sweets

1. 286/366 Dessert for supper, 2. sweet imperfections, 3. breakfast of champions, 4. Pie. #shuttersisters #pumpkin

Today we welcome in November with a brand new calendar of photo prompts. Our first prompt "sweet" which seems fitting since I am staring at one giant bowl of candy from last night's treating Halloween extravaganza.  I now have more "sweets" than I know what to do with!  All part of the fun of the season. How about you? Are you still buzzing from last night's sugar high?  :-)

November makes me think of other sweets too, like pie, apple, pecan and of course pumpkin. Then there is warm cider, hot cocoa & marshmallows, and chai.

Today share something sweet here with us and play along all month long. Don't forget to tag your images #shuttersisters on IG and Flickr.

all in this together

(The beauty of instant film on a sunny table at Oasis.)

With hurricane Sandy upon us here on the east coast,  Palm Springs suddenly seems so far away. I am sitting here in my 3rd story apartment typing quickly in hopes that our power stays on long enough for me to finish this post. I am even working a day in advance in case power goes out and we are without it it for who knows how long.  I filled the tub full of water in case we need it.  Lanterns and batteries at the ready. Trying to organize meals in my head, what we have, what we could cook on the grill if we do indeed lose power. Perspective switches rather quickly. Simple needs trump wants. My mind wanders to my family in Pennsylvania, my friends in New York and New Jersey, and of course my own little family here in Maine. The winds rattle our windows. Will the trees stay upright?  (please stay upright)  Just a few short days ago I was playing in the warm sun in California with many ladies from this very sisterhood who are now home with their families just as I am waiting this storm out. I look at this image and see the words captured on film. The same words that were written more than once at The Ace, "we are all in this together."  How very true those words are, made even more fitting when mother nature has her way. 

Our lenses tend to focus on the beauty around us, but after a day and storm like this, many will focus theirs on the aftermath.  Documenting their way toward hope, healing and rebuilding.  Strangers will come together to help.  People will rally and beauty will prevail, even in the midst of darkness. I know this to be true, I lived it one fateful day March, 1993 in Florida when I woke to find a wall of water outside my front door. I am forever grateful for the unique perspective that day gifted me. So tonight, I send out wishes of hope for all in harms way.  Gratitude for those who will help those in need. For we really are one.

Share an image of hope with us here today.  Give in any way you can; donate blood, food, water, shelter, smile at a stranger, hug someone you love, and remember we ARE all in this together.

mother nature

The wind blows the rain sideways against the windows. It sounds like the ocean outside, rain coming in waves. Everything becomes art through the blur of water. We focus on this instead of the fear. He asks a lot of questions about floods, he knows the story of his name: the river that flooded our house not once but twice during my pregnancy. He knows we are often at the mercy of mother nature.

We speak, instead, of the beauty around us. We share stories, we discuss the safety of our home. Instead of dismissing the worry, we speak directly and kindly about truths. During storms, we are humbled by nature. Her strength keeps us bundled up inside.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the outside world disappears. School is cancelled, electricity flickers. Things that truly matter come to the front of our minds. We have each other. We have a roof to keep us dry. We have popcorn by the woodstove. 

We on the East Coast are weathering this storm. We wish you well and carry you in our thoughts. Today, share with us your weather reports and let us know how you're doing out there!

trusting inspiration

 

I picked up the camera so many times and looked through the viewfinder.  Maybe fired off a couple of frames half-heartedly.  Sometimes I deleted them in the camera, but there are hundreds more sitting on my hard drive, unedited, unviewed.  The light stopped speaking to me.  The camera body no longer fit my hands like a beloved tool.

If I can’t see images, how can I think of myself as a photographer?  Worse yet, what does it say about the way I’ve filled my life, if it doesn’t inspire so much as a snapshot?

It was a long way to fall.  I finished a 365 project last October, totally inspired, totally proud of myself, totally grateful.  It is a powerful exercise to keep your eye and heart attuned to the beautiful and the remarkable in the midst of your everyday life.  To have a photographic record of your progress over a year.  To begin to see yourself as an artist.

But with the year up, I stopped shooting every day.  I stopped being so mindful.  I bought myself a fancy new camera but immediately lost my courage.  It is a Serious Camera.  In my head this camera deserved to shoot Serious Things instead of my everyday life.  I shot less.  I felt it as a little death, this loss of a fledgling creative life.  It’s not the sort of thing you hold a wake for though.  No one brings you red wine and casseroles while you wonder why your eyes don’t work anymore.  There was grief but it was mine alone.

But recently I’ve started to notice shadows again.  There is the color of autumn leaves.  There are long eyelashes and kids in mismatched prints and wet dog noses.  My eyes are hungry.  My hands are a little itchy for the heavy camera body, even though it still feels awkward in my grip sometimes.  I’ve started carrying it with me again, so I’m ready when it calls to me.

I’m starting to understand that it wasn’t a death after all.  It was just the change of seasons.  I’m starting to believe that just as I know that autumn always follows summer, I can trust inspiration and vision to return.

Have you ever had a dry spell?  How did you work your way out of it?  What inspired you to start again?

Image and words courtesy of the wonderful Corinna Robbins of Bird Wanna Whistle.

Weekending by Suzanne O'Brien

Suzanne O'Brien shoots with a Canon 7D and her typical weekend includes the outdoors, exercise, some friends and a lot of family!

You can find her on her website SuzanneOBrienStudio.com. 

Have you captured any down and dirty photos lately?

Today's prompt: orange

Sunday's prompt: knits