Christine Young shoots images like this with her Nikon CoolpixP100 and spends her weekends hiking with her dog and camera … treasure hunting for new ways of seeing and being.
You can find her on her website Christine Create.
What are you seeking out this weekend?
Todays prompt: embrace
Sundays prompt : something black
I don’t have to venture far to find beautiful bokeh. Up a flight of steps lies my loft studio and an enchanting world of beads, bokeh, and bling. Swarovski crystals, sequins, and beads of every shape and size sit strewn across my work table. They catch morning light, splashing bedazzling, dancing glimmer in every direction.
Where do you find your daily dose of visual inspiration?
Images and words courtesy of Anna VanDemark. You can find more of her photography, bead, and quilt work on her blog, Alchemy of Art.
Today’s prompt: Something Purple. Hashtag #shuttersisters
Today’s featured image courtesy of W’Mina. She shoots images like this with her Olympus and spends her weekends kayaking, running, and exploring Austin, spending time with her family and, when no one is looking, sneaking in a nap like her dachshund. You can find her at Flickr as gottarun and on Facebook.
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Ah, the weekend. And a three day weekend for many of us living stateside. You know what that means; sleeping in, eating a leisurely breakfast, reading the morning paper or your favorite blogs. Okay, I know that might be going a little overboard. You might get a little of that but maybe your weekends look all together different. Whatever the case may be for you, you’ve gotta eat a little something in the morning, right? Before you either start your busy day, or curl up for a mid-morning snooze, you’ve got to serve up some breakfast. And that is exactly what our word is for today. Breakfast.
We’ve got a brand new list of One Word prompts for September. Wheeeee! But since we’ve got a word a day each day, there’s no One Word this month. Because we’re crazy like that. In other words, each day, you’ll get your word to shoot for, to visually translate in any way you’d like. And since we’re cutting out the One Word, we’re going to go really simple and begin using #shuttersisters as our forever hashtag. It’s simple, easy to remember and it’s got a nice ring to it.
So, we will spend our weekends here like we used to, getting back to featuring your weekending shots or your photo essays right along side our daily word prompts. It’s like photographic multitasking. If you’ve got something to share for our weekending series (a single shot or a photo essay) please send it over. So yes, this is a little change up of the best kind. A little rest and relaxation along side some creative encouragement. What could be better than that? Nothing really, except maybe blueberry pancakes.
Breakfast anyone?
From the Impassable Wilderness of Wildwood to the pristine and proper home of Miss Aunt Polly of Beldingsville, Vermont in the classic Pollyanna, our summer reading list seems to take us places. I find
myself swept away, trudging along the Pacific Crest Trail via Wild (by Cheryl Strayed) here and there as time allows, sitting poolside or as I drop into bed rivited & resonating. We don’t mind tucking into the
tent early after a full day playing in the lake when we can close our eyes and experience all that Trenton Lee Stewart has to offer by way of Nicolas Benedict in The Mysterious Benedict Series. There is an
ever changing list of opportunity and possible travel by way of a good book, but there is one book that will forever be a favorite. One kept on hand for every expedition as our faithful guide & inspiration, not
only just of the mind: the Atlas. (Road trip anyone?)
What have you been reading? Or should I say, where have you been going? Share your images of summer reading today and tag them #sselevate.
Image and words courtesy of Sarah Swanson-Dexel.
Summer, or any day with good sun or light, is an opportunity to play with shadows. Shadows can bring out such a wide range of feelings and emotions. For example, shadows can be all about fun. I remember being a kid and playing “shadow tag,” a game like regular tag except the person who was “it” had to tag the next person by touching her shadow rather than touching her body. It was great fun to try and get your shadow away from the person who was it! Shadows can also be mysterious or distorted, full of curiosity and intrigue. Think about the dark and almost scary mood a shadow can invoke, particularly shadows cast from streetlights at night. There’s much room for play and creativity when shooting shadows.
