Lately, with all the untimely deaths in the news, I've been feeling really aware of how fast everything goes by. It makes me sad. But it also makes me want to live boldly. To be brave and take more risks. To say the hard things, especially when it's to myself. To peacefully coexist with my imperfections, but also not become complacent about things I know I can change. Most of all, it makes me want to spend my time on what really matters the most. I found this a few days ago, and it's been with me ever since. It's by Dane Sanders, and it's called "Why Settle For A Little Life?" I hope you'll check it out, and please share with us today what inspires you to live a bigger life?   

Happy Summer everyone! I know it's been summer for a while now but around here it never really feels like summer until July. Even though southern California has good weather almost always, here on the coast we get faked out in June. They call it June gloom and it doesn't lift until, well, July. So, here we are...enjoying sun and summer and all that goes with it. The beach, the pool, bike riding, dog walking, you name it.

So with this month also comes a new word for our One Word Project. What better word to mark all things warm and wonderful than the word summer? We've got so much to look forward to in the coming months, why not celebrate it? We're featuring a ton of your pictures and posts in the Your Local Picks feature, The Shutter Suite at BlogHer and soon after Picture Hope officially kicks off with trip #1.

So many good things coming it's true but for now, let's bask in the glow of the summer sun and appreciate today. Share with us all the things that speak of summer. Leave links in the comments and submit them into our One Word Project Flickr pool. Let's enjoy the season with a splash.

It's the end of yet another month and we bid farewell to our OWP word for June. Thank you to everyone who participated this month. It's been such fun to see your sweet interpretations.

It began with the most delicious photo of chocolate chip cookies and ends today with another beautiful offering from T Does Wool. Her images do more than translate the word sweet, they remind us that home is indeed where the heart is. 

Today, share with us what is on your table. Show us the fresh fruit, the vase of wild flowers, the crayons and construction paper...whatever it may be, share with us your heart, right there at home.

Even though we will kick off July with a brand new word (come back tomorrow for that) we will still be serving up some sweet stuff...the Shutter Suiteis happening in July too which is sweeeeet! Have you RSVPed yet? We will be rolling out the details on a very special event that we'll be hosting on Saturday night. Let's just say you're going to need some pretty cute pajamas!!

Today is my youngest's birthday. He's eight; old enough to conduct an intelligent and interesting conversation. Young enough to still make me smile with his questionable sense of humor and incredibly innocent approach to life.

Of all the photos you take of your kids, I love the ones that embody exactly where they are at a particular age and stage of development. Here, he's still silly, while his older sister plays like a grown-up girl with a baby on her hip and no time anymore for leaf hats on rainy days and other kinds of foolishness.

Do you have a photo that seems to reflects the essence of an age? A picture that reminds you time is flying and this precious moment will pass?

When I tell people that I have twins, they're surprised. When I tell people that I'm a writer and a photographer, they're intrigued. When I tell people that I tap dance, they look at me as if I were a totally different person.

I started taking tap dance lessons a few years ago and it's been making me irrationally happy ever since. It is a place where I feel completely safe. A place where I retreat when words fail me and I haven't taken out my camera for weeks. A place that puts me back together as an individual when too many people are depending on me. And reminds me of my own strength and ability to venture beyond my comfort zone.

Some call it a hobby. I like to call it my little special thing.

What about you? What is that little thing that no one suspects you to have or do and that makes you feel special? Whether you know how to cook, play an instrument, fly a plane, sketch, sing, speak different languages or moonwalk, please share in the comment section below.

photo by John Balcer (during one of our photo walks)

Lately I've been spending some time teaching my husband how to use an SLR camera. He's got a very cool project coming up where his job will be to photograph an amazing experience (more on that later). The last couple of months have been a crash course in aperture, shutter speed, focusing, composition, lenses, AV mode versus TV mode, exposure and depth of field. I would never consider myself to be a photography expert or worthy of teaching someone else how to use a camera. But, I have noticed that the process of teaching him Photography 101 is a great refresher for me. The mere act of describing how to use a certain setting, or set up a good composition reminds me of the basics. In addition, it forced me to dig a little deeper when John asked me questions I couldn't answer. And the fact that my husband was my student took all the pressure off. I didn't feel like I needed to know ALL the answers and technical terms. I just explain things in simple terms as I understand them and then set him free to practice. We went on numerous photo walks, each with our own cameras. It was also fun to compare the photos later and see how we each interpreted the same subjects.

I spent my childhood living in a house on the southeastern corner of the Caribbean island of Trinidad, about 1 block from Mayaro beach. The village we lived in was very small, and I remember at a very young age walking about the 1/4 mile distance to and from school every moning, usually taking the beach, since it was the most direct route.

