composing ourselves

1. Hooray for Summer ! Bright Red Umbrellas and a Very Blue Sky, 2. {223:365} - Soar, 3. Why she wakes early, 4. Summer Love, 5. Pencils, 6. Fifty two on Friday -Feet edition, 7. iphone friday, 8. chloe's big day., 9. Better Days, 10. Nap, August 11th, 2:38pm, 11. Gerbera Fairy..., 12. In My Eyes, 13. nothing in life is ritual, 14. i'm kinda falling in love again, 15. 100/365, 16. this is where im from., 17. Wormsloe Marshes, 18. Cute As A Button, 19. Ferry trip, 20. Untitled, 21. drops, 22. from where I stand, 23. C A K E, 24. Globe Thistle

I was so inspired by the  thoughtful and insightful comments shared on my post the other day posing the question, "what is photography to YOU." Awesome stuff sisters! You, as always totally inspire me!

And so, in honor of  the creative spark of conversation and the art of composition we are doing a giveaway today for one complimentary registration for my e-class of the same name. The super-fun twist is that there's actually 3 ways to win! 3 is the magic number afterall (at least compositionally speaking).

Beyond our giveaway, I'm hosting a giveaway on my own blog this weekend too and the lovely and talented Ali Edwards is giving a spot away next weekend as an added bonus. That is 3 spots up for grabs in the next week! Woohoo! Be sure to leave a comment on all the posts to better your odds of winning.

I'm more excited than ever about the class and all the wonderful things we're going to cover in The Art of Composition.

Today, all you need to do is leave your comment here between now and 8pm PST on Sunday for a chance to win a seat in the front roll of class (virtually that is).  And while you're here, we'd love to see some of your compositional handiwork. Got a shot to share? You know we'd love to see it.

...........

And the winner is...

Arin S. YAY! Congrats! And thanks to everyone for your comments.

the art of composition

Composition starts when you situate your camera in space in relation to the object. For me, photography is the exploration in reality of the rhythm of surfaces, lines, or values; the eye carves out its subject, and the camera has only to do its work. That work is simply to print the eye’s decision on film. - Henri Cartier-Bresson

For quite some time I've been conjuring up and creating content for my soon-coming class "The Art of Composition"; recalling all the lessons I learned in past art classes, observing my process of compsosing shots, examining my images and those of others and taking a lot of notes on all of it.

All up in my own head, I've been eager to learn more about what some of the photographers of the past have said on the topic of creating and composing their images.

I stumbled upon a collection of Henri Cartier-Bresson's quotes and I read page after page of his thoughts on photography; so many of which deeply inspired me as I nodded my head along with his words, yes, yes.

But, the more I read the more I would find a line or two; a comment or belief where I wasn't so sure. Do I agree with that? Does that ring true for me?

And then I did the same for a number of other world renowned, well-respected photographers. Reading, contemplating, agreeing and also disagreeing. Of course that's the case. It would be highly unlikely and very unnatural to agree with everything another photographer thought about photography. But, it was so illuminating.

The fact is, our photography is ours. How we approach it should be unique to who we are.  How we live our photographic bliss is totally up to us. There will be so many things we will agree on. Our passion for photography for one thing. But not everything. And that is totally how it should be.

What is photography for you? Share your thoughts or better yet, share a photograph. Something that shows us YOUR photography.

life in a day

The other evening I had the honor of seeing the unique documentary Life in a Day. It is the project that brought National Geographic and YouTube together with a mission to tell the story of one of day on earth. Let me tell you, it was wonderful. You can read more about the concept of the film and how it was created (the idea in itself is totally inspiring) at the Life in a Day site. Once you watch the trailer and all the hair on your body stands on end, you'll know what I mean when I say wonderful.

The points of view, the perspectives, the subject matter, the video shorts themselves; all totally unique and even still, there was a Universal cohesion, beauty, and honesty that left me feeling so grateful to be alive on this planet.

With our One Word Project wordthis month celebrating life, today I ask you to pick up your camera and capture yours in way that's both everyday and unique. Capture a moment of your life, just as it is, that you never ever want to forget.

And be sure to visit Ali Edwards this week as she's inspiring us to document our life all week with her Week in the Life. Talk about sweet sisterly synchronicity!

life is but a dream

As I travel my creative path, everyone once in a while I call on a new muse. And sometimes I don't even know I've invited something else in to change my perspective, shake things up, or give me a whole new way of thinking. It's almost as if I intuitively know that I need a little something to get me out of my usual way of seeing or being and *poof* some new muse comes to do just that.

Such has been the case with my experimentation with shooting out of focus. It's nothing new for me, I've done it before but as a photographer, I'm usually thinking about where to focus and what to focus on rather than thinking about how to throw my entire shot out of focus.

I'm glad when the glimmers of creative muses come my way. When I am reawakened to all the wonder of my everyday life. When it feels like a beautiful dream. When around each corner lies a brand new adventure.

I encourage you to call on your own muse for the next week. Perhaps the muse need only be your life? Ali Edwards' A Week in the Life begins on Monday. It seems like just the thing to get us to focus (or not) on our amazing, everyday lives.

Share your favorite muse today. Anything from subject matter, to tool, to technique...it's all magic when you're open to it.

nice package

Smart marketing and clever packaging are 2 things that are never lost on me. I apprecaite and make mental notes of every single creative little (and big) thing that people/brands/products use to get our attention. So much so that I have secretly held a dream somewhere in the back of my over-active project-minded brain of a regular offering called Nice Package where clever packaging would get the kudos they so deserve.

Since I don't imagine that coming to fruition anytime soon, why not just put it out there right now? After all, the little things I notice fall right under the category of this month's One Word, details. It is all in the details as far as I'm concerned.

How about it sisters? Do you notice all the many perfectly packaged items there are out there these days?

Grab a shot of something you find clever and/or endearing in the packaging department and share with us a Nice Package. *ahem* You know what I mean.

Pictured above, an empty bottle of Pom x Tea. And let me tell you, even beyond it's nice package, it's wonderful.