This Bright Winter Morning

The first rays of morning light illuminate their tiny faces as I round the corner of the stairs.

How long have you been holding her like that?  I ask in a scratchy morning voice.

Shhh...she answers.  I think she's having a bad dream.

I remember when my big girl was a baby herself, when I held her for long hours by moonlight, thinking the dark night would never end.  I remember wondering if my own mother held me the same way, if she stayed awake the way I do now hoping the morning will be happy and bright.

She cries sometimes, wishing for a sister, and I feel guilty, knowing I have three and will not offer her even one.  She cries and then one of her favorite littles comes to spend the night, and she's in heaven.  The sisterless know better than anyone how desperately we need each other, how everything changes in the company of another whom we dare to call sister, to call friend.

May you wake, dear shutter sisters, on this bright winter morning, knowing how grateful we are for your company, for your eyes, for your lens, for your unique and beautiful way of seeing each other and this beautiful world.  Merry Christmas.

Leave a comment and win the chance to have one more little surprise to top off your holiday season.  Today's giveaway is the lovely Sisterhood necklace from Blue Poppy Jewelry.

when the water is warm

On this day a ball ran away, first with intention and then with current, and I dove into the ocean after it fully clothed, up to my neck in the salt of July. For the rest of the day and until we sailed home I festered in the sun, my shirt crispening and stinking of seaweed, but oh, the rightness. There's something rare and delicious about being wet and dressed.

Tonight, the land is tucked in for winter along with the sailboat and the beach, and the sea is a determined grey, and thanks to your encouragement I am set to keep my photo-mojo from going into hibernation.

Can I tell you something? You're all glorious, a kick in the pants in the most excellent way. I visit the flickr pool and see this and this and this and think my god, how can I presume to post in company like this? You are teacher, mentor, muse.

Thanks for being here, shutter sisters. Thanks for being that runaway ball for me, for each other, for saying jump the heck in.

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In grand celebration of our sisterhood here, we are giving away a coveted Flash Bulb Necklace (as seen above) to a lucky reader.  You must comment on this post today to be included in the random drawing. It seemed like the perfect way to jump start the December festivities here at Shutter Sisters. What December festivities you ask? We thought you'd never ask. All month long we are hosting A Giveaway a Day and just as the name promises, each and every day this month we will be giving something fabulous away to one of you. It's just a little way to show our gratitude. Click over and comment each day for your chance to win something wonderful just in time for the holidays. Be sure to invite your friends! The more the merrier we like to say.

Updated 12/2...and the winner is Lilia (aka Pumpkinoodle)at Babymoon Photography. Thanks everyone for your comments! 

Giving Thanks for Laughter

"Okay, ya'll go out to the back porch before you change your clothes!" I shouted from the kitchen. I could procrastinate no longer.

"Why?!"

"I need to take your picture for our Christmas card."

[groans, moans, stomps]

And after quickly wiping the chocolate sauce off my girl's mouth and smoothing out my boy's bangs, I stuffed them into a wicker chair and instructed them to lean in close. "Put your arm around her please," I coaxed. Eyes rolled and then someone released a funny sound... and CLICK.

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If you've shot your holiday card, do share a link so we can take a peak. Or if you're looking for an excuse to procrastinate a little further, join me in the spirit of Thanksgiving this week by sharing a moment that makes you thank-full.

friday's featured resource: family gratitude photo spinner

The words "I am not a scrapbooker" could never be more of an understatement than when they are applied to me. I mean, I'm seriously not a scrapbooker. A couple of years ago, I attempted to make a life book for my daughter, Alex, and while the final result does the trick, the craftsmanship could not be more laughable. So when I met Scrapbooker and Life Artist Extraordinaire Ali Edwards earlier this year, and I had the opportunity to turn the pages of some of her truly amazing creations, I could only smile ruefully when she said, kindly, "Karen, it's not about craftsmanship. It's about capturing memories." Easy for her to say. She "captures memories." I more imprison them.

Still, since she posted her latest project in partnership with Big Picture Scrapbooking, even I'm inspired to give it a try. The Family Gratitude Photo Spinner you see above is such a clever way of displaying photos, and as Ali says on her blog, this project is a great way to get your photographs out in the open and display them in your home -- and for those of you in America, this would even be a great centerpiece for the Thanksgiving Day dinner table.

Since my multinational family rarely celebrates Thanksgiving (and, in fact, we'll be out of the country visiting in-laws this holiday), I won't likely attempt this in the next few weeks (but you certainly should!). I do think, however, I might use this as a Christmas gift idea -- perhaps for my mom. Or maybe, I'll just do it for myself in preparation for next year.

This project can be purchased and downloaded for a mere US$ 12 here. The purchase price includes color handouts with step by step instructions, downloadable PDF templates (for transparencies and titles), full supply list with links to products, an audio message from the lovely Ali Edwards herself, a private gallery for sharing your projects with others in the class, and access to a message board for sharing thoughts and ideas as you work through the project.

Happy creating, all.  And if you make this, please upload it into the Shutter Sisters Flickr pool -- I'm sure we'd all love to see how they turn out!

The Courage To Let It Click

She was holding on for dear life, trying not to cry, trying not to care that everyone else had their face pressed to the viewfinder, while she sat on the blanket, her hands all the sudden empty and bored. 

It's okay, she told me later.  It's fine.  Everyone has their thing, mine just happens to not be photography.   I can be totally okay with that.  Not everyone is creative.

I listen while she pulls yet another fabulous color out of her suitcase, while she wraps her body in elegance and magic.  I watch while she takes her regal unassuming self right into the kitchen, where she arranges a magnificent feast on a platter, a feast so vibrant and fine, I wish for my camera that instant, so I can capture her palette forever.   What would happen, I ask myself, if I could see the world through her lens?  If she had the courage to let it click--her every waking impulse and this art coursing through her veins?

Every artist starts somewhere, I tell her months later, when she tells me her hands still feel empty, when I can see her sadness over having no outlet is still so great.  I threw thirteen dinner parties the year before I realized I could embrace my art in a more deliberate way, I tell her.  And before that I befriended a dozen fabulous artists.  And before that I wrapped a thousand exquisite Christmas presents.   It's a sign, I say, hoping she can hear me, that your hands are meant to create, that your eyes have a certain kind of seeing, that would make this world a better place.

She muses on that while I remember every kind creative friend who passed me her paintbrush, her drawing pencil, her Canon, so I could see for just an instant what it would feel like to be the truest, most artful me.  The creative person I had always been, the artist I was always meant to be.

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Today, why not pass your camera to someone you love, someone whose admiration for your pictures might be a sign of a shutter sister waiting to be born?  And please tell us in the comments how you came to love photography, about the time when you started to believe that maybe, just maybe, you could capture a beautiful picture, too.  We have some would-be photographers lurking out there who really need to hear your story.