We're going to Disneyland!

I take it as a personal challenge to shoot in a location where just about every other person there has a camera in hand as well. Every where you look mothers are begging their children to smile next to the furry character and tourists are clicking away to capture the Disney iconic rides and locals with the fervor of a wild game hunt. I make it a point every time I visit, to find the photographs that NO ONE else has yet to capture. It’s an ambitious task, but each visit I am certain I will get great shots. And Disneyland never fails to disappoint.

The added bonus? No one looks at you sideways when you feel compelled to lay down on the ground to get the ultimate shot of the Penny Arcade with a delicious sky. Well, except your husband and kids that is....

Our guess is that you have visited and photographed a highly trafficked and dare we say overexposed locale? Did you go out of your way to discover something else no one else might have discovered? Or framed it with your own unique perspective? Do share your vision.

Photo and words courtesy of Guest Blogger / Honorary Sister Marcy Massura.

Hope Knows How to Wait

 

Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have. ---H. Jackson Brown Jr.

There's something about words along side an image that helps the viewer see what you see in a whole new light. No matter how powerful our images, words take us somewhere new. Words frame what we see. Words highlight something that previously was hidden.

What words come to mind when you consider your favorite images? Feel free to share a pair--a favorite quote along side a photo--in the comments below.

sunday school: keep your eyes (and heart) wide open

a little message from the universe to me, Greenwich Village, NYC

Sunday School posts are technically supposed to be, well, technical in nature, at least a little bit, but if there's one thing I l've learned about meaningful photography, it's that it doesn't matter if you know everything there is to know about technique if you haven't discovered YOUR unique way of seeing the world, your very own vision.  This is what I've been exploring lately.  I currently feel like I'm going through a crash course on who I am as a person, which helps to shed light on who I am as an artist and what I really want to do as a photographer. I am getting messages everywhere I look these days, it seems, the very messages and lessons I need to peel away the self-protective layers I've grown over the years that have kept my true self from the light.

So how do you discover your own personal vision as a photographer?  How do you develop a unique way of seeing the world that is reflected in your photography?  I'm sure the answer is different for everybody.  Here are just a few things that I've personally found helpful:

• When I look at other people's photography, I take note of what lights my fire.  The kinds of images that make my heart leap are usually the kind of photography I feel compelled to capture in my own life.  For some folks, it's "in-the-moment" portraits or nature or little details that can easily go unnoticed.  Whatever it might be, recognizing it in other people's photos may give you guidance on what to be on the lookout for.
• The year before I got my first digital camera, I journaled in the form of letters to my good friend who was living in California at the time.  By getting in the habit of writing down the details of what I was seeing, I unintentionally prepared my eyes for observing the world through a viewfinder and for telling a story through the images I captured.  Except for blogging, I haven't done much writing for a number of years now, and I'm just getting back into journaling with pen and paper.  I find that this habit instills in me in the practice of awareness, which helps to keep my eyes open for the images I want to capture.
• I believe that part of receiving a clarity of vision is becoming comfortable in your own skin.  This, for me, has been the hardest part, for it requires keeping my heart wide open to embrace the truth of who I am while sweeping out the lies that cloud my vision of self and the world around me.  It means letting others see who you are and hearing what they have to say.  If you're like me and have a hard time receiving kind words from others, if you give yourself permission to keep your ears and heart wide open, this may be what finally makes the scales fall from your eyes so that you can see yourself as you really and truly are.  Once you've seen that, it's bound to be reflected in how you see the world, whether it's through your eyes, your heart or your viewfinder.

How about you?  What are your tips for keeping your eyes and heart wide open to the world around you?  And please feel free to share with us what you've seen.

a city's embrace

On Sunday bloggers scattered -- some to the airport, others to shop. Many ended up at the Art Institute of Chicago. I stood in front of Picasso's Nude Under a Pine Tree as a couple approached.

I love this one, said the woman. Their eyes travelled over the canvas. She continued, speaking softly as though in a church. He didn't see a nose or legs or breasts. He saw bodies and faces as shapes, as triangles and squares. And so that's how he painted them.

In Chicago I couldn't get enough of line and shape. Containers of electricity all standing poised, perhaps slightly forward, into the wind. We were all overwhelmed. There were tears, and there was delight and mischief. But most of all there was recognition.

I know you! I see you. Come over here. You are shaped like me.

Empty spaces smile, waiting to be filled.

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Today, think like Picasso. Show me photographs that crackle with line and shape -- and not just explicitly. Blur your eyes from simple subjects and see blocks of colour, balance, interplay. And share!

Pictured above, clockwise l-r: Chicago reflected in the mirrorball; serenity at the Art Institute; downtown seen through an Institute window; the lovely Jenny the Bloggess.

water, water everywhere

I've always loved the organic nature of water -- I've even dedicated an entire project to it on my blog.  So last week, when the temperatures in Houston were hovering near the 100s and I decided to take my daughter and her friend to play in the fountains of Discovery Green in downtown Houston,  I relished the opportunity to shoot some more water shots.

So on these hazy, lazy days of summer, share with us your own water shots, whether they be of a glass filled with icecubes, or a serene beach shot.