something red

People often ask me if Elevate the Everyday is about photography and I can only answer this; yes and no. Yes, it's about how to use the creative tool of photography to focus on the little things that matter most but no because even before photography there's the art of observation. And I feel like that kind of observing or perhaps better said, seeing, is even more important than the photography itself. Without the seeing, what could we possibly be shooting?

Dorthea Lange said, The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. Eureka!

What is it that we do each and every day with our cameras? We see. When we are compelled to hold up our camera to our eye, it's because we have seen something that moved us in such a way that we just had capture it. And when we put our cameras down, we still see. The beauty, the wonder, the awesome, the everyday, elevated.

Over the years I've realized that my photography has heightened my way of seeing. Everything to me is photo worthy now. But, it's been a slow evolution, this honing of my vision. But, the best part is, the more I am open to it, the more I see and the more magic appears. This is exactly what elevating the everyday means; capturing that magic in a photograph. Something tells me, you can relate.

As you are open to all that your everyday life has to offer, watch for the magic. Today's prompt is Something Red. My guess is that it will show up everywhere. Please share what red you find with us here in the comments. Be sure to tag all of your images you share through your social media platforms #sselevate.

And check out our partner in elevating the everyday this month, Paper Coterie. They've got all kinds of magic happening over there, like a giveaway(of a camera-eeep!) and fun, free printables from some of my favorite peopleall month long. YAY!

Elevate the Everyday

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them to an art." -William Morris

What better way to spend the whole of August than to turn our attention toward all the details of our daily life and elevate them to a photographic art? As we kick off a brand new One Word Project, we invite you to join us and the amazing folks at Paper Coterie as we ELEVATE the next 31 days.

Inspired by the arrival of my new book Elevate the Everyday, we want to focus on all the parts of our lives that can so often be overlooked; those spaces and places, affections and connections, routines, milestones and details that make our ordinary life so extraordinary. And there is no better time to begin than right now!

Stating today we will prompt you to discover something that you can elevate, through your lens, from your heart. August promises to be full of inspiration and insights, gratitude and creative joy. Just take a peek at our calendar and you'll see what I mean! We are so excited to have you with us as we elevate the everyday together.

And just to elevate things, Paper Coterie is offering a 25% discount when you buy a copy of the book and/or any of the lovely products from the companion series. There's even a limited edition bookmark signed by yours truly included in your book order while supply lasts! Fun!

We will also be giving away a few copies of the book this month too...starting right now! Just leave your comment here between today and midnight Friday night EST for a chance to win your copy! Wheeee!

Be sure to tag your elevate images with our tag #sselevate in whatever social media platform you're on! And don't forget we've got a OWP flickr group too so add your images to the pool for a chance to be featured here.

YAY! We can't wait to elevate!

weekending by tamar haytayan

Tamar Haytayan shoots images like this with her Nikon D80 and D5100 and spends her weekends with her family in beautiful rainy Vancouver, relaxing, cooking, clicking, and trying to find some time for herself in between.

Tamar can be found online on her blog Colour of Pomegranates and on Flickr.

Won't you share with us the kinds of things you discover while you're weekending?

To be featured on our weekending series, email us an image that tells your weekending story.

rose-colored glasses

I headed out for a photo walk around my neighborhood today, wandering the cherry tree lined streets.  There is something about the act of walking even only a few blocks in search of photos that always shifts things for me.

When I go on these walks I feel like I put on my rose colored glasses and become a treasure hunter of beauty.  Today I find it in cherry blossoms that have fallen from the tree and their soft delicate petals.

No matter what else is going, when I make this space to wander, take pictures and look for beauty, it re-energizes me like nothing else does.   It invites me to slow down, to engage with the light and the natural world around me.  This practice of seeking beauty with my camera has been a lifeline from darkness to light.

When I first began exploring photography I was going through some drastic life changes.  I knew the way I had been living wasn’t working for me anymore.  I was living for everyone else and not for myself.

So I reverted into a cocoon for a while, craving even more time alone than my usual introvert self needed.  I wanted to be alone and figure out who I was separate from all the outside perceptions.

I went in search.  I didn’t know how to find what I needed or even that photography would lead me there.  It was just something I could do in which there was peaceful yet creative time alone.  I knew that was the first clue to finding my way back to myself and to happiness, simply because of the way it made me feel.

I went in search of beauty and when you go in search of beauty, you find it.

At times it seems like we aren’t supposed to tell our stories with rose colored glasses, muting out the rough in favor of the radiant, the flowery, the beautiful.  Yet looking for the positive, for little bits of beauty, isn’t denying that life has rough patches: that there are broken branches or muddy puddles around those gorgeous pink blossoms.  Rather, it is a way to focus on what is positive even if times are rough (especially when they are).  That doesn’t mean denying the rough patches, but rather using photography as a tool to engage with the world around us in a way that lifts us up. 

Even these years later, I’m doing the same thing I did when this creative journey began, seeking bits of beauty.

You could say that seeing the world through rose-colored glasses is what saved and transformed my life. Seeing the beauty around me helped me find my way back to happiness again and to discover the beauty within me by documenting the beauty around me.

Will you join me today in documenting some of the beauty around you?  Let’s put on our rose-colored glasses and go treasure hunting for beauty.  Be it a flower petal, a person you love, or the beauty you see in yourself today?

Image and words by guest blogger Vivienne McMaster.

weekending by Mary Frances

Mary Frances shoots images like this with her Nikon D90 and spends her weekends like lots of other people: enjoying friends and family and food and sun and housework and crafts and especially her two boys and husband. 

You can find her on flickr and, from time to time, blogging at this is marzipan.

How are you enjoying your weekend? Share your shots here.