an invitation to the weekend

The weekend.

There is nothing like it. A time to rest, rejuvinate, refuel. A time to wind down or wind up. A time to settle in or skip out. A time for family and friends, comfort and joy.

The weekend.

No matter how many have come and gone, as each new one approaches we look forward to it like a gift we cannot wait to open. And somehow we are surprised and delighted each and every week. As so it goes on and on.

The weekend.

For us, lovers of photography, there can be no better time to shoot. And because we want to honor not only the magic that is the weekend but also the Universal deep need to end the week and then begin it again with this sacred time of respite, we would like to invite you to share your weekends with us.

The weekend.

Starting in March we will be featuring weekend images from you here at Shutter Sisters. What does the weekend look like at your house? What moments capture the attention of your lens? What activities (or non-activities) do you hold dear at week's end? What do you create, cherish, capture when the weekend arrives yet again at your door?

Answer these questions for us in your images. Share some words if you want. Throw in a quote. Include a link. Tell us who you are and where we can find you online. Share yourself and your weekends with us and you might be featured right here in our new weekend series that will be posted each Saturday and will be featured through Sunday too. Because weekends are supposed to have two full days of goodness to enjoy.

If you would like to submit your weekend images for consideration in our weekend series, please send your shot(s) via email to us at click [at] shuttersisters [dot] com with the subject weekend. We can't wait to see how you do weekends and begin our series in March! Give us a hint in the comments today.

And above all else, enjoy. The weekend.

Story Time

We indeed are the lucky ones. The ones who not only have creative tools at our fingertips but the ones who use those tools to tell the stories of us. Our milestones, our struggles, our successes, our relationships, our family, our love, our joy, our daily lives, our most mundane and our most magic. We point, focus, shoot. We talk, write, share. And with it all, we are documenting what's most important to us.  We are writing the story of our lives, with every photograph, every word, every memory.

This month you are invited to join us as we honor the power, the beauty and the truth of our stories. It's definitly going to be a celebration as we join forces with the amazing folks of Paper Coterie. This month they introduce their Everyday Storytellers; some amazing women (who you may recognize) who will be sharing their stories over there in hopes to encourage you to tell your own, which is why for this very special One Word Project we have chosen the word story.

As we head into September, the summer bids us farewell, the kids get back to school and routines settle in, let's have our very own, grown-up girl, Shutter Sister Story Time!  Heck, why not make it a party! Our stories are worth all the hoop-la!

What would a party be without presents and prizes? Your heard right, we've got lots of gifts to give this month thanks to Paper Coterie. They really know how to throw a party!

Can't wait another minute to hear more? Then let us unwrap it for you...everyone who chooses to share an image with us in our One Word Project flickr pool this month will receive a special gift from Paper Coterie! Everyone! All you have to do is:

1. shoot your story (for more info about how the OWP works, check out the about page)

2. upload your image to the Shutter Sisters OWP pool on Flickr (tag it "story")

3. visit Paper Coterie on Facebook and tell them, that you shared a story with Shutter Sisters

4. graciously receive your gift

And be sure to check in each day on the OWP photo features page here at Shutter Sisters to see if your images gets featured. If it does you'll be getting a bonus gift from Paper Coterie. That's 29 story winners this month! Totally awesome!

And if that's not enough, we will be giving away one $100 gift card EVERY SINGLE DAY of September (starting today) to one of YOU! All you have to do is share a comment each day before midnight EST for your chance to win that day's random drawing. Be sure to leave links to your story shots.

Can you imagine?? All this goodness just for doing something you already do? Tell your story. We just love that!

It's going to be quite a story celebration this month, isn't it? We're so glad to have you at our story time party with Paper Coterie and Everyday Storytellers. As far as we're concerned, September doesn't get better than this!

choose your own adventure

Happy August!

The sun tilts just a bit now with golden light and long nights. Crickets chirp, dune grass holds fast. This last month of summer is upon us. Time moves too fast! With a fleeting worry of things to be done, we approach this month with great gusto. To do all we have wanted, to spend our time wisely in appreciation of the many gifts of summer.

August kicks off our month of adventure here at Shutter Sisters. Oh the things to come! Oh the excitement! With newness fresh on our lips, with our hearts full of exploration, we introduce the new One Word Prompt: Adventure!

This August I am going on my own adventure, and so it was in the heat of my Texas backyard I celebrated this newsworthy adventure with self and flowers and sunflare. So tell me, where will August lead you? What plans have you made? Share your realities and dreams with us in the comments below. And be sure to choose your own adventure this month, however big or small. And celebrate with our community in the OWP flickr pool, it's full of inspiration!

b kind to Earth

Earth day is just around the bend and we are thrilled to be celebrating with the likes of The Motherhood, Nickelodeon and the National Wildlife Federation in their B Kind 2 Earth Day incentive. What's it all about? Just a great way to get a lot of people committed to doing something kind for the earth this Earth Day. What's not to love?

Won't you join us as we begin the celebration now through blog posts, tweets and facebook notes as well as photos (lots and lots of gloriously green photos)? However you choose to participate, pop over the the B Kind 2 Earth Day Facebook page and let everyone know what's on your mind as Earth Day approaches.  And we invite you to add your Earth Day (and before) photos to our Flickr pool and tag them #kind2earth so we can keep track of all the wonderful stuff you're doing!

Let's see how you capture a little bit of kindness today!

Sharing the Spark

We are beyond thrilled to announce our brand new regular column Point of Focus that will be featured in Digital Photo Magazine. We will be sharing our Shutter Sisterseque photographic passion on the pages of the widely respected publication, both in the hard copy of the magazine and also in the new digital version via Zinio. Yes, you can now get DP Mag for your computer and/or ipad. Enter balloons, streamers and crowd cheers here. 

We kick off our column in the current issue with a story, in true Shutter Sisters style, along with some tips and tricks on how to stoke your photographic spark. You'll have to check it out!

In honor of our first column, share with us today how you keep your photographic spark fired up. Got any tricks of your own? Let's get a list going of how you let your photographic heart wander.

And let's toss in a giveaway too. We've got 3 copies of the current issues of both Digital Photo Magazine and their sister publication Digital Photo Pro. We'll randomly choose 3 winners so leave your comment (you have until Thursday midnight EST to be entered in the giveaway) and share your spark.

And winners are Jessica, Suddenly Susan, Tonette B. Check your inboxes ladies. Yay you!