Shoot for the Stars

-Shot with the Lensbaby Composer and the Super Wide Conversion Lens

I often consider myself an everyday photographer. Not so much because I shoot everyday (which I usually do) but more because I shoot my everyday life. I take pictures of everything from breakfast to bedtime and everything in between.

And I'm not fussy about it. I don't often move things around or arrange things for the camera. I break the rules of photography constantly. I crank up my ISO. I don't always look through the viewfinder. I cross my fingers. I blow out my whites. I don't use a tripod. I like grain. I don't like my flash. I shoot in really low light. I don't use my lens cap. But I have a really really good time.

If I worried about the rules or waited for the right time to shoot the optimum picture, I wouldn't have the rich (and imperfect) story of my life in photographs.

Let's see a little something sacred from your life's narrative. Something that maybe wasn't thought out, or planned and yet, it fell unexpectedly before you like a shooting star as you were there to catch the magic with your lens.

Comments

[Elizabeth Harper]

I'm like you..I shoot all day long. It's a rare occasion when I don't have a camera of some kind actually in my hand or at least close enough to pick up quickly and as result I sometimes catch an image like the one here.

http://giftsofthejourney.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/tell-me-a-story-tuesdays-–-ghosts-x-2/

This one is significant because of the story that began to form in my imagination when I first took it.

I love how often that happens for me and how photography feeds both my imagination and my spirit.

[Toni]

Tracey, as I read your post I couldn't believe how perfectly you not only described yourself as a photographer, but ME TOO! I was like, yes, yes, yes, YES! This photo was taken only yesterday. While I was working at the computer two of my kids were having a grand time on the couch behind me. I was so happy that my camera was sitting right next to me.
I got about 5 shots that all have become treasures to me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplesparrow/4018938262/

[gonzomama]

i actually felt relieved when i read your list of how you break the rules! so comforting to know i am not alone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59735955@N00/3751389084/in/set-72157612870039883/

[georgia]

i knew there was a reason i was drawn to your photography. i must have sensed all those things about you, as many of the things you listed are so me too. and it is why i get such joy from taking pictures. don't get me wrong. i want to learn how to take photos using the rules, too {which i'm sure you do when called for}, which is why i plan to take a class. but i love to treat it exactly as you have described here. i would say the majority of my photos come from something like this--not thought out.

i love to shoot around my house when the daylight comes through the windows. i'll be walking by a window or lit corner to do a chore or something, and i'll notice something i deem as so photographable. {it's why i hardly get work done.} :)
http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-okay-you-can-take-peek-inside.html

another thing i love to do is shoot photos of the drive home or too work. it's so not "good" photography, but i love the results--sometimes blurry, but usually magical. to me, anyway. and always spur of the moment.
http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2009/10/sooc-sunday.html

i love this post, tracey!

[Meg]

I am really starting to believe we are psychic-ly connected, Tracey. Because I just put a note about this up on my FB page. About how I understand how people want posed portraits but I'm drawn to every day moments...

about how I was trying to find pictures of Brie when she was a baby and I realized the only ones I have over her for a 3 month stretch are on my iphone :( About how perhaps those dark days are what drive me everyday to make sure I get all the moments...

I was shooting from the hip yesterday and I walked away with this shot. This is very well my favorite shot of her...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7565577@N04/4018535625/

You really do have good timing in regards to reminding me what really matters :)

[melissa]

i'm trying so hard lately to let myself take 'regular' snaps of my family more. i miss the messy, spontaneous us in the photo albums!

[cindy]

i would like to be more like you. i tend to fuss about a lot, which probably limits my photo-taking. i'm not too good with night time shots (don't want to drag a tripod out and about) and had green spots (right term?) in many of my recent attempts. they're the worst. this one made me wonder if we were not alone that night and i like it - http://www.flickr.com/photos/71443419@N00/4014878213/

[bella]

here's something i put together ~ just a normal afternoon right before i pick up my girl from school.
no flash, only window light. no rules, just shoot ! that's the way i do it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cirovic/3969824538/

[megan]

this is one i caught with my iphone the other day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganmona/4017676781/

[aj]

just shot this with my simple point and shoot while taking a walk with my son.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aj-paterson/3960894710/

[jenna]

This is my favorite from the week. It's such a genuine moment between my kids. Shot in a bathroom with no natural light but it was wonderful anyway.

http://littlebirddesigndigitals.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-shot-of-week.html

[Beryl]

This is why I am so drawn to your blog Tracey. Photography is such an awesome creative outlet and there really are no rules! I love those impromptu moments captured. Here's one of those moments from my world:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/berylayn/3574835822/in/set-72157614677467570/

~B
http://bellarose-photography.com

[tracey clark]

i am loving all of these comments and photos today sisters! keep up the conversation! it's making my heart soar!

