PHOTOGRAPHY

My Creative and Personal Focuses for This Year | 2022

In todays video I'm revealing my two creative focuses for 2022! When I was brainstorming what I wanted my 2022 to look like I had two thoughts that wouldn't leave my mind and I knew these two thoughts would guide what I wanted my year to look like. Normally, I have tons of professional and personal goals but this year it's different.

Comment over on the channel if you have any creative goals or focuses for this year?!

2021 Recap | My Year in 100 Photos

Happy New Year!! In todays video I wanted to do a 2021 in 100 photos (credit goes to Julia Trotti for the idea!). Many people like to do their top 10 photos of the year but I found looking at my year this way (the good photos and the bad) I got to see my entire journey, how my photography changed, what my interests were depending on the season, and personal milestones.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2022!

Holiday Inspired Photography Ideas to Try | Getting into the Festive Spirit

In todays episode we cover some holiday inspired photography ideas to try this season! Tag @beautifullywander on Instagram if you try any of them!


Mentioned in the Video


Happy Festive Photography!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne MacLeod

Holiday Gift Ideas for Photographers | Holiday Gift Guide 2021

Happy Holidays! With the season upon us I was excited to film my first holiday gift for photographers! In this video we cover some small, medium and larger gifts that would be perfect for your photographer friend or family member!

Items Mentioned in the Video

Cleaning Kit: https://www.amazon.ca/Professional-Camera-Cleaning-Kit-Cameras/dp/B00MHGOGUK/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=cleaning+kit+camera&qid=1638323605&sr=8-5

SD Card Holder: https://www.amazon.ca/Skoloo-Waterproof-Memory-Holder-Storage/dp/B07MLH88DY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=sd%2Bcard%2Bholder&qid=1638323618&sr=8-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFaODI3TkQwRlZBRUUmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAxMTQzOTExRU8xWFlMUzY1WlA4JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA4ODg5NTYzRE4xSENRNEowVzdKJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

Extra Camera Battery: https://www.getolympus.com/ca/en/e-m1-mark-ii.html

The Heart of the Photograph by David Duchemin: https://www.amazon.ca/Heart-Photograph-Questions-Expressive-Photographs/dp/1681985454/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+heart+of+the+photograph&qid=1638323717&sr=8-1

Winter Gloves: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/811770-REG/Freehands_11121LM_Women_s_Stretch_Gloves_Medium.html

Peak Design Capture Clip: https://www.amazon.ca/Peak-Design-Capture-Camera-Black/dp/B07818Z4Q5/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=peak+design+capture+clip&qid=1638323766&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzQUZKMUxOV1ZDMlRWJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDg5ODUxMzY5UkoyTFEzN05CTCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDYwNzY1MzlHMkM5TjdJMlgxRiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

External Hard Drive: https://www.amazon.ca/LaCie-Rugged-External-Drive-9000298/dp/B00IRV005E/ref=sxts_rp_s1_0?cv_ct_cx=lacie+hard+drive&keywords=lacie+hard+drive&pd_rd_i=B00IRV005E&pd_rd_r=bf2de6cc-b255-4f8d-a551-f758ef58dbe6&pd_rd_w=58j5T&pd_rd_wg=waJZD&pf_rd_p=372505a5-6a58-475a-86d4-6ef2cad8c79f&pf_rd_r=93EBQ30CRT3MPRS5V80G&psc=1&qid=1638323831&sr=1-1-f0029781-b79b-4b60-9cb0-eeda4dea34d6

Winter Boots: https://www.toms.com/ca/women/shoes/boots-and-booties/black-smooth-waxy-leather-womens-reese-booties/10015796.html

Winter Jacket: https://www.patagonia.ca/product/womens-down-sweater-hoody/84711.html?dwvar_84711_color=BCW&cgid=root

Ona Bowery Bag: https://onabags.com/products/the-bowery

Olympus EM1 Mark II Body: https://www.getolympus.com/ca/en/e-m1-mark-ii.html

Olympus 12-40mm F2.8 PRO: https://www.getolympus.com/ca/en/m-zuiko-digital-ed-12-40mm-f2-8-pro.html

Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 PRO: https://www.getolympus.com/ca/en/m-zuiko-ed-40-150mm-f2-8-pro.html


I hope you found a gift idea in todays video!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne MacLeod

Capturing Autumns End | Photography Vlog, Nature Photography, Olympus 40-150 and 25mm

Fall might be coming to an end! The days continue to get darker, the nights are cooler, the leaves are falling from the trees and soon we'll get our first snowfall. Today, I take you to one of my favourite parks to capture what's left of autumn!

Captured on Our Trip

ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/100

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ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/125

ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/125

ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/20

ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/100

ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/40

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ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/25

ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/125

ISO 200 | F2.8 | 1/20

Autumn Photography Vlog | Getting Outdoors, Fall Photography with Olympus 40-150, Create with Me

Welcome to WEEK FOUR of our Autumn/Halloween Create with Me Series! In todays episode we’re getting outside to do some autumn photography at one of my favourite local beaches in Kelowna.

Captured on our Trip

For this photo I tried to find a single leaf in the gap of autumn leaves on a tree at Gyro Beach.

One of my favourite parts of Gyro Beach is the beach rental hut. In this particular photo I picked up a brand full of autumn leaves off the ground, held it up to my camera and shot through the leaves to create this beautiful foreground blur.

To given your autumn photography a twist you could try some panning or Intentional Camera Movement. For this I slowed my shutter speed, and panned vertical with the grain of the wood tree and autumn leaves to create this vertical pan.

The beautiful part of autumn that I always find interesting is when the sun peaks from behind the clouds and spotlights a part of the landscape in a beautiful glow. I loved the hints of red and orange in the landscape when this happened.

I found these sand bars at Rotary Beach interesting. Both Rotary and Gyro are fairly low beaches in that in the summer you can walk for a long time before it gets deep. I loved how the sunset radiated against the lake. For this photo I slowed my shutter speed to create a more buttery lake vibe.

This is the exact same sand bar at Rotary Beach. However, this photo was taken shortly after the sun had set and we were entering into blue hour.


I hope you’re out enjoying some autumn photography!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka

Adding Motion to Your Photograph ft. Cinemagraphs | Autumn/Halloween Inspired Create with Me

Welcome to WEEK THREE of the Autumn/Halloween Create with Me Series! Today we are creating a cinemagraph for the first time!

What is a Cinemagraph?

A cinemagraph is a still photograph where a minor and repeated movement occurs. It’s a wonderful way to add a little movement to your still photos!

What Interested Me About Cinemagraphs

What initially interested me about cinemagraphs was the creativity behind it - cinemagraph makes a still image more interesting and eye catching and it was a photography technique that I hadn’t tried yet!

Taking the Video

To create a cinemagraph you need to first take a short video clip. For my first cinemagraph I did a simple tea pouring one. I knew beforehand that getting a consistent tea pour would make the post-processing easier so I made sure to keep the tea pour consistent at one point and to hold the kettle as still but as natural as I could.

Once I was happy with a clip I brought the clips onto my computer and did the next step - video post processing in Lightroom.

Video Post-Processing in Lightroom

This step of post-processing in Lightroom is optional after you have filmed your clips but I prefer to give a few adjustments to my clip. However, within Lightroom Classic you can’t edit a video but there’s a hack that I’ve used in the past:

  1. Load your video clip into Lightroom

  2. Scrub through the video and find a frame that captures majority of what you’re looking to edit (for me it was a frame that had me pouring the tea)

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4. Hit the ‘Capture Frame’ button at the bottom (this will create a screenshot of your video that you can edit in Lightroom)

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5. Edit your screenshot photo

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6. Sync your photo to the video file (note: not all your edits will sync only a few minor adjustments)

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7. Export to your desired location

Pulling Together in Photoshop

The final step is pulling your cinemagraph together in Photoshop:

  1. Pull your edited video clip into Photoshop

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2. Cut your clip down to make it more manageable to work with

