Prompted

You don’t see it right away, but it’s there. The straw in its mouth, the one it must gather for home; for the nest. It symbolizes a continues gathering until woven pieces can finally hold things together. It is an amazing labor of love. It is much like our work in everything we care for. We labor with love and gather what is needed for the home, for our nest. The home where we live in, with its kitchen and rooms, and the home in our hearts; the place where we gather strength and courage; the place where we gather our dreams and make them real.

What is curious about this moment is its pause. I was witness to it; it was a pretty long one. This maya bird took a moment to perhaps gather its breath; as if to take whatever was in sight all in. A little bird marveling at the world.

I watch these birds every morning now. They teach me how to pause, to breathe, and take in a bit of the world outside my window. I feel like a little bird marveling at the world. There is work to be done, but I shall marvel at the world.

The beautiful, beautiful gift that photography has given me is a voice. A voice for the words in my heart. I think I kept on looking for a way to find a place for all that. I knew I could write, but I wasn’t sure what I could give to the world. I knew I needed to give back something and I thought, why would the world be interested in my love letters? And then it stretches further to, why would the world be interested in my confusion and heart ache? How would the world benefit from all that? I couldn’t figure it out until there were these ‘prompts’ – you take a photo based on a concept, a word, and you could write about it if you want, or leave it to speak for itself. I am drawn to writing about it because when I capture something, I am certainly capturing a moment. And most of the time I like to paint that moment with words, too. What I have realized is that every moment contains a gift. Yes, every moment. Can you imagine how many gifts there are? Certainly enough to give back to the world.

‘Prompts’ are like inspiration, except I think when we just rely on inspiration, we tend to wait for it to come. That’s fine, but we shouldn’t just wait. And wait. And wait. Because maybe we don’t even know what exactly we’re waiting for; a magic feeling? Pixie dust? Nah. It doesn’t really work that way. I think we have to commit to something. It doesn’t even have to be big. So, if you’re prompted, let’s say with a word, you’re given a direction; a kind of path to follow, a way for your eyes to see or find something that’s already there. Somehow inspiration is everywhere; all you have to do is capture it. *insert magic feeling and pixie dust here*

What have you been prompted to notice, see, or capture lately?

Words and image courtesy of Guest Blogger Jennifer Hagendorn Dizon. She can found at Instragram as @beautifulnothing, on flickr as Creative Jen or on her blog The Divine in Everything.

one happy word

congregate: to bring or come together into a group, crowd, or assembly; to gather

I love words. Some for how they sound when rolling off my tongue. Some because they pull out my inner 9 year old and never fail to me giggle. Others for how they feel.... 'Gather' is one of those words for me, so I was delighted when it was chosen for this month's One Word Project. I love to gather, or to be invited to a gathering. The word just feels warm, and good, and happy. Usually a gathering in my circle involves food, maybe some wine, music, kids, laughter and love. I am blessed to have beautiful friends in my life, many of them a road trip away, but when we gather it is always good. We come together, we share the load, the meal, the preparation. We laugh and linger (another very good word) I always leave full. Full belly, full spirit, full heart. When I find myself missing them I have my images of our times spent together and they never fail to take my heart right back to that day, that meal, those laughs. To gather is to love.

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All month long you have gathered here.

You gathered the light, treasures, and with ones you love. You captured nature's gatherers in spring.

We announced Oasis, and will gather together in Palm Springs this October.

Thank you for gathering here.

Thank you for sharing your words in our comments and your images in our photo pools.

As the saying goes, 'friends gather here.'  Thank you friends.

Today share one more image here celebrating all the beauty of gathering, and on Monday we will return with a new one word for April. 

Oasis

We are beyond thrilled to announce Shutter Sisters Oasis. We can think of no better way to gather together to celebrate our sisterhood. Registration opens at 9am PSTon March 29th.  Start packing your bags!

When was the last time you gathered with your sister friends? Share a photo with us today!

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!

weekending by cherish bryck

Cherish Bryck shoots images like this with her Canon 5D and spends her weekends with her family.

Cherish can be found online at Cherish Bryck Photography, on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter (@CherishBryck) and Pinterest.

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Congratulations to Beth Reynolds who won the random drawing for the Two Takes giveaway. Yay! And thank you all for your comments on Bindu Wiles' post. It never ceases to amazing us how compassionate and caring this community is. What a gift we have in one another.