I remember that sometimes, on pretty days, the American schoolmaster of that very small school would sometimes cancel class, and take the entire student body -- all 50 of us -- for long walks on the beach.

I remember sometimes being on the beach at the same time the fishermen were pulling in their seines filled with silver, flopping fish -- and sometimes a shark or a stingray or two. I remember sometimes joining the men and helping them pull the nets.

I remember sometimes digging for chip-chip, and bringing them home so that we could cook them and eat them with cocktail sauce that my dad would make.

I remember racing live sand dollars on the beach with my friends.

Today, please share a photo that reminds you of your childhood.  We'd love to read about it.

Cross-posted at Chookooloonks.

I was recently invited to a media showcaase for a local event that I had never experienced before. I had heard about the well-known, highly-respected Pageant of the Masters for many years but had never gone to a single performance to see what all the fuss was about. I figured it would be neat ...but I had no idea.

After an enchanted evening and intimate introduction to this Laguna Beach treasure, I am amazed and smitten with this real live masterpiece. Although I have yet to see the show in it's entirety (that will change this summer I promise you) the glimpse I did get into the magic of it all was all it took to intoxicate me.

Considering this event has taken place since long before I was born and it's a So. Cal. stone's throw from where I live,  I thought what a great thing to share for our first Local Pix feature. Staycations are all about finding the gems of your own neighborhoods and taking the time to experience and enjoy them. This is one of those kinds of things. If you live here is Southern California or you will be visiting during between July 8th and August 31st, The Pageant of the Masters is a must see. It will totally amaze and inspire you. I promise. Just take a look at some of the surreal scenes I captured at the media event.

I was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look, up close and personal and what they accomplish remarkable. A perfect example of where art and life collide. Literally. These paintings are larger than life but are only part painting. The subjects, as seen in the shots above are women. For real. And some pieces have groups of people; men, women and children alike. I know. It's crazy and it's brilliant.

Got any shots that challenge you perspective? Something that makes you question what is real and what is an illusion? Share with us a beautiful mystery today.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted Your Local Pix ideas. Wow! What a great response we got. You will be notified soon and we'll start featuring some your favorite places.

She was just a lady at a party, one more person that I didn't know in a house where I'd never been.  We had met briefly when I came in the door, but she didn't light up until she noticed me pull my camera out of my bag. 

"Are you a professional?"  Um, not really.  (gulp.)

"Do you do portraits?"  Uh, only if no one's paying attention.

"Can I hire you to take my picture for my website?"  By this point, I loved her for her unfounded confidence in me and unapologetic persistence.  I was the one who could capture her, she just knew it, and she couldn't let it go.

I'm incredibly uncomfortable with taking people's portraits for a purpose, on purpose, but something about this lady made me want to try.  Come on in the backyard, I beckoned.  Let's do it right now.  And then, Do you want to comb your hair?  At this she laughed and said she thought her hair was just fine, her eyes fiilling up with light to show me her sweet and tender, trusting heart.

I played photographer and she smiled for the camera, and we got this shot, messy hair and all.  I sent it to her after, quite sheepish that it wasn't the masterpiece I'd hoped to pull off on the spot, but she didn't care.  She trusted me, and she knew from the first instant I was the right one to capture her soul.

Do you ever get pegged "the photographer" whether you feel like you merit the title or the role?  Show us those pics you were on the spot to shoot.  Show us what you can do when someone believes in you, even when you're not so sure you can believe in your own fledgling photographer self.

Years ago I stopped giving photos to my husband for his Father's Day gift. I know he appreciates the pictures I capture of our girls but the truth is, it's me that wants one good reason to frame a recent shot of my kids. I learned to stop waiting for Father's Day to get those timeless moments framed and just did it. For myself. For our family. That's not to say I don't make my husband photo cards for every occasion because you know I do! But, that's another story.

When this Father's Day approached however, there was a project I had been wanting to do with our Fair Photo booth archives. When I got the One Cent Sale email from Aaron Brothers a few days before Father's Day I jumped at the chance. It is my most favorite sale of the year I must admit.

Above are the final results; two of the four years of Photo booth fun, scanned, enlarged a bit, matted in museum board mattes and framed in a simple black frame. A treasured Clark family series of playful photo booth portraits. I can't wait to hang them up! And yes, my husband loves them.

Sometimes a project will inspire you, sometimes it's the photo itself, or a holiday or a frame sale that does it. Other time you find a fantastic frame and then search for the perfect  photo to go in it.

Case in point the new Photoshop Photo Framefrom our friends at PhotoJojo. This is one of those frames that anyone who has a passion for photography in the digital age will love. Don't you agree?

Leave a comment today about a project, photo or frame that motivated you to get your work off of the computer and into your life Your comment will make you eligible to win the Photoshop Photo Frame (a la PhotoJojo). Yay!