3. Scrub through the video to find a short area of the clip that is consistent and cut it down (for me it was part of the clip where my tea spout wasn’t rising or lowering and my tea stream was consistent)

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4. Hit the gear icon and make sure that “Loop Playback” is on

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5. Open your layer tab and create another layer of the clip by dragging ‘Video Group 1’ over the ‘Add Layer’ button at the bottom (square with the plus sign in the middle)

6. Drag the second clip over so the beginning of the second clip begins at the end of the first clip

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7. Drag the beginning of the clip over to the left

8. Drag the end of the second clip over to the left so the both ends match

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9. Over by your clips hit the down arrow and hit “opacity”

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10. Select another part of your clip and hit “opacity” again

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11. In your layers tab make sure the “opacity” is set to 0%

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12. Then move the second opacity marker to the end of the clip

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13. To eliminate any slight movement you or your subject is making create another layer on top of your video files by hitting ctrl + option + shift + e

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14. Select the layer you just created in the layer tab and create a mask (square icon at the bottom with a circle in the middle)

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15. Making sure your brush and color black is on and brush over your movement area (for this one it’s my tea stream)

  • To see what you are brushing hit the slash key under your delete key on your keyboard

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16. Rewatch a few times to make sure you’re happy with the cinemagraph

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Your Final Product

Voila, we just created a cinemagraph! I hope this inspires you to create a cinemagraph of your own!

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Halloween Stop Motion | Autumn/Halloween Create with Me Series, Create with Olympus, Halloween Cupcakes

Welcome to WEEK TWO of the Autumn/Halloween Create with Me Series! Today we are doing a halloween inspired cupcake stop motion!

For this stop motion I went all out - I made chocolate cupcakes, crushed up oreos to imitate "dirt", bought gummy worms and made these RIP tombstones.

Stop motion doesn't have to be complex, long or difficult. Sometimes sweet, and simple is the best!

Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne MacLeod

Clone Yourself Photography | Autumn Bucketlist, Fall/Halloween Create with Me Series, Olympus 7-14mm

For the month of October I’m excited to bring to you every Saturday an autumn/halloween inspired Create with Me series! This week we’re featuring a technique I’ve shown you before Clone Yourself Photography!

Step 1: Prep Work

To prep for your clone yourself photo write down what you want each of your clones in the photo to be doing. For my photo I was trying to string together a series of poses that illustrated what was on my autumn bucketlist.

Step 2: Cloning Yourself

Situate your camera on a tripod and don’t move after finding the right position, you want every photo to be the same.

Step 3: Edit in Lightroom (optional)

After you’ve taken your photos, pull your photos into your editing software and post-process how you like then export.

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Step 4: Pull Together (Photoshop)

To pull your cloned portrait together:

  • Open a blank canvas in photoshop

  • Go to File -> Scripts -> Load Files into Stack

  • Select each photo and create a Mask

  • Select the layer mask for the first photo and use the brush tool along with the black and white squares at the bottom to brush over your first clone (make sure you are using the black color)

  • Before moving onto the next hit CTRL + I

  • Select your next layer mask and repeat the process (use the brush tool along with the black and white squares at the bottom to brush over your first clone)

  • If you have a clone that overlaps with another clone play around with the black and white color to hide and reveal until you get what you want

Alternative to Photoshop (Snapseed)

If you don’t have Photoshop then you can alternatively use Snapseed that is free!

  • Open your first photo in Snapseed

  • Select Double Exposure

  • Add your second photo

  • Change the opacity to 100%

  • Select the layer button at the top

  • Select the middle paint brush icon under Double Exposure

  • Repeat the process for your other clones

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Be aware that with Snapseed you can’t have any of your clones overlapping each other. Because I had clone 1 and clone 4 overlapping I could only add three clones in snapseed. This is where Photoshop has a better advantage.


