Shutter Sisters

a weekend harvest

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1. lily on fire island, 2. Apples, 3. My Neighbor the Painter, 4. Cheers to Your Weekend, 5. Bike bell, 6. family, 7. Backyard, 8. oceanside, 9. Napkins and Kitchen Towels, 10. Untitled, 11. Fall basket with pears, 12. 46:365, 13. i walk the earth with my bare feet, 14. waders and coats, 15. Untitled, 16. As you wish…

 

They say the seasons are changing but you might not know it, depending on your demographic. Regardless, it’s collections like these that warm our hearts. We are loving all the amazing images that you upload to our Flickr group every day. There are over 400,000 awesome shots that you all have shared with us. That is sweet! Keep them coming!

Share your bounty of goodness with us this weekend and tag your images #shuttersisters whether you’re using Flickr or instagram. We love it all.

Today’s prompt: harvest

Sunday’s prompt: words

last call for Oasis registration

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Don’t let us disrupt your Sunday plans, in fact, we’re only interrupting your weekending activities to remind you that registration for the Shutter Sisters event Oasis will end on Friday, Sept 7th at noon PST. There are only a few more spaces that are open and they’ll only be available for a few more days.

We’ve been spending a lot of time in Palm Springs lately, specifically at Ace Hotel and Swim Club and we can only say, we are bursting at the seams with excitement at being there with so many sisters of the shutter. It’s pretty much going to rock and it’s only a few months away. We are counting down the days and would love to have you doing the same with us!

Today’s prompt is “books” and we do hope you choose to book your spot at Oasis before it’s too late. 

weekending by marina sorr

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Marina_sorr lives as much as possible outdoors during weekends, enjoying nature. When she doesn’t manage to get away from the city where she lives, she can be often found in its parks, capturing images that make her smile and relaxing under trees in bloom.

She shares her images on flickr as mar_s,and on instagram as @marina_sorr.

Where are you spending your time this weekend?

Share your weekeneding images today and if you want a chance to be featured here, email us! 

weekending by Deborah

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Deborah shoots images like this with whichever camera is handy and spends her weekends instigating adventures for her two kids.

Deborah can be found on Flickr at Damiec. 

Aaaah, it’s that time again. Share with us the colors that paint your weekend.

weekending by ai

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 Ai shoots images like this with her Nikon D40 and spends her weekends “brunching” with friends and enjoying time outdoors.

Ai can be found online at Ai Loves…

Now, share with us your weekending table. Let’s see what you’re serving up. And don’t forget to submit your weekending images to us via email. We love being inspired by your weekending shots!

weekending by Tamar Haytayan

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Tamar Haytayan shoots images like this with her Nikon D80 and D5100 and spends her weekends with her family in beautiful rainy Vancouver, relaxing, cooking, clicking, and trying to find some time for herself in between.

Tamar can be found online on her blog Colour of Pomegranates and on Flickr. 

What does your weekend look like?

Accidental Tourist

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As photographers we often find ourselves looking through our lenses like tourists, seeing the world around us with fresh eyes, documenting everything that’s new. Even what we’re familiar with can be captured through a new perspective, a different angle, a renewed way of discovering it.

And when we are actually tourists—experiencing something for the first time to us—it can also seem like we are children again; bright-eyed, curious, excited about new sights and sounds, people and landscapes.

There is nothing better than taking in all the wonder of our surroundings. Of seeing things from a different perspective. Exploring either the new or the old through a lens that appreciates it all. And having the tools to take what we see and create something brand new with it. To tell the stories that beg to be told. A moment in time that somehow, no one else has seen.  An angle that surprises even us and offers a whole new way of thinking. A landscape that feels as foreign as the moon and yet somehow as familiar as our own backyard. A person, who seemingly comes out of nowhere begging to be noticed, recognized, seen, recorded.

I am here. Can you see me? Do you know what I stand for?  the monument pleads.

I am here. Can you see me? Will you help me to tell my story? the man begs of me through his gesture (a peace sign).

I am reminded time and again of what an incredibly important job we have. It is through our eyes, through our lenses that stories—of us and of the world—are told.

Do show us today what stories you been asked to tell.

Her Camera

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Three years ago I picked up a camera with one goal in mind. We were starting a family and was determined to avoid paying a professional photographer to take photos that I thought I could learn to achieve on on my own. I was quickly bitten by the photography bug and when we fell pregnant on Mother’s Day 2009 everything seemed to be falling into place. I was gifted a brand new Nikon d90 and upon the baby’s arrival I was confident I’d be able to capture beautiful squishy newborn portraits of our bundle of joy.

