Shutter Sisters

The Power of One

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“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”- Thomas Jefferson 

As you know, we kicked off the month by asking you to celebrate your word all month long for the One Word Project, and that you have.  Many of you have chosen your words and showed us how you celebrate those words with the photos you’ve added to our One Word Project Flickr pool and let me just say, they’re pretty darned awesome.  Correction: you’re pretty darned awesome.  

So inspired I was by your words and photos, that with the help of some friends, I put together a One Word video to share with all of you.  If you haven’t found just the right word for you yet, then maybe this lovely little video will inspire you.  And even if you already have a word, may you be as moved as I am by all the collective love of the beautiful women that contributed to the making of this video.  Because, like you, they’re pretty darned awesome, too.  

In honor of our One Word Project, the always lovely Stacy De La Rosa of Bella Wish Jewelry (and contributor to the video!) is giving away one custom made, hand stamped, sterling silver pendant with your word for 2012! For your chance to win, leave a comment telling us what your word is for 2012 no later than tomorrow, January 25th, midnight PST. 

 

 

The Rush

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She’s there,
On the tip of a steep cliff,
Playfully dangling her toes off the edge.
She could take five comfortable steps back,
And be safe again-
But she’s tired of safe.
 
For she craves the fall.
She craves the wind rushing around her,
Filling her lungs
and bringing goose bumps to her arms.
Although she loves the soft landing behind her,
It is the thrill she seeks,
Knowing that as soon as the cliff beneath her crumbles,
Her life begins.
 
Her life-
Her own.
The cliff of her childhood will soon be gone,
And she sits,
Looking over the edge,
Seeing the rush of the fall-
The rush of her life,
And she is tempted to jump,
To leap into the possibilities almost in reach of her dangling toes.
Who will I meet?
Where will I be?
What will I become?
The constant itch of these questions lies in her bones,
For she knows she must wait for answers.
Wait.
Wait.
 
And soon-
She remembers her soft landing,
It is not quite finished yet.
She goes back to basking in her final moments in the comfort,
In the familiar…
 
But her strive for the wind,
for the fall,
for the rush,
is always in the back of her mind.
She’s ready for her new life to begin.

* * *

Image and poem by guest Shutter Sister Suzanna Hodges, age 17

be the creative director of your work

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As photographers we are constantly changing and growing. As we discover more about the world, we instinctively discover more about ourselves. Our tastes, likes, dislikes, wants and needs, all influence who we are as people, and who we are as people ultimately shapes who we are as photographers.

For a time, I was confused about who I was as a photographer. When I first started shooting, I would just photograph things that interested me or the things that I instinctively thought would make a good composition. Yet, if someone asked me what type of photographer I was, I had no idea and couldn’t give him or her an answer. I was stuck. I was stuck in the black hole of comparison. Trapped by other people’s images and ideas and felt as though my own vision was being drowned in a sea of bokeh circles and 50mm macro shots. When I started to become bored by my own images, I realised that something had to change.

I realised that I was paying too much attention to the crowd and not enough to my own vision and voice. Who was I shooting for? What story was I trying to tell? I had started shooting for myself in the beginning, and then somewhere along the way I got caught up in the crowd. It was time for me to go back to what was important to me.

Once I let go, I felt free again. I felt like my whole world opened up and I could start shooting for me. It was liberating. Over time, I started to pay attention to what I truly liked about photography, what gave me goose bumps when viewing other people’s photography and what gave me most satisfaction when shooting for myself. By paying attention to my own likes and dislikes, I started to gather pieces of the puzzle that pulled together my own photography style.

I have been shooting this way for a long time now and it’s what makes me happy. I am particular about what I shoot, when I shoot and how I shoot. Every image is sketched out in my mind before I shoot it and they may not all work or have meaning for others, but to me, they tell my story and share my voice.

Through photographing this way over time, my style has developed. I have a set of adjectives I use to describe my photography and I remind myself of those when I shoot. Style is never finished and can always be improved upon. It takes many years to perfect and I am always working on reaching that objective.