Have fun cloning yourself!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne MacLeod

Limiting My Time on Social Media | Helpful Tips, Why, Realizations, Alternative Sources for Inspiration

For the month of August I’ve been limiting my time on social media and in todays episode I wanted to chat with you about my experience - why I decided to take a social media break, things that helped me reduce my time, realizations I came to, and how I’ve been finding alternative sources for inspiration.

Taking a Social Media Break

At the beginning of August I decided to take a little break from social media. It’s not a complete social media sabbatical because I still check my Instagram and Facebook here and there, I still watch some YouTube videos and post YouTube videos but I have DRASTICALLY reduced my overall time on the platforms.

Tips that Helped Me Reduce my Time on Social Media

Moving some apps on my phone: My Instagram app was the biggest app that I found myself aimlessly scrolling on during the day so I decided to completely move the app off my main screen and into a folder on the next page so it was harder to access.

Deleting the apps: Before I got my new phone I used to spend HOURS in the evening aimless scrolling on Tik Tok. When I got my new phone I didn’t re-download the app and I haven’t been on Tik Tok since! Just deleting the apps off your phone helps too.

Carve out specific time to be on the platforms: I’m rarely on Facebook but I still love watching YouTube videos so to reduce my time and prevent myself from scrolling during the day is to create some time in the evening to be on the platform.

Discovering when and why I start scrolling: I brainstormed when and why I start scrolling on social media and I discovered it’s when I am between tasks, when I am losing focus on a task or I’m trying to find “inspiration” for my photography, newsletter, YouTube channel, etc.,

Why I Took a Social Media Break

I’ve wanted to take a break from social media for a while but I wasn’t sure when a good time to do it was. In July I read David Duchemin’s book about taking a social media sabbatical and I thought maybe August was a good month to do it.

I also took a social media break because I started to see how much social media was affecting/influencing my photography and my personal life - what I should be doing, what I should be photographing, how I should be editing, what my life should look like. So I wanted to create space and time to discover my photography and life in greater depth without outside influences.

Lastly, I often turn to social media to find “inspiration” and I wanted to challenge myself to find alternative sources for inspiration.

My Biggest Realization

Since taking a break from social media I have discovered how much I scroll on social media. I used to think it wasn’t that bad, I wasn’t on very often. However, I was finding myself on the platform more often than I thought (even if it was very short stints of time). I discovered this because I noticed I was getting these ‘social media scrolling impulses’.

I’ve also started to notice that my internal compass is starting to be driven more by me rather than outside influences (what I think I should be doing because of what other people are doing).

Finding Alternative Sources for Inspiration

Because I haven’t been on social media as much I have to find alternative sources for inspiration. I have found these to be great alternative sources for inspiration (personally):

Magazines, books and podcasts: I have found a lot of inspiration flipping through physical magazines, reading old books that I have and listening to a wide array of podcasts.

Getting out in nature: I have really loved getting out in nature, especially in the mornings. My favourite lately has been camping. Every week I was trying to make my way for at least a day or two to the Thompson Okanagan for some camping because it’s so lush, green and calming there!

My morning routine and internal reflection time (journaling): At the start of August I started up my morning routine again, for at least 30-minutes to an hour I like to sit down, drink my tea or coffee and either brain dump whatever is on my mind or journal. I find this gives me my greatest inspiration!

Final Thoughts

I was originally going to do this social media break for a month (August only) but I’m considering remaining with this social media break until I’m ready (my internal compass is being driven fully by me).

Let me know over on the channel if you’ve ever taken a social media break and what benefits you found!


Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka

Experimenting with Photo Editing | Summer Foliage Dark and Poppy + Playing with Black and White

I’ve been back and forth between Kelowna and the Thompson Okanagan a lot in the past few weeks. Every time I’ve been coming back I have a photo where I edit it naturally (as I do) and it doesn’t sit well with me. Then, the other day I was listening to a video by Alister Benn that talked about how during post-processing it is our opportunity to convey what we were feeling or a feeling through our edits. Thus, in todays episode I wanted to take you through a set of photos that I recently took on my last trip to the Thompson Okanagan where I edited them differently than I typically would. We also do an editing experiment together in an attempt to turn a photo that I took on my first trip to the Thompson Okanagan into something that sits better with me.

