Heaven

Image shot with a Lensbaby.

On the first day of spring, we braved the cold Portland rain, threw our suitcases in the back of the car and headed for the airport. I couldn't help but feel giddy. Giddy to be leaving it all behind for a couple of days. And when our little plane finally landed in Palm Springs four hours later and we stepped out onto the tarmac, out into blinding bright sunshine and wide open blue skies, I wanted to cry. Giddy is maybe not even the word. This trip to Palm Springs had been in the works for months. The fine folks at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club had invited me down all the way back in August but due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn't actually able to take them up on the offer for a good six months. I know now that the timing was perfect, that the whole thing had come to fruition at exactly the right moment and as our cab pulled into the driveway of the Ace, I felt my shoulders relax. I looked at my sweet friend Nataly (who I'd invited along for the ride) and I think maybe I squealed, I don't know. 

When it comes to traveling, I am notorious for over-planning. I get excited about new cities, new places and want to learn everything I possibly can so that I can plan extraordinary experiences. I try to leave room for things to just happen but more often than not, we are rushing from one thing to the next. With Palm Springs, I let all that go. My only plan for our 48 hours was to just let things unfold. To raise my camera when it felt right. To wholly surrender to the experience. And for 48 hours, that's exactly what we did. We wandered the grounds and lounged in hammocks. We laid in bed and listened to records. We drank mexican coke in white flannel robes by the patio fireplace and ordered room service. We hopped in and out of the photobooth (and then in and out again) and borrowed bikes from the Ace to ride into town. We floated on our backs in the swimming pool and looked up at the stars. We sat in the quiet of the diner and talked. Sometimes I picked my camera up, sometimes I didn't. 

It was exquisite. 

I didn't want to leave. Ever. I wanted to send for my husband and children and maybe a few of our things. I wanted to start a new life in room 237. But when the time finally came to leave, I felt rested and ready to go, ready to take on the real world and a hundred other little things. And as our cab pulled away, my mind jumped ahead to October. I couldn't help but feel excited about Shutter Sisters Oasis. And I couldn't imagine a more perfect place for it. 

Today, share with us a time when you just let it all go, relaxed into life, and allowed it to unfold.

***Just a reminder: Registration for Oasis opens today, at 9am Pacific Standard Time. We do hope you can join us!***

two of our best

It's probably no secret that I use my iPhone about 99% of the time. I'm the first to admit that it's become my most favorite muse since I got it. And Instragram is my favorite way to use my iPhone. I've only recently begun to try different apps but I keep going back the the quick, easy and ever-effective Instragram.

I'm not the only one around here that is smitten. My teenage daughter also has been stung by the iBug (and she doesn't even have an iPhone). So, we spend our time passing my phone back and forth. Logging each other in and out and in again into our Instagram accounts. We shoot and share and show each other our handiwork. We oooo and aaaah at our work. We get excited about how we each see the world, compare secrets of each shot, we encourage each other.

Although it can be challenging sometimes, the trading back and forth, the logging in and logging out, I actually really enjoy it. I like getting to be a part of my daughter's photography process like this. I get to watch and witness her as she creates her art. It's a gift. At least until she gets her own iPhone.

I chose to share these two shots today as our Best Shot Monday. The image on the left is her best from this week. The right image is mine. I think we make a pretty good creative team.

Won't you share your Best Shot from the past week on this fine Monday? 

Best Shot Monday

 

Many moons ago I wrote a blog on website for moms called Club Mom (now called Café Mom). It was called Picture This. I met a number of you from that blog. Remember? Well, I sure do.  It’s where I first began this chapter of my life…of gathering with other women online. Women who loved photography and who (like me) wanted to share images and words about what mattered most to us. Who knew that the chapter at Picture This would turn into a novel which led to sequels and spin off stories such as my personal blog, the Picture Series and Shutter Sisters.

Every once in a while I muse about those days. I remember not really understanding what a blog was. I recall why I began a blog in the first place. I remember things I wrote about, pictures I shared and ways I enjoyed engaging with the women that found each other and came together. I can't help but ruminate on all the things that have changed since then; like digital photography becoming mainstream, photo editing becoming a part of the process and how shooting photos with your phone is totally normal (I never saw that one coming).  But a lot of things stayed the same. We’re all still here. Together. Gathering in a space where our stories, our photographs, our passions matter and are honored. It makes me really happy. I don’t know where I’d be without it. Without you.

The thing about looking back is that you remember things you miss about the old days. One of those things came to me recently in a quick flash. Best Shot Monday. I wonder if anyone else remembers that. I used to host it each Monday at Picture This and then on my personal blog. It was a place to share a weekly shot that you held dear. The one shot, above all others that you celebrated that week. No theme, no rules, no restrictions. Just an image you loved. Your Best Shot.

My featured image today is my Best Shot from this week. Maybe it’s because I used a brand new photo app to process it (hello Snapseed!) or maybe it’s the whimsical subject matter or maybe it’s because I captured it at the Instagram meetup where I spent time strolling and shooting with some awesome sisters on a picture perfect sunny Southern California day. Probably a little of all of these things but it really doesn’t matter. I just love it. And that’s what a Best Shot Monday should be about. A photograph that you took, that you love.

Today, let’s look through last week’s archives and pull something out that makes your heart sing. Share today, your Best Shot with all of us! I can think of no better way to start the week than by celebrating our shots!

an invitation to the weekend

The weekend.

There is nothing like it. A time to rest, rejuvinate, refuel. A time to wind down or wind up. A time to settle in or skip out. A time for family and friends, comfort and joy.

The weekend.

No matter how many have come and gone, as each new one approaches we look forward to it like a gift we cannot wait to open. And somehow we are surprised and delighted each and every week. As so it goes on and on.

The weekend.

For us, lovers of photography, there can be no better time to shoot. And because we want to honor not only the magic that is the weekend but also the Universal deep need to end the week and then begin it again with this sacred time of respite, we would like to invite you to share your weekends with us.

The weekend.

Starting in March we will be featuring weekend images from you here at Shutter Sisters. What does the weekend look like at your house? What moments capture the attention of your lens? What activities (or non-activities) do you hold dear at week's end? What do you create, cherish, capture when the weekend arrives yet again at your door?

Answer these questions for us in your images. Share some words if you want. Throw in a quote. Include a link. Tell us who you are and where we can find you online. Share yourself and your weekends with us and you might be featured right here in our new weekend series that will be posted each Saturday and will be featured through Sunday too. Because weekends are supposed to have two full days of goodness to enjoy.

If you would like to submit your weekend images for consideration in our weekend series, please send your shot(s) via email to us at click [at] shuttersisters [dot] com with the subject weekend. We can't wait to see how you do weekends and begin our series in March! Give us a hint in the comments today.

And above all else, enjoy. The weekend.

unexpected inspiration

Photo inspired by Sharon Montrose's wonderful Tails series.

"How do you persuade an energetic infant monkey to pause long enough for a photograph? You don't. "I put the camera in front of him, let him do whatever he wanted and tried to capture his natural charm."

Sharon Montrose is one of my favorite photographers. And though I have no intention of becoming an animal photographer, the creativity, the sense of passion and playfulness that she brings to her work inspire me every day.

How about you? Is there a photographer whose style couldn't be more different than yours or than what you aspire to and yet whose work inspires you? War photographers, humanitarian, documentary photographers, fashion photographers, food photographers, sport photographers?

Today share with us.