Shutter Sisters

love is in the details

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When was the last time you got really close to something and found something completely unexpected?

Have you ever uploaded an image and something hits you that you had not noticed before?

Some delicious detail that made you smile.

Have you ever noticed that the inside of a sunflower is filled with amazing rows of the tiniest most perfect hearts?  Really really. 

I remember taking these shots.  I felt a little like a bumble bee with my nose stuck right in there.  I wanted to capture those tiny hearts to remind me that there is so much to be found in the details… even love.

 

Let’s all celebrate this month’s One Word today and share some amazing detail you have found.

 

details

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Spring has finally arrived and I find myself once more belly down in the soft grasses searching for tiny details through the lens of my camera.  Point of view, is something I love to play around with.  Getting down low is probably my favorite.  Some call it a worm’s eye view.  If you could see me I am often with muddy wet knees or grass sticking in my hair from getting shots just like this one.  I think getting a little dirty is all part of the fun.  I feel like a kid exploring the world at my feet.

Today lets have some fun, grab your camera and go play in the grass.  Get low.  Get muddy.  Have fun!

Then share your worm’s eye view with us here.   What beautiful little details can you find today?

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What better word to use for our June’s One Word Project than details? With this season, full of activity and warming weather, details are revealing themselves everywhere. This month, it’s your job to discover them with your lens. Join us all month long as we see and celebrate life’s details.

simplicity

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“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo di Vinci

Today, lets seek simple lines, shapes and minimal colors in our lenses.

Let simplicity speak.

Share with us what you find.

the fever

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“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.” ~ zen proverb

I fully admit I have spring fever.  I have no shame in that. I lie belly down in the grass as the sunlight dances on each beautiful blade.  I feel my shoulders loosen, my face relax into a smile, I run my fingers across the tops to feel the soft new growth. It only took a few days of that much needed sun to bring it back to life and me along with it.  I feel the long winter fall away as I lie here in the grass. I want to linger in it. Inhale deeper. Stretch and grow.

Wash on the line. A new pair of sandals. Freshly painted toes. A bare shoulder. Blossoms. That first blush of sunkissed skin.

Do you have the fever? What speaks spring to you?

cathartic

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Lately I am finding real peace the when I use my camera to work through something personal.  Life gets messy, sometimes scary, but when I pause and acknowledge those moments through my lens, I feel a release.  This is not for everyone, this is for me.  I am visual. I process life through my lens. I snap, I write, I move through, I let go, I get on with things. This was one week out post hysterectomy. This day 1 week ago I was under anesthesia, surrendering everything to the great unknown.  I feared many things.  I feared not waking.  I feared waking.  I feared the possibility of pain, for surely it would come. I woke. I did have some pain. Now I was 7 days out, fresh from my morning shower when it hit me that those very same moments 1 week ago were so scary and yet here I was safe, changed, different, but well and healing.  I wanted to mark that moment.  I wanted it to be real and to see me, the me now. I wanted to nod and tell this me all will be well, and so i picked up my camera and clicked. I have no shame in this photo. This is the real 39 year old me.  My soft belly and thick legs. That tattoo i got at age 22 when i was so sure of everything and so full of myself. That bunion on my right foot that sticks out and prevents me from ever wearing awesome heels. This body that birthed 3 babies, but now has no uterus. It is all ok. All will be well. Funny thing when you share a piece of yourself you ultimately wind up touching others. For we are all women, mothers, sisters, daughters, sharing our human experience. We all feel, struggle, grieve, fear, celebrate, love, and mourn. I feel when I use my camera to work through something personal, somehow it makes it not so scary.

The sisterhood is full of courage, grace and emotion.  You inspire me to be more open and brave with my own photography.

Do you give yourself permission to photograph your real emotions in difficult times? Do you find your  photography cathartic?

moody

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“No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turn.”

I know these words are true, yet this winter sure has me feeling like a non believer.  April snow, icy rains, unseasonable low temps. Then yesterday a fog so thick it felt like winter soup. Barely a green thing to be found. I am kind of beyond calling it a funk.  So what to do?  I still find myself carrying my camera with me everywhere I go.  Is it hope or habit?  I sure see my images match my mood, darker, moody, even a bit sad.  Not everyday is sunshine and rainbows, though I am sure ready for some.  Do you feel your mood seep into your photography?  Does art imitate life or the other way around? 

What mood have you captured lately?

connections

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He surprised us and came home early that day. We were already at the beach. She saw him and ran into his arms. Daddy’s girl in looks and spirit. I watched as he guided her over the slippery rocks.  My telephoto lens afforded me a glimpse into this moment between them without disturbing it.  She feeling safe by taking his strong hand, an assurance of knowing as she reached out he would be there to help her.  His heart full being needed in that moment, knowing she won’t always be so small or need his hand.  A connection, a touch, transference of love.  Just a simple moment captured, but one that speaks to my heart and makes me ever so thankful for this thing called photography.

What connections have you captured lately? Please share one here with us all today.

feast for the eyes

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“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” ~ Harriet Van Horne

Food and photography make a beautiful match.  Food provides vivid colors and varying textures naturally for photographers.  From shooting ingredients, to prep work in a kitchen, to the finished product, and even nibbled on creation, the shooting possibilities are endless. I personally find photographing food a challenge, but being passionate about both makes me strive to take better food shots. A beautiful photo of a dish instantly draws me in. I have made many a recipe, and bought many a food magazine, or cookbook simply from falling in love with someone else’s photographs. When I pick up a new cookbook the first thing I do is thumb through the pages in hopes of seeing beautiful food, if I find that then I am compelled to dive in.  Some photographers have a signature style when it comes to photographing food. I think a lot of that has to do with composition and styling.  The perfect plate, linens, glassware, really add to a photo. From the rustic farm table, to the refined china,  I am continually inspired.

Lets have a feast for our eyes today. Share a favorite food shot and your thoughts on the subject.  Do you style food shots? Do you have a favorite table, cup, plate that you find yourself photographing again and again? Do you find that you are more passionate about food from photos? 

Let’s celebrate all that is sweet, spicy, steamy and down right delicious.  Tempt me please! 

feeling a shift

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February hit me hard these last 2 weeks.  I felt a funk grabbing hold and digging in deep.  It was mocking my ever waning resilience I fought hard to have this winter as if to say, “HA! go ahead pick up that camera. I dare you to find anything pretty around here right now!”, and so my camera sat quiet. The very last day of February I woke to sleet and freezing rain pouring down on all our snow, the grumpy oil guy was here trudging snow and muck through my house, my teenager flooded her bathroom, I felt the weight of it all crushing down on me.  If I had a white flag I would have waved it. Then yesterday, just one day after I had felt so defeated and uncreative, I woke to sunshine, the first in days.  Puddles emerged from under the ice.  A bowl of handpicked lemons, a gift from sunny California, sat basking in in that beautiful sunshine in my kitchen,  I picked up my camera and for the first time in some time I felt happy as I clicked the shutter.  All at once I realized the ice was not the only thing thawing. I flipped the calendar page, gladly saying goodbye to February.  March feels full of hope and promise to me. Tomorrow I may get knocked down by winter again,  but somehow by turning the calendar page it all feels doable now. I feel a shift, do you feel it too? Hello March, I think I love you.

What do you do creatively when you feel in a rut?  Do you let your camera sit silent, or do you force yourself to pick it up anyway?  Share a happy hopeful image here with us today to welcome this new month.