Love Thursday: May 1, 2008

If I do say so myself, I love the shot you see above.

This past weekend, my friend Dan got married to his lovely bride, Laura.  While I never shoot weddings for money (I can't handle the stress), my usual wedding present for friends is to shoot the wedding anyway, and then pull together albums as quickly as possible afterwards, so that they can have photos to look at and share while the professional photographer takes his usual 6 to 8 weeks to compile the official albums.   The result is a pretty personal gift that, when done properly*, provides a glimpse of the wedding from a guest's point of view, which can often be very different from the official photographer's perspective.

In this case, the wedding took place in the back garden of the bride's family -- her father owns a nursery, and the house is located on the nursery grounds, so the setting was positively stunning.  Throughout the ceremony,  I had my camera and was doing my thing; but after ceremony, the minister invited the congregation to have refreshments on the home's large back porch, while the wedding party remained in the garden for pictures.  Somewhat dejected, I joined everyone at the house.

I was standing on the porch speaking with my husband and another guest, when all of a sudden I heard someone say, "Oh, someone grab a camera!  He's kissing her!"  Instinctively, I grabbed my camera and scanned the garden from my vantage point through the viewfinder, until I saw them in the frame.  Without really thinking, I squeezed the shutter several times, and the result was the image you see above:  a stolen moment between bride and groom, while the professional photographer was busy  setting up a shot with other family members.  Of the several hundred shots I took that day, this is one of my favourites:  one that arose not from any sort of skill on my part, but from just dumb luck, and being at the right place at the right time.

 Happy Love Thursday, everyone.  Please leave your links of love in the comments section below,  and be sure to check out the images left by ladyviv and phizblip in the Shutter Sisters Flickr Pool for inspiration.

And may you have a stolen moment of love today.

* * * * * * * 

*  If the thought of pulling together wedding albums for your friends sounds like something you'd like to try, here are a couple of tips I've picked up along the way that you might find helpful:

1.  I generally shoot with my 70-200mm lens when I shoot weddings -- it's cumbersome and unwieldy, but it's a fabulous way to capture intimate shots without the subjects even knowing you're shooting them.  Also, with this lens, I can capture the expressions and moments of wedding guests who I don't know (which, in this case, was everyone other than the groom and my husband), without having to interrupt their conversations with friends, or whatever.  If you don't have a 70-200 mm, don't worry -- just use the longest zoom you have. 

2.  When shooting the wedding, tap into your inner photojournalist:  don't just get the kiss and the ring picture, but if you see someone sitting in the congregation with a fabulous FourWeddingsAndAFuneral hat, then take the shot when they're not looking.  Grab an image of children falling asleep as the minister drones on and on.  Snap the woman fanning herself with the program because it's just so hot.  These sorts of shots capture memories of the day, and images which the bride and groom will likely be too preoccupied to notice at the time, but will truly value after the fact.

3.   Speaking of moments the bride and groom won't notice, don't forget to shoot the guests as they're entering the church or venue where the wedding is taking place. During this time before the wedding, the professional photographer is often busy taking portrait shots of the bride in her dressing room, so often there aren't any shots of the excited anticipation of the guests, or the groom's rampant nerves.  Be sure to capture these moments.

4.  As much as possible, shoot with available light, and forego the flash, for a couple of reasons: (a) flash tends to make people more self-conscious (and you can't sneak around taking stealth shots as readily as you can without it) and (b) you really don't want to do anything that might ruin the professional photographer's shots -- after all, she's getting paid to take these shots, so she will rightfully resent anything you do that makes her job more difficult.   Also, while we're on the subject, it's generally a good idea to stay out of the photographer's way (the zoom lens will help you do that) -- stay behind the photographer as much as possible, and it doesn't hurt to let her know that you don't mind if she needs to tell you directly to get out of her way.  Besides, I often find that some of my favourite shots are the "shots between the shots" -- the shots of the group primping and getting ready while the photographer poses them, that sort of thing.