Summer Foliage - Dark and Poppy

My typical post-processing workflow includes keeping everything fairly natural to the eye, but I really wanted to make my summer foliage dark and poppy because I wanted to emphasize in many cases the light hitting the foliage and the lush, green-ness of the Thompson Okanagan.

The three in particular I wanted to chat about were these three:

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In all these photos I intentionally darkened my shadows and blacks to make the background really “dark”, in order to make my summer foliage “pop”.

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In some cases I used the Graduated Filter to create further emphasis.

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Editing Experiment - Loon Photo

The photo we’re going to experiment with is this Loon photo that I took on my first trip to the Thompson Okanagan. I was on the boat with my dad when this Loon family swam by us.

When I edited this photo “naturally” like I usually do it didn’t sit well with me. It wasn’t until a week later that a thought dawned on me that maybe black and white would fit the image better.

Below on the left is a “unedited/raw” photo, the photo in the centre is a “natural edit” and the one on the right is a “black and white” edit.

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I’ve become pretty mechanical with my editing workflow, always striving for natural edits to deliver consistency. However, expressing the moment, the feeling I was having when I took the photo and the feeling I want to convey changes.

It’s fun to experiment and I hope this inspires you to experiment with your editing!


Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka

Intimate Landscape Photography | Olympus 25mm and Photographing Nature’s Small Scenes

I’m back in the Thompson Okanagan and I’m very happy to be camping for a couple nights. Unlike last time the smoke has cleared out a little and it’s a beautiful day to go for a photo walk and do some intimate landscape/small scenes photography!

Intimate Landscape / Small Scenes Photography

Since the first time I came out to the Thompson Okanagan for camping in July I have been drawn, inspired by nature. Thus, in todays photo walk I was focusing more on intimate landscape/small scenes photography.

I have a different post dedicated to what Intimate Landscape Photography is which you can read here.

In short, I focus on photographing elements or characteristics of the environment. If I was at a beach it might be how the water rolls up on the sand, logs that surround the area, wildlife of that area, the patterns of the trees, etc.,

In this particular area I had noticed there were tons of different vegetation, berries, fruit, and wildflowers.

I find it interesting because back in June I visited Osoyoos (South Okanagan) and it was very dry, hot and desert-like. I live in Kelowna (Central Okanagan) which is in the middle of forested but still dry and the North Okanagan is very lush and green. It’s always something that I notice when I drive this way.

Green is definitely a characteristic of this place!

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Olympus 25mm F1.8

Evening strolls like this are good for my physical and mental health and sometimes I like to bring my camera with me. When I do my lens of choice has been the 25mm, combined with my Mark II it’s small and compact. I can swing it over my shoulder and pretty much forget it’s there.

Typically, if I’m at home and I’m going for an evening stroll I will just carry my 25mm but because I was camping I had also brought with me my 12-40mm and my 40-150mm. However, all these photos were taken on the 25mm.

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Photography Improvement

A tip I picked up from Sarah Marino when composing your photos is seeking balance (breaking the photo down into quarters and making sure it’s balanced). It’s a mental exercise that I’ve been trying to do to improve my photography.

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I hope this episode inspires you to get outside in nature and do some intimate landscape / small scenes photography!

Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka

Flower Photography | Create with Me, Olympus 12-40mm, My Fear Revealed, Soft & Dreamy Flower Photos

I love a beautiful flower, however, most times I don’t intentionally venture out specifically to do flower photography. The only time was when I was Chasing Arrowleaves in the Okanagan. Recently I was inspired to do some intentional flower photography and in todays Create with Me I bring you along with me in my adventure of creating soft, dreamy, calming flower photos!

Lens for Flower Photography

Many photographers use macro lenses for flower photography, however, I do not have a macro lens so I use what I have. Today I focused on using the M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO. I did bring along the M.Zuiko 40-150mm just in case I wanted to experiment with it.

For the most part I used the 12-40mm at its full focal length (40mm).

