Shutter Sisters

Happy Birthday to Us

By

 

 

I can clearly recall the day when I began musing about this idea of an online destination for women photographers. The image in my head was kind of fuzzy and out of focus, but the more I set my sights on making my vision a reality, the clearer the picture became. I asked a few lovely ladies to join me and the rest is history. Little did I know that what I was imagining would become this.

 

Shutter Sisters has become exactly the place I had dreamed it would be—an open door, a beautiful view, a good friend, an easy chair, a cozy blanket, a breath of fresh air, a soothing cup of inspiration.

 

Today as I reflect on how far we’ve come since our official launch 1 year ago today I am bursting with pride. I am humbled. I am so very grateful.

 

I encourage you to poke around the archives…discover some of the posts you may have missed or rediscover any one of our past favorites. We’ve got a year’s worth now! Dig in! It might not be quite as sweet as birthday cake but it’s the next best thing.

 

And what’s a birthday without presents? Yep! We think a giveaway is the perfect way to commemorate Shutter Sister’s one year bloggy birthday. HP has graciously offered yet another fabu printer to help us celebrate! The Wireless HP Photosmart C7280. Thanks HP! They also extended a friends and family rebate offer for all of us here. And you can use the $25 rebate with other sale offers which can only up your savings. Happy Birthday!

 

Thank you everyone for being so supportive and active here at Shutter Sisters. We’ve got so many wonderful things to look forward to in this next year and are happy you’re coming along with us. We can only imagine what’s going to happen between now and our next birthday. We’re giddy just thinking about it.

 

Since you are ALL partially responsible for this grand celebration of photo love and sisterhood, you are cordially invited to join in the festivities…just comment on this post with a birthday wish (and a photo if you’ve got one) for us and you will be entered into the random drawing to win the HP Printer.

 

You have until Saturday 1/24 at the stoke of midnight to post your comment to be in the drawing.

Comments

  1. A very Happy Birthday to you, thank you for all the inspiration and photo tips – shutter sisters is such a great resource and so much more!

  5. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters 🙂

    Thanks for providing such great inspiration and a warm and inviting place to come to on blogesphere!

    Kylie

  6. Happy Birthday!!! Thank you for a wonderful and favourite site that has inspired, enriched and challenged me with what I have read through the text and experienced through the amazing selection of captures and how it drives me to be brave and pursue this passion of mine forever. I can’t thank you enough.

  7. Thanks for all of the inspiration that this website has given to me and so many other women! Keep on going!

    Happy Birthday!

  9. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! I am so happy to be a part of the creativity, inspiration, and beauty this site brings! Look forward to many birthdays!!! 🙂

  10. Happy Birthday! I am grateful for this online community. It’s a place I come often and find inspiration. I hope you stay around for a very very long time and get very very old…

    Love, inspiration, community,

  11. Happy birthday toooo yoooooou!!!! Happy birthday toooo yoooooouuu! Happy birthday dear community! Happy birthday toooo youuuu!

    *And many more!*

  13. A very Happy Birthday to my friends at Shutter Sisters!! I love this blog so much. Every morning I grab my cuppa coffee and enjoy the visual deliciousness 🙂

  16. Happy, happy birthday! It has been year already? A big, heartfelt thank you for this place on the internets that feels like it is just for us.

  17. I anxiously awaited the launch of Shutter Sisters last year. Since then it has introduced me to the talents of so many incredible contributors and readers. There is so much inspiration in the work in the Flickr pool, so much that I struggle to see every photo for the shear volume. I have added so many sisters to my blog reader and follow so many talented photographers on Flickr. I am grateful for the wisdom, and experience, advice and challenges I find here. Through the diversity of styles, equipment, area of the country, life situations, I have found so many different sisters who share this passion, this "hobby" this thing that we do. Thank you, Tracy, for having the vision to get this started! And thank you to all the sisters who have been inspiring me for the last year!

  22. Happy birthday, indeed! I was surprised to read that you’ve been around a year, I would have imagined it was a lot longer, now the archives don’t seem so intimidating and plan to rummage through them when I get a spare moment – or ten. So glad to have found you a couple of months ago. Keep up the inspiration! 🙂

  27. Happy Birthday, Shutter Sisters! I’m so glad you launched this site! It has become one of my favorites photography places to stop by regularly.

