Shutter Sisters

time capsule

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As a photographer, I’m a memory gatherer… not just the big stuff like birthdays, weddings, holidays etc… but those everyday moments… the ordinary… the in-between moments… the little things we may not feel are that are important right now, but what we may look back on and realize were big things.

So I’ve been gathering memories, collecting the everyday moments in my life, and using video & photos packaged up into films and freezing that moment in time. I’m calling them time capsules. I know that time flies by, and what happens today, will be different to how life will be next year… in 5 years, 10 years and so on… and I want to remember the little things.

Today I’m giving away one spot on my first eCourse – Creating Time Capsules, where I plan to set you on a journey of discovery and inspiration so that you can make your own, delightful, memory-evoking time capsules… All the details are here.

For a chance to win, please comment below or show me a moment you’ve photographed… what memory have you frozen in time? big or little… something you would add to your imaginary time capsule.  

You have until Saturday 4th Feb midnight PST and I will announce the winner in this post….

11.11.11 : part one : our morning routine from xanthe berkeley on Vimeo.

Updated – The winner is Mama-pan – Mary Frances Thank you to everyone who entered.

on my windowsill

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I bought a dozen roses at the super market the other day. I divided them into 4 bottles. I have them sitting throughout our home. It’s always nice to have a little touch of pretty in different rooms. Don’t you think?

This sits on our kitchen windowsill…. right by the sink. It’s lovely to see and smell as I do the dishes.

How about you? Share a little touch of something pretty with us today. 

leaping into february

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Welcome, February!

This month provides us with a leap year. It’s also the start of the great dreaded month of February in New England: when Vitamin D diminishes, when our woodpile slowly retreats back into the woodshed as we keep our home warm day after day and night after night. Winters are long and February is the peak of cabin fever (so I hear) yet this is me: outwardly (and somewhat annoyingly) positive about this month.

The day I took this it was warm, 35 degrees and sunny. I ventured out in long johns and actually broke a sweat running through the snow from camera to snow fort to snap this shot. All the while laughing, right? This is what I love about jump shots. They change the chemistry of your mood.

This month we are introducing leap as our One Word for the month of February. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to defy gravity. Leaping can mean taking steps in new directions, trying to adventures, stepping outside of your comfort zone.  Leap however you see fit. Leap because it’s scary. Jump because it makes you smile. Leap because it makes your heart race. Leap into life with both feet because why not? Jump because life is not about stagnation. Leap in the face of new adventures. Leap and then leap again.

Won’t you play along with us this month? Show us what leaping means to you. Be sure to enter your images in the OWP flickr pool and check here daily to see if your photos have been showcased!

trust

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What a great month it has been watching all ‘your words’ appear here and in our One Word Project pool on Flickr. However you chose it, may your word serve you well. May it guide you, encourage you, remind you, inspire you. May it whisper to your soul when you need it most. May it push you past the not so good days and help you celebrate all life has in store for you. You have only just begun your journey this year,  now you need to have faith that your word is the one, and then trust in the process. Embrace this new year, as you have embraced your word. If you are still searching for your word, it will come, trust in that. Perhaps when you least expect it, or stop trying to find it, it will find you. If you need a little extra inspiration check out all the amazing images contributed this month in the OWP pool, or perhaps re-watch that great video Chris so beautifully curated last week in her “power of one” post. (if you missed it last Tuesday, do click on over now) I love that video, it feels so powerful.

I can wholeheartedly say I really feel my word this year. It was not at all the word I thought I needed.  In the beginning of January when I began contemplating a word for me and my year, I was feeling words like simplify, center, & balance, all good things, but internally I knew something was missing and it was holding me back from fully committing to any one of those words.  Then a dear friend and I spoke and she shared her heart with me and that she too was feeling many of those words but that they did not feel proactive enough. That was exactly it!  As soon as she said that I knew that was what my heart was longing for, an action word!  Those, to me, seem riskier, scarier, therefore making me more vulnerable.  That may be true, but that is just what I need to push myself this year. On my drive home that day my word hit me, become.  Now I am embracing it, fears, nerves and all. My word is speaking loudly and I am listening.

Tomorrow we begin a new month and announce a new one word, but we have right now to celebrate all of our individual words one last time. Tell us, how do you feel about your word, are you trusting in the process? Do you feel it doing its work?

my monday word

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Words… they’ve had a big impact on me this month… I’ve taken to writing them on stones and leaving them around the house… and I whisper the word as I pass by it. It may sound silly, but it’s really working for me.

Here’s the word I need today… calm… for a Monday, with a busy week ahead of work, needing to focus, and not get overwhelmed…. alongside all the life stuff that comes my way. I’d like to be calm.

What word do you need to whisper to yourself today? Please share with us today.

a look back

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               (January 29, 2011.  My husband’s hands making a loaf of his homemade bread. )

 

Today let’s simply take a look back.

Where were you this day one year ago?