Next time I will try experimenting with the 40-150mm!

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Experimenting with Effects

I saw in a video a nature photographer use a plastic bag and plastic wrap to create different effects in the photo. So I thought I would give that a try! I added the additional item of parchment paper.

Out of the three that I tried my favourite was the plastic wrap or the plastic bag. The plastic wrap gives it a very subtle effect to the photo, but if you want something a little more opaque but not too harsh then the plastic bag is a good choice.

Parchment paper

Parchment paper

Plastic bag

Plastic bag

Plastic wrap

Plastic wrap

Here are some more photos using the plastic wrap to create the effect:

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Creating Soft, Dreamy, Calming Flower Photos

My aim was to create soft, dreamy, calming flower photos. To do that I focused on:

  • Singling out specific flowers

  • Shooting at F2.8 to create that bokeh

  • When able, shooting through other flowers

  • Focusing on either the pedal closest or the center of the flower

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Listening to Music

Majority of the time I don’t listen to music when I’m doing nature photography. If I am photographing birds I want to hear the sound of the birds! However, I read an article in Photo News that discussed meditation for better photography. Loosely translated for me it gave to the idea that what you are feeling, what your current vibe is transfers to your photo.

Thus, today I thought I would try listening to some relaxing music while I was out. At first I kept on ear bud off to hear my surroundings but I quickly discovered that by keeping my headphones both on I drowned out the sound of the bees, wasps, grasshoppers that were freaking me out.

The music did help calm myself, focus on the flower, focus on the photo.

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My Fear of Bugs

I have a fear of bugs. I didn’t even think about bugs when I thought of doing some intentional flower photography. However, within minutes of being at the park photographing the flowers I realized I was in trouble. Every flower arrangement had bees, spiders, beetles around them.

Thus, doing intentional, specific flower photography stretched me outside my comfort zone.

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I hope you found this episode inspiring to do some flower photography and experiment!

Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka

What Nature Taught Me Recently

If you saw last weeks video you know I reconnected with nature for three days in the Thompson Okanagan. In todays video I wanted to share with you some of the lessons the trip taught me.

Getting Back to Morning Photography

Three or four months ago (at the beginning of Spring) I started doing morning photography sessions. I had always been a sunset person but I wanted to give sunrise a chance. I ended up falling in love with them, but then I had to isolate at the beginning of June and I lost momentum for going out in the mornings. However, on this trip I woke up every day at 6:00 AM to do a morning session and it was wonderful! It was beautiful, peaceful, serene.

It was an amazing reminder on how awesome morning sessions are.

Doing More Nature Photography

Due to the direction I took with the Summer in the Okanagan (my seasonal photography collection) I’m more in the city, more where people are at so I haven’t been doing a lot of “nature” type photography. However, this trip got me thinking that I need to do more nature photography. Why? Because I feel so at peace when I was out there.

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Going Back to a Simple Setup

After my one lens challenge ended at the end of June I went back to using my full gear. On this trip I brought my camera backpack and all of my lenses. However, when out I felt like I was missing the simplicity, the minimalism I was feeling in June.

A part of my problem I think was my bag. The only camera bag I own where I can bring my water bottle with me is my camera backpack. But it seems silly to bring a giant backpack with only one lens and camera body and a water bottle. So I stuff everything into the bag.

In the autumn and winter I won’t likely need to bring a water bottle but with being in summer, it’s necessary. It hovers around 35 degrees on the daily, and it was 42 during the heat wave.

Going forward I want to look at going back to a simple setup.

Doing a One Lens Challenge with All of My Lenses

In June I did a one lens challenge with my Olympus 25mm F1.8 and I really enjoyed the challenge and the benefits. So starting in September I want to do a one lens challenge with all of my lenses, starting with the M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 because it’s my least used lens.

Honing in Again on Intimate Landscape Photography

I’ve done a previous video on Intimate Landscape Photography but I found with my current seasonal project, and doing nature photography that I was being drawn back to the minimalism, the use of negative space, intimate scenes.

