Shutter Sisters

tickled pink

By

 

Gosh, there are definitely lots of pinks & reds around at the moment as Valentine’s day descends upon us.

Do different months of the year represent different colours to you? I feel February is definitely powder pinks & ravishing reds, obviously to do with the romantic day just around the corner, and perhaps the vibrant reds found during Chinese New Year.

Why don’t we forget the obligatory hearts for a moment and seek out less obvious pink & reds around us – a swish of a skirt, twinkling lanterns, a message or a cosy jacket. How about pretty flowers, window boxes and even lockers?.

Let’s have fun this Friday and show me something in February’s colour palette that tickles your fancy.


animate!

By

 make avatar

You may know I love to animate my images together, I’m constantly playing in imovie, creating stop frame animations or slideshow videos. I often see photos in a sequence, and feel that one photo/image isn’t enough to tell my story. I like to collage & montage photos or create storyboards, I even have photowalls to show my work. During my art college days, I was always photographing, and then got very into video and animation. I feel I’ve come full circle back to this love, I’d like to take my work in that direction in future, and I’ve started to offer a slideshow option to clients, giving them an extra dimension to a photo session.

Not everyone has imovie, so when I stumbled upon this site – www.picasion.com I just had to share, so you can try and animate your own images.

Have a go! it’s really easy & fabulous fun, you may discover you love to animate too. Please come back and show me your results, I’d really like to see them.

the world through a child’s eye

By

I had the pleasure of a photo walk with my eldest son at the weekend, just us, as the sun was getting ready to dip behind the trees.

He lead us around the familiar setting of our local park, I wanted to give him the freedom to explore and let him be creative.

As followed him, I watched as he photographed items familiar to us both, even things I had photographed before. He was seeing them differently, through fresh eyes, it wasn’t the “same” or “boring”, just because he’d seen it many times before. Looking through the lens excited him and seeing his composition or framing of a familiar site, was thrilling to him.

I don’t think you have to have children, to know that the way they see the world is different. Everything is new to them, they have fresh perspective and a different view point.

Take a chance today, open your eyes and play with your camera, try spotting and noticing different view of the world, even in a familiar place. I’d love to see your world through “a child’s eye”. 

crimbo limbo

By

Here we are in “Crimbo Limbo” – the period between Christmas and New Year. Full of all the goodness that the Christmas festivities brought, reflecting on 2010 and waiting for the celebrations and the New Year to begin.

I’ve been enjoying time with my family, catching up with friends, playing games, cooking & eating food, and generally relaxing. All the while photographing the memories of festivities, spying the decorations and capturing the friendly faces surrounding me and the people I love.

I’m grateful. For the pleasures of life and for this time. Being in “Limbo” has been good.

How about you? What does this time between celebrations mean and bring to you? I’d love to see what you’ve been up to.


festive reflections

By

Being a huge fan of reflections, I love to play around with the ornaments on our christmas tree. This shot was from last year, when I kept a christmas bauble in my pocket for shots in the snow.

I’ve been spying ornament reflections in our Flickr pool… here, there and everywhere.

Red, pink, silver, & green baubles. Everyone’s doing it!, did you know there is even a dedicated Flickr group?

Are you inspired? Why not join in the fun and find beauty in your festive reflection. You could even take the ornament off the tree and out for an adventure. I’d love to see what you capture.


beautiful coziness

By

I’m feeling like getting cozy, the UK is covered in a huge blanket of snow (very unusual for this time of year!). I’m chilly and fighting off the annual winter bugs. Thankfully my home is welcoming with open arms.

Beauty can be found when we’re cozy – twinkling lights, crackling fires, warm drinks & snuggly beds.

Indulge me with your heartwarming images today, will you fill me up with beauty & coziness to warm me up and send me on the road to recovery. Thank you 🙂


focusing on connections

By

I had the pleasure recently of capturing two people in love, I was able to focus on their connection as they declared their love for each other. It was tough for me, having never photographed a wedding before. I faced some difficult technical issues but I have to say, the motto of this community kept me focused – “shoot from your heart”. A fellow shutter sister, my dearest kristin sent me a sweet message beforehand, knowing I was anxious about the huge job ahead “Just use that big beautiful heart to see with and all will work out perfectly as it was meant to be.” My own connections here online, were going to help me focus my attention and search for their story with my camera, I’m grateful for this support. I survived the wedding day, and thankfully have a collection of images, that capture the beauty of their connection and the happiness of the day.

As photographers I feel we seek out and focus on connections. We shoot the union between siblings and adult & child. Photographing touch and holding hands. There is attention paid to friendships, and generations together. We feel the love, joy, and silliness in images, that all focus on our need to connect as humans, or even with a new puppy.

We’d love to see any connections you’ve captured recently… maybe you’ve been focusing on shooting from your heart… please share with us and let’s celebrate the connections this community brings.


perfectly different

By

A stranger walking down Brick Lane, London, UK.

It’s not the “perfect” shot.

The focus is off and the tilt may upset certain people… it’s “shot from the hip” – a technique I learnt from many years of having a lomo in my pocket.

But I still like it… this is London… the textures are London: the brick and yellow lines everywhere. London is full of quirky people who catch your eye, just look at her shoes, outfit and hat – perfectly different.

As we’ve been celebrating imperfection this month, have you any shots that don’t tick all the boxes technically or shot in a way that goes against tradition, but still creates a feeling or conveys a message. I’d love to see your world of imperfection.

colour everywhere

By

Colour is my passion, I seek it out and devour it.

Autumn’s abundance of colour fills me with happiness, especially on a clear crisp sunny day. The contrast of colourful leaves and blue skies, is such a joy.

Even in the southern hemisphere, spring is coming, bringing bountiful colour.

Let’s celebrate colour!

Radiant reds & spectacular oranges.

Gorgeous greens & dazzling yellows.

Share a part of the rainbow today and fill us all up with the amazing colours surrounding you.


change of seasons

By

 

As much as I wish I could cling on to summer forever, autumn is here in the UK. I’ve been in denial even though the signs are clear. The days are shortening, the clouds have moved over and are staying longer, and the mornings are dark with that crisp air on your face.

Thankfully my lens will help me embrace the change of seasons, and luckily autumn has plenty of beauty to offer, easing me into this colder spell. The light changes as the angle of the sun moves and we see less of her bright warming light. The abundant greens, turn into a kaleidoscope of colours that makes my heart race. Even my biggest enemy, the rain, can be beautiful…

This year I’m going to soak up all that autumn offers and use my camera as a tonic to change. I will try and use my viewfinder to search and seek beauty, all helped by daily prompts from Tracey’s Picture Fall, which starts today, will you join us as we dive into autumn feet first?

How do you find the change of seasons? and will you share with us it’s beauty today?