[darrah]

Oh, what a breath of fresh air! The more I learn, the more I think there's a "right" and "wrong" way to shoot a good photo. But when I just have fun and play, the rules fly out the window and I catch imperfect and spontaneous moments.

This shot was taken in Paris at an Italian restaurant we visited 3 or 4 times in two weeks. The girl on the right is the daughter of the owners and the boy on the left is my nephew. When they met, they hit it off and got right to playing. Even though they didn't speak the same language, they were able to communicate anyway. So here's my imperfect shot that was taken in low light without time to adjust my settings, but I couldn't resist their adorableness!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artcetera/3948557084/in/set-72157622339715224/

[Puna]

Here's where I plan (or do the best I can).
http://lifesignatures.org/wordpress/2009/10/october-16-dana-5/

Here's where I don't.
http://lifesignatures.org/wordpress/2009/10/desperate-housewives-october-edition-2009/

Not planning is definately more fun.

[janette]

I needed to hear the words in this blog. Been feeling buried under a pile of JPGs and RAW files that need to be processed. Ugh. But this blog reminds me of why I picked up the camera and started taking pictures of my kids.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcanare/2229562333

I don't live in a picture perfect house. And the family room where this was taken is strewn with toys. That big black thing behind her is a TV. So capturing a moment like this tells me everything is okay in the chaos of our home.

And I've also been thinking of getting the Lensbaby Composer. I would love to know if using it cuts down on processing. Thanks again for this post.

[Holly]

Some of my favorite shots are spontaneous and grainy. Sometimes the grain helps, sometimes the nearly-out-of-focus helps to make the shot. This shot is full of shadows and not a good composition but it reflects how far this horse has come, and it shows such a peace about my daughter and her gelding that it's a fav of mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7813312@N02/3875895339/in/set-72157622102000924/

[Brenda]

I love taking a picture on the spur of the moment. Being in the right place at the right time.... all unplanned.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebeach/4020743986/?edited=1

[djbeat]

i shoot lots with the hope however slim that something will turn out to be a keeper (of course i keep them all - doesn't seem to matter to me if they are brilliant or artistic or even in focus some days)..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djbeat/4021565198/

[Nancy New]

Your post was very inspirational...as you always are...

[Aimee Greeblemonkey]

I was supposed to have a family portrait photo shoot on Saturday and her kids woke up with a fever. A few hours later - when I would have been photographing her family - I looked out the window and there was this magic light. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few of my maple tree right before the light shifted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greeblemonkey/4020774890/

[Liz]

Yup, yup, yup!!!!!!
I love how you described yourself and strive to one day be able to fully let go and be at that place where I can look at my photos and truly not care that I broke this rule or that rule and make those photos the keepers because the emotion is perfect. But no one says when you are talking about the rules of photography that the number one rule should be
' if you LOVE it, it's a keeper, regardless of focus or grain or composition or any of those other details that make a great photo because what you LOVE is what makes your photographs you'
And really isn't that what we all want? To show the world just how beautiful, fun, hectic, horrid and all that other stuff, your world is.

I took this photo this summer... I was just shooting around the yard and captured this moment that totally took my breath away. I know that there will be far fewer of these moments in my childrens lives as they both enter into teenagerdom and I am so happy I was able to capture this to remind them, and me, how lovely life really is.

http://windyhillphotography.net/blog/?p=232

[Vanessa]

love this post-
I have really been trying to just let my photography happen- this helps give me permission!

here is a shot I took the other day of my little man- I had forgot to change the settings and it wasn't that light in the house- but what I captured were a few of his first unassited steps across the room- and I love that I got all thatmotion in there. I couldn't have done this if I had tried (or thought about it!) the moment would have been gone....

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/4012533801_fd0d24fca3.jpg

[Kathy Winter]

I really need to get a Lensbaby! Love the shot!

[Julie Alvarez]

This sounds to me like something that I could have written myself.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliealvarez/4014367226/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliealvarez/4031949633/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliealvarez/4032692946/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliealvarez/4011752240/

[Shelly Waldman]

Wow. I love the just do it my way, attitude. I think I need to revisit my own attitudes towards picture taking and maybe get back to why I fell in love with it in the first place. The simple pleasure of puching the shutter button and not worring about white balance, ISO, rule of thirds and in the way objects. It's about the moment, the story the picture will tell a day from now or twenty years from now.

Thanks for the paradigm shift. It was much needed.