get your mobile moment on tv network ovation

Two years ago I was hard at work on Project 365, hauling around my hefty digital SLR in a backpack that served as my purse each day for 365 days. And while that experience taught me to move through the day in a more observant way, the weight of that camera held me back, though I didn't realize it at the time.

When I saw something that moved me, I'd have to take the backpack off, fumble with it to extract my camera, turn the camera on and take off the lens cap, manually adjust the settings, make a few images, turn the camera off, figure out where I put the lens cap and put it back on the camera, squeeze the camera back into my backpack, and put the pack back on my back. And the images had no where to go. They sat on my camera until I got home and squeezed in the time to plug in my USB cable, download the images to my computer, process them, export them, and then upload them to my blog to share the experience. And if I remembered, I might tweet a link to the post to my Twitter followers. This process could easily take 24 hours or more.

Since January, I'm once again shooting everyday but in a very different way. I'm shooting, processing and sharing images exclusively with my iPhone. Now, don't get me wrong, my iPhone has not replaced my SLR, but it's expanding my creative capacity. It's freed me up to make and share images more spontaneously as I move through the day. So now, when I see that fleeting magic moment, I can very quickly lift my iPhone, shoot, process, post the image to my iPhoneography journal powered by Posterous (via email), and see a link to the image automatically appear as a tweet in my Twitter stream. This entire process takes less than 60 seconds and keeps my creativity firing more frequently each day.

In fact, had it not been for my iPhone, I wouldn't have been able to share real-time images documenting Odette's much anticipated reunion with her daughters from Rwanda and the tenderness of a heroic Jen Lemen with all of you on Twitter. Sure, I made my best images from that week-long documentary experience with my SLR, but the iPhone images served a critical purpose... they connected nearly 3,000 of us in the moment as the moment occured.

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So now it's your chance to document the corners of your world with your iPhone or your cell phone for Ovations Framed Art Race 2010 competition. Upload your most creative cell phone images to the Ovation community for a chance to be showcased in a My Art spot on air. But you've got to move fast, the deadline to get your shots in is tomorrow, May 8! Good luck

The flower button

There are times when I'd rather not lug around my dSLR camera (most recently a weekend trip to Kansas City). On these occasions I just don't want to be weighed down with a bulky camera but still want the option of capturing memories or interesting scenery. And that's where my trusty point and shoot comes in handy. I have learned a few tricks along the way to help these photos seem like higher quality photos than they truly are. Of course, composition plays a large role in a successful photo, no matter how fancy your camera is. And learning to find the best lighting can take any photo to another level. But often, my favorite tool is the "flower button". On my camera, this button is a small flower icon on the back of my camera right next to a mountain icon. I would imagine my camera's manual would tell me the precise name for this function, but I prefer to call it the "flower button". Its job is to act as sort of a macro lens by focusing on something in the foreground while providing a very shallow depth of field. It's great for flowers, but I have also used it for portraits or architectural details, such as an iron fence. Most newer model point and shoot cameras will have a similar function, but it may have a different icon or be called "macro". I am always surprised at how quickly that nice shallow depth of field can instantly transform a boring snapshot into a more striking image.

Do you have any tricks for having more control over the quality of your point and shoot photos? I'd love to add to my bag of tricks.

body type

Let's talk camera bodies! A few weeks ago I had a first hand experience with shutter death. It was quick (and totally unexpected... um, and not so much painless.) It left me without so much as a goodbye from my beloved Nikon. It also left my hands empty and found my heart wanting.

Well, now what am I supposed to do? How do I create without the perfection of glass and mirror? I did what my heart insisted. I started a project.

This blend of photography and words might manifest a camera. But what camera? I've been pouring over all the reviews... but what I really want is the opinion of fellow Shutter Sisters shooting every day just like me.

So let's sit down and chat about camera bodies, shall we? What's your opinion? Share it in the comments today. Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Polaroid? Let us know your favorite camera. What do you shoot with every day? What camera would you never leave home without? I want to hear your suggestions, your stories, your thoughts on what camera body you own or would love to own.

Experimenting

I don't know for how long I had been salivating over Polaroid images from fellow photographers and wondering what sorts of images I could shoot if only I had the guts to try it. But no, instead of playing and experimenting, I held back because I felt some sort of confinement within the type of photography I usually do: sharp, saturated, colorful. I did not want to get out of my style box so to speak.

Then just before my recent trip to Mexico, I had a moment of compulsion and ordered a refurbished SX70 and a few packs of TZ & 600 film from the Impossible Project shop. Gulp! A few hundreds of dollars later I was highly committed to at least try it out, even if I had to hide the results forever inside a trunk in the attic!

Little did I know that it would be so much fun! Not only did I gasp at each step of the analog process with child's delight, but I also fell in love with the results achieved by trying out the different types of film. For some of you old school photographers, this may be as trivial as rice and beans. But for a digital self taught girl like me, this experience was an exciting gourmet experience. And the results were fun to see, because despite the medium, I realized that my eyes still capture and frame things the same way, which was really reaffirming and heart warming for me.

This week, I encourage you to get out of your box. If you've been shooting with a zoom lens for too long, try a prime. If you have been shooting digital, try film. If you always do color, play with black and white. Let's challenge our brain and stretch those creative muscles!

What has been begging you to try new ways to experiment? If you have already been experimenting, show us what you've got, we'd love to see!

give-away!

What's your latest epiphanie? Leave a comment here, and enter to win a free camera bag of your choice. Or read details here to find out how you could win a brand new Canon Mark II or a $2500 gift certficate to Southwest Air.

Have fun and good luck! :)

**UPDATE**

Chosen by random integer generator: The winner of a new camera bag of their choice is Christina from My Topography!!! Congratulations! Thank you everyone for playing! I had so much fun reading through all these really thoughtful posts. :)