  28. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love checking this blog daily, and on several occasions, I’ve been brave enough to post my own photos!

  32. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birrrrrrthday Shutter Sisters, Happy Birthday to you!

    Here’s to another great year!

  34. keep it going… it is fun when you get a following… I have a decent on MySpace, but I think they are all moving to FaceBook… yikes…

    Peace, one of your new readers.

    Dave

  42. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters ~ I am as in love with this site today (maybe more) than the day I found you!

  45. Today is also my birthday and I can’t think of someone else I’d rather share it with. Thanks for all the inspiration and "well done". 🙂

  48. Happy birthday to you Shutter Sisters!
    Thank you for making this a wonderful site where we can all grow together – it still is the first site I check in the morning for my dose of picture goodness. Here’s to an even bigger and better second year. Hip hip hooray!
    Emma

  51. i remember this day perfectly. i remember waiting so patiently as if about to open a wonderful surprise present. i had no idea just how important it would become in my daily life. you have no idea. but i remember this day and feeling giddy with myself, with my hopes and dreams that i had perhaps found myself a home.

    happy birthday shutter sisters! you are beautiful beyond words.
    xo.

  53. Many, many happy congratulations. Shutter Sisters has greatly inspired and encouraged me in my photographic journey. I too have come a long way in the 7 months or so that I’ve been regularly (every day) visiting here. I know I’m a better photographer for having found SS, mostly because you all have encouraged me to believe in myself and my ability to take great pictures. Thanks & Happy Birthday!

  54. HAPPY 1 YEAR OLD TO YOU ALL!!!

    This site and all you ladies post inspire me and teach me more about the beauty that comes along with photography… heres to many more years …
    tisha

  55. congratulations on making it to a year. i loved the concept when I first saw it and you have done such a good job of growing this community. cheers to you!

  61. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I am so happy that I found this site, you guys are such an inspiration to me and I have learned so much here.

    Keep up the good work!

  64. Happy Birthday! I’m so glad you decided to make this site and i’m so glad i found it. It gives me the inspiration i need to keep moving foward with my photography!

  68. Happy Birthday SS! Have loved haivng you be a part of my Day and see the world in a better light. Best wishes for Year #2, may we all grow and see with your eyes…

  69. Thank YOU for the daily inspiration, encouragement, and blessing! I found Shutter Sisters just as I was jump starting my old photo motor. I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have a place like SS to come to every morning!
    Happy Birthday and many more……

  75. Happy Birthday!!

    I can hardly believe it’s been an entire year already. Where did the time go? Thank you for everything that you’ve been for me — a source of inspiration, expertise, and a place to feel at home. I am looking forward to many more years "with" you.

  77. Happy birthday, Shutter Sisters! I haven’t been reading for the whole year, but since I found the site, it has been a big encouragement and blessing to me. The inspiration and the community are wonderful. I hope there are many more birthdays and anniversaries to come!

  80. happy birthday shutter sister! i’m so full of gratitude for the inspiration, learning and beauty you’ve brought into my life in the last year. its been incredible!

  83. wishing you a very happy bloggy birthday. i am a new follower but am so inspired by every woman involved on this blog. here’s to all us shutter sisters!!!

  86. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you!

    Thank you so much for the community and support you provide!

    I know how exciting birthdays can be. I am celebrating the 11th birthday of my business on February 1 and in honor of it (and the launching of the company into a new brand) I am running a great contest at http://www.anitaroachphotography.blogspot.com …

    the winner receives a logo design!

    Again happy birthday…you ladies ROCK!

  91. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters, your blog helps me to look at my passion in a new and different light. Thank you!

  92. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! Thank you so much for the inspiration, education, and wisdom. I have learned SO MUCH from you all.

  93. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters. I am so glad I discovered your blog. Thank you for your never ending source of inspiration. It’s one of the first sites I check in the morning.

