new beginnings

Today my 10 month old daughter took her very first steps on her own. She looked at me, extended her arms, launched herself forward, and after 4 little steps, she fell on her bum. My husband and I cheered, clapped and squeezed her with hugs. "Well done!" She then picked herself up and clapped too! 

I look at her and all the new beginnings in her life, and I feel so proud of how she meets every single moment with courage and excitement. I wonder when and why we all end up losing our spontaneity and our joy in learning along the way. I wonder why we feel so inadequate when we are learning and making mistakes, or when we want to experiment with something new but feel afraid, or when we don't even attempt new things because we worry about failure and judgement. I wonder why we forget that we can always pick ourselves up and do it over and over until we are happy with it. I wonder why we don't celebrate all those attempts we make, because we really do some amazing work trying... And mostly, I wonder why we loose sight that learning is fun, essential and truly universal. Everyone has things to learn no matter how capable, wealthy or brave they are. And guess what? Everyone starts wobbly. Fact.

So let's take some first steps towards the new things we want to learn, shall we? Sign up for that class, read that manual, buy that book, call that friend or teacher... Let's take a step or two today, and regardless of what happens next, let's promise each other that we will give ourselves a round of applause, because new beginnings are always beautiful and something we should all be proud of.

Now, please share with us one fabulous thing you still would like to learn and attempt in this lifetime! If you are inclined, also post an image (from someone else or yours) that inspires you to learn something new (link to source, please). Don't think too much. Just have fun with this! :)

what we dream of shooting

Rice fields had always been on my dream list of places and things to shoot. Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Phillipines, etc. Somehow I've been chasing them all over the world in order to capture their inexplicable beauty. I love capturing the vastness, the saturated greens, the workers with big hats and scarfs, the flags dancing with the wind...  I often have a hard time remembering it is actually all about the rice! :)

How about you? What are the places (or things) you dream of shooting in this lifetime? And if some of your shooting dreams have already come true, please share those images with us today.

Wind, Hair and Weather Challenges

I must admit that one of the things that I've always wanted to experiment with in fashion photography was hair. Fans are fashion photographers best friend's when it comes to creating dynamic hair images. But what about wind? Oh! I'll tell you... That is very different! You really cannot control in which direction that wind blows, so capturing something other than a mess can be incredibly challenging. This past week I had a crash course on wind as our beach location welcomed us with 20mhp winds!  I had no idea how wind could really impact a photo shoot. Honestly, up to this date I'd worried about rain and harsh sun, but wind... Well. That just wasn't on my radar at all, and I got my butt seriously kicked. Thank goodness there was this old beat up piano abandoned on the beach, just so my team could hide behind it between shots (I hope assistant and friend Stefanie Renee has a behind the scenes shot of this :)). Everyone was wrapped around in blankets, towels, and whatever they could get their hands on, to keep the wind from freezing their brains off!

We braved it, though. And as you can see in my recent blog posts, we managed to turn things around, by trying to make the best of what we had to work it. Sometimes we were able to use the wind to our favor, sometimes we weren't. But every single time we tried regardless. There was no winning at all. Everyone was great! Personally, I had Tim Gunn's voice in my head the entire time: "Make it Work. Make it Work."

This shot here was taken near our home-base above the beach where the weather was mellower earlier in the day. It is a favorite of mine because it actually looks like we used a fan! Funny how that goes, right? Sometimes we need a fan to make it look like wind, and sometimes we need the wind to have more of a fan look (or a controlled look). For what it's worth, I'm counting this as my first "fashion hair" shot! What do you think? :)

Have you ever been faced with a difficult weather challenge on a shoot? What did you do to make it work? Please share your stories and images with us.

shutterbugs

I mean, let's be frank. These days cameras are so widely available that no matter where we go, there is always someone pointing and shooting nearby. As a photographer, this sometimes can feel a little overwhelming, as in: "Why should I even bother shooting when everyone is doing it, right??"

Well, thankfully, since I do believe that we all have a very unique point of view and a different reason to shoot, when I see other people, and especially other women, aiming and clicking, what comes up for me is a whole lot of curiosity actually. When I cross paths with a sister who is shooting, I'm always fascinated by her body language and how she seems engaged and transported. I feel so inspired by how she glows in the moment, that 99% of the time I end up shooting her in action. Women with cameras are just beautiful, don't you think? You can bet I also turn my head  towards her subject matter to try to figure out what she is seeing and what I might be missing... Sometimes I just nod in agreement, "I see it too, sister." But mostly, I just love knowing that we are all in this together: seeing, shooting, documeting beauty, telling the story of our lives. I really do.

So, tell me, how do you feel when you see other sisters shooting away?

And if you have any pics you shot of other sisters at play, please share them with us today, so that we may all be inspired by what it looks like to be in that magical moment where we release the shutter and click.

spontaneous beauty

As I walked around the neighborhood markets with my camera, I couldn't help but think about Kate's fabulous post from the other day discussing styling... I mean, look at the fruit arrangement above. Only an artist could have styled this stand, right? The colors, textures, the tiny apple tags, and even the sign on the left laying a little lower than the one on the right just to give my image the right composition balance! It made me think about the Asian lady who might have brought the fruit out that morning (and every other morning of her life really). Does she even know how pretty this is? Did she give it any thought at all? Most likely not.

Although I am a junkie for photo productions, I confess that this is my favorite kind of stylin'. This is why I love traveling to remote villages to shoot people and places that are less influenced by trends and naturally beautiful. It reminds me that we are all inherently creative, gifted, intuitive, artistic, seeking and creating beauty, with or without means, anywhere and everywhere. It inspires me to slow down and make it easier on myself. Sometimes we try way too hard...

So why don't you share some spontaneous beauty with us today. Show us some images that couldn't have been more beautiful even if we'd tried.