Shutter Sisters

My Medicine

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Last weekend, my son had and allergic reaction and went into anaphlyaxis.  I rushed him to the hospital where I was quickly pushed aside while an ER team immediately began working on him and ultimately, putting him on a ventilator. Once it was done and I could see even the doctor give a sigh of relief, my husband and I then awaited the arrival of the critical care team from our local children’s hospital to transport him.  It was then that I began to document what was happening in photos.  I needed to.  I’ve said many times that my camera has been my saving grace. I couldn’t do anything else at that time and it was the only thing I felt I had any control over. 

Fortunately, my son made a quick and complete recovery and once we were home, I uploaded my photos into a set on Flickr.  I wanted to share them and I was hesitant at first because I wasn’t sure how people would respond to the rawness of the photos, but I wanted, needed, for others to see, to understand.   I then shared them on a Facebook allergy page that I follow regularly.  The owner of the page contacted me and asked if she could share them with others because she thought it was important to do so.  I said yes and didn’t give it another thought. 

Immediately my inbox began filling up with messages from people all over the country that I did not know.  Some shared their similar stories with me, others just wanted to tell me that they were glad everything had turned out okay, but all of them thanked me for sharing my photos with them.  It was at that moment that I knew I did the right thing.  As of this writing, those 10 photos have been viewed over 4500 times. 

How many times have you taken a photo that really didn’t mean much to you but to someone else it meant so much more?  How many times have you heard, Oh my gosh, I love that photo!  Can I have it?!  I’ve said many times that I believe everyone brings their own medicine to this world.  Next time one of your photos touches someone, take a moment and realize that perhaps your photography is your medicine, too. 

Today, share those photos that have may have been your medicine…to you or to someone else.

Season of Renewal

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Spring is life
Spring is hope
So is love and
happiness.
Spring renews.
Without spring,
life is forlorn.
Spring is nostalgia
after a bitter storm.
Put spring in your heart.

 -Spring, by Archie Greenidge

Spring , in all it’s tangible newness, has always held a sense of renewal to me.  I can hear it in the way the birds sing their melodies with the rising sun and see it in the new growth that is starting to show on my favorite tree.  With the passing of my best friend at summer’s end last year, the fall and winter were especially long for me.  It was a choice I made, choosing to cocoon myself with my family and a few close friends but it’s time to shed the winter and let the spring do it’s healing magic.  So bring on the sunshine and do your thing, springtime.  I’m ready for you. 

Today, rejoice in the new season and share a little of your springtime with us. 

Life Through My Lens

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The word trickled through my core group of girlfriends, my tribe, that there was a diagnosis of breast cancer.  We have all been friends since high school, some of us even longer, and the majority of us are still here in California while our sweet friend who had just been diagnosed lives out of state. When something like this happens, the first people you want and need is your family. Like most of us, her family is here in California as well.  We knew that even though she was trying to be brave, she needed them. The decision to fly her in to be with her family was a simple one, so we put her on a plane and brought her home.

After we picked her up at the airport, we took her to lunch where we talked about high school and old crushes and who was still married and who had divorced.  And we laughed.  A lot.  Then finally, in a quiet and safe moment, her eyes filled with tears.  Letting go of the false bravado, she let all of her fears come to the surface and spill over while us, her tribe, did what we do best: we surrounded her with all the love, faith and hope we could give her.  It was at that moment that I picked up my camera and took this photo. 

I’ve taken hundreds of those happy photos we all take of babies and families and people.  I’m a photographer.  It’s what I do.  But life is so much more than that, and that’s what I tend to photograph: life in all it’s glorious, raw beauty.  It’s also what I tend to do when I can’t really put what I’m feeling into words so I let my camera do the speaking for me.  When my grandma was at the end of her days, I documented it with my camera.  When my son was critically ill and there was nothing I could do but wait and hope and pray, my camera was my saving grace.  So while this photo isn’t your basic posed and happy photo, the love in that photo is undeniable and that, my friends, is everything.  It’s what life is all about.

Share with us today your photos depicting life. Tell us a story. We’re listening.

Baby Love

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Oh, how I love babies, I truly do. My boys have long been out of the baby stage and whenever I get a chance to photograph babies, I’m all over it.  From newborns to crawlers to toddlers, seriously, what’s not to love?!  So of course when I had the chance to photograph this sweet baby boy and his big sister, I wasn’t about to pass it up. 

Today, share with us your baby photos and let us all get our baby fix!

The Power of One

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“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”- Thomas Jefferson 

As you know, we kicked off the month by asking you to celebrate your word all month long for the One Word Project, and that you have.  Many of you have chosen your words and showed us how you celebrate those words with the photos you’ve added to our One Word Project Flickr pool and let me just say, they’re pretty darned awesome.  Correction: you’re pretty darned awesome.  

So inspired I was by your words and photos, that with the help of some friends, I put together a One Word video to share with all of you.  If you haven’t found just the right word for you yet, then maybe this lovely little video will inspire you.  And even if you already have a word, may you be as moved as I am by all the collective love of the beautiful women that contributed to the making of this video.  Because, like you, they’re pretty darned awesome, too.  

In honor of our One Word Project, the always lovely Stacy De La Rosa of Bella Wish Jewelry (and contributor to the video!) is giving away one custom made, hand stamped, sterling silver pendant with your word for 2012! For your chance to win, leave a comment telling us what your word is for 2012 no later than tomorrow, January 25th, midnight PST. 

