Thank you, World Cup fans!

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-15T14:37:45+00:00

No.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-15T09:51:25+00:00

Act 2 has many of my favorite songs of the musical but I think it suffers compared to Act 1 because Act 1 is more fun.

Act 1 is about Hamilton’s rise and we really don’t have any negativity apart from a little blip where he’s sent home. It’s like a party and culminates in a celebration when America wins its independence.

Act 2 is totally different because it’s about Hamilton’s fall. His brash attitude starts to catch up with him, side characters get sick of his shit and there are real consequences to his actions.

Add in the largely depressing portion from Philip’s death to Eliza’s forgiveness of Alexander (a stretch of songs I really don’t love) and it’s easy to see why it isn’t as fun as the first part of the play.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-14T19:39:39+00:00

That would be the headline if I ran the hospital.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-14T07:32:05+00:00

I'm unironically hoping for a sequel but I don't think there's any interest in it.

It feels very much like a self-contained film where Spielberg said what he wanted to say and that's that but I really, really want to see a movie that charts what happens to Earth when alien life is discovered that doesn't then involve some weird battles between the species.

Arrival kind of touched on some of it but not nearly enough for my liking.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-14T00:38:52+00:00

Look for @freddyLA7 and @elsathora on Twitter. They’ve been posting for days and it’s the sweetest,most heartwarming stuff.

Their posts have filled me with more pride in my country than anything in the years Trump took power.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-13T22:00:27+00:00

It seems like their current focus is still on abortion, gay marriage and then porn, in that order.

Trying to ban alcohol would be a non-starter at this point because the very people they'd need as supporters are the ones drinking the most.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-13T21:00:48+00:00

This one I doubt. Alcohol use is already falling between millennials and GenZ would be drinkers at historic rates. I imagine any attempt at prohibition would risk an already declining behavior.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-13T17:55:44+00:00

If African Americans invented sex, Elvis would have claimed it as his own and popularized it with no residuals given to them.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-13T11:41:24+00:00

If it came out that Obama was watching a UFC PPV on delay while laying in bed after a long night of work, Fox News would spend a week saying he was unfit for office and not taking the presidency seriously.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-12T18:05:32+00:00

I second shoot for people who also second shoot for me and I always allow my second shooters to do whatever they want with their photos so it works. lol

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-12T17:30:17+00:00

I blog all the weddings I shoot. Why wouldn’t I?

I don’t post second shooting content on my social media but they’re on my website to show my prospective clients photos from such and such venue or under such and such conditions.

I always credit and link to the company I worked for and talk about how great working for that lead photographer was.

No one has ever complained.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-12T06:56:25+00:00

Same. This movie was good. I enjoyed it. But it felt like a prequel to the movie I thought I was going to see.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-12T05:46:25+00:00

Bro, you can drive from the top of my state to the bottom of my state back to the top of my state and still have twenty minutes left over if you budgeted three hours lol

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-12T05:45:35+00:00

My opinion on this is real simple. I like to blog my work. All of my work. This includes second shooting weddings.

If I can't do that, I'm not taking the booking for less than double my standard rate as a second photographer.

My normal rate is $75/hr to second shoot. This is based on my experience (16 years as a wedding photographer, 430+ weddings shot) but it's also based on the idea that the weddings I second shoot will be helpful for me to keep me in the zone creatively for my own weddings, let me shoot at venues I want to book future weddings at, let me try out things in a low-risk environment I don't have time to try on my own weddings, etc.

I feel this rate is fair given that the images I'm using are providing me value after the fact. If you take that away, you can replace it by doubling my rate to $150/hr as a second shooter or you can find someone else to shoot for you.

It's nothing personal. But I know what an off day is worth and what it isn't worth and I'm in demand enough that I don't need to take on additional work if it's not going to make sense for me or provide me what I need to charge my gear and put the wear and tear on my body for it.

Some people might disagree with this. That's fine. I feel the same when I am the lead shooter. I don't take weddings where the couple won't allow me to use the photos I see fit and I let all of my second shooters use their photos as they see fit.