  95. Happy birthday! My little one turned 6 months yesterday, so we’re in a pretty celebratory mood around here 🙂

  97. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters!!! Thanks for all the daily inspiration you provide, both for myself and for the photography community!!

  102. Happy, happy, happy birthday.

    Your site means a great deal to me as I learn photography and what it means, to me, to be a photographer.

  105. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! My mornings are not complete with checking your site … the photos are so inspiring!

  106. Wow. 1 yr. already. It went by so fast and it’s been so fun! I cannot wait to see what’s in store here at Shutter Sisters. I’m so glad to have been a part of it and will continue to be!

  111. Happy birthday, sweet, inspiring sisters!! I only found your site a few months ago, so I have many archives to poke around and be awed by!! You all possess so much more than talent . . . you have a way of being that is admirable and inspirational! Something I strive for!

  113. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters. Thanks for a year full of wonderful imagery, words and connections. Looking forward to another inspiring and creative year!
    -donna

  114. I recently just discovered you, but now I am hooked. I’ve been enjoying the archives very much 🙂 Thank you for the wonderful place 🙂

  118. I didn’t realize that this site was so new. I’m usually slow on the uptake, and I’ve been following you for months. Happy Happy Birthday, may all of your wildest dreams come true.

  120. Happy Birthday!!! Thank you, thank you so much for being here! My heart and soul have been moved to pieces. Very grateful to have found you this past year. Because of the way I’ve been touched here, I am seeing everyday life (people, interactions, and more!) with an awakened set of eyes and as a result, taking photos with a new consciousness – an evolved recognition for the beauty of images & appreciation of capturing moments to be treasured.

    Haven’t progressed beyond my point & shoot, but still. 🙂 I am a better person because of what I’ve found in myself from visiting this blog. Much love…cheers! xoxo ~ M.

  126. Happy Birthday. Your blog is a wonderful source of information and inspiration and I love seeing all the beautiful pictures. I’ve been thinking about joining the 365 days of pictures challenge and think I just might do it. Thank you!

  129. I just discovered your blog, and hope to be a regular. 🙂
    For the meantime, Happy birthday … I have many posts to snoop around 🙂

  131. Yay! Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! I found you very soon after you started — so I’ve watched the evolution first-hand. Still love it as much as I did then!

  133. A very happy birthday to you, Sisters and best wishes for many, many more years of beautiful photography and inspiration. Thank you for making every day special for me.

  136. Ooh can I play? Happy Birthday, Shutter Sisters. Thanks for the daily inspiration. I get lost in your site for hours when I’m not careful!

  138. Happy birthday!
    I’m so glad I found this blog. I find inspiration here, and am gradually building my confidence as I post photographs oh my blog.
    On another note, I love communities of supportive women! Thank you for having this vision and the courage to make it real.

  140. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! It’s been terrific getting to know this great community and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

  141. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! I just recently found your site and LOVE IT! I have found so much great info here. Thank you and keep up the good work.

  146. Happy Birthday! I’m so glad you’ve reached this milestone and allowed us all to join you in the ride! So exciting!

    Thank you VERY MUCH for all the inspiration you provide for us, each and every day!

  149. Happy Birthday, Shutter Sisters 🙂 Thank you for being an inspiration and a safe haven for creative expression and reflection.

  155. happy birthday, shutter sisters! i can’t believe it’s been a year since you launch . . . seems just like yesterday.

    i’d love the chance to win this printer – mine all-in-one broke & i can’t afford to buy a new one. now i’m stuck w/ one that can barely print out e-mails & bills. crossing my fingers!

  159. A wonderful occasion and the anniversary of the birth of a community…it has been a joy being a part of it…and learning SO much from everyone…the inspiration, the comraderie, the encouragement, the fun, the giveaways, the sisterhood. Wishing you/us many more wonderful years to come!

  165. I love coming to this warm, friendly place everyday. i might not comment as often as others but I truly appreciate all the talent here. The writing as well as the photography. It is such a nice place to come. A true inspiration.

    Happy Birthday Sisters!

  166. I just stumbled upon this site today, but what a day to join. HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY to you all. I’ve had a quick look around and it looks amazing

  169. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters!