 I never expected that things would go terribly wrong.

 At our 20 week sonogram a red flags were raised and we were alarmingly referred to a high risk practice to have them investigated. The vivid memories of our trip to that high risk office will haunt me until the day I die. The technician called us back and rushed us through a series of sonogram photos. She was rough on my belly, she pressed a little to intensely, I could feel our baby kick the technician back as if staying “Stop!”. I wanted her to stop too. Finally she left. Minutes dragged on like hours.

Then, the doctor finally walked in and broke the silence with 5 little words that would change our world forever: “Your baby has multiple problems”.

Without stopping for air, he continued to spout out medical jargon about this syndrome and that syndrome. Things we had never even heard of before. He listed off the numerous organs our baby was missing one by one. So cold. So heartless. We left the office numb, dazed, and confused. That evening, as I googled every little snippet of medical jargon our doctor threw around that day I knew what was coming next.

That’s when I broke down in a river of tears for the first time.

We sought a 2nd opinion at Children’s Hospital in Washington DC where a fatal diagnosis was confirmed. Our daughter Bella’s defects were 1 in 20,000. No one expects to be the 1 in 20,000, but somehow the devastating baby loss lottery struck us at 20 weeks pregnant.

Our lives were forever changed.

Bella Rose was stillborn on September 11th, 2009. When we arrived home from the hospital empty handed and broken hearted, flowers began to arrive in mass quantities. I was looking to busy my mind and my hands and I sought a way to collect the beauty of Bella’s blooms and preserve them for when I could truly appreciate them. That’s when I remembered I had her camera. The oneI  intended to be used to to take beautiful images of newborn Bella to fill our walls with canvas and framed prints in our home.

Instead, I picked up Bella’s camera after she died and used it to capture a glimpse into my fragile heart. And then, a magical thing happened.

I discovered photography to be an incredible tool in my healing and I started to shift my perspective. I uncovered small bits of beauty in my broken world. I celebrated the little accomplishments, even something a simple as getting out of bed in the morning. I made it my daily meditation to visually express gratitude for what I did still have left in my life. I blogged images and words that revealed my most private feelings of loneliness and failure after losing an unborn child. But, I also shared how photography was allowing me to experience emotions more fully, learn about myself, and heal my soul.

Do you have a special image you’ve taken that has helped you on a healing journey? I’d love it if you’d share it here today. Let’s celebrate the magical powers of photography in soothing our souls when they are hurting.

 Guest blogger, Beryl Ayn Young, serves as chief photography muse over on her personal blog and serves as teacher of the Illuminate Photography e-course, designed especially for moms who have lost a baby due to stillbirth, miscarriage, or infant loss. She believes in nourishing the soul with lifelong learning, photographic healing, & a glass half full perspective. Beryl photography classes and mentoring aimed at teaching you how to improve your camera skills and cherish life’s journey.

the story of tradition

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When I was growing up, our family’s holiday traditions looked quite different from those of my friends. Our December revolved around lighting a menorah, eating latkes, & spinning dreidels. My friends used to express how jealous they were of me. “You get to open presents for 8 days?!!” they would enviously proclaim. But little did they know, I spent my childhood jealous of THEM and their special traditions instead. Especially their Christmas trees trimmed with sparkles, twinkles, and radiance.  I’d visit a friend’s house and simply stare in awe and wonderment at their tree, standing tall and proud in their family room.  I was mesmerized by this symbol of family, faith, and love on prominent display in their home. I’d walk around and inspect each special bauble hung with care on it’s branches. Each one unique. Each with a story or special meaning. I’d spend time asking where each one came from and what made it so special. 

Fast forward 20 years where I’ve married into a blended family who is now crafting our own special holiday traditions. It came as no surprise to my husband that during our very first holiday season together,  I insisted that we go out and purchase a tree with all the trimmings. During that same year, our “Annual Ornament Hunt” was born.  As a family we take time to reflect on the year that’s unfolded and we choose an ornament for our tree that represents the path we’ve traveled together. A way to package up our year’s history into one beautiful, tiny hanging symbol. 

2004: The brick building with the glowing light in the window from the year we bought our first home together.

2006: The letter ‘Y’ studded with diamonds from the year we were married. 

2009: The little white angel from the year we needed to embrace the memory of our Bella, our first daughter, stillborn at 20 weeks pregnant.

