#chickwithcheapcamera

Hey y’all! How are you? It is January 3, 2021 and you made it! It is early right now on this first Sunday of the new year. Hubby left for work a few hours ago and I pray everyday as he walks out the door that he gets there safely and that he has a good day. I try not to worry as he mentions that someone else he knows has tested positive. It is getting closer to us, closer than I like. It would be just my luck that I too catch it as he tries so hard to protect me. He does all the shopping and goes to work everyday. Even when we go out on Sunday drives and such, we stay away from people or anywhere I may come into contact with others. To the divine intervention that has kept him virus free, I am thankful! To all of you that are following the science, I also thank you and may you stay virus free. We can do this!

This was taken March 4, 2018 in Newport Beach, CA. Hubby has the remote for my Nikon in his hand.

So today is Sunday and for fun I am going to try and post to the Art of the Beat IG account photos of all the signs I shoot while we are out on those drives. I have learned in the past 2 years that my cheap Nikon D3400 has more balls than my Sony A7, but just a little. The A7 has more cajones in the video recording department. So, if I want to do portrait shoots, I will probably stick to analog or maybe upgrade the Nikon to a full-frame model. Really though, and this is me speaking to my kids, a more expensive anything is not going to make you a better (insert subject) in my case, photographer. Yeah, it may help you get the right look but if you are only shooting to mimic what others are doing then is it really your art or ideas?

These were shot with a Sears KX-1000.

I wish I would have added a tip jar or hat to the shot.

The photos above were taken last year with an analog camera. Right now I have about 10 rolls of film that need to be developed as I was waiting to get things in order, you know, moola the green stuff. It will be fun to get all those surprises back after they are developed. The photos below were also on that roll. Since today is Sunday and as I mentioned I am posting sign photos, here are ones that I shot as we were taking a drive past the Salton Sea and a couple near the Tennis Garden in La Quinta and some random shots of Coachella.

Coachella, California

Not really a sign but I did catch a birdie!

Hubby and were talking recently and I mentioned that I am so thankful that he and I clicked this second time around. You know, relationships take work and had he and I would have forced a relationship out of that time we spent together, I am sure that we would not be here, together now. I was on my own until I met him, this time around. I mean, I was the sole support for myself and gang of four. No one ever told me what to do, well at least I did my best to ignore those type of people! I even confused his caring for unreasonable fear. He reminds me of my own father sometimes as he is not afraid to give me an opinion and an honest one, even if I may not like it. All those years in between, I dreamed of having the relationship that we have now. Yes, Hubby, you have married yourself!! HA HA!! We joke about that as we both have the same sense of humor that could kill any relationship and how could I not love someone who enjoys the finer things in life like a dinner at Del Taco topped off with mini shakes!

The parking lot for the Tennis Gardens.

We are at the start of the New year, 365 new chances for discovery and living and breathing. Time to keep working on things that I enjoy and am interested in. Time to learn and read about far away places. I know how easy it is to be discouraged because things haven’t been the way I envisioned in my head and I am sure having to cope with the new norms that the pandemic has brought into our lives is difficult for many. Remember, happiness or sadness is a choice and you are the ultimate captain of your ship. You can make the journey as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. One time my Dad told me I must like be miserable, I asked him why. He said “Cause you keep doing the same thing looking for a different outcome.” It took about 30 years but “Yes, Dad, you were right!” I was reminded of that Dadism after I pulled up a card that had photos that I took of Ashley Reinke a few weeks before my surgery and before I knew what CES stood for. I remember telling her that “I don’t use filters!” Truth was, I didn’t know how to achieve the looks of the portrait shots that I had seen on social media. For me, I shot trying to get it perfect before editing as I knew that if I try to edit, it would not look as good as the ones that I ooohed and aahed over. After my surgery, I tried to edit and work on that shoot and every once in a while I will pull it up and work on it. Here are the latest shots in my journey.

The original, unedited.

I had envisioned her looking through a portal that day and it took this long to get it to look like my vision.

This is the original shot unedited.

There were so many woulda’ shoulda’s that I remember thinking about after that shoot. The funny thing is I was scared shitless! I realized that she was not just someone looking for free pictures. She was like a gift a had dropped out of the sky and landed in Palm Desert on my favorite street to use and in front of my cheap Nikon D3400. A…dun-dun-DUN- moment!!! My camera is not a full frame, professional model and didn’t have all the fancy stuff but I never let anyone in on that, that is unless they looked at my hashtags that I used when posting photos. I was the #chickwithcheapcamera at least it was till I stopped using so many hashtags. Now, I will throw in a joke or two if I add hashtags depending on my mood that day. Oh, yeah back to that shoot. The fourth or fifth frame in and I realized that she was a pro! My hands trembled a bit and I kept the shoot as quick as I could. Besides, that day I was in so much pain and I was high AF. She had one outfit change and I took a few tokes to get through. So glad that she was okay with it. I always let my subjects know that I am shooting with that “aid”. Oh yeah, I use another hashtag #photographerishigh as I am usually in that state of mind. Like I have said before, alcohol does not make me creative, weed just makes me see things differently.

Every shot, even when I told her to pose with that broken frame where good, at least I think they are.

Hopefully, I can find more people to volunteer for a photoshoot. Now that I look at her shots, I would hope to at some point interview her as she is a former Miss Arizona, a trained dietician and just a good person, at least from what I see. Glad her and I got to work together, even for that brief moment on that street in Palm Desert. I will post more of the shots from that day as I am still in the process of editing and learning how to get different edits. She can now add mentor, because I learned so much that day and keep learning new things from that shoot.

To you, dear reader, where ever you are and where ever your journeys take you, I hope you see things with a open mind.