Shutter Sisters

brown paper packages…

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Brown paper packages tied up with string.  These are a few of my favorite things.

Wrapping, crafting, stuffing, mailing.  Are you feeling a little bit of the time crunch of the holiday season?  I sure am.  I am usually the girl so prepared for the holidays, not so this year.  I am feeling a tad bit restless and procrastination seems to be my middle name these days…  How do you stay balanced in this time?  Do you make time to pick up your camera?  Do you pause to capture the details of the season and your busy days?  What images do you love to see this time of year? I love seeing how everyone wraps gifts,  so much crafty creative goodness to be inspired by. Ideas to gather and borrow.  Today I am trying to break out of my rut, make my to do list and get to it. To help me get in the mood, I am offering a little giveaway today on my blog.  Gifting always helps put me in the mood. (click on over and enter if you like!)

Capture a scene from your life today.  Anything at all.  A moment of pause, a breath, a little gift to yourself. 

Share your moment with us all here.

 

a joyful word

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Tis the season of 

  • coffee cups that are more art than cup

Seems everywhere you turn a beautiful word can be found. Give, love, share, joy,wish, peace… Wouldn’t it be nice if these words were advertised year round? 

Today search for a joyful word out in the world today and capture it in your lens.

Share what you find with us here.

happy seeking!

savor

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savor~ to appreciate fully; enjoy or relish

Today we turn the page on our calendars and welcome in December. With it we introduce the new One Word for December, savor. Just as we begin ushering in the busyness of the holiday season, the endless lists, to-dos, and obligations that suddenly fill our calendars, don’t you think it is perfect timing for this word? Rather than surrendering to the hustle and bustle that December can bring, give yourself permission to slow down, reflect, pause, honor and celebrate the beauty of these days through your lens. What am I savoring these days? The fleeting light of winter. Just yesterday, after many consecutive grey days here in my corner of the world, the sun shone bright. I wandered though my home chasing the light, honoring its presence, savoring a sun patch, capturing it’s grace in my lens.

This month savor the quiet moments, the steam of a perfect cup, their smallness that is so fleeting, or perhaps savor something sweet.   Savor your time together, the wonder of believing, and the stillness of winter.

Today let’s welcome in this new month and word together.

Share your images with us all month long in our One Word Project Pool on Flickr. (tag your One Word photos this month with the following: owp, savor, december)

What are you savoring right now?

There is nothing we savor more than THIS sisterhood. So what better time to announce the newest addition to our Bel Kai Capture Collection? You’ve asked for it, and now we’ve got it! The brand new Shutter Sisters Necklace (just in time for the holidays, we might add)!

We are giddy to be partnering yet again with the amazing Bel Kai Designs for this exclusive piece: an antique bronze setting and fine link chain that brilliantly showcases the iconic image of Shutter Sisters while the blue quartz bead charm paired with the pendant symbolizes the vintage flash bulb.

If you have been looking for a way to celebrate your passion for photography and declare your inner shutter sister, then the Shutter Sisters Necklace would be the perfect accessory for your everyday life!  

Please check out Bel Kai’s holiday shipping guide to be sure you get your necklace in time for the holidays!

We don’t know about you but we’d like to start savoring this season right now by offering our first giveaway of our new necklace! Leave a comment here between now and midnight tonight EST for your chance to win.

Hooray for the holidays and here’s to savoring the sisterhood!

Congrats to Leaca! She won the Shutter Sisters necklace! woot!

make a wish

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While watching The Beckoning of Lovely on Friday, there was a moment when the viewer is asked to make a wish and take a photo of oneself while making this wish. What a beautiful thing, prompting the universe to make collective wishes together, and providing a space for those lovely wishes to live on and be seen. I find it so beautiful to see all those diverse faces in a moment of wishing. I have taken many photos of wishing. Birthday wishes, dandy wishes, but never have I thought to take a shot of myself actually wishing. Fun thing is, wishes can be done totally alone if you like. No one there to make you feel uncomfortable, or make you feel like you are wishing too long, or too much, or too hard, nope, no such thing. This is YOUR wish, you get to decide all of those things, just you. No wish is too silly or strange, you can wish for really big stuff or something small. The most delicious part of wishing is no one needs to know, not ever. Your wish is sacred. Your wish is yours to keep. No one can take your wish away. Another awesome thing about wishing is you can do it ANYWHERE. In your car, in your shower, in your bed, in the morning, at night, on a star, on a candle, on an eyelash, on a necklace clasp turned round, on a dandelion, or in your heart of hearts. You can write it down, crumple it up, light it on fire, save it in a jar, or send it on a breeze. Wish alone, or with someone you love. The universe is listening. Go ahead, close your eyes, WISH.. One last perfect thing about wishes? They are unlimited… wish away. go on! No one is keeping score.

Join me in making a wish(es) today.

Take a photo of your wish if you feel moved to do so and share it with us here, or hold it in your heart, just leave a little note here with your name saying you did. I forgot how simple and lovely making a wish feels. Pausing and taking that moment all to myself, it just feels hopeful.