I do know this; to nurture style, one must have a goal. We need to figure out where we are now, where we want to be and how we can close the gap between the two. It’s a work in progress and cannot be achieved overnight. We are the creative directors of our own work and we are the only ones who can speak with our own unique voice.

Do you have a clear vision and voice that you share with others?

Please share images that you think best represent you or your style with us!

————–

Today Amanda is giving away one spot in her Shoot By Design: Refining Your Photography Style photography e-course where she will teach you all she knows about molding your signature style, finding your own voice, share technical tips to get the best out of your camera and show you how to creates strong, passionate images. Leave a comment here before Tuesday 24th 12pm PST to win a place in the Shoot By Design Spring session, starting on March 5th!

You can find out more about Amanda’s work on her portfolio and popular blog Mocking Bird. She is also the co-author of the anticipated Instant Love: How To Make Magic and Memories with Polaroids (with Jen Altman and Susannah Conway) published by Chronicle Books.

The winner of the giveaway is Mary! Congratulations, you will receive an email from Amanda shortly.

the connection

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It all started with memories. I learned to use a camera because I wanted to capture memories, of where I had been and with whom I had shared my life.  For a long while, it seemed I was afraid I wouldn’t remember life without having a photograph to remind me.

As I learned more about photography, my goal transitioned to the moment.  It was the triumphant feeling of capturing a fleeting moment of an expression or of light, which drew me to bring the camera to my eye. I no longer needed to capture every memory, but watched for the right moments.

Over time, my motivations shifted again; shifted deeper.  One day, I noticed I was no longer capturing images to remember or to freeze time, but to feel. I had discovered photography as a form of self-expression. I was learning more about myself through my images. I was expressing my true self in photographs, in a deep and soul-satisfying way.

Photography brought me from memories… to moments… to me.

What I had discovered was a heart connection with some of my images; they expressed feelings I had not yet put into words. I found the stronger my heart connection with an image, the more likely others would connect with the image too. More than just connecting with an image, though, others also began connecting with me: The real me, the part that is often difficult to see.

These days, the heart connection is what I seek in my photography. To express a feeling is my purpose and motivation when I pick up my camera, more than the memories and the moments. When I share my vision of the world, I want it to be the vision that expresses who I am at heart. And through my heart connection with my images, I want to connect with others. I want to find kindred spirits who express themselves through their images. I want to know those who seek a heart connection too.

This year, I’ve started a new project called Photo-Heart Connection, to deepen my practice of photography. At the beginning of each month, I will be looking through my images from the previous month and finding the one image which brings me the strongest heart connection. I’ll write about it, learn from it. The exercise will force me to pause for a moment, contemplate my direction and reaffirm the expression I am seeking through my photographs. Each time I pause to do this, my photo-heart connection will deepen. I think yours will too, so I’m inviting you to join me, sharing your strongest photo-heart connection each month with a community of like-minded photographers. Our first link up will be February 1.

Today I encourage you to consider your photo-heart connection. Do you have an image which comes to mind, as an expression of your heart? Share it here, and start the connection.

Image and words courtesey of Guest Blogger Kat Sloma of Kat Eye Studios.

what girl are you?

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We are all photographers together, yes?

….but we do divide into smaller group depending what we like to shoot and the gear we shoot with… Canon, Nikon, Polaroid, Pentax, Olympus, Rollei, iphone….the list goes on…. and that’s what makes us all so uniquely different.

While I was on the shutter sisters Camp, I noticed the conversations between the ladies “oh I’m a Canon person”, “I’ve always have been Canon…” or “I’m a Nikon” (although pronounced different on either side of the pond!)… “Nikon is the best” and there were so many proud “Polaroid girls…” saying “My heart belongs to Polaroid“

I shared this with a dear friend of mine and it sparked into a new collaboration to celebrate what you shoot with. We have created prints and badges/buttons for you to be proud of who you are. I am a Canon girl….. and know some of you are Nikon girls and Polaroid girls…

As we’re so excited about this new project, we’d love to offer one print of your choice to you lovely girls out there, all you’ve got to do is tell me what girl you are…..Canon, Nikon, or Polaroid or something else in the comments below…. You have until tomorrow Sat 21st Jan midnight PST…..

