I am a retired technical writer, an aging computer nerd, and a doting grandmother. I have been wheelchair bound for many years and take all my photos from a sitting position. I find this limitation inspiring in the same way that being limited to 17 syllables inspires a haiku poet.
About my self-portrait: I avoid being in front of the camera. I just don’t like pictures of myself. I shot my self-portrait in a Seattle hotel when I noticed a dome mirror overhead. You can see me — in pink, my favorite color — pointing my camera straight up into the mirror. Look a bit more closely, and you can just see my wheels on each side. A Topaz Labs psychedelic filter completes the conversion from reality to illusion, which I love to do. (You’ll see it often in my photos.) This is my favorite picture of myself.
Gear Geekery
For those who want to know:
- Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera. This is a new camera for me. Most of photos on this website were were shot with a Nikon D7500 or (earlier yet) a Nikon D80.
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70 – 300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens
- Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens — also new
Post Processing
I don’t do many “straight out of the camera” photos. I love turning a photo into a work of art via post processing, as in my self-portrait above. My usual software:
- Adobe Lightroom, for sorting and cataloguing and initial editing
- Photoshop, my workhorse
- Imagenomic’s Noiseware for noise reduction and sharpening
- Topaz Studio 2 for artistic effects
- Belle Fleur textures and backgrounds