    Congratulations on a job well done! Not a day goes by that I don’t read your blog. It brings such inspiration, not just in the photos you share, but in the words that accompany them.

    YAY YOU!

  170. This has been such a wonderful site for me this past year, as I’ve embarked on my PhotoJourney. And even though I’m not where I want to be, this site has offered me inspration throughout the process. Many thanks to you!!!

  171. Happy 1st Birthday Shutter Sisters! You are hands down one of my favorite photography sites…I look forward to all the wonderful things you have in store for us this year!

  178. Congratulation! Not sure how I discovered your blog, but it has been very inspiring for me. I’m looking forward to following you in the future.

  182. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Shutter Sisters! I have enjoyed all the information and inspiration I have found here this past year. Good luck in the coming year!

  183. Happy Birthday! When I first found this site, I assume it was an "old" one because it was so well done! But I will go back and explore the beginnings!

  186. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters and especially my "Shutter daughter" aka "SweetSalty Kate". I am so proud of your contributions to this wonderfully creative and inspiring group of photographers, both the official ones and the contributors. You are all inspiring, you are all creative! Thank you!
    Love
    Mom

  187. I love this blog; I love the community I am discovering. I love the ideas, the pictures, the window into a world outside my own lens. Happy birthday, and congratulations on a wonderful, wonderful idea gone big! I loved having my photo featured in The Daily Click – it was the best moment of my day!

    Oh, and here’s a photo from me today for the birthday blog!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/8702729@N02/3219069584/

  193. Traci~ I am a good friend of Ali’s… the other photographer in her life. I am now officially inspired, move into action and happy to be a part of your site.

    All the best!~
    Maura McCarthy

  194. oh my, no photo just yet, just a birthday wish. may this continue to be a safe haven for budding artists everywhere. it certainly has been for me, and i thank you for my sanity. hard to imagine that it’s only been a year and in this time, what a community has arisen.

  201. happy birthday shutter sisters! you have encouraged me in ways you will never know. i’m grateful for your existence. here’s to many more years and who knows what’s in store! 🙂

  207. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! You are truly and inspiration to us all.

    Thank you for all of your encouragement and wisdom.

  214. Happy Birthday. I’m so glad I found this site. I just recently started following the photos on Flickr–what a source of inspiration both places are.

  215. Happy Birthday 1st Birthday Shutter Sisters!
    Thank you for sharing your dream Tracey and creating a place where we don’t have to worry about points or ratings, where blurry rocks and everyone learns from everyone else. Shutter Sisters freely hands out wings enabling our dreams to take flight.

    May you celebrate many, many more birthdays!

  216. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Shutter Sisters;) the day I found you on the net was a happy one indeed;) Here’s to another great year!

  219. i have no appropriate birthday picture, but i just joined the flickr group today, so there’s a present! (i think…) 🙂

  221. Wow, happy blog-birthday! A big milestone and no small feat! I am a back-row lurker and savor each of your posts…although this is, I confess, my first time commenting. Figures…giveaways are funny that way! I covet that printer and would be delighted to win but if I don’t I bet the lucky winner will be just as tickled!

    Thanks for creating this amazing community & network
    Hugs

  236. Happy birthday shutter sisters, I love this site and often find so much inspiration when I go out shooting.

  239. My husband just bought me my first Digital SLR. I am so glad I found your website! Happy Birthday!

  241. i love this sight…gathering images and inspiration from all the different ways we see and capture the world. thankyou!

  245. !!! Happy Birthday to my sisters!
    Only a year? gaah…it feels like so much longer!
    This place has continued to be a source of inspiration for me. I feel like we’ve all grown with each other.
    🙂
    many many wishes for following years.

  248. Happy birthday! I’m so glad this little experiment succeeded because I have found more inspiration and encouragement here than I can every fully express.

  249. Wow…Happy Birthday! I am so glad to have found this site. It gives me the everyday encouragement and motivation to make the most out of my photography and continue to strive for more. I look forward to each and every post! Thank you so much for being here!

