Sisters Share

Kate and I are all geared to share with all of you on the big radio show tonight via Blog Talk Radio. We’ve selected a few questions from the list that we will be answering but we also want to encourage you to call in to ask anything else that’s on your mind. Or just to say Hi. We’d really like that. Don’t forget-the women who posed the questions we ask on the air will be getting $50 at Snapfish. Yay.

So, here’s your official invitation:

What? Tracey and Kate talk photography and Shutter Sisters on Bog Talk Radio with Kristen Chase of Motherhood Uncensored.

When? Tonight, Wednesday from 6-6:30pm PST (that’s 9-9:30pm EST.)

How? Tune in and listen. Or, to be a part of the program you can call in or use the handy chat feature online.

Why? Why not? It’s not everyday you actually get to hear the voices of your internet friends. Am I right?

And since sharing is the theme of the day, I want to send out a big thank you to Jill of Blue Poppy Jewelry for allowing me to share the above photo. I had the pleasure of shooting for BP and I just love this shot of my sister friends. And these rings pictured (which will be available on the site in Early May) as well as her others. Beauty.

And if you are so inspired, feel free to share a link to any photo you’d like today here in the comments. We’ll just call it a free for all day of sharing! Sound good?

Chopping Heads

The above photo was an accident. I intended to capture Roxy's whole body, but because I wasn't looking through the viewfinder I chopped off the top of her head. But I actually really like it. I realize now that some of my favorite photographers go around taking headless pictures all the time and I am often really drawn to those photos. But it had never occurred to me to do it on purpose until I took this one. I think there's a certain element of mysteriousness to a photo that is cropped below a person's (or animal's) eyes. What's the first thing you typically look at in a portrait? The eyes, right? I know I do. So when that element is taken away, you are forced to take notice of other details.

Most "old school" photographers would tell you to never, ever cut off someone's head in a photo. But I don't really care what they say. And think I'm going start experimenting with this a little more. I did some poking around Flickr to find some good examples. Although, let me encourage you to never search Flickr with the words "chopping heads". I am still scarred from that. However, after looking through the streams of some of my own contacts and the Shutter Sisters pool I quickly found what I was looking for.

Our own Tracey, chops heads all the time with great success! And I see lots of maternity photos taken from the neck down. It's a great way to focus on those big beautiful bellies.

Here are some more of my favorite headless portraits:

Beebee Mod 

Emily (RWP) 

strawberrygoldie 

camerashymomma 

I could go on, but I'll stop there for now because I want to hear from you. How many of you find yourself cropping heads out of photos and how often do you do it on purpose? Of course, I'd love to see examples!

Pushing Past the Fear Factor

There aren't many things I do every single day. I brush my teeth. Read. Look out the window. Eat. Move my feet. Say "I love you." Tap on my keyboard (though not necessarily in this order).  And while caffeine consumption does make the list each day, things like showering, vacuuming and staying properly hydrated do not. So when the idea of Project 365 entered my periphery, my first instinct was to let it blur into oblivion.

Project 365 is a flickr group of nearly four thousand members who shoot and share one photo every single day, consecutively for 365 days. Eek. How could someone commit to this, I thought.

Well, Danisoul did and her inspiring Project 365 flickr set intrigued me enough to bring the project  and my fear of commitment into focus. Do I really need another something to do each day? No. Not really. Well. Maybe. Will it improve my photography skills? Probably. Might it push me to carry my camera with me more places? Yes, I suppose it would. Would I discover inspiring photographers and bask in new perspectives? Well, yes. What if I want to stop? Hmmm. Could I push myself through lapses in creativity and find something beautiful each day? I wasn't sure, but made an assumption.

So I've been shooting photos every day for 103 days, contributing to the Project 365 flickr pool and building a set of images to serve as a visual landscape of one year in time.  I'm loving this project and the much needed discipline and challenge it's brought to my creative process. It's opened my eyes in many ways.

What about you? Do you take photos everyday?  Are you participating in Project 365? Inspired to start "day one" today? Do share a link to your flickr set or blog in the comments so we can follow you.

one sweet shot - april 2008

 

A few years ago I had the pleasure of virtually meeting Sheri Reed of Mamazine. We were both blogging for ClubMom at the time. Since then we have had our share of online collaborations and I have grown to adore her. I know, I know, I haven’t even met her in real live person yet. Such is the nature of Blogville. None the less, through her poignant words and her totally fresh and inspiring photographs, oddly enough, I do feel like I know her. Don’t you love when images speak volumes about a person? I have been eager to gush about Sheri for quite some time and when I saw this delightfully and intriguing shot of hers, I couldn’t resist featuring it for this month’s One Sweet Shot.

And here’s a list of more links that should keep you sufficiently busy on this fine Sunday:

Camera Shy Momma is honoring another shot by Sheri (storygoil). Great minds Meredith, great minds.

Anna is honoring this shot by Nanako Koyama.

L. Michelle is honoring this shot by Lanne at Life Blogged.

Jenny Rebecca is honoring this shot by lawatt.

Ruth of Sparkle Thots is honoring this shot from valska.

Aimee of Greeblemonkey is honoring this shot by gorgeoux.

Strawberrygoldie is honoring this shot from BeeBee Mod.

Maggie of And the Duck Said is honoring this shot of Carrie’s at Barely Controlled Chaos.

Rachel is honoring this shot from Amanda Yeager.

Paige B. is honoring this shot from CherryVanillaStudios.

Stephanie is honoring this shot by n.elle. (sorry this one was wrong but has now been corrected)

Nicky Thomas is honoring this shot from JustMakeIt

Sarah Ji is honoring this shot by Mama Rosa

and Amanda is honoring the shots in this post from Polkadot Photo.

Thanks everyone for playing along! Have yourself a sweet Sunday!

Superhero Photo Challenge: Get a new perspective

I adore this photo from a recent portrait session. We had been shooting belly photos and family photos for hours already and I was getting that anxious, oh-my-god did-we-get-the-shot-yet? feeling and don't let on that you're not sure, just keep shooting! And smiling.

We went outside and I was immediately intimidated by the light. Bright sun, little garden with narrow paths, not the big expanse of green (and shade) I was hoping for. I began plotting my speech about how I could come back to do a re-shoot if we didn't get what we were hoping for...

At some point it occurred to me that when you're stuck, it's time to get a new perspective. I laid on the ground and looked up at her belly and was so delighted by what I saw. I hadn't really noticed how BIG she was until that moment and how amazing and beautiful and hilarious it was. From this place of total delight and seeing her anew, we were able to get some really fun shots.

I am a life coach as well as a photographer and so much of our training is about getting our clients to see their lives or a situation from different perspectives. This is how we have breakthroughs and discoveries! Whenever we are stuck, it is likely that we are literally stuck in a perspective, or a way of looking at things. Don't you love that moment when you say, I've never thought of it quite like that... and how it kind of blows your mind wide open? That's a new perspective.

Your challenge this week is to try out a new perspective with your camera. Lay on the ground and look up at the sky, climb a tree, get in the grass and look through the blades, put the camera on your head, spin around, don't look through the lens at all... Show me some wild perspectives, ones that make me say, I've never looked at it quite like that before...