minimalist

Sometimes I fill my photographic canvas, from edge to edge, corner to corner. But sometimes, keeping the frame open can be as effective in capturing the moment at hand, if not more so.

I'm a believer in the idea that we often shoot images that evoke the kinds of emotions that we are experiencing at the time we shoot an image. I'm pretty sure it's not even voluntary. I think our photography, our art, is an expression of not only who we are but what we are feeling.

As I look at this shot of minimalist beauty, I recognize the peace I was feeling at the time. It was as if the view from my window seat was like a mirror.

There could never be a shot that speaks more of a quiet calm that something like this image; so sparse and simple.

Have you ever captured something so simple, so sparing that embodied so much emotion? Do share something today that quietly stirs you soul.

Telling the Story

I love for my photos to tell a story.  I want (and hope) for people to feel the emotion that I'm trying to convey through my photography.  It was only natural that once my son joined his high school marching band this year that I was going to photograph them.  Sure, I could take all the group shots and field performance shots of them I want, but that wouldn't really tell their story.  When I took the photos above and then put them together in a diptych, the photos took on a whole different meaning.  These aren't just a bunch of kids marching around on a field at the half-time of a football game.  These are kids that are proudly disciplined and take what they do seriously.  Wow, you make us look so important, my son said upon seeing this.  Exactly, I said.  For my 14 year old to tell me that, my story telling skills are obviously doing just fine.

Today, share your photo stories with us. We'd love to see them.

Point of Focus

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein

Perhaps no one knows better than photographers that it's all a matter of perspective. So, this month we ask you to share with us what it is exactly that you choose to focus on. How do you look at your life? Do you focus on family? Friends? The big picture? The little things? We'd bet that with every click of the shutter you choose to focus on the miracles, whatever they are for you.

I guess it's obvious now that our One Word for November's One Word Project is focus.

With the help of Focal Press (our fantastic publisher to whom we are so grateful) we will be spending the month gathering images that focus on what t is most important to us as Shutter Sisters. And just looking through our Flickr pools, that focus (or lack of it which is equally as beautiful) is on some pretty amazing stuff.

So, as we begin this month (albeit we're a few days into it already) let's see where you choose to focus.

A few of us are focusing on a trip to NY where we will be gathering for a Snap Happy Hour in celebration of our sisterhood and the launch of our book Expressive Photography. Have you heard? Can you join us? You're invited you know. Pop over to our facebook event page and let us know if you can make it. A special thanks to Focal Press and Renaissance Times Square for helping us make it happen. YAY!

fish out of water

These early days of motherhood have been quite the challenge for me when it comes to my photography. Truth be told, (I don't know what I was thinking...) I did not expect that I would be spending so much time at home, and that I would be shooting more at home as well.

As it turns out, I'm feeling like a fish out of water! Shooting at home is totally out of my comfort zone. I'm noticing that it feels very strange for me to photograph my home, my belongings, my family... I realized that all these years I have been focused on capturing only the outside: my travels, people, models on location, etc. Staying close to my heart is making me feel vulnerable. Do you ever get that? I suspect good expressive photography can come out of exploring these emotions. But I definitely need some warming up, which is why I'm sitting with this delicious book for inspiration and guidance.

In the meantime, since many of you are masters at documenting your lives, would you share with me some of your best domestic shots today? Show me those jackets hanging by your front door, the light coming through your window, your walls, your meals, even those dust bunnies under your bed. I want to be inspired by the real deal. Show me how to open up.

What Really Matters

What happens when you choose once and for all to put what matters to you in the viewfinder, regardless of who approves or understands?

What happens when you claim your craft, your art, your expertise and stop asking anyone more established or proficient or experienced to say it's good enough?

What happens when you throw away the rule book and all the measuring sticks and just say what you were afraid to say all along?

I am a photographer.  Here is my work.  Learn from it.  Let it speak to you.

In many ways, this is what publishing Expressive Photography has meant to Tracey and the rest of us here at Shutter Sisters.  Many of us are not professionally trained photographers.  Most of us learned how to use our cameras on our own, asking questions from whoever had the time or patience to listen.  Some of us didn't know this was a passion until we looked through the lens at our ordinary lives and realized we were bearing witness to honest beauty and real magic.

Like many of you, our education in photography came over years, hand and hand with our own personal development.  While we were learning about aperture, composition and shutter speed, we were also mastering the art of how to see, how to really see what's worth honoring in an everyday life.

Not everyone will appreciate our particular contribution to the photography conversation at large.  A quick scan of certain reviews and the Shutter Sisters inbox reveals that Expressive Photography has actually riled some members of the old guard--an outdated and small contigent of the fading old boys club that has dominated the professional photography scene for so long. 

But times are changing.  At this particular moment in history, it's no longer enough to have the longest lens or the most sophisticated mastery of your technical skills.  What matters is your ability to infuse your work with heart and soul--whether you're standing on the fields of Rwanda watching two young girls wait for a miracle or whether the miracle is already standing in your own backyard. 

This is why we wrote Expressive Photography.  We believe in what you see, and we know that this book will inspire and help you show everything your soul already knows about what matters the very most.

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Today, on this last day of the month where our One Word Project encouraged you to "express" yourself, we're asking those of you who have read our book to leave your comment in the review section of Expressive Photography at Amazon.  One line will do.  Help us tell the world why expressive photography matters--no matter what your point of view.