(art)ifacts

Your environment can be deceiving. Just when you think there's nothing new left to discover in the familiar, there just might be something interesting to see. Take a few moments today to explore a familiar environment – your kitchen sink, the back porch, a corner of your cluttered desk, a glance across your bedroom, or the view on your drive to school. Stop and study the placement of artifacts and compose something artful without touching your subject. What do you see?

Scissors for cutting tops off freeze pops and a swatter for the flies. I shot this image on the barn beside the pool using the Hipstamatic app (Blanko film and John S lens). I then sharpened it a bit using the Photo fx app.

dreams

"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else."  - Erma Bombeck

As a parent, I have observed many milestones but there is something extra heartwarming about witnessing a kindred spirit's dreams coming true.  

Recently, one of my dear friends launched a custom cake business.  Looking for focus and direction, at the end of a thirty year marriage, she asked herself "Okay, what's next?"  She pulled her dreams off the shelf, blew off the cobwebs, set her intentions, and never looked back.

A month later, I am right by her side clicking away, just like a proud mother, documenting all the firsts. The first business cards.  The first clients.  The first wedding cake.  I am so proud and inspired.

Capturing the special moments in the lives of our loved ones is the best part of being a photographer. Spend some time today looking for all the dreams, big and small, that are coming true around you.  I invite you to share your images with us.

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.

life's focus

"Life has a way of coloring your way of living - but it's you who chooses the colors." - unknown

Don't you just love the simple wisdom of this quote?  As we go about our lives, it is so easy to get wrapped up in everyday dramas that play out around us.  When it gets overwhelming, I like to pick up my camera.  My lens becomes my filter. I am in complete control of what I see.  Real life is pushed aside and bliss rushes in.

In those moments, I seek out things that sooth my soul or tickle my funny bone. Saturated colors, my son's freckly nose, the silly antics of our five dogs, and focusing on the details... all help reenergize me for the next challenge that life throws my way. And you know that with three boys, it is guaranteed that more teen angst is peeking around the corner.

While I am not suggesting that you put blinders on, I do encourage you to spend some time looking at the world with selective focus.  Everything in life will become more enhanced. What was once taken for granted, such as a sunrise, a simple wildflower, or a quiet moment suddenly comes to life.

Today, focus on the little things in life that make you happy and share them here with us.

Images and words courtesy of the Tammy Lee Bradley, founder of Mortal Muses and newest contributor to Shutter Sisters. YAY! You can find her on Facebook and her blog Bliss and Folly, as well. Help us give her a warm sisterly welcome!

summer color

1. Picture Summer | Day Eight, 2. Coca-Cola from the 1980s, 3. got a thing for red shoes, 4. Untitled, 5. boom!, 6. My number one copilot.

I've got to admit, few things make me giddier than little splashes of summer red.

How about you? What is your summer color? Today show us the vibrant hues and soulful shades that are defining your summer life.

Photos from our Shutter Sisters Flickr Group