magical moments

 

There is nothing better than sisters. When we get together there is always love, laughter and if we're lucky sometimes even a little pixie dust. Spending time recently at Walt Disney World for the first time during Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was a dream come true. Upon arrival to the Magic Kingdom, our inner child(ren) was awakened and we were instantly transported back to being young girls. Giggly, happy, enchanted little sisters embarking on a magical journey together just like we did growing up at Disneyland. When childhood wishes are granted, with the help of a fairy godmother you can't help but to believe. Believe in the magic of family. Believe in the magic of Disney. Believe in the magic of the moment.

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Words and photo essay courtesy of Jessica Fuselier and Becky Silke, 2 of the three sisters of Disney Sisters. Sisters, as in real live sisters, by birth. The third sister? That would be me. I had to miss the sister trip to Walt Disney World but reading this story and seeing these pictures really made me wish I hadn't! Sniff sniff. There's just something about Disney Magic...and sisters...swoon.

I can't tell you how excited I was to have my sisters share their images here like this as our first official photo essay. Yes, we're kicking off a new feature here at Shutter Sisters. Photo essays. So fun! If you've got a collection of 6 images you'd like to see featured here as a photo essay, give us a shout. We love hearing from you and sharing your work.

As for today, let's see your magical moments, Disney and beyond. You know, those moments that make you feel like a kid again. Don’t you just love those?

P.S. Tag your images #ssmoment.

On finding your own way

 

In my bio you won’t find the words “I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was a child.” You won’t find the words “I’ve been an artist all my life.”

Because I haven’t.

At school I couldn’t draw or paint or stitch and if you’d asked me three years ago, when I was still working as a stockbroker, I would have told you that I wasn’t creative in the slightest. So when I decided, at the age of 32, to quit my job and go to art school to study photography it was as much of a surprise to me as it was to everyone around me.

But something was calling to me. Quietly at first, and then insistently. I was being drawn towards something that I couldn’t yet understand.

I adored being an art student, but I felt like a fraud. Still, I would try my best and hope for the extraordinary to happen. And happen it did.

One day, while sitting in the library pouring over late 19th century children’s book illustrations and lamenting my lack of ability to produce anything as wonderful, I began to wonder if I could create my own “photo illustrations.” Why couldn’t I use my camera to tell imaginary stories? Stories that had no beginning or end, but just a middle. Just a moment frozen in time, leaving the viewer to put the story in context, to create their own story.

This was the moment my series, “Tales from the Moors Country,” came into being. I took as my starting point the local myths and legends of Northern England and I created a series of silent and still stories that I submitted as my final portfolio piece.

They were all self portraits because I found that I just worked better when there was no one else around. Something I’d been waiting my whole life to share was finding its way to the surface and I couldn’t explain it to anyone else. But, more than that, I didn’t want to share it. It was such an incredible release of energy and I wanted to absorb every second of it.

Although my tutors found the work fascinating, I really think that they didn’t know what to do with me. No one could give me any advice on what to do with my work beyond suggesting I might try fashion photography, which was not an avenue I felt confident pursuing.

So I just started selling prints of my work at a local artists market. And then I added a line of greetings cards. Uplifted by the joy of seeing people respond to my work, I gained confidence and approached some local galleries. Then I tried entering some juried shows. And now, before I really know how it happened, I am a self portrait photographer.

That’s not something that any school careers counsellor would have recommended and it’s not something I could have chosen for myself when I quit my financial services career. It’s one of those magical things that happens when you just let go and allow the story to have an ending you didn’t envision.

So believe in happy endings. Believe in magic. Believe in hard work, dedication and the delicious joy of finding that thing you can’t not do. Believe in your dream. Because If a hopeless “non-creative” like me can find her own way, then I promise you, so can you.

Let's all share images today that remind us to believe in all these things and more....

Words and images courtesy of special guest Nicola Taylor. She can be found at www.nicolataylorphotographer.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter as @ZennicPhoto

weekending by Suzanne Scheve

 

Suzanne Scheve shoots images like this with her Canon Powershot SD1200 digital Elph and spends her weekends chilling out with her daughter, dog and camera. You can find her Suzanne (aka Manchesterlass) on her blog.

Are you chilling out this weekend? Share your weekending shot with us.

weekending by Karen Gehrke

Karen Gehrke shoots images like this with her iPhone and spends her weekends relaxing, finding interesting things to do and see, grilling out, and generally just enjoying not having to be at work!

You can find Karen om Instagram as @KarenMarie63 or on Flickr.

Find anything interesting this weekend? Share your shots with us.

weekending by Judy

Judy (aka heyjude) shoots images like this with her Nikon D3000 and spends her weekends relaxing with her husband and two sons.

You can find Judy on her blog.

Share your relaxing weekending images with us!