Go on, your wishes are safe here. They are welcome here.

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(a special thank you to fellow contributor and artist, Kim Klassen for the use of her lovely one word texture, above.)

lovely things

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1. my list – things i love about autumn, 2. Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair… ~Susan Polis Shutz, 3. bench monday : puddle edition, 4. love is all you need, 5. beckoning of lovely , 6. IMG_1523-1, 7. sunshine in a bottle, 8. yellow brick wall, 9. Untitled

It all began with a simple video, 17 things I made, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. At the end she invited the universe to join her at The Bean, on 8-8-08 at 8:08 pm “to make one cool 18th thing.” She would be there with her yellow umbrella. 8-8-08 arrived and the universe answered in beautiful fashion, and The Beckoning of Lovely was suddenly born. I watched that video and was moved to tears by the simplicity and pureness of it all. No one knew what they were coming for, yet they came. They trusted in the universe, as did Amy, and something extraordinary was created. People gathering together, connecting, for good. At the end of that video Amy again asked the universe for help, to send in “lovely things” that we had made. I was moved, and so I too trusted the universe and followed my gut and sent something in. Not wanting anything but the feeling of being a part of something bigger than myself. A part of something beautiful.

Since then, Amy has returned, same place, same yellow umbrella, on 9-9-09 and 10-10-10 building each year in attendance and excitement. Tomorrow is 11-11-11, and again Amy will be returning to The Bean at 11:11am. The culmination of what began so long ago will finally be revealed.  “The Beckoning of Lovely 11/11/11 We Are All One“ the movie, will be released via the world wide web. That’s right, you do not need to buy a ticket for this movie, all you need is a computer screen. I have no idea what this movie will be, though I am certain it will be lovely and once again move me. Amy describes the movie as this, “an interactive love letter to the universe, this film is rooted in human connection and best shared in the company of others… be it with friends, family, co-workers, classmates, neighbors, strangers or any combination thereof. “  (i love that!)  She encourages gathering together to watch. And if you are like me, I suggest a big box of tissues…

Isn’t this what we all do through our photography? We beckon the lovely into our lenses and into our lives. And every once in awhile, if we trust, something extraordinary can come out of the ordinary… The mosaic above is a joint effort from a few of the Shutter Sister contributors (very last minute I asked for help and there they were)  little bits of “lovely” all yellow with a few umbrellas,  that came to represent this very special movement. Join us today in celebrating all things lovely. Add any one of your lovely images here in the comments today and please join me tomorrow in watching the movie.

At the end of that first gathering on 8-8-08, a line of people flip pieces of paper revealing these words, “make the most of your time here”.  YES!

be-YOU-tiful

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Well ladies what a month it has been. A month all about YOU. Celebrating YOU, challenging YOU, and our greatest hope, inspiring YOU.

You were brave, silly, tired, adorable, relaxed, authentic, grounded, vulnerable, inspiring, thoughtful, determined, hilarious, happy, and oh so real.  (just to name a few)

You inspire us with your courage and willingness to turn your cameras around and shine the light on yourselves. Perhaps for some of you it was the very first time. That is a powerful, beautiful thing. Do not forget that you deserve that light.

Thank YOU.

So let’s celebrate ourselves one more time today and give this past month its proper send off.  If you have not yet felt brave enough to try a self portrait, today may be your day! Go ahead,  show us YOU.

To honor all that you are, and all that you bravely shared with us in October, we happily announce the three winners of our Moo and You drawing. (photos below)  Congratulations ladies!

 1st place. at heart,                   2nd place. ever so slightly off center,       3rd place. moi says HI!

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We will be announcing our brand new One Word for November tomorrow.  See you then!

i am…

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I love how self portraits can be so emotive. 

Whatever you are feeling on any given day can be expressed through the click of your shutter.

They often seem to fit this formula “I am ______ .”

I am… brave, sad, fragile, strong, unsure, sexy, powerful, scared, fierce, tired, trying, angry, loved, exhausted, beautiful, imperfect, worthy, creative , empowered…. the list is endless. One day we readily fill in the blank with something positive, and the very next day it may be quite the opposite. With each click we can express a number of emotions. Trust me, I do not find self portraits easy, but what I do find them to be is 100% cathartic, especially on those not so shiny happy days…  So, if you have not turned the camera on yourself, do try.  Trust that the beauty you find when pointing your camera outward is sure to be found when you turn it on yourself.  

In celebration of this month’s One Word, YOU, fill in your own blank today.  What are you feeling right now, in this moment?  Express your word and yourself in a photo and share it with us here today. 

Me?  I am a work in progress …. 