What did you capture in your lens that day?

Looking back can be fun.  You may be surprised by what you find.  I hope the look back brings with it a good memory.

Share your look back with us here.

Happy Sunday everyone. 

 

object of affection

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This tiny stuffed horse might not look like much, but seeing it gives me that inner “awwwww”. My son has moved on to bigger and better toys recently. He prefers balls, loud plastic items and constant physical activity. So even looking back on a sweet, soft toy that he loved just a few months ago makes me all sentimental. I better get used to this feeling because it’s not going anywhere…for the rest of my life.

But that’s one of the many reasons that I keep a camera handy at all times. Now anytime I need an “awwwww” fix I can just look back through my vast photo archives and get that warm fuzzy feeling.

Have you ever photographed an item that can instantly make you smile?

He Posed for Me

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Finally….  one of my boys agreed to pose for me. Perhaps it was a weak moment. Really it doesn’t matter. What matters is he posed for me.  Woo hoo!

I’ve been wanting to take Bryce’s photo forever. But he always has one excuse or another. The truth is, I am not much for taking people pics, so maybe I’m not that persistent. I’m way more comfortable setting up still lifes or photographing Ben. Probably because they don’t talk back. ‘smile’.

The other day I thought, darn it, I’m going to demand he let’s me do it. I casually walked into the living room….all calm, cool and collected. ‘Bryce, I need to take your picture in the white room. Can you please let me? I need to practice with this new lens.’ I was prepared for resistance, so I had a whole speech ready. But he simply stood up and said ‘sure….as long as I can keep my toque on….‘ I could not believe it…. I was almost speechless…..

I didn’t waste a moment… Up we went…. and click, click, click… He didn’t complain, he followed ‘direction’…which is somewhat unusual… And we captured some fabulous shots. Then we popped into the studio and did a little post processing together. The whole experience was perfect.

This is our favorite shot…I think it really captures who Bryce is. He’s a deep thinker… quite serious and I often catch him looking just like this.  

How about you? Are you met with resistance when you try to photograph your family? Any tips for me?

Share a family photo with us today. 

Pick me up

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I’ve had a rough couple of days. You know the ones. Where everything goes wrong and there’s not enough time and you just don’t handle things well. Where you lose your cool and let everything get the best of you. The days when you just look forward to bed. I know we’ve all been there but somehow it doesn’t make it any less disheartening.

I was wallowing around, groaning and grumbling about what was probably nothing discernable to anyone, while my husband opened a package that came in the mail. As he pulled out a bundled wad of newspaper about the size of a grapefruit, he slowly uncovered a small box made of polished metal and shiny black plastic.

“I got this for you because…because…you’re having a bad day”, he said soft and kind with his gentle smile and extended his offering to me.

I went from miserable to grateful in an instant. As I studied the pristine vintage Kodak Brownie Reflex 20, I marveled and smiled back. Totally speechless.

“And look, ” he continued, as he lifted the lid that covered the large viewfinder at the top, “it’s just like you wanted.”

Indeed. There is was, a viewfinder that framed the beautiful world outside of my muddled head; saturated color, bold shapes, bright light and clarity. Like a child, I began to squeal with delight and so began the instantaneous shift from pity party to creative celebration.

Playing with my new toy for about an hour pulled me out of my mood. Not for good unfortunately, for I do believe that hormones will have the best of me for a few more days, but certainly for long enough to be reminded that sometimes a kind gesture, a simple spark, a tiny new way to see the world is all it takes to shine light on the darkest places.

Tell me, when was the last time you had a shift like this, from blue to blush? Was it something someone said? What it using your own camera to mine out the gems of your life? Share with us they way you’ve experienced your own kind of “pick me up”.

Image of me holding my new muse (above) courtesy of my 8 year old daughter via my iphone.

the decisive moment

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“Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”  -Henri Cartier Bresson

I was standing on the fourth floor of the High Museum of Art when this moment unfolded. I had one eye on my son in a neighboring room, one eye on my daughter a few steps away. I was fiddling with my scarf, with my braids, fiddling with the contents of my purse, fiddling with my camera. My mind was in a dozen different places but when I looked up, I saw it. The painting, the woman on the bench, the light in between. It was, by very definition, a decisive moment. If I’d hesitated at all, I would have missed it.

Instead, I reached for my SX-70, looked through the viewfinder, adjusted the focus. Steadied my hands and hit that little red button. Two seconds later, the woman walked away. The space filled with people, the light shifted. The whole scene evaporated. The only proof of its existence, this photograph. It doesn’t happen like that for me very often but when it does, it’s a thrill. Which is why I am always sharpening my brain, training my eyes to see this way, to seek out these moments, these fractions of seconds, whether I have my camera with me or not.
What decisive moments have you captured lately? Please do share a few with us today.

(The image above was shot with a polaroid sx-70 using Impossible Project PX 600 Silver Shade UV+ film)