I would edit them on my desktop, put them on the blog, and then get rid of the edited versions. Argh. Now, I’m close to having a good working system, which keeps edited photos and the RAW versions.
Skills: I’ve taken four classes so far—posing, exposure triangle, light, and senior photography as a business. I’m starting an editing class next week. It’s a lot to learn, and having to take and edit photos daily, along with everything else in my life, is proving to be exhausting.
Time: I’m behind on editing. Having to take a week to move things over to the new hard drive and organize all my photos has put me behind. I’m still going to share some of my bigger shoots with you, but some will just be practice.
Camera: I’m discovering the limits of having a camera with a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) sensor. Also, learning a lot about how prime lenses work and dreaming now of all the beautiful gear I can someday afford.
Career goals: My timeline of taking a year to really figure out if I can do this for a business is proving wise. I’ve had a few freak-out moments, some big missteps, and I’m learning the well of knowledge is pretty deep.
As I haven’t had time to edit or share any photos for over a week, I thought it would be nice to share some of these with you. My nephew and goddaughter are my models a lot, but you’ll also see my daughter’s friend Layla in here, critters from my yard, items from the Antique Trove, animals at the Sacramento Zoo, and my friend’s fairy backyard.
While I’m falling even more in love with photography, the editing and tech side of photography has me kind of overwhelmed. And I miss writing. I’ve not had time to do any at all, and I’m feeling weird about that.
It’s hard to believe my book is almost a year old. I need to promote it more, maybe throw a party for the anniversary, but then again, I feel like the book did its job. You know? I’m proud of the work I did, but I think when I have more books to market, it will find a greater audience.
All this to say, sorry I’ve been away, and here are some pictures for you to look at. Let me know if you have a favorite and if you see improvement. It’s hard for me to tell if I’m just spinning my wheels or if they are indeed getting better.
Bonus photo taken of me by my daughter’s friend Layla:
If you’re unfamiliar with the #100DayChallenge, it’s simple. You choose any creative project you like and do it every day for 100 days, sharing your process on social media using the hashtag #The100DayProject. This year the dates are Feb. 22-June 2.
These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, using various lenses and edited with Lightroom Classic.
Bridgette Tales 