Finally, relax and have fun with it.  It's a wonderful way to really start appreciating the couple's big day, keeping your eyes open  for stolen moments, and looking out for instances where people let down their guards.  The result will be a very intimate view of one of the most memorable days of the couple's lives, and they'll likely appreciate the gift for years to come.

(To see more Dan and Laura's big weekend, click here.) 

Mama Focus

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we thought we’d turn our attention to the mamas in the house.

Shutter Sisters, in conjunction with the fine ladies of Mamazine are hosting the 2^nd MAMA FOCUS photo contest. No more excuses ladies. We’ve been talking about this for a while and now. It’s time to get on the other side of the camera—all clicks on you. Or, if you are so inspired, you can enter a photo of a mama friend too. Like the photo above of the beautiful Keri and her gorgeous son Sam. You can enter any shot you’d like with only one exception—the main focus must be on the MAMA. Yay Mamas!

The rules and how-tos are posted on the official MAMA FOCUS page at Mamazine so click over and see how it’s done. To make it really easy to enter, we’re using a Flickr Group to keep track of all the entries so you can just submit your photos to the pool and you’re entered. That way too, we can get inspired by one another’s handiwork. We’re good like that.

And we’ve got prizes! Blurb has got the grand prize winner covered while the runners up will get playful bangle bracelets from Give Simple.

The contest started on Sunday, April 27 and ends Saturday, May 31. Winners will be announced Sunday, June 8.

OK Sisters, get ready, get set…

Click.

Focus

Throughout the day, we move up and down along our journey. Passing from light to dark and back to light again. Sometimes when the planets align, when the sun is nearing its descent, I'm given a gift called 'time of day'. I sit half in and half out of the kitchen door. My bare feet on the back step while my son plays in the dirt with his trucks. He lays there all Zen like, lost in his own world while I sit with camera in hand as dinner simmers on the stove. The late afternoon sunlight streams in, and I can't help to think that life couldn't get much better than this. The closeness we have while in a different headspace from each other is most magical. I learn of him, of all his details while behind my camera. Of course some days, my camera is used as a shield or filter for true-life realities not so sunny. But on an afternoon like this, my camera is the magnifying glass. And the beauty I find is that he is willing to let our worlds gently mingle. We brush up against each other at this time of day. When I am mother/photographer/dinner burner/chore slacker/multi-tasker. And he is the barefoot boy child zooming trucks over clumps of dirt.

As he grows into himself, I find myself a mere observer. Not completely understanding the language or the rules of his boy planet. Sometimes I inch up close to him with my camera to capture this life of his that is only his. This breath as it slips and slides and grows before my very eyes. Wanting to remember it all overwhelms me. And so I focus. I have come to learn by taking photos throughout my days and weeks that what I'm trying to preserve is my perception of how life is. What I want to preserve is the way the moment finds my heart. While looking through my photo archives, I discover that i mainly focus on sunlight: how it feels splashing down across his shoulders, how it appears to me on afternoons like this. Today I focus on the leaf he discovers and offers up to me on a rock pedestal, "Keep it safe for me, Momma." This is his gift to me, and it's more precious than I ever knew. He gives me this time, this memory, and this space to document it as I see it.

There's something magical viewing life through someone else's camera lens. Most often it's a stranger... a person who captures something so universal, that you instantly feel as if you know them. There's kinship in the subject of the photo, the angle, the color, or the focus that speaks directly to you. This sense of familiarity is what keeps me coming back for more. I find myself at the doorstep of Shutter Sisters every morning with my cup of chai. I'm so grateful for this space to share my own today. So, share with me a bit of yourself, will you? What is your focus? The motion, the solitude. the calm, the chaos? Leave some links and share your focus, so we may learn a bit about yourself as well.

Photo and post courtesy of today's Honorary Sister/Guest Blogger Meredith Winn (aka camera shy momma).

a is for aperture

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”  – Ansel Adams

I spent this past Saturday morning in a digital photography workshop lead by shutter brothers Jack, a serious amateur photographer, and Al, a professional sports photographer. Opportunities to connect and learn like this with fellow photographers are rare in my small Southern town, so when I heard that the photographers were coming, I noted the event on my calendar with a big, fat Sharpie.

