something red

People often ask me if Elevate the Everyday is about photography and I can only answer this; yes and no. Yes, it's about how to use the creative tool of photography to focus on the little things that matter most but no because even before photography there's the art of observation. And I feel like that kind of observing or perhaps better said, seeing, is even more important than the photography itself. Without the seeing, what could we possibly be shooting?

Dorthea Lange said, The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. Eureka!

What is it that we do each and every day with our cameras? We see. When we are compelled to hold up our camera to our eye, it's because we have seen something that moved us in such a way that we just had capture it. And when we put our cameras down, we still see. The beauty, the wonder, the awesome, the everyday, elevated.

Over the years I've realized that my photography has heightened my way of seeing. Everything to me is photo worthy now. But, it's been a slow evolution, this honing of my vision. But, the best part is, the more I am open to it, the more I see and the more magic appears. This is exactly what elevating the everyday means; capturing that magic in a photograph. Something tells me, you can relate.

As you are open to all that your everyday life has to offer, watch for the magic. Today's prompt is Something Red. My guess is that it will show up everywhere. Please share what red you find with us here in the comments. Be sure to tag all of your images you share through your social media platforms #sselevate.

And check out our partner in elevating the everyday this month, Paper Coterie. They've got all kinds of magic happening over there, like a giveaway(of a camera-eeep!) and fun, free printables from some of my favorite peopleall month long. YAY!

Elevate the Everyday

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them to an art." -William Morris

What better way to spend the whole of August than to turn our attention toward all the details of our daily life and elevate them to a photographic art? As we kick off a brand new One Word Project, we invite you to join us and the amazing folks at Paper Coterie as we ELEVATE the next 31 days.

Inspired by the arrival of my new book Elevate the Everyday, we want to focus on all the parts of our lives that can so often be overlooked; those spaces and places, affections and connections, routines, milestones and details that make our ordinary life so extraordinary. And there is no better time to begin than right now!

Stating today we will prompt you to discover something that you can elevate, through your lens, from your heart. August promises to be full of inspiration and insights, gratitude and creative joy. Just take a peek at our calendar and you'll see what I mean! We are so excited to have you with us as we elevate the everyday together.

And just to elevate things, Paper Coterie is offering a 25% discount when you buy a copy of the book and/or any of the lovely products from the companion series. There's even a limited edition bookmark signed by yours truly included in your book order while supply lasts! Fun!

We will also be giving away a few copies of the book this month too...starting right now! Just leave your comment here between today and midnight Friday night EST for a chance to win your copy! Wheeee!

Be sure to tag your elevate images with our tag #sselevate in whatever social media platform you're on! And don't forget we've got a OWP flickr group too so add your images to the pool for a chance to be featured here.

YAY! We can't wait to elevate!

magical moments

 

There is nothing better than sisters. When we get together there is always love, laughter and if we're lucky sometimes even a little pixie dust. Spending time recently at Walt Disney World for the first time during Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was a dream come true. Upon arrival to the Magic Kingdom, our inner child(ren) was awakened and we were instantly transported back to being young girls. Giggly, happy, enchanted little sisters embarking on a magical journey together just like we did growing up at Disneyland. When childhood wishes are granted, with the help of a fairy godmother you can't help but to believe. Believe in the magic of family. Believe in the magic of Disney. Believe in the magic of the moment.

........... 

Words and photo essay courtesy of Jessica Fuselier and Becky Silke, 2 of the three sisters of Disney Sisters. Sisters, as in real live sisters, by birth. The third sister? That would be me. I had to miss the sister trip to Walt Disney World but reading this story and seeing these pictures really made me wish I hadn't! Sniff sniff. There's just something about Disney Magic...and sisters...swoon.

I can't tell you how excited I was to have my sisters share their images here like this as our first official photo essay. Yes, we're kicking off a new feature here at Shutter Sisters. Photo essays. So fun! If you've got a collection of 6 images you'd like to see featured here as a photo essay, give us a shout. We love hearing from you and sharing your work.

As for today, let's see your magical moments, Disney and beyond. You know, those moments that make you feel like a kid again. Don’t you just love those?

P.S. Tag your images #ssmoment.

a moment in between

I've been busier than ever this summer with travel. Some work, some play, some more work and so it's been going and will continue to go through the next few months. Traveling means a lot of moments spent in between. Now that summer is clearly in full swing, chances are I'm not the only one who has been taking a trip or two. My guess is you've been on a journey yourself, of one kind or another.

Today, as we begin a new week of stolen moments, let's see your travel shots; your moments between point A and point B where a click of your shutter says it all.

the magic of a moment

It was a 9^th birthday fit for one very special little American girl; mine. A small group of good girl friends. The women in our family. A cafe that seemed straight out of a movie. It was a beautiful day in early summer with enough noontime sun to illuminate the whole room (photo moms appreciated things like that). A savory lunch. An enchanting cake. A rousing version of the birthday song with 9 candles for one big birthday wish.

As the birthday girl reveled in being celebrated—as any birthday girl should—I observed. Each interaction between she and her guests, I heard. Every gesture and expression—the sparkle in her eye, the doll at her side and the crooked birthday crown—I noticed.

I lifted my camera to my eye. Click, click, click. I captured every joyful moment of the afternoon. But it was one single shot that made my mama heart skip a beat.

Maybe it was the sideways glance or the impish—somewhat mischievous look—as she pulled the crooked crown down on her sweet head. Something about it took me back to birthdays past when my growing girl was much younger, much smaller, much less grown-up than she looked today. In that moment, I saw both the yesterday and the today. The glimmer of the past made me teary; my heart was full of gratitude that although I can never stop the clock, I would always have that moment captured, exactly how I will always remember it, forever in one single photograph.

-------------

We invite you to join us this month as we celebrate the moments of our lives for our One Word Project. We are partnering with Haagen-Dazs in asking you to share your favorite moments with us; with them. We’re excited to be participating in their 50 Summer Moments project and we want to encourage you all to do the same. Savoring moments through our lenses is what our community is all about, so we feel like it’s the perfect way to honor those moments and let them shine all month long.

The 50 Summer Moments project has a few neat layers to it. First off is the sharing. The second is the incentive for sharing. Every image you share, Haagen-Dasz will donate $5 to honey bee research at UC Davis. Sweet! The third—and perhaps the cherry on top (we couldn’t leave out a good ice cream pun)—is the 50 Summer Moments eBook, An Ode to Summer where 50 images will be chosen and featured with the help of the awesome chef Alex Guarnaschelli.

Want to get in on the fun? All you need to do is tag your images on Instagram and your tweets on twitter (you can share tweets about your summer moments too) with the tag #HDMoment and you might see your moment on the HDMoment website. We’ve got our own Shutter Sisters tag too for the OWP (#ssmoment) so be sure to use it on everything you want to share with us (on Instagram and in our Flickr group). Its how we keep track of all the amazing stuff you’re capturing.

And, in celebration of summer and all this moment making, we’ve also got a very special day planned. We thought it would be totally amazing to pick one day this month where we can all celebrate our summer moments together! Won’t you join us in our first ever Shutter Sisters virtual ”collective moment”?

We’re declaring Saturday, July 28^th the day that all of us are going to “Take a Moment” together.  We’ll be sharing more details throughout the month but for now, put us in your calendar because we want to celebrate our summer moment with you!

For today, help us kick off this month of moments by sharing a moment of your own!