Shutter Sisters

Superpowers

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Lately I have been thinking about all the ways in which Photography has given me superpowers. For instance: I can freeze a special moment (any moment actually), I can capture someone’s soul (huge!), I can make people smile (and I’m so not the funny type), I can make someone feel beautiful (I only reveal the beauty that is already there), I can change the world (documenting and sharing stories), I can make one travel around the world (through images), I can create memories (for myself or someone else),I can make ordinary things look extraordinary (it’s all about how you look at things), etc…

But I know it is not just me, right?

So tell me, what superpowers have you acquired since you’ve started carrying a camera? Can you share an image to illustrate that superpower today?

Comments

  5. As a graphic designer I became experienced in photo editing before becoming experienced in photography, even though I've been taking photos much longer. I recently attended a seminar that taught me new ways to look at images. For example as a designer I always want my subject leaning INTO the picture, but as a photographer I learned just the opposite is a good thing. Leaning out of the image creates "tension". Each new piece of information I learn makes my superpower stronger.

    Here's an image SOOC taken recently:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/drdesigns/6062215494/in/set-72157627052307401#/photos/drdesigns/6062215494/in/set-72157627052307401/lightbox/ At first glance I loved the sparkly bokeh background, but in the editing process I realized those white circles of light were distracting.

    Here's the final image edited and posted to my blog:
    http://dorisrudddesigns.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/water-lily/

  7. I am just starting to learn what my super powers can do. It even shocks me. How through the lens I can capture the very feeling that was felt in that moment but couldn't by looking what I just took a shot of. Its like I have xray feela vision Ha…

  11. Oh Alex, how I love this theme — what beautiful questions you posed! I love the beautiful distortions that cameras sometimes motivate us to embrace, even the unintentional ones. In this photoessay in the Atlantic's In Focus blog, photos #17 and #27 embrace that magical superpower of photography:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/six-months-of-civil-war-in-libya/100130/

    I have loved Alan Taylor's work, from the Boston Globe Big Picture blog to the Atlantic, and I think the photos in this essay are heart-breakingly beautiful.

  12. this is one of my favorite shutter sisters posts to date!

    yes, yes, yes… all those things. i don't think taking pictures gives me any other super powers that you have not already mentioned. but it gives me all those powers you have mentioned {except for the making someone travel around the world, as i don't do much traveling myself… although, i guess someone in africa is traveling to my part of the world if they see a photo i take in my part of the world}.

    what a delightful thought… to think of any art form giving us super powers. music, painting, photography… anything, really! wonderful!

    here is a photo where i like to think i "made someone beautiful"… my mother and my son:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/28567264@N05/6056611918/in/photostream
    and yes, i was only revealing what was already there.

  15. so well written post. i've been thinking that i am able to see so much more beauty around me and appreciate beauty in everydaylife since i started with photography. i am so glad to have this superpower 🙂

  17. with my photography i help preserve a piece of nature behind my house

    http://kagerzoom.blogspot.com

    by documenting the beauty of the landscape throughout the seasons i can help convince the authorities not to turn it over to project developers

    today i was at a country fair, liistening to the band, when suddenly a tall, skinny old man got up and started to dance with a much younger woman (later someone told me his age was 91…!)
    they were totally absorbed in the rhythm of the music and just kept on twisting and jiving, it was a sight for sore eyes
    so i got out my iPhone and kept shooting, i so much wanted to capture their joy and their energy

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/61760618@N08/sets/72157627478319086/detail/

  20. So so thrilled to read about all your powers, sisters! And if you are in doubt about your own, do not fret! Look closely and you'll sure find your thing! xo

  21. LOVE this post. For me, it's all those things but put more simply, I can CREATE! Carrying my camera and documenting family, friends, and the world around me has been a beautiful way to tap back into the creative corners of my mind that had frankly been feeling a little dusty during the first few years of parenting.
    As always, thanks for the inspiring posts.