With the summer comes lots of sun, water and sand. The combination doesn’t sound like the best one for photographers. However, the carefree days at the beach or even around the house can make for playful, fun photo moments. When it comes to capturing the best of the best summer moments, the key is photographic experimentation and not being afraid of getting your feet wet.

Shooting into the light is nothing new around here (just check out these shots from bee bee mod, monamegs and and kristybee) but what about when you add water to the mix? My girls were sprinkler hopping the other afternoon and I was having a blast with my camera jumping in and out of the water sprays, clicking pix of my girls as they frolicked in uninhibited summer glee. The sun and the water only added to the magic.

As we kick off the start of summer, share with us some of your wet and wild photo moments (without the topless stuff, ahem).

And since its Sunday, we’re putting all of the comments posted here into the random drawing for a free copy of America at Home with a custom cover to boot! You have until midnight on Monday to comment.

Congrats to last week’s winner of the book Corey (aka Divrchk)!

 
"Ooh! LOVE the bokeh!" "That bokeh is just magical!" "Beautiful bokeh!"

How many times have you encountered comments like those while browsing photos on Flickr? If you have no idea what *bokeh* is, or have a vague idea but aren't sure, you're probably not alone. I was pretty confused about the whole thing until I did some research recently, and actually, I'm still confused.

So what did I find out? Well, most simply put, bokeh is the Japanese word for "fuzzy," and it refers to the aesthetically pleasing out-of-focus areas of a photo, often achieved with a wide aperture or a telephoto lens. I have to admit that terms like "spherical aberration" and "circle of confusion" make my eyes glaze over, so I won't get into the technicalities here.  Besides, I'm sure you all have some mad googling skillz.

From what I'm able to gather, there are different types of bokeh. There's the creamy, smooth and silky kind that looks like you wiped that portion of the photo with a sponge. Then there's the kind of bokeh that shows the shape of the aperture--round for a large aperture that's wide open, polygonal for an aperture that's stopped down a couple stops, or even in different shapes if you want to get crafty with paper and scissors. And while there may be a general consensus as to what is and isn't considered good bokeh, I think it's pretty subjective.

Now, I've seen some really lovely bokeh in the Shutter Sisters' pool, so I know we've got a bunch of bokeh enthusiasts in our midst. Bokeh apparently has its own day of the week, not to mention numerous groups on Flickr. If you have a tip for getting really cool bokeh or have some favorite bokeh photos of your own, please share, and tag your photos with the word "bokeh" and submit them to the Shutter Sisters Flickr pool so we can enjoy all the bokeh glory in slideshow format.

P.S. I got the heart bokeh in the photo for this post by cutting out a heart in a circular piece of cardstock (you want it thick enough to block light, so black would probably work best) that would fit in the front of my 50mm f/1.8 lens (which was the perfect lens for this experiment as the glass part of the lens is set far into the lens body).  I suppose you could do the whole lens hood method, but, eh, I was happy enough with the results I got.  A tip for cutting out hearts: if you are a scrapbooker, you already know what to do.  If you are not,  you can run out and buy (or borrow) a heart-shaped hole-puncher-thingie, or you can do what I did.  I took a simple hand-held hole puncher, punched out two circles that were conjoined to create the bosom of the heart, and took sharp scissors to make the pointy bottom of the heart. 

I found this tutorial today at www.fototiller.com via photojojo. The kids had so much fun making their "OWN" coloring pages. Thought yours might too. You could even make them into a book here or here, and give them as birthday gifts. Happy Wednesday!  :)

My entry into photography began with a passion for portraiture; brides, babies, families, and eventually my own children. Because I was shooting soft and subtle subjects, I had to develop an eye for soft and subtle light. Since my photo training didn’t go any further than Photo 101, I had no idea how to use artificial light (aka a flash of any kind) and therefore had to learn how to achieve my desired results using natural light whenever humanly possible. After much trail and error and working at fine tuning my eyes to see the light (I swear I am not trying to be cheesy) I can now say that I’ve got it down.

So, why then did it not occur to me that the same rules can apply when shooting other subjects?

As I have turned my lens to the beauty of natural elements (flowers, trees, found objects) I guess I found myself in a similar light learning curve. As I was figuring out what worked and what didn’t, what I liked and what I didn’t, I wasn’t even falling back on the techniques I had already worked out. It wasn’t until I shot this blooming agapanthus that it clicked. I never tire of that pun. Why did this shot come out so well (with no photo editing needed at all) when other attempts on other days didn’t? The answer was simple. I shot the image in the late hours of the afternoon during the delicate light of dusk. The light was soft and my aperture was wide open (by default I might add as the camera was doing it’s best to gather as much light as it could under the dimming circumstances) which usually creates the perfect alchemy for an exquisite photo of any kind.

As I have taken my new/old lesson to heart, my nature photos have dramatically improved. I’m not saying you need soft light to capture lovely flower pictures. You don’t. But today, I challenge you to try treating your nature photos more like portraits. Schedule a session or two with the blossoms and blooms that are waking with the warmth of Spring. Be mindful of the light and try to flatter your subject as you would a dear friend. Relax and enjoy yourself and watch your nature photography bloom.

One of the greatest pleasures in life is the window seat on an airplane. Are you with me sisters? My husband and I have to do some serious rock, paper, scissors every time we get situated.

I always have my camera at the ready and feel a childlike giddiness when I see the world from this perspective. I am suddenly an astronaut seeing the planet for the first time: it's rich topography amazing me with its color, clouds and organic forms. It takes my breath away every time.

This week's theme is to shoot out the window. It could be an airplane, a car or even your bathroom window. As usual, leave your link in the comments and add the tag "superhero photo challenge" to your flickr page.

Hot tip: If you don't already know this, treat your airplane photos with levels or curves in photoshop (auto levels usually does the trick) and watch the landscape pop!