Superhero Photo Challenge: Hands

I've always been a hands person. Thinking about any friend I have, I can very clearly conjure up an image of their hands. Some are strong and look like they could do many hours of work in the hot sun, others are more delicate and gentle, with long fingers and painted nails. One friend of mine has so many lines crisscrossing all over her hands, that she is surely an old soul. And then there are Ben's toddler hands, that are like little starfish exploring the world.

One of my all time favorite photos of hands is a shot that Jen Lemen posted on this site (with a beautiful story) And oh my goodness, in the Shutter Sisters pool on flickr are some of the most stunning photos of hands... wow people! This week's challenge is to explore photographing hands.

I am moved by how much hands can say in a photo, how much love can be transmitted by a gentle squeeze, how much life they can hold. There is a Rumi quote I love: Look at your eyes. They are small, but they see enormous things. I think the same goes for hands. They are small, but they hold enormous things.

Superhero Photo Challenge: Weather

As I pored through the incredible photos on the Photojojo site, "2008's Most Amazing News Photos" I was moved, shocked and amazed by what I saw. There were several pages of stunning images, but when I got to this image of Obama, the camera geek in me was like, WHAT?! How did they capture the rain like that? Was it the light? Was it an incredibly fast shutter speed? A slow one? A flash and a slow one? I was mesmerized by that rain.

As the fates would have it, I had my own moment in the rain during a session yesterday with a couple of friends. I thought nothing of it until I saw the images last night and discovered that I had captured the rain too! As a non-technically minded photographer, this is just happy magic to me. I would love to hear from you more techie folks out there if you have any tips on capturing the weather.

That's our challenge for the week everyone. Let's lean into the weather we are having and capture its icy, snowy, rainy, slushy glory.  

Superhero Photo Challenge: Twilight

I saw the movie Twilight a few weeks ago, the weekend it premiered, with a sold out crowd of teens and tweens. My husband and I giggled (and felt wonderfully old) as throngs of girls screamed each time the hunky vampire Edward showed up on the screen. It was so much fun. 

Ever since, I have been thinking about twilight in general and what a magical time of day it is. The colors in the sky are often so brilliant in contrast to the grey sheen over the rest of the world. This week's challenge is to capture life at twilight. What does your world look like during this little sliver of time?

For the giveaway today, I'd like to offer up something from my company Superhero Designs. The newest item at Superhero is a starburst pendant. It's not your typical star, but a bit more organic and sea creature like; something that evokes a burst of energy or joy. It also has the word "joy" engraved on the back. I am excited for one of you shutter sisters to have it. Just comment on this post and you'll be entered in the drawing!

Congratualtions to Mod Mom of Modobjectathome for winning your very own Joy Jersey!

Superhero Photo Challenge: A handful of treasures

Do you remember being a kid in the summer and gathering treasures at the beach? We would stroll up and down the water gathering shells, rocks and seaglass to bring back to our towels to examine more closely. The best treasures would come home with us to be displayed prominently on the windowsill.

Fall is a perfect time to gather treasures as well. Searching for them has us take notice of the micro worlds we normally don't see and get down in the dirt once in a while. For this week's challenge, play with this idea of hands full of treasures.

Treasures can be bright green acorns,  colorful seaglass from the beach, wedding rings in tiny hands, or a magical rock that says just the right thing.

Surprise us with what you find!

Superhero Photo Challenge: The leaf perspective

This week's challenge has some very specific instructions. 

1. Walk outside

2. Find some leaves on the ground

3. Place your camera on the ground at leaf level and imagine the world from a leafy perspective. 

4. Don't worry about getting your eyeball way down on the sidewalk, just click the shutter and see what happens. 

5. Play! Experiment! 

6. Share your captures here.