  254. i’d love to see more posts of pics using beginner/low tech equipment — we have a nikon d80 or 90 (whatever the number is, that’s how clueless i am), and i enjoy photography but am not ready to get my own slr until i see what i can do with my point and shoot, photoshop , etc…
    and here’s emilie’s link (for your professional series), she’s very sweet and did a photog retreat here on the cape last summer — she’s a maine wedding photog but also covered al gore for one of his campaigns, etc, etc — blog: http://blog.emilieinc.net/
    site: http://www.emilieinc.com/

    btw, i look forward to checking into your blog for visual and verbal inspiration…thank you…happy birthday and many more!

  256. as pooh bear would say: ‘many happy returns of the day!’

    you have inspired me and so many others with this website and for that i thank you.

  267. Happy, happy birthday! I’m shy about sharing, but I get so much inspiration from this place, and just the fact that it exists. Happy birthday— and thanks!

  270. Happy Happy Birhtday to you! What a wonderful journey and amazing site this is …. I love the inspiration, and the lovely ideas! So glad that I found you …. and plan to begin again from a year ago to re-live the beauty! 🙂

    Enjoy your celebration …. and here’s to MANY more!

  273. Thank You for creating this site, it is such an inspiration. Happy Birthday to all the shutter sisters who come to this site and share

  275. happy Birthday

    To many more great times & photos and missed shots. (means you were there to experience the moment in person)

  276. HaPpY BiRtHdAy!!!!!!!!!!

    I love Shutter sisters! And I love my shutter sister necklace!

    CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  279. Happy Birthday Shutter Sisters! Since finding your blog, I’ve gotten so much inspiration 🙂 Thank you!

  285. Happy birthday! I am going to have to go home and make cupcakes now after looking at your pic on here!!! Shamrocker99 at aol dot com

  288. I am not sure I have a photograph worthy of such an occasion…Happy Birthday dear, dear, SS….you mean so much so to so many…including little old me…xo t

  290. Happy, Happy Birthday! I had no idea it had only been a year. I joined Flickr and the Shutter Sisters group just a little less than a year ago and thought you had been around for a long, long time. Clearly, you established yourselves and the site rather quickly – congratulation! Here is to many more years…..Bari

  291. Happy Birthday! I love your site! I just discovered it recently and am looking forward to looking through the archives.

  292. I wish everyone who is in the business of supporting women and lifting women up here at Shutter Sisters a very happy birthday!!!
    It is our responsibility to give our sisters of the world a hand up, whether it be creative or otherwise. We must all stick together as women and insure that we as a sisterhood, promote each others creative outlets.
    Thank you for this beautiful website and for your continued support of women everywhere.
    God Bless!

  295. I LOVE Shuttersisters!! Thank you Tracey. For listening to your heart. 🙂 It’s only been in the last little bit that I’ve been delving more into this photography community. Any guess why? Because two of my friends really love photos and taking photos … it’s the ‘sisters’ that brought me into the fold!!!

    Here’s a green smoothie to celebrate your day! http://www.flickr.com/photos/43665621@N00/2473897805/ I know, I know … a green smoothie??? Come on!!! But it’s all I have that’s kind of birthdayish in my flickr account. Sorry. I promise, it tastes really, really good. I load it up with honey, so it’s sweet and yummy … just like shuttersisters (my, my could this get any cornier?).

  296. I’ve popped over every few weeks since the beginning of your sweet life, shutter sisters. What a magical place you are. You inspire, you delight, you, well, you’ve become this place where sisterhood means more than sisters. Where pictures speak to the soul; where ideas ignite fires; where words wash away grime and allow beauty to shine. You are bigger than you think you are. You are capable of more than you sought out to be.

    Thank you.

    And Happy 1st Birthday. Here’s to many more.

  298. Happy Birthday to Shutter Sisters. I just found your site and I’m thrilled. What a great idea and a great representation of Women in Photography. Thank you! Enjoy another healthy year!!!

  301. I am late on this, but I am SO THRILLED FOR YOU FABULOUS LADIES!!!!!

    This place has become SUCH a place of inspiration for me, both here and on Flickr.

    THANK YOU for creating something so special.

    xoxoxo

  302. holy moly YAY!!!!! hank you tracey
    i say that a lot it seems since you started this forum and really i can never say it enough. xo kristin