 

heart of a wanderer

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 “Not all who wander are lost.” -J.R.R. Tolkien

I am not sure if there is anything I love more photographically than wandering around with my camera in hand.  I live in suburbia, but whenever I can, I take a short drive north to a more urban setting.  Though I am completely unsure if I would love living in a city full time (though I do muse on it),  I do know I feel right at home on photowalks in one.  A city is ripe with color, texture, decay, progress, noise, rhythm, diversity, strangeness, art, people, LIFE, beautiful life. That just excites the photographer in me. The shyer more reserved me seems to fall away in an urban setting. Perhaps I feel I can hide more in a city, blend with the many others slinging cameras and pointing their own lenses this way and that. Or the city is just too busy to notice me and my constant desire for a shot. Whatever the reason,  I relish the anonymity and become freer with my shooting.

This weekend I took a little jaunt north with a sister friend.  It was a bit rainy, but we were not deterred. We walked in sync, pausing here and there clicking away in between laughter and nods, never needing to say, “hey wait one minute I just want to take a shot of this”, that was exactly why we were there. It is always a blessing to share time like that with someone who gets “it”. When I have the chance to walk freely, uninterrupted, it opens me up to really seeing.  Instead of just moving straight ahead, I linger, look down, look up, explore more. Words seem to call out, wanting to be noticed.  Shiny surfaces become self portrait opportunities.  Puddles, a mirror for the world. All the people, faces, tattoos, hairstyles, fashion statements grab my attention.  This is when the beauty of digital really hits home.  I can walk for 2 hours and shoot 2 to 2000 shots if I want.  There are no limits, just shoot!  I liken it to a treasure hunt. A bit of a euphoric photography fix. I get home and can’t wait to load my photos and click through the images of the day.  This particular walk seemed to be ripe with words.  Perhaps it was my headspace at the time,  needing, wanting, desiring messages from the universe to materialize for me.  “TRUST IT please“, “FATE“, and the handwritten sign above with the the words, “FIND YOUR VOICE”,  left on the side of a building where a rally had gathered spoke directly to me that day. Each click I felt my heart race a little faster as I nodded internally to the words I found, yes yes yes!  I went home feeling so satisfied with the beauty I witnessed and shared that day.

What makes your heart race photographically?  What are you drawn to when given the chance to wander?

DO share!  I think how and what we see says so much about who we are.  We are the seekers. 

 

YOU.

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“Today you are YOU, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than YOU.”
-Dr. Seuss

We welcome in October and with it a new one word to explore for the month, YOU.

YOU are beautiful

YOU are strong

YOU are creative

YOU are brave

YOU are enough

YOU are loved

YOU are needed

YOU are perfectly imperfect

YOU inspire

YOU give

YOU shine

YOU ROCK!

Yes YOU

Share with us the beauty of you.  All the lovely, quirky, silly, fragile, fierce, complicated, amazing pieces of you.

This month is gonna be good! I can feel it already. Can YOU? 

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You can read more about our monthly One Word Project here. Use the one word as a bit of inspiration all month long and add your images to our OWP Pool on Flickr . Don’t forget to tag your photos this month with the following 3 things, owp, october, & you.

creating a story

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“She carries a lot of suitcases but all of them are empty because she’s expecting to completely fill them with life by the end of this trip & then she’ll come home & sort everything out & do it all again.” ~ story people

Have you ever imagined a shot before actually taking it?  An idea born in your mind at first, but then with a little creativity, perhaps a few props, have you ever just gone for it and composed what you imagined?  I am not someone who composes a lot of shots. Somehow I feel silly doing it, or perhaps it just takes too much time for my short attention span brain, but once upon a time I actually did it. If you could have seen me you would have gotten a good laugh.  I had no tripod.  I had no remote.  (those are my feet in that shot, I swear) What I did have was his burning vision in my mind.  I had recently gotten this vintage argus camera, I had found that red suitcase on the side of the road. (I am an admitted sucker for old things, lost things, & found things. I feel they hold stories all their own.) There was this lone abandoned cabin that set back off the road.  That was the place, those were the props, and now all that was left was me gathering up my courage and risking looking a little silly to compose this shot.  I gathered some bricks and rocks to prop up my camera at the height I needed, I turned on my timer, and ran back and forth more than a few times til I got just what I wanted.  Oh, and that cabin?  Yes it sits back off a road alright, off a major road, with a gas station across the street, with people pumping gas… I can only imagine what they must have thought.  I know they saw me, they were staring.  I am sure the conversation might have gone a little like this, “What the heck is that girl doing?!?!”  “She keeps running back and forth to something and jumping up with that suitcase!” “Poor thing, she is has lost her marbles.”  Let them think what they will, at the very least I am sure they all had a good laugh at my expense, and a good story to tell when they got home. No matter, I got the shot I envisioned.  I am still proud of this shot and the silly story behind it all these years later. 

Show us a story you composed in your lens.  Have you ever had a vision and just gone for it?  If not, are you inspired to try? Go ahead!  I can’t wait to see what you come up with. And who knows, you may just gain a great story as well as a great shot.

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Don’t forget to leave a comment here today! With your comment comes the chance to win a very special September gift; a $100 gift certificate courtesy of Paper Coterie in honor of the Everyday Storytellers and our One Word Project this month; story.