About Me

Hiiii! My name is Lenise Steadman, but you can call me Niecy. We're homies now. It's fine 😊. 

I'm a Shreveport native. A Ratchet City Lifer, if you will. After graduating from C. E. Byrd in 2004, I attended Louisiana Tech where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (2008) and then a Master of Arts in Counseling and Guidance. I spent the next 14 years being very proud that I had almost consistently held jobs in my area of academic expertise. DCFS, in-patient and outpatient mental health and school counseling. Thank goodness, I managed to be decent in a field that I chose when my brain was still cooking.

I was decent, good, maybe outstanding in some (very rare) instances. I however, wasn't happy or fulfilled. 

Summer 2023, I purchased my first stand alone camera in 15 years. It would be nearly 6 months before I really handled it for more than a couple minutes. Can't fail if I never try, right?. On December 30, 2023, a dear friend hired me as the photographer for a project that he was working on. A lot of people would say, “that was the day that everything changed” or “everything just clicked.” I'd say it's the day I changed. It was then that I realized that so many of my most joyous and proud moments were ones where I was behind a lens.

The friend for whom I did the shoot covered my fee for a Photography Basics continuing education class where I was able to get familiar with my camera without having a complete meltdown.  I got to go through the all the emotions and then suck it up because I had an assignment due next class.

The more I understood the camera, the more I wanted to understand the camera. I always wanted to have him with me. The camera is a him. He has a name too. I wanted to practice and get better. I wanted to make art that made me feel like I was telling stories with 1/400 of a second frames. And I wanted to share that art. I wanted to help others tell their story and see their errant thoughts come to life. 

Just 4 Nerds having a nice time.

One cosplay, please? Is this your brand of weird? Are you into this?