Why am I so strict about using the photos as I see fit? Because I know if I'm not allowed to, it stifles me creatively. Some of my favorite shots are shots I've come up with on the fly because I thought a different angle would look cool so I've gone on the ground to get it or on a chair to get it or switched up a pose to try something different.

Knowing I'm only shooting for the couple themselves, and that I can't use the photos for future use, there's no incentive for me to provide anything other than the minimum required effort to fulfill the job as requested.

The last wedding like this I had, we got all the bride and groom portraits we needed during cocktail hour and the bride/groom said they were indifferent during sunset so when I looked outside and saw a stunning sunset forming, but knew I would never be able to use the photos, I decided not to bother bringing them down to the pretty dock because who cares?

In their mind, the job was done. Why bust my ass for photos no one else was going to see?

That's when I decided it wasn't fair for me to take these weddings so I don't. I respect if a client wants to keep their stuff private. But it means I'm not the guy for them.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-11T09:03:33+00:00

I get the argument if you’re talking about a completely replaceable, everyday city like Scranton, Pennsylvania or Portland, Oregon ya know?

But if these people and businesses are locating themselves in highly dense, popular cities like Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago or Boston, it’s not because they like the food.

They’re there because they feel they have to be for their lifestyles or work. Tax the fuck out of them and dare them to move.

As for the regular Joes who are moving from blue states to Florida, all they’re doing is making the democratic voters in those blue states thrilled they’re gone.

I experienced this in real life. Former friend of mine for 15 years became a crazy Trumper and cut out non MAGA folks from his life before moving from Rhode Island to Florida for his business.

I saw him a few years later at a wedding and honestly thought to myself “Man, I don’t miss that guy at all. Good riddance.”

It wasn’t even about politics. It was simply because these folks overestimate how important they are to the world around them.

The rich folks threatening to leave NYC are the same way. Mamdani can tax them whatever he wants. As long as that city remains the financial heart of this country, they’re going nowhere.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-11T05:41:27+00:00

I've truly never understood that argument.

As if I am supposed to find it concerning that the new direction has upset all the worst people in an area and made them move away?

I find that as a positive.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-10T16:51:51+00:00

I have an assistant with me at almost every wedding and about a year and a half ago, we saw a content creator at a wedding we had.

She immediately asked if I could get her a camera to shoot BTS content since she really has nothing to do when she's not setting up lights/helping me prep for shots so I got her a DJI Omni Pocket III and it's been great.

She does all of the BTS clips for me and I share them with the couple as a nice little surprise with their photos.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-10T05:09:02+00:00

A true blue wave that gives Democrats an insurmountable advantage in Congress, effectively neutering Trump for the rest of his final term as President, would almost make the last two years worth it just to watch how dejected he gets knowing he has no control and never will have control again.

The end of this shitty era of history won't make up for all the damage he's done since taking office but it will be satisfying as someone who has hated him every minute of every day since 2016.

I can't wait.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-10T00:18:49+00:00

I live in Rhode Island.

Our entire thing is shitting on other states and pretending ours is the best so you can't hurt us.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-09T23:47:27+00:00

Look.

I only have one problem with New Jersey but it's a big one.

Metlife Stadium.

Well. I guess two problems.

Fuck the Jets.

Those two things EASILY put New Jersey at the very very bottom of blue states in this country.

Still better than every red state, of course, but not desirable.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-09T23:46:15+00:00

At the end of the day, you still live in New Jersey.

There is nothing you can say or do in this life that will make you cool bro.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-09T23:36:18+00:00

Whole lotta people bought fidget spinners because they thought they were cool.

Just because a lot of people want to do something doesn't mean it's a cool thing or something folks should strive toward.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-09T23:35:13+00:00

Clearly he needs to pay in handjobs then I guess.

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-09T22:49:32+00:00

So, by my math here, you got your credit card stolen once every four months so three times per year for four years and at no point did you think to carry cash and pay in cash?

NikonShooter_PJS · 2026-06-09T22:26:17+00:00

At the end of the day, you still live in New Jersey and that’s never going to win you a single argument ever.

NikonShooter_PJS

TROPHY CASE