open

through my lens i see

a beautiful world because

my heart is open

________________________________________

Do you remember when you first fell in love?  Life and everyone around you became beautiful.  Each moment was precious.  Any differences were easily overlooked.  The silliest things made you feel like a kid again.  I have found that you can feel the same way when you open your heart to creativity, you will fall in love with the world around you.

Since returning from Camp Shutter Sisters, my passion for photography has been re-ignited.  Now, as I go about my day, I find that I view everything as a photo opportunity.   A simple raindrop, the little flower that is blooming, the tiny dew drop in the grass, the view that I have seen for years... all are now shiny and new as though seen through lovers' eyes.   The true beauty in the simplicity of life is there and you will certainly find it... if you just open your heart to it.  

Today, I invite you to share an image, a poem, or a quote that has spoken to your heart recently.   Let us all bask in the glow.

Comments

[Trittoli]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trittoli/6238650976/in/photostream

[Caryn]

Everything feels new to me as I begin my first winter in the mountains, my first real winter anywhere for that matter. :-) http://instamaticgratification.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/397/

[Marcie]

Yes - there's beauty in the simplest of color-filled leaves:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/home/2011/11/8/city-lights.html

[Ana Eugenio]

I too see photo opportunities everywhere. this is one of my favourites shot from this weekend. they're so rare to find where I live: http://www.anasofiaeugenio.com/2011/11/texture-tuesday-number-two-edition.html

[Maery Rose]

Here's one of the quotes I've run across recently that spoke to my often troubled heart that is trying so hard to believe:

“And this, really, is the story-within-the-story, because if you do not believe that hearts can bloom suddenly bigger, and that love can open like a flower out of even the hardest places, then I am afraid that for you the world will be long and brown and barren, and you will have trouble finding the light. But if you do believe, then you already know all about magic.” -- Lauren Oliver (from Lisel & Po)

As for photos, I'm drawn to the symbology of the curvy path, the first photo in this blog post:
http://cowgirlbyproxy.blogspot.com/2011/11/de-cluttering.html

[Kathleen O.]

Snow in October where I live wasn't exactly great, you know? But stomping around with my 6-year-old and seeing the light and droplets on leaves trapped in the sudden snow made me want to sing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ko2008/6295889835/in/set-72157627689620960/

[marina]

thank you for this post and this invitation to keep our hearts open! and that image is a wonderful representation of your words and reinforces your invitation!
here's a photo of autumn leaves in the rain, I loved their warm colours and the little drops of rain, they warmed my heat even in the cold and wet weather:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mar_s/6327855457/in/photostream/lightbox/

[Anna]

Recently, I was out photographing after a rain. A silvery light illuminated everything in a magical way. It was so beautiful outside! This is one of the captures from that day ~

http://vandemarkdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/11/magical-light.html

[lucy]

the morning breeze through the window
in a victorian inn on block island
on a romantic weekend
opened my heart, soul, and eyes:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucyloomis/6258792449

[Kathryn Dyche Dechairo]

Beautiful post . . . I recently realized that a shift in perspective can open your eyes and your heart.

http://dychedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/11/glass-half-empty.html

[Rhonda Tipton]

I am not good a poetry, but I took the below photo while laying around and playing with my dog Jake in the backyard. Then Jake walked right over and laid on the flowers I was photographing. :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhonda-tipton/6319690545/

[Becky Sue]

"Thoughtfulness is to a friendship what sunshine is to a garden"
~ Anonymous

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rslaflam/6328233901/

[Sherri B.]

