Statue

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Photography: Sacramento Historic City Cemetery

I’ve been struggling with some health stuff and things feel very hard. I’m still working on various projects, but in small doses. I did get to meet one of my fellow bloggers in person recently, which was amazing. I also continue to sell a few books a week and reviews are still coming in (thank you!)

While I’m focusing mostly on health right now, I did recently visit the historic Sacramento City Cemetery on a bright fall morning and take these photos. I hope you enjoy them and please let me know if you have a favorite.

As always, thank you for sticking around here. It means the world to me.

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#20: Taken on the night of the full moon
  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
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Photography: Sea and Sand

My beautiful sister and her family invited me on a trip with them last weekend to the ocean. For a moment, all the worries of life were swept to the side. I got to be a kid with a camera. Dogs. Forts. Dance parties. Card games. Laughs. Deer. A hornet bite on my neck (not so fun). Reading in bed. Coffee on the balcony. Seagulls. Snuggles by the fire. A sea monster sighting (maybe). Salt water taffy. Mint tea. A stunning sunset.

I’m starting to feel words swirling inside me again. They seem almost ready to come forth. Yesterday, one of the local indie bookstores, Bloodstone Books, emailed “can you bring more books to the shop? We are officially out.” I can almost forget sometimes my book is in the world, but people are buying it. Slowly but surely. Taking more copies to them today, which feels fantastic.

My daughter is having some scary health struggles and my son is getting his wisdom teeth out tomorrow. Life continues to throw things at us, but damn, I sure do love seeing it all through the camera lens. For those taking the time to view all my photos lately, THANK YOU!

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

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  • These photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
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Photography: Buck Moon

She walks into the artificial wilderness on unsteady feet and looks around. Nothing seems real. Perhaps she’s fallen. Perhaps she’s dreaming. Perhaps she’s lost her mind. It’s not until she looks up that she finds herself.

“There you are moon,” she says.

The moon says nothing back and she feels better.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”
—Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

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The seventh full moon found me feeling lost. I’m surrounded by tough things; sudden death, cancer, money troubles, injury, hurt friendships, and mental health struggles. Those I love are hurting and I feel helpless. So, here we have some photos that aren’t exactly right. They are a bit nonsensical. I hope you like them. Let me know if you have a favorite.

These photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.

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52 Photo Challenge: Week 34-Spot Metering

“When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?”
—Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to use spot metering. I’ve heard the words before and had a vague understanding of what they mean, but it was time for me to really figure it out.

For those unfamiliar, it’s a setting on your camera that takes a measurement of light from a single spot and then adjusts the exposure. It took me watching a few how-to videos to find the setting on my camera and then I headed to Old Folsom at night.

The results show how inexperienced I am. In retrospect, night photography wasn’t the best idea. However, I did get a picture of the moon that’s not a white blurry blob. Skill unlocked. Be warned—there will be a lot more pictures of the moon now!

Let me know what you think. My son said the clock photo reminded him of Alice in Wonderland as the clock tower has virtually disappeared. Do you like the effect? Do you have another favorite? Thanks as always for your support and have a wonderful week.

Also, if you’ve not read it before, here’s the short story I wrote this time last year:

Week 34: The Blackberry Quest

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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
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

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Photography: Dillon Beach

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” —Mahatma Gandhi

Happy Wednesday! The last few months have felt like a blur, but maybe I’m coming out of this new phase of healing. I’ve had several wonderful conversations with old friends and made plans to meet two more later this week. I’m ready to trust and rebuild connections after feeling like my world was simply too tilted to stand straight. It’s a nice feeling.

These photos are from my trip last week to Dillon Beach. I’ve been here hundreds of times, but there’s always something different to see and photograph. Perhaps there’s a life lesson in there somewhere. Please let me know if you have a favorite photo and have a fantastic week.

  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
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If you are interested in seeing how my photography has grown, here are some photos I took at Dillion Beach last year.