a blog is born

I spoke to my mother yesterday and shared with her some details about Shutter Sisters. I commented that the project has been swimming in my head now for almost a year. “Time to birth it,” she said calmly.

Indeed.

So, here I am, writing a birth announcement for this baby that has grown and evolved more in the last few months than I could have ever imagined. Who knew that when I registered the domain name and shot the collection of photographs of my daughter and the Brownie on a whim that this collaborative photo blog would come to fruition as it is now? I feel like the quintessential proud parent.

It could have never come to be if it wasn’t for the help of ten women, all of whom have worked by my side in one way or another, like my own community of doulas; dedicated, attentive, encouraging, focused, kind and creative. Two of these women played hard-core advocates, never wavering in their support. Hello Jen and Myriam. The other eight are the contributors you will find here who day in and day out have provided rich content, ideas, artwork, html code and above all else, beautiful photographs. And then there’s all of you. I am so happy to have you here for the big debut. The site is still in its infancy so there are surely kinks to iron out but we are all eager to hear your thoughts and get your input.

I am so grateful for all of you...the community of creative women that have helped birth what is now Shutter Sisters and I look forward to what the future holds. They say it takes a village and I believe them.

Blinded by the white

In Photoshop Lightroom there is a slide option called recovery. In Tracey terms I’m pretty sure it means ‘use this on your photo if you want to recover any lost information that you blew out in a highlight’. I have fooled with it before and it can be a lifesaver if you are in need of eeking out as much as you can from the part of your image that may have illusively disappeared into The Great Bright White. The results aren’t always as effective as one might hope (depending on how white is white) but it can really help sometimes.

To be honest though, I am a little torn about recovery. I know a number of people that don’t have a lot of tolerance for blown out highlights and therefore might recommend it. But, I’m a little more open to looking at things differently. I think that some of the images I have seen—and shot--with grossly overexposed highlights can work quite nicely, thank you.

I don’t know if I can always explain why I like what I like, but I know it when I see it and when I do, there is no recovery needed. And no apologies either.

a mother's prerogative

Being a camera wielding mama can mean breaching all sorts of what might be considered normal boundaries. Because my photo pattern is to capture more of life’s everyday occurrences over the big events, I find myself taking pictures of the most mundane, and perhaps even the most private of moments.

Having a tween-aged daughter has reminded me that soon, very soon, the family shots I do decide to share with the world will have to be perhaps a tad more censored than they have been to date. On the other hand, I also have a preschooler under my roof and therefore still have some time to indulge myself in what I call the mother’s prerogative photo free-for-all.

Good times.

Finding my Center

What drives me to see photographic images everywhere I look? How, when life can be messy and the world ugly, can I just put my blinders and find beauty in even the unlikely places? Why is it impossible for me not to seek little tidbits of delight in the most mundane moments? When am I not captivated by the way light gives shape to a landscape, illuminates my children or highlights something ordinary that sits on my coffee table?

The answers aren’t clear to me and I don’t really know why I’m asking. But there is something curious here. I do know I am not alone. There is a community of us in which these same questions resonate. The reasons behind them do exist yet they are different for each of us.

For me, I believe that is in these details of daily life that I am delivered. Where there is beauty, there is peace. If I can look around my home, jam packed with vibrant family life (aka, dirty dishes, toys, books, mail, shoes, a ring around the bathtub—need I go on?) and look past the chaos, amidst what often overwhelms me and discover a tiny whisper of wonder, of calm, I am transported to the place within myself where reverie lives.

What about you? How do you answer the whys?

The Sparkle of Reinvention

On Christmas morning my youngest daughter was a scallywag princess, a keyboard playing ballerina and a tap dancing cowgirl all within a few hour timeframe. As she vacillated from one role to the next she confidently became her persona of choice without hesitation or apology. The family all encouraged her and played along as she reinvented herself via costume changes, hair and makeup and attitude. A lot of attitude. She was living each of the characters she longed to be in vivid color from cattle rustling swagger to dainty plie .

Today, as I thumb through the photos of a morning filled with impossible magic I know I have a lot to learn from a four year old. The freedom she allows herself to be exactly who she wants to be from one minute to the next is an example of how to live in the moment. No regret, no fear, just unbridled passion in forward motion.

In my creative journey I have come to a crossroads of sorts. I have approached a place where a whole new world is opening up to me as I truly begin to explore digital photography. I feel like I am learning to create my art via a brand new medium and as I do, I am changing and growing. This is a good thing, I know. But I can’t pretend that I’m not resistant sometimes. I have found myself clinging to my old ways, holding on to my self-proclaimed title of being a low-tech photographer. It’s where I have felt safe for so long; the place I have grown comfortable living even though I have long grown weary of it. I believe it’s time to step up for a costume change.

As the New Year begins, I am looking forward to letting go a little and dancing into the wide open spaces of reinvention. Now all I need is a pony and a comfortable pair of sparkle shoes.