2010:  The pink newborn bundle from the year we welcomed our now 15 month daughter Brielle and celebrated her entering this world healthy, happy, and inquisitive. 

Our tree is the timeline of our life and our family. Our beginnings. Our celebrations. Our challenges. Our suffering. Our moments. Our joy. To us, that tree is an annual symbol of peace, beauty, reflection and renewal. It’s our story documented and on display as we conclude another year together.

Do your holiday traditions have a story to tell? What special ways do you make holiday magic with your family?

Image and words courtesy of Guest Blogger Beryl Ayn Young. For more information about her transformative and healing work, visit the Illuminate blog.

Interview with Christine Mason Miller

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With the launch of her soon-coming book Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World, we thought it would be an excellent time to catch up with our friend Christine Mason Miller. We asked her a few questions and thought you’d enjoy her answers.

What is the one-sentence elevator pitch for Desire to Inspire?

Desire to Inspire is a beautiful, full-color book that explores different aspects of creating a meaningful life as shared by twenty astounding contributors – artists, writers, entrepreneurs, and more.

Where did you get the idea for the book?

I have long been fascinated by the fact that so many women I know – particularly creative entrepreneurs – have a deep desire to inspire others. I held a retreat for nine of these women in 2006, and during this retreat we all talked about our work – what we were doing, wanted to do, and loved to do. Every single one of these women talked about this desire to inspire, and that is when my curiosity about this topic was first sparked. I found it fascinating that even though we did different types of work, our underlying mission was the same – to be a force of good in the world.

Where did your desire to inspire come from?

At its essence, it comes from gratitude – for the fact that I have been able to create and build a creative career, for my health, my family, for all the large and small circumstances that have made it possible for me to do what I love. Getting to live the life I live, I can’t help but want to give back.

Share an experience where creative passion – either yours or someone else’s – transformed your world.

That is actually an easy answer – it was when I was in graduate school and working in Columbia, Missouri for a summer internship. I majored in Art as an undergrad, and always knew I wanted to be an artist. But I have an incredibly practical streak in me, so decided to earn a Master’s degree in Adult Education as my fall back plan. As much as I loved grad school, I went through it with plans of pursuing an art career even though I had no idea what that might look like.

Then right in the middle of my program, my college roommate sent me a copy of SARK’s first book – Creative Companion. I opened the package in front of the building where I worked on the campus of Stephens College, and my entire world shifted. Reading SARK’s words and holding such a unique book in my hands gave me the exact spark of inspiration I needed. Creative Companion showed me the way. It was then and there that I decided I wanted to create art that would inspire others to follow their dreams. It was a moment I will never forget – when SARK’s creative passion transformed my world, and just a few years later I launched Swirly.

What if someone isn’t necessarily interested in transforming the world? Do all creative passions and endeavors need to be so grand?

When I talk about transforming the world, I am actually talking about very small actions, because it is in the smallest of actions that change happens. I am not talking about lunging a giant boulder into the water in order to create immediate, giant waves of transformation; I am talking about tossing small pebbles in, one by one, and seeing how the ripples they create travel far and wide. Someone who has inspired me throughout my entire life is my grandma. She never set out to “transform the world” and loved nothing more than to spend hours in her garden. She was very crafty, worked for most of entire life, was practical, independent, funny, and kind. In other words, she just lived a “normal” life, never wanting to make too much fuss about it. She inspired me to work hard and create a meaningful life just by being herself – just by living her life in the best way she could.

My point is that the simple act of living a life that is meaningful to you is going to create a positive example for others to follow. Yes, there are countless artists and authors and filmmakers and other transformative figures in the world that have inspired me, but it is the smaller, day-to-day examples I see that really stick with me.

And then it goes like this – I am inspired to create a meaningful life, then others close to me, perhaps, are inspired to do the same, and then everyone close to those people can be inspired, and on and on it goes. That is the kind of transformation I am passionate about – the kind that gives one person after another after another the example they need to create a joy-full life.

Can you imagine what the world would look like if we all had this kind of encouragement?

Christine Mason Miller is a Santa Monica-based artist, writer, and explorer. Her next book – Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World – begins shipping later this month! Follow her adventures on www.christinemasonmiller.com. Featured photo courtesey of Tracey Clark. Insert photo of book cover.

Leave you comment here between now and Friday night 11/18 at midnight EST for a chance to win a copy of Desire to Inspire!