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Implementing Regular Mini-Breaks

Those three days that I was camping gave me room to think, breathe and reflect on what’s important and get ideas. I did some work but majority of the time I was doing photography in the morning, spending time with family, going out on the paddle board and in general enjoying the summer and camping. However, that break away in nature gave me room. So I’m thinking of implementing this mini-break into regular practice because I think there are benefits there that need exploring.

Working WITH the Smoke Instead of AGAINST It

While I was camping it was smokey for majority of the time. Photographically, I didn’t mind. I found the smokey conditions made me focus on layers, lines and shapes, and I was using the atmosphere conditions to create a blank canvas. I did my best to work with the conditions, not against it.

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I really enjoyed my three-day trip to the Thompson Okanagan. Nature taught me some valuable lessons that I’m going to carry forward with me! Leave me a comment on the channel if you’ve been camping this summer and if nature has taught you anything recently.

Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka

Spring & Summer Favourites | Peak Design Clip, Advice, Digital Planning, Wine

In this episode I share with you some of my photography and non-photography favourites from Spring into Summer!

*None of these links are affiliate

Items Mentioned in the Video:

Additional Links Mentioned in the Video:


Let me know over on the channel what favourites you have or if any of the favourites I’ve listed are similar to yours!

Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka

Getting Inspired through Projects | This Weeks Mini Collection

In this episode we have a short chat about getting inspired through projects and I show you my mini collection for this week featuring rain.

Concept of Mini Projects

Eight months ago Robin Wong did a video about ‘Improving Your Photography with Mini Projects’. I love improving my photography and I love photography projects. His video really resonated with me because I discovered some time ago that I love working in collections, series or projects because it gives my photography focus and something to look forward to create.

Thus, for a few months I’ve been digging deep into the subject and consuming a lot of content in photography projects by Robin Wong, Daniel Milnor, as well older photographers like Berenice Abbott and An-My Le through YouTube and books.

Commitment to Collections

In early Spring I decided that I was going to focus on working through collections and publish them. So I did Chasing Arrowleaves, Hello Spring and my next mid-length seasonal collection is Summer in the Okanagan.

However, specifically to improve my photography, improve my collection skills and pump me with inspiration I am trying to do at least one mini project a week.

Mini Collection - Rain

Last week my mini project was documenting my first meal out. Indoor dining in Kelowna had been suspended since the end of March so Max and I got to eat inside our favourite sushi restaurant and I brought my camera along to document the moment.

This week I decided my mini collection was going to be about the rain. Earlier I had this conversation with a lady from Ontario and we were talking about the weather, the rain and I had mentioned the smell of the rain. She told me she loved the smell of the rain and that it reminded her of her home. However, Kelowna doesn’t get a lot of rain, we’re a semi-desert unlike Vancouver and Victoria. So when it rained here in Kelowna I went out to photograph the rain.

Here are the photos that I got…

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When I was curating this collection I specifically chose to follow my senses. I started off with sight - the clear pools of puddles on the ground, the droplets on the leaves and flowers. Then we moved to smell, which is hard to descern in a photograph so I focused on the atmosphere in these shots. Then we moved to touch, the physicalness of rain - rain on the skin, taking cover, seeking shelter. To finish I brought you back to my original shot.

Coming up with Your Mini Project Idea

The tricky part to mini projects is coming up with the idea for the mini project. Which is why my experiment for June - Documenting, Instead of Only Creating has been handy. It’s helped me re-frame from ‘creation’ to ‘documentation’.

For example, I have Fathers Day coming up on Sunday so I want to do a mini collection around that. Next weekend I’m in Osoyoos so I have a mini collection planned around documenting that trip. There’s a new cafe Downtown that I want to check out with my mom so I have a mini collection planned to capture that moment.

The point, shifting my focus from ‘what to create’ to ‘documenting’ has helped create more opportunities.

Final Thoughts

Let me know over on the channel if you’re working on a mini project or have one planned. In the future I want to talk to you all more about photography projects!


Happy Photographing!

Beautifully Wander | Robynne Ikesaka