a face in the pell-mell

Hey, said Tracey. Can you do a post tomorrow for the OWP? The word is 'faces'.

Sure! I flipped through the images I've taken in the past couple of weeks, a blur of family gatherings and trips and cottages and beaches that's created a processing backlog of epic proportions. But I couldn't find much in the way of faces. Which is strange, really... or maybe not. My subjects of late don't tend to oblige or do anything other than tug on their eyelids or stick out tongues or run away or pull the Inglis family dash 'n giggle and so, to capture them, I have to be willing to *not* particularly capture faces, but scenes and action and stories instead.

But every now and then, aided by the momentary daze of exhaustion, I'm granted stillness. And in those dazey moments, if my camera is within reach, I get near-frantic with wanting to do something epic or unique or just really really really sharp. Because look. It's a FACE. Just a face. But when you only have 3.2 seconds, you can only want so much.

I try though it slips through my fingers, the portrait already running away from me before he does. I click two relatively straightforward shots. Then, in the last one I'm allowed, I try a little more abstraction, an unusual framing, an adjustment in position to create a more interesting background. One shot of quirk and then he's as gone as the pokey little puppy of our favourite book, running pell-mell.

I'm happy to capture the pell-mell, too. But when I get a face -- even for 3.2 seconds -- ahh. What a gift.

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Today, share with us your unscripted portraits. Those rare gifts of a face that's genuinely unaware of the camera, immersed in life, and true to a soul.

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Note from Tracey:

We are thrilled to be partnering up this month for the One Word Project with the amazing and inspiring photo community of I Heart Faces. What better word than faces to inspire you to shoot and share photos of the amazing faces in your life?  Check out our OWP about page for the scoop on how it all goes down each month.

And if you're going to be in NYC for BlogHer weekend, be sure to sign up for the I Heart Faces Photo Walk (Thursday, Aug 5th). You'll find all the details as well as how to sign up over on their site!

Comments

[Marcie]

What a great word for this month..and what a wonderful 'face' you captured. Just recently - I've been playing with candid 'faces' of my own. Here are a few:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1246
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1245
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1245
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1243
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1242

[Lou]

I recently had a job shooting dancers - this shot was taken in the wings whilst waiting to perform


http://www.flickr.com/photos/lulutrussphotos/4739884212/

[Naomi]

Love this capture--so sweet

[Shelby]

A quick shot, with the movement of the car going against me. Deep in thought. She is always my favorite thing to look at.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlbones/4810617502/

[Becky Sue]

Yesterday was the perfect time for me to catch the "genuinely unaware of the camera, immersed in life, and true to a soul" shot of my older son. A die hard baseball fan watching his favorite team, the Red Sox, intent on the game and even sticking his tongue out like he does when he's playing the sport himself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rslaflam/4852721375/

[Deirdre]

Look at those eyelashes!

I don't take a lot of portraits or people shots. I tend to like to go off by myself to take photos. It's a meditation for me. But then I'm disappointed by my lack of people shots :-)

I took this one recently of my daughter while I was trying to photograph her blowing bubbles. When she looked at those photos in the viewfinder, she thought she looked like a fish and couldn't stop laughing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superdewa/4847402136/

[Jen at Cabin Fever]

Oh I snapped a couple photos of my husband yesterday when he wasn't paying attention as he played with our dog, but I don't think he would like it if I posted them on the internet... he has to approve of his photos! haha

http://www.cabinfeververmont.com

[Sarah]

I love this one..the contrast between the sweet little one and the biker dad...beautiful pair! http://www.flickr.com/photos/cottagegardenstudios/3984406236/in/set-72157622469262289/
or this one... http://www.flickr.com/photos/cottagegardenstudios/4280784068/
This kiddo has the most beautiful coloring... http://www.flickr.com/photos/cottagegardenstudios/4276593559/
Happy Monday all, Sarah :)

[Monroe]

I love capturing a emotion in a moment. The is one of my favs of my daughter Jewell.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monroesdragonfly/2767120618/in/set-72157605451205794/

[Dabelyn Photography.]

This is my response to faces! I thought of this photo!
This was taken at my friend's house. Her daughter was showing me her dolls in her room. Too cute!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=179667&id=111924835514671&ref=album

[humbird]

People often remark how dogs and their owners resemble each other ~ and this collage of pictures show how cowgirls and their horses racing down the stretch resemble each other too!

http://humbirdhum.wordpress.com/

[Tracy]

This will be a great word! Here's one of my all time favorite shots of my daughter:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31417716@N00/4109938616/in/set-72157622071386934/

[Angie from I Heart Faces]

We're so excited to be pairing up with Shutter Sisters for the One Word Project this month. We ♥ the theme a bunch! :)

-Angie
co-founder of IHF

[deea]

Clear back when I first got my camera - no PS, no processing at all, but Iove it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepdish/206641585/

This one is still just a lazy afternoon that I forced myself not to process. Raw, real.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepdish/471433270/

[Kelly]

I was visiting friends in the hospital after the birth of their first child and managed to snap this pic of dad just adoring his sone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellysoji/4792319774

[WorthIt!]

Faces are tough for me so, I look forward to this month's OWP to get some practice in. In the meantime, here's one of my favorite faces.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52055227@N07/4853864162/

[jenny modesitt]

The "unaware" shots are some of my very favorites...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8888946@N08/4836521774/

[Liz//Tipping Point Photography]

Oh man, I love this! My job is pretty much nothing but capturing faces when they least expect it.
Two of my recent faves:

A friend with her pooch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tippingpointphoto/4829256540/in/pool-1046943@N23/

Also, seen at our local half-marathon yesterday
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tippingpointphoto/4850244092/in/photostream/

[Stephanie]

Love this word! I shy away from photos of people but I think this will force me to be bold and expand my photo library.