 

 

Finding Bliss

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It’s just over a week into the new year and even though I promised myself that I will be more present and remember to breathe, I’m finding it a little difficult to do right now.  I also think it’s because it’s January, my least favorite month of the year.  That sweet little square tile above (an awesome gift from the fabulous Leslie Adams) sits on my desk where I see it everyday and this week it’s been taunting me.  Create Your Bliss. What the heck does that mean?!  How do I create bliss when my life is so hectic right now??  And then I realized, bliss can be anything I want it to be.  Tomorrow, my house will be mine again.  After three weeks at home for the holidays, my husband goes back to work and my kids are officially back in school.  Tomorrow morning, my bliss will be a cup of coffee with my favorite creamer in my favorite cup while wearing my favorite slippers in a blissfully quiet house.  I now know that creating my bliss doesn’t have to big or showy or dramatic.  It can be as simple as a cup of coffee.  Creating my bliss isn’t so difficult afterall, and that’s a good thing. 

Today, inspire us. Share with us how you create your bliss.   

Happy Holidays

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For most of you, the morning rush of Christmas is over. Presents have been exchanged among piles of wrapping paper and bows and the kids are lost in their new gifts.  Today, take a moment to take it all in and tuck away the memories as you go on with your day.  And I know I don’t have to say it, but keep that camera handy.  And more importantly, have a wonderful holiday from all of us here at Shutter Sisters.   

Today, let us glimpse into your day. Share a favorite holiday photo with us.  We’d love to see them! 

Give and Take

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 Oh, those holiday card photos.  We love them and we dread them, especially when it comes to getting that one perfect shot of our children.  As much as we have this fantasy of getting that perfect shot of our perfectly well behaved children that of course are willing participants, we all know the truth.  Sometimes, for you lucky ones, it works out that way.  Sometimes.  Then there are those of us, myself included, that would agree that trying to get the perfect shot is as painful as a root canal…for both the photographer and the subject. 

It took me awhile (okay, years) to realize it was just not worth the tears and drama.  Something had to give, especially when it came to photographing kids other than my own.  As much as parents want their kids to look and behave perfectly at a photo shoot, kids are only good for so long before drama or tears ensue.  I decided that instead of fighting them, I’d work with them.  So, I tell them that we’re going to work together.  I tell them my ideas and then I ask them for their ideas.  I love seeing the surprise on their faces when I ask them what they would like to do.  What child doesn’t want to be heard?  It’s a lot easier to get a child to cooperate when they know that after I take the photos I want to get, I’m going to take their picture doing whatever they want to do.  And you know what?  Some of my best shots are kid directed, like the photo above.  That photo was all his idea, and better yet, his personality is completely evident in the photo, so much so that it made it onto the family Christmas card and that, ladies and gentlemen, is a win/win situation.  

How about you? Did you manage to get a great holiday photo? Or, did you get one that wasn’t exactly what you wanted but it ended up being just the right one after all?  Please, do share.  

Strangers Only for a Moment

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 I stood in the crowd taking pictures of Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland while my husband and kids took off to go on their favorite rides. In typical Disney fashion, loud Christmas music filled the park around me.  To my right, as I had my eye to the viewfinder on my camera, I heard a melodic male voice softly singing along to the Christmas music.   I turned my head to see a lone gentleman on a park bench who instantly reminded me of my grandfather.  I’m a sucker for the older generation.  I gravitate to them, always have, so I made my way over to the park bench and took a seat.  More importantly, I wanted to photograph him and I knew before my time was up on that bench, I would.

He smiled at me as I sat down and I complimented him on his singing voice.  In his broken english, he told me that Christmas was his favorite time of year.  I told him it was my favorite time, too, especially the music.  Now I have to tell you, I have no problem talking to perfect strangers.  Ask my husband and he’ll tell you it can be a curse or a blessing, but in instances like these, I consider it a blessing.  Everyone has a story, everyone, and I want to know them.  I just knew this man sitting next to me, who I wanted to photograph and who was singing Christmas carols in his sweet, broken english, had a story. I continued the conversation by asking if he was a local or visiting from out of town and over the next hour I got my story, the story of a man who fell in love with his wife when she was 14 and he was 15 in their small village in Italy and who married young and came to our country 28 years ago to start a new life; about how his wife became a teacher because she loved children and how they raised children of their own and now have many grand children; about why his kids brought him to Disneyland with them because they didn’t want him to be alone after his wife had passed away a year ago and how he was quite content to just sit on that park bench and people watch all day long.  He grew quiet for a moment and then in his broken english he said with a smile, I’m 80 and life is good, and once again he began to hum to the music.  It was then that I asked him if I could take his picture.  When he hesitated, I explained how he reminded me of my grandfather and how I missed him.  With a dismissive wave of his hand he said, Sure, why not?  He didn’t seem to want to look at the camera so I took a profile shot.  He wanted to see his picture and when I showed him he asked, You like?  I do, I said. He seemed pleased with my answer and giving my hand a quick pat, he went back to people watching.

How about you? Have you ever seen someone you didn’t know, wondered what their story was and thought, I would love to take a photo of that person.  If you have, share your photos with us.  If you haven’t and have always wanted to, try stepping out of your comfort zone and do it. Ask, and I bet they’ll have a story to share, too. 

Getting Creative

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Fall seems to be turning to winter sooner than it usually does, from the early snow storms in the east to the earlier than normal rain here in Southern California. We had rain off and on Friday through Sunday and I really needed to get outside, even if just for a little bit.  There was a brief break in the clouds and I remembered my rubber duckies that I had been holding onto since last spring for days just like these.  I grabbed my 11 yr. old son, he grabbed the ducks and off we went to find the perfect puddle to set them free in.  Not only did I get some camera time in, my son and I had some good old fashioned outdoor fun, and for that I am grateful. 

How about you? What do you when the weather doesn’t want to cooperate? Today, show us how you work with the weather in your neck of the woods.