My approach to photography has been primarily artistic vs. a traditional technical approach, though I consumed a photography class in college with a heavy appetite. And while I did learn the technicalities of F-stops and aperture, and the speeds of shutters way back then, I often leaned on an artistic eye in the dark room to turn an okay image into something special. I rarely remembered the formula for chemical soaks, nor did I take the time to document my pinhole camera exposures to simplify the subsequent shot. Numbers and calculations simply didn’t mix with the art of aesthetics for me. I just sort of “felt” that an image was done when it was done.

Even today with my digital SLR, I lean on my auto settings to quickly capture my compositions because I can’t force myself to reference the manual or fiddle with buttons in the presence of a fleeting moment. As a means of controlling light, I keep my flash turned off at all times and follow the rhythm of natural light, shooting in the morning or early evening, feeling confident that if the lighting or contrast isn’t quite right, I can tweak it on my MacBook. But to really mature into a serious photographer, I’ve come to realize that there’s a delicate balance between firing the right and left sides of the brain…like ah, simultaneously. A balance I intend to cultivate.

So when shutter brother Al suggested that I shoot in Aperture Priority setting – giving me control of the size of the aperture (the hole in the camera regulating the amount of light that comes into the camera) and keeping the camera in control of the shutter speed – I made him turn the dial to the “A”.  Large apertures (low f/-numbers) reduce the depth of field, blurring objects behind and in front of the main subject. Small apertures (high f/-numbers) increase depth of field, bringing out details in the background and foreground. Al then pressed on the +/- button to show me how easy it was to increase and decrease the exposure setting simply by turning a control dial in this A-priority mode. The higher the number > the more light let in.  The lower the number  > the less light let in.  Well, now.  That wasn’t so hard.  So I proceeded to play in A-priority mode for the remainder of the weekend increasing and decreasing my depth of field and exposure settings, and comparing the images quickly to see the difference. Suffice it to say, I now can’t imagine shooting any other way.

What about you? Do you shoot with auto or manual settings?  Share your best-lit images in the comments and your tips/tricks for controlling light.

what if?

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about mortality. Namely, my own. I’m not going to get morbid and depressing about it, I promise. But since my mind has been wandering amidst the what-ifs, I’ve decided to try being quiet with these inevitable thoughts (and yes, fears) and listen to what the angels are saying. You know, the ones that gently glide by beckoning the big questions;

Are you doing what’s important? Are you living your best life? Are you spending time on what matters most?

I think we would all like to answer yes but sometimes we just aren’t doing the things that matter, as we are clouded by daily demands. It’s the way it goes. But then there are the reminders that lift us from our fog, stories that stir our souls awake, or circumstances and situations that bring the big picture back into focus.

Jen Balantine’s question has been ringing in my ears and instead of leaving my list on paper, I’ve decided to begin to make a dent in it. I want to make a deliberate schedule to fit in the things that matter most; the things that I would do if I had only a few months to live. I plan on making a priority getting all the wonderful photos and stories of my children’s lives off of the computer and organized and into books and memory boxes. I want to create for my girls something tangible to hold onto, to look through, to remind them of their life growing up in our family. Growing up with me. I want them to know (even beyond the knowing that they will always carry with them) that I was here, that I am here, in living color. Everyday. Giving baths, braiding hair, sewing buttons on pants, dancing in the living room, making projects and school lunches, going on field trips and adventure walks and taking pictures. I plan to take time out to do the things I want to do…for me and for them. I’m considering it my date night with destiny. As simple as it may seem, this is what I would do if I knew I only had a few months to live so, I’m going to start doing it now. And I know I’m going to love doing it.

How about you? What would you do? And are you willing to start doing it now?

Thanks to all of you who offered hope through your beautiful images for the auction. The proceeds will be helping Jen and her son as she  faces days ahead that seem to keep getting tougher for her. The auction is up and running so head over and bid on your favorite things. Be sure to click on the item you have your eye on to get more info on the object or photo and the person behind it. It makes it that much more special. Thanks again. You are all incredible.