I captured these at a cousin's birthday. The second photo was taken just as she got her first taste of birthday cake. She looked so pleasantly surprised! http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-year-birthday.html

[brittany]

taken just this morning. he was so caught up in the magic of it that he didnt even hear my voice...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sivyerfamily/4854044840/

[Trude]

Wow what a shot! Just love it! I still love this one that I caught in June, because I've never been able to capture his all-natural smile quite like this before (he's like an uncle to me!):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trudem/4719993874/in/set-72157622994428533/

[staci]

I loved this photo of my little one, he is so ignoring me for the moment !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3monkeysjumping/4754686633/in/set-72157624282083623/

[Betzography]

This is my current favorite and I took it back during football season. Just love this face when she's lost in her own world. Completely in love with the first pigtails too. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettyrank/4840438108/in/set-72157624542891964/

[Katy Leet]

I am VERY excited about this months word. Faces are my fav. I love the fact that faces can speak for themselves without having to use words! Here are a few of my favorite of my niece's 2nd birthday party. She is a treasure and I love capturing her innocent joy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katyleet/4835094297/#/photos/katyleet/4835094297/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katyleet/4839209282/#/photos/katyleet/4839209282/lightbox/

[allison]

Here is a quick shot of my daughter Emma during bath time - when she was a happy baby in the bath. These days, not so much ;)
http://allisonmccafferty.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/bath-time-8x10.jpg

[AnnGeeDee]

My daughter moves so quickly most of the time that it's hard to capture her gorgeous eyelashes. She was pretending to talk on the phone and sat still long enough that I was able to push the shutter. I didn't realize what great flare I'd gotten on this one till I loaded it on the computer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/40070449@N08/4662608682/

[Jade Sheldon]

I am so excited for this month's word! Faces are one of my favorite things :D

Fabulous post and such a stunning image!!

[Jade Sheldon]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmsheldon/4854795656/

[cynthia]

Your post hit home with me. I wrote about a similar situation with my 2 1/2-year-old not too long ago.
http://apictureintime.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/a-glance/

[Grace]

Because of the instant-ness of my dslr, I normally don't keep pictures that are out of focus...but I made an exception because I caught Martha laughing so hard and the blurriness actually softens the picture in a way I like. I did tweak these pictures for color a little bit, but the joy is all hers!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12589879@N08/4855883854/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12589879@N08/4855265135/

[Lori]

I love the unstructured portrait, looking at them and taking them. I really don't like posing people, just capturing them as they are in the moment. Here are a couple of faces I consider oh, so precious!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanderwood/4443346208/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanderwood/4442563605/

[Gail]

Already starting to question authority...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22733432@N08/4854290375/

[moosh in indy.]

someone had just broken a part of me. so i took a picture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mooshinindy/4543072281/in/pool-shuttersistersonewordproject

[Valerie]

I'm a still-life photographer, yet I can't resist my toddler son's face. It's a whole new photography ball game -- working fast and trying my best to stick with natural light even through my subject is a moving target. So many of the images blur. But I love the softness. He's approaching two very quickly, yet the baby softness is still in that gorgeous little face.

http://journeyleaf.typepad.com/journeyleaf/2010/07/crumby.html

[shawna]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28479290@N05/4855572565/in/photostream/

[Breanne]

From an epic day at Disneyland... oh how I love the way teacups make people smile. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleach226/4855766493/

[Julie Jones]

My baby girl lovin her shades.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs536.snc3/30388_1422882444626_1009658201_31245103_1894275_n.jpg

[Vanessa]

what a fabulous post! i can certainly relate to the pell-mell abandon you speak of, indeed.
and "faces" as a theme for the OWP? i think i'm in love!

some unscripted portraits for today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/4741752221/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/3872588928/in/set-72157607454214429/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/4049740692/in/set-72157607454214429/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/4537151117/in/set-72157607454214429/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/4365581607/in/set-72157607454214429/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/3530869636/in/set-72157607454214429/
i guess you could say i <3 faces too!

[Kim]

My sweet girl out in our barn. No hat, was the request. Can't resist those eyes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/starryskyphotography/4602197681/

[Carolina]

I love this month's word.

here's my fave shot of my daughter's face
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purple_blossom/4851324118/

[Sandy]

sisters caught unaware!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42919998@N07/4797144548/

[melody]

Just *wow*

A couple of faces lost in a moment together...

http://slurpinglife.typepad.com/slurping_life/2010/04/the-laundry-pile-continues-to-grow.html

[salerna2010]

I just found your most wonderful site!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52831576@N04/?saved=1

[Sarah Silver]

She knew I was behind the camera (again) but she had momentarily forgotten about me as she stared to the ocean and beyond....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahsilver/4874814784/

[Dawn K]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37812168@N04/?saved=1

[Ima]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/just4u2c/4577733503/in/set-72157623858740743/

[salerna2010]

Here's another of my step-son while on vacation at Auntie's house. He just turned 4 and had never even picked up a violin but his focus on the music sheets, as if reading the music, amazed me. I just love watching him explore and unfold the beautiful soul that he is!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52831576@N04/4929072486/

[Cassandra Dunnings]

Very hot day in Aug. football practice taking a water break.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cassandradunnings/4941713250/