Updated – the winner was Stephanie of http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/ – If you would like updates of further products, please follow us at facebook.

Telling Stories

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 That’s me up there, sitting on my Mother’s lap. It’s one of my most favorite photos of my Mom and I.  She would have been just a little younger than I am now.

There’s a story behind every photograph captured, every snapshot stolen from a moment in time.  I look at this photo, now through a mother’s eyes, and wonder what her story was when this was taken.

It’s fascinating to think about where our own photos will end up, forty or fifty years from now. Will somebody, somewhere, look at an image we’ve captured and wonder about the person in the frame? What they were thinking, feeling, doing in that exact moment?  Perhaps it’s a love of photography that leads me to also wonder about the person behind the lens. I wonder why it was they chose to capture a certain moment, a certain scene, a certain someone. I wonder what they were trying to tell me.

Holding this snapshot in my hands, a bit weathered with age, its paper curling from its backing, I make a wish that someday, somebody will do the same with a photograph of my own.  I hope they wonder about the stories I’ve been telling.

Today, please share with us your photos that tell a story. 

 

Image and post courtesy of the awesome Janice Squires, who many of us know and love from her blog Two Scoopz.

reminders

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 She gets me. Do you have that special someone in your life that builds you up, reminds you of all the goodness inside you and awaiting you? Oh how I hope you do. Those irreplaceable members of your tribe that stand with you side by side, through all ups, downs and in betweens. Life has felt a little uncertain lately. We all have those times, those times when things weigh on our hearts and dampen our creative spark. ‘All will be well’, I remind myself, again and again. Then the mail arrives, and tucked in an envelope amongst a few funny magazine clippings and handwritten notes, was this tiny tag. A token of her morning tea no doubt, but she saved it just for me and added a little extra love to seal the deal. How did she know? But of course she knew, she just does. Someone else might think it silly, not me, it was just the thing I needed. I tucked this little tag on my bedroom mirror right under this sticker.

Some days you just need a little reminder. I AM limitless, and just in case you forgot, so are you.

Have you found a message you needed in your tea, at your feet, or embodied in a token?

Do share it with us today.

wants vs needs

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Here in New England, the subzero temperatures have settled in. We are prepared, of course, with five cords of fire wood, homemade clam chowder on the stove, extra blankets on the bed, and good tunes on our speakers. This is the time of year for hibernation: short days and lack of sun. A time, quite frankly, when the walls start closing in. We are halfway through January as we hear cabin fever knocking on our door.

During winter we simplify and downsize and make do. We marvel in the first snowfall, the second and the third… then we hunker down with layers and gear as we welcome all the white that creates our winter world.

Wants vs needs are discussed. Needed: indoor space. Wanted: hot cocoa. I try to accommodate both at the same time assess my own needs as a mother, partner, and individual. What I’m finding I want and need (in addition to space and hot cocoa) is color. I seek it out in the grocery store, with sweet daffodils to bring home. I find it in vintage aprons and art room color wheels. I browse wantingly through my photo archives looking for a brightness that pops. 

Help me brighten my white winter world today, share with us your favorite color!

 

Only Love

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“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

In honor of the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, may we focus on light and love.

sunday story

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Sundays, don’t you just love them?  The slowing down, a hot homecooked breakfast, or maybe a trip to your local donut shop for something sweet. Gathering around the table, a newspaper, maybe some knitting, a book.  Your favorite mug with something steaming in it. Perhaps a day or worship or gathering family for a meal. Or maybe a day spent lingering in your pj’s.  🙂   I love Sunday stories and capturing them in my lens. These shots above are from a few years ago and they still make me smile.  My little ones were really little here. (the old days of sippy cups. my youngest one is even sitting in a booster seat for goodness sake! so small…  sigh.)  Acting silly grabbing the newspaper and hiding behind it.  Looking at these shots takes me right back, I think I can even hear their giggles.

What does your Sunday story look like today?  Click and share.  XO.