One Sweet Shutter Suite

Alas! It is the time to officially kick off our very special summer event, The Shutter Sister Shutter Suite presented by Aurora! BlogHer weekend is the perfect time and the Sheraton Chicago is the perfect place to gather and mingle together (in person!) sister to sister. You are all cordially invited to join in the festivities. We have amazing sponsors that are making it possible for us to create a sweet Suite experience you won't want to miss.

We're not announcing every little detail just yet (we're sneaky that way) but rest assured we've got some pretty cool plans for the weekend. We will be rolling out the goods as the date approaches on The Shutter Suite Blog we've created right here at Shutter Sisters. Be sure to click over daily to get updates! We've got our first post up there today so check it out.  And like we always say, when it comes to this amazing community, the more the merrier. All are welcome. It's gonna be sweet!

Speaking of sweet, don't forget to send in the link to your One Sweet Shot honoree this month because next Sunday is OSS for June. And by the way, we are loving the sweet shots in our One Word Project Flickr Pool as well. Keep up the super work.

In honor of all that is sweet and good, feel free today to leave a comment celebrating anything in your life that is particularly sweet right now. With the start of summer, my guess is there's plenty of goodness to share!

Still So Much to Share

When I saw this image in our OWP Pool for this months word Share, it melted my heart. Being a mama to a little girl who also held a stuffed bunny near and dear to her heart for years (she still sleeps with it at 11), I immediately associated Bebe's Bunny by KrispyCrunch6 with security, warmth, unconditional love, and sharing. And those are words I often use to describe what we've got happening over here at Shutter Sisters. Thanks to all of us working together in a collective group of creativity, support and acceptance, we have created a unique safe haven for sharing ourselves and our work. I honestly can't think of anything better.

Today is the last day of the month where we say good-bye to our last word and usher in a new one with the blank slate primed for our next challenge. Thanks to HP for being such terrific sponsors! But, I'll tell you, I really hate to see the word share go anywhere. So...let's make a pact. Let's always hold onto sharing around here. As a matter of fact, let's celebrate today, our last official day of the word share with a big huge sisterly Share Fest! Crowd goes wild.

Since we've launched this blog over 18 months ago we have gathered a stellar group of women photographers! And I am talking about all of you! Let's keep growing this community. Today, I ask each and every one of you to SHARE SHUTTER SISTERS! Blog about what's happening here, email your own personal Shutter Sisters, twitter, facebook, invite fellow Flickr friends and images you think are Shutter Sisters material into our pool, call people, talk about us...just share this community in any way that feels good to you!

We've got some great things brewing that we are eager to share with you all and the new friends you invite too so check back tomorrow when we announce the new word for next month's One Word Project and our super-sweet plans for BlogHer this summer in Chicago. It's going to be great, I promise.

And in appreciation of all of you jumping in with our Share Fest we will be giving one of you TWO Shutter Sisters Flash Bulb Necklaces. One for you and one for a friend. It just seems right. So, leave a comment here and tell us how you are sharing Shutter Sisters and you'll be entered in the random drawing. You have until midnight Tuesday night to comment. YAY!

If you haven't already, pop over to yesterday's post and comment there too. You'll be entered to win the National Geographic prize pack! You have until midnight tonight for that one. See?? It's just a big Share Fest around here!

Put Yourself Out There

When it comes to prestige and esteem in the world of photography I’m pretty sure that National Geographic is on the top of that list. To have images featured in a publication like that would be such an honor, it’s almost unfathomable. When I read about The Ultimate Photo Contest that they are hosting, along with Energizer and saw what the Grand Prize was, I was weak in the knees. A trip to the Galapagos Islands (for 2) with a National Geographic guide while the winning photo is featured in the magazine. Swooning on both accounts.

We all know what can happen when we put ourselves out there by sharing our passion and taking a chance on winning the jackpot. If anyone knows that trying can actually result in winning, it’s all of us here.

We often add contest links in our side notes here at Shutter Sisters to inform you of the photo contests we catch wind of. Like the Photography Book Now or the Images of the Year competitions. Consider our listings as gentle nudges to put yourself and your work out there! Many of you have enlightened us in our Flickr Pool discussionas well about contests, etc. Thank you for that. If there is ever anything that’s happening in the photo community that you want to bring to our attention you can email us too. We’re all ears.

