some wonderful alignment of events

"I often think of that rare fulfilling joy, when I am in the presence of some wonderful alignment of events. Where the light, the colour, the shapes and the balance all interlock so beautifully that I feel truly overwhelmed by the wonder of it." - Charlie Waite

It may not be your best shot, nor a technically perfect one. But you knew when you saw it. The wonderful alignment of events.

Today share it with us.

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We are giving away one $100 Paper Coterie gift card EVERY SINGLE DAY of September 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. And be sure to keep shooting your own stories and adding them to the OWP Pool on Flickr where you have a second chance at winning one of those $100 Paper Coterie giveaways.

autumn lovin'

There is just so much to love about autumn; the vibrant colors, fallen leaves, crisp air, yummy warm drinks, and bountiful harvest blessings. 

But I think my favorite thing of all is pulling out the warm sweaters, blue jeans, wooly socks.... and yes my Uggs.

This image tells the story of a typical autumn day in my life; both the beginning and the end. I walk into the studio, Ben right along side me. He heads to his cozy sheepskin bed and I slip into my wooly Uggs. And our day begins. At the end of the day, off come the Uggs and there they sit, ready and waiting for tomorrow.

Today, share a little something you just love about autumn? Maybe it's your Uggs too, or a favorite sweater, perhaps a cup of tea,  the harvest, warm colors, pumpkins, quiet time on a cool afternoon, sunflowers, fallen acorns. Please share your autumn lovin' with us today.

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And remember that with your comment comes the chance to win a very special September gift; a $100 gift certificate courtesy of Paper Coterie in honor of the Everyday Storytellers and our One Word Project this month; story.

composing ourselves

1. Hooray for Summer ! Bright Red Umbrellas and a Very Blue Sky, 2. {223:365} - Soar, 3. Why she wakes early, 4. Summer Love, 5. Pencils, 6. Fifty two on Friday -Feet edition, 7. iphone friday, 8. chloe's big day., 9. Better Days, 10. Nap, August 11th, 2:38pm, 11. Gerbera Fairy..., 12. In My Eyes, 13. nothing in life is ritual, 14. i'm kinda falling in love again, 15. 100/365, 16. this is where im from., 17. Wormsloe Marshes, 18. Cute As A Button, 19. Ferry trip, 20. Untitled, 21. drops, 22. from where I stand, 23. C A K E, 24. Globe Thistle

I was so inspired by the  thoughtful and insightful comments shared on my post the other day posing the question, "what is photography to YOU." Awesome stuff sisters! You, as always totally inspire me!

And so, in honor of  the creative spark of conversation and the art of composition we are doing a giveaway today for one complimentary registration for my e-class of the same name. The super-fun twist is that there's actually 3 ways to win! 3 is the magic number afterall (at least compositionally speaking).

Beyond our giveaway, I'm hosting a giveaway on my own blog this weekend too and the lovely and talented Ali Edwards is giving a spot away next weekend as an added bonus. That is 3 spots up for grabs in the next week! Woohoo! Be sure to leave a comment on all the posts to better your odds of winning.

I'm more excited than ever about the class and all the wonderful things we're going to cover in The Art of Composition.

Today, all you need to do is leave your comment here between now and 8pm PST on Sunday for a chance to win a seat in the front roll of class (virtually that is).  And while you're here, we'd love to see some of your compositional handiwork. Got a shot to share? You know we'd love to see it.

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And the winner is...

Arin S. YAY! Congrats! And thanks to everyone for your comments.

A Touch of Drama

mouse over to see the original image.

There's a beautiful field of black-eyed susans on the trail, Ben and I walk each day. They are such a happy flower...one of my favs, for sure.

I took my camera out the other day, so I could capture the gorgeous yellow before it fades away. The summer, as always, is flying by so quickly. 

After I snapped a ton of yellow field photos, I thought I'd focus in on just one. I got down on the ground and shot from below. I love the dramatic feel of the capture. The sweet susie seems to appear strong and stately.

I decided to add some texture, just to give it a little more drama.

What can I say? I can't help myself! 'smile'....

Here's my photoshop recipe.

• Ran the MCP Action, called charming, from The Fusion Collection. I love what it did to the sky.
• Added a layer of Light Paper 4 texture (part of The Ultimate Texture Bundle) at soft light 100% opacity.
• Added a layer of Waterstained Framed at soft light 100% opacity. (the latest Texture Lovin' List freebie)
• Created a new blank layer. I set the layer blend mode to soft light and with a black soft round brush at 50% opacity I painted over the petals and leaves, and a little around the edges of the photo. (a simple and fab non-destructive 'burn' technique.)

There's all kinds of tricks for creating drama. You can add a little something extra in your post-processing, or shoot from below, or maybe from above, maybe with a wide angle or perhaps up-close. 

Share a little something dramatic with us today.

the art of composition

Composition starts when you situate your camera in space in relation to the object. For me, photography is the exploration in reality of the rhythm of surfaces, lines, or values; the eye carves out its subject, and the camera has only to do its work. That work is simply to print the eye’s decision on film. - Henri Cartier-Bresson

For quite some time I've been conjuring up and creating content for my soon-coming class "The Art of Composition"; recalling all the lessons I learned in past art classes, observing my process of compsosing shots, examining my images and those of others and taking a lot of notes on all of it.

All up in my own head, I've been eager to learn more about what some of the photographers of the past have said on the topic of creating and composing their images.

I stumbled upon a collection of Henri Cartier-Bresson's quotes and I read page after page of his thoughts on photography; so many of which deeply inspired me as I nodded my head along with his words, yes, yes.

But, the more I read the more I would find a line or two; a comment or belief where I wasn't so sure. Do I agree with that? Does that ring true for me?

And then I did the same for a number of other world renowned, well-respected photographers. Reading, contemplating, agreeing and also disagreeing. Of course that's the case. It would be highly unlikely and very unnatural to agree with everything another photographer thought about photography. But, it was so illuminating.

The fact is, our photography is ours. How we approach it should be unique to who we are.  How we live our photographic bliss is totally up to us. There will be so many things we will agree on. Our passion for photography for one thing. But not everything. And that is totally how it should be.

What is photography for you? Share your thoughts or better yet, share a photograph. Something that shows us YOUR photography.