The fleetingly warm sunshine of fall always sets my heart aglow. I treasure these last days of autumn before the bleakness of winter sets in.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/heartfulreverie/6329025296/in/photostream

[koreen]

Now that we've had snow, my interest in going outside is significantly dimmed. This old photo spoke to me, and I put it through a new processing to give it that holiday glow. While it may be much too soon for most people, whenever we get done with Halloween, I start thinking and planning and anticpating the next big holiday: Christmas. (Our Thanksgiving is early October, so long done wtih.) This photo makes me happy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/koreenphotography/6328393839/in/photostream

[autumn sun]

photography, and blogging for that matter, has opened my eyes - to take note in the simple beauty in what's about me... sometimes it surprises me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/4081325679/

[Valerie]

It was a autumn walk and a soft color that brought me to wide awake again.
http://journeyleaf.typepad.com/journeyleaf/2011/11/autumn-whites.html

[Jess]

This: the simplicity of the composition and light, the simplicity of the moment, the simplicity of being in awe of the tiniest of creatures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theoldnicholsfarm/6276968594/

[Kat]

The strength and shelter of trees in our urban environment has me captured:
http://kateyestudio.com/2011/11/the-urban-forest.html

[MariaP]

The simple act of trying to photograph this makes me smile. Just me and my honey walking on the beach trying to make this piece of ribbon fly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/echie52/6233118758/

[kath]

this image that my sister took in France has me coming back to it time and time again

simple words, gorgeous image. I love that it has that feeling of moving towards a destination.

http://www.soeursdujour.com/2011/10/balance.html

[Sherralee]

There is so much joy in appreciating the simple perfection of nature. It's all in the way we see it.

http://flic.kr/p/aD1EoB
http://flic.kr/p/aCkpT6
http://flic.kr/p/aBjf9j

[sarah]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-mer-family/6329526452/in/photostream

words perfectly ordained for this past week.

[John]

Hi I really like the original posts photograph the colours are superb.


http://gfrogstudio.blogspot.com/2011/07/untitled-132-kodak-ektar-100-35mm.html

Hope you like.
Take care of one another
John

[Heather]

These two quotes have helped me as I have being going through a lot of change at work...I should say these quotes and photography.
Open was my word for the year...so I just love this post Tammy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/htekmo/6318615197/in/photostream

[Veronica]

Such a simple but beautiful post. Unfortunately, I've struggled to get into the zone with my photography lately but I did come across this moving quote.

"Unless it is mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it’s a waste of time. There are too many mediocre things in life—love should not be one of them." - Dream for an Insomniac (movie)

My heart is often imagining far away places....http://mixedgems.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/fly-away-mg.jpg

[Amanda]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amroc18/6329597945/

[Holly {Soupatraveler}]

one of the last roses of summer...definitely caught my eye the other day! http://www.flickr.com/photos/soupatraveler/6310413315/

[damiec]

Truman Capote's "The Grass Harp" was one of the loveliest, strangest books I've read in a long while. This quote struck me as so moving when I read it:
“If some wizard would like to give me a present, let him give me a bottle filled with the voices of that kitchen, the ha ha ha and the fire whispering, a bottle brimming with its buttery sugary smells . . .”

and if I keep trying maybe I will be able to be that wizard with my camera. I think that is part of what compels me on.

[blue elephant photography]

lovely! it would be awesome to have gone to that camp shutter sisters! these twin sisters have opened my heart and let the sunshine in! ~ http://www.blueelephantphotography.com/blog/2011/11/09/sneak-peek-babies-charlie-maddie/
i have photographed them since they were 7months old and now they are growing up too fast and 18 months and counting. i feel so lucky, that they chose us to be their photographers. i feel like i have been watching grow up from my lens. and i took my lens away and hug them before the session ended and i could not help but be so moved, i have watched them hug, pat on the back, and play with each other. i don't have kids of my own but this was such a fulfilling experience. yes i did cry when i went back home and browse through old photos of them. and their 1st birthday and then now...sigh...time flies...

[Trude]

A quote I found recently when making a desktop background for this month really inspired me, it's just so darn true: http://ellingsenphotoblog.com/november-desktop-background/

[Kirstin]

What a beautiful post Tammy. I am so glad to read you have had your passion for photography reignited by Camp. I've been missing your photos...

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