While taking our regular evening walk the other night, I was struck by the shadow of my family in the street. The golden light of the late day made the sidewalk and street a beautiful orangish-yellow, and the low-hanging sun made our shadows long (check out our legs!). I loved the profile of our pup, Parker, and the way his leash was slack in my partner’s hand. I wanted to remember this moment, so I grabbed my iPhone and captured this shadow portrait of my family, elevating the very everyday walk we take together.
Today, seek out some shadow play with your lens. Elevate your everyday and share it with us. Don’t forget to tag your shots with #sselevate.
Image and words courtesy of Meghan Davidson of Life Refocused at www.meghandavidson.com
Kate Sutterfield shoots images like this with her Droid smart phone on instagram or Nikon D40 and spends her weekends soaking in the sun or moon on a patio somewhere or running lots of miles with her Lab.
Kate Sutterfield can be found on her blog, on instagram as @kates1 or on twitter as Mrs Sutterfield.
Share your illuminating weekend images with us.
Photography. It’s all about light. Even when broken down into it’s simplest definition it is still all about the light. If you don’t know this already, the word ‘photography’ is Greek. The definition based on the roots and prefixes actually means, “Drawing with light”. For me, that romantic idea was my spark. It’s what started my passion for photography, for light drawing, for light collecting, light capturing, for light holding. When we take pictures, we think about many things, but mainly the light. Where is the sun? Are there harsh shadows? Is flash necessary? But one of the things we need to think about is the light that comes from within you, and from within your subject.
Inside every person is a light. It may be just a candle, or it may be a huge bonfire. But it’s there. The secret to creating beautiful portraits is to find that light and let it shine! Look at your subject, and then see them with different eyes. See the beauty in them. And then find a way to manipulate that and capture the light, to store it in your camera. Make them shine.
Most of us are very practiced at this. We understand beauty, aesthetics, and most of all, light. Without even thinking about it, we are drawn to certain objects or people, enticed by something about it. We may not even know what makes it so appealing. Sometimes it may be outer light. Often it may be inner light. We are so experienced finding beauty outside of ourselves, that we never get in front of the camera. It’s hard to find your own light if you are always looking for ways to enhance others. But there’s also a light in you. Your passion, your creativity, your love. Your desire to improve in any aspect of your life. Your joy in living. That gives you a beauty that shines from the inside out. It is greater and more pure than any makeup, surgery, or any other procedure can do for you. You are beautiful! The light within you absolutely glows! I’ve never seen most of you, but I have seen your art. Your light shines through in your photos. It’s part of the process that every photographer goes through when they push down the button and release the shutter. They take a chance. They share their light.
There is a line from scripture that reads “…Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations.”
The necklace in my featured photo is one of my very favorites. It may look like a torch from far away, but if you look closer, you will see the profile of a woman’s face. It represents the light within us, and the simple beauty we can create. This necklace reminds me to “Arise and Shine” and be an example through my actions and through my art.
Please share any photo that you feel shows inner light and deep beauty. Share it and allow yourself to shine! You are talented, you are beautiful, you are loved.
Today I encourage you to discover your true beauty. Today I encourage you to shine!
Image and words courtesy of guest blogger Kelsey Schwartz.
In a forum such as this one where people gather and connect about their shared love for photography it’s no wonder to me that there’s a running conversation about the value of light. As photographers it’s what we do. We search for light and we seek to capture any bit of it that enchants us. Sometimes it’s about replicating a feeling or documenting a moment and other times it’s about creating a new one. However you view your photography, your camera may be the brush, but it’s the light that you mix on your pallet.
Some people I know, are moved by melody; others by prose. More still, by taste, style or sense of place. Of course any combination of these in the right dose and application hold meaning for me, but nothing touches my soul like the sun. My love affair with the stuff (and consequently my roller coaster relationship with darkness) started before I ever picked up a camera, though.
Every door I walk through, the first thing I see is how the light enters the space. If I’m coming to visit you, don’t waste your time cleaning up, just draw open the blinds. The corner of a room where sunlight gets caught fascinates me, and golden glowing edges of cheekbones or jars are the things of my dreams.