And since I’ve still got National Geographic stars in my eyes I am thrilled to tell you that in light of The Ultimate Photo Contest they are giving away an adorable and cool USB Port Photo Print Scanner a subscription to National Geographic magazine and some Energizer Lithium Batteries to one lucky reader!

And don’t miss what the judge of the contest Jim Richards has to share. He’s got tips on photography and is even answering questions from the community. Something tells me, he knows what he’s talking about!

Leave your comment here for a chance to win today's cool prize package (you have until midnight on Monday to do so) and if you want to share a contest or something else that’s going on, we’d love to hear about it!

how i got my very first gallery exhibit

Last night, I had my very first gallery exhibit.  In describing the experience on my blog, I keep repeating words like "amazing." "Exhilarating." "Humbling."  It was one of my goals for 2009, and I have to say, I've now been bitten by the bug: I want more! More!  For those of you who've ever dreamt of attending a gallery opening of your own work, I highly recommend it.

This morning, I was trying to think of how this opportunity came to me (and how I can make it happen again), and admittedly, there was a great deal of luck involved.  But I did do a few things that I think helped the luck along, so I thought I'd share them here with you, in case you're ever of the mind to pursue a gallery opportunity.  And so, in no particular order:

1.  Join an organization.  As soon as I quit my job to pursue writing and photography full time, one of the first thing I did was join the American Society for Media Photographers as well as a local organization, Spacetaker.  At the time, my motivation to join these organization was mostly to connect with other photographers, and hopefully find a mentor; however, I admit that I have yet to attend one local meeting.  Still, I think the gallery where my work is currently being exhibited contacted one of these organizations and got their e-mail list, which is how I managed to receive an e-mail (along with countless other local photographers, I imagine), informing us of their upcoming photography show, and inviting us to submit.  It turns out that joining a local organization is a great way to "get your name out there."

2.  Shoot with projects in mind.  One of the things I've done recently is to shoot with projects in mind:  if I come up with an idea for a project, or I'm about to experience something new, I don't just shoot one image, but I shoot a series of images.  For example, the work that appeared in the show last night was the result of a series of shots I did when visiting a friend's ranch for the first time (and using my Kodak Duaflex viewfinder for the shots, to give them a special effect).  When the gallery contacted me, I therefore had a body of work ready to go to pitch to them as an idea for an exhibit.  Happily, they accepted.

3.  Group your projects together, and get them up on a website.  On my particular website, I have a section entitled "Projects" where the projects of which I'm most proud live.  Admittedly, my website is pretty fancy, but I don't think it has to be.  Many blogging software programs have "gallery" options for photographs, and there are some great websites that are designed just for photographers (SmugMug comes to mind).  The point is to put your projects somewhere where you can send a potential gallery a link for them to look through the images at their leisure.

And that's pretty much what I did -- again, in my case, serendipity had a lot to do with it.  I'd love to hear what those of you who are more seasoned did to get your first gallery showing -- please share in the comments.  And for those of you who've never shown your work publicly, is this something you dream of doing?  What additional tips might you all have to share?

The Glow of Good

Sometimes the planets align and everything we put our time and energy into comes together even better than we could have imagined. There’s really no way of knowing when a plan might happen like that but it’s always and pleasant and welcome surprise when it does.

A few weeks back a group of some very special Southern California women gathered in a loft in LA and enjoyed a night of crafting (see photo above), conversing, savoring, and sharing. We talked about photography, creating meaningful (and affordable) gifts and living a life that makes a difference in this world. We feasted on tantalizing delicacies and divine music but above all else, we sincerely enjoyed one another’s company.

During the rush of the season, I wish you evenings of memory making and magic where the glow of good company warms your heart.

 

In light of the goodness that was shared at the memorable LA event, HP is giving away one of their adorable and super-fun Compact Photo Printers to a shutter sister. You know the drill; leave a comment here to be entered into the random drawing. Good stuff!

And... speaking of the magic of a great event, if you think a Shutter Sisters gathering would be something you'd like to attend in the future, let's hear it. I think a Shutter Sisters Summit in 2009 sounds pretty good to me, what about you?