I know exactly where the sun falls on my sofa at every hour during every season and nothing makes me more melancholy than august evenings when the light begins to fade and I know what lies ahead.
Scientifically it’s a thing—this need for the ultraviolet. For those of us who are afflicted, there’s a piece missing and we are at risk during winter’s shorter days. Here’s where the camera comes in for me. I’ve learned to get through those darker days by absorbing every ounce of sunlight I possibly can and drawing it up to the surface when I feel the weight bear down.
I collect the light with my camera. It exists in my computer and in print for me to inject directly into my mood as needed. I walk through days of usual and ordinary and I see things that are anything but. Light becomes a commodity and it takes on shapes and forms that can brighten even the darkest days.
I know I’m not alone in this need for light. Those of us who make photographs, we feed on it. Vitamins, light therapy, yoga, antidepressants. None ever really helped before. Who knew that a camera might be the thing that could actually do the most good?
And so, as the sun streams through my kitchen window later into the evenings now, the feeling of weightlessness is palpable. The emotional hatches, tightly battened down sometime early last fall, have been removed and I am liberated.
Do you have a favorite photograph that is all about the light? Share the link below!
Image and words courtesy of guest shutter sister Amy Drucker. You can find Amy on her blog, at Flickr and on Instagram at @amy_druck.
You don’t see it right away, but it’s there. The straw in its mouth, the one it must gather for home; for the nest. It symbolizes a continues gathering until woven pieces can finally hold things together. It is an amazing labor of love. It is much like our work in everything we care for. We labor with love and gather what is needed for the home, for our nest. The home where we live in, with its kitchen and rooms, and the home in our hearts; the place where we gather strength and courage; the place where we gather our dreams and make them real.
What is curious about this moment is its pause. I was witness to it; it was a pretty long one. This maya bird took a moment to perhaps gather its breath; as if to take whatever was in sight all in. A little bird marveling at the world.
I watch these birds every morning now. They teach me how to pause, to breathe, and take in a bit of the world outside my window. I feel like a little bird marveling at the world. There is work to be done, but I shall marvel at the world.
The beautiful, beautiful gift that photography has given me is a voice. A voice for the words in my heart. I think I kept on looking for a way to find a place for all that. I knew I could write, but I wasn’t sure what I could give to the world. I knew I needed to give back something and I thought, why would the world be interested in my love letters? And then it stretches further to, why would the world be interested in my confusion and heart ache? How would the world benefit from all that? I couldn’t figure it out until there were these ‘prompts’ – you take a photo based on a concept, a word, and you could write about it if you want, or leave it to speak for itself. I am drawn to writing about it because when I capture something, I am certainly capturing a moment. And most of the time I like to paint that moment with words, too. What I have realized is that every moment contains a gift. Yes, every moment. Can you imagine how many gifts there are? Certainly enough to give back to the world.
‘Prompts’ are like inspiration, except I think when we just rely on inspiration, we tend to wait for it to come. That’s fine, but we shouldn’t just wait. And wait. And wait. Because maybe we don’t even know what exactly we’re waiting for; a magic feeling? Pixie dust? Nah. It doesn’t really work that way. I think we have to commit to something. It doesn’t even have to be big. So, if you’re prompted, let’s say with a word, you’re given a direction; a kind of path to follow, a way for your eyes to see or find something that’s already there. Somehow inspiration is everywhere; all you have to do is capture it. *insert magic feeling and pixie dust here*
What have you been prompted to notice, see, or capture lately?
Words and image courtesy of Guest Blogger Jennifer Hagendorn Dizon. She can found at Instragram as @beautifulnothing, on flickr as Creative Jen or on her blog The Divine in Everything.
Sarah Swandon-Dexel shoots images like this with her Nikon or iPhone and spends her weekends seeking, seeing & savoring. Sarah can be found online at urban prairie forest and via Instagram as wilburandfern.
How are you weekened on this fine weekend?