gather

Happy March 1st!

I personally love the month of March for two reasons. The first is that I celebrate my birthday in March and the second is that spring will arrive this month. These are both great reasons to get together with friends to celebrate! Which brings me to the announcement of our new One Word for the month of March, which is gather.

During the shorter, colder days of winter it often seems easier to snuggle into our routine and spend more time at home. And while moments spent alone or with immediate family is always important, it's also lovely to connect with old friends and meet new people along the way. So as spring approaches, we encourage you to make an effort this month to have some face-time with the friends who just "get you". Or gather up a group of photography lovers like yourself and enjoy being the in the company of like-minded people. 

We all have to admit, as much as we love to gather here online (and we really really love it!) nothing beats gathering in real life. And since we're on the subject, it seems like a great time to announce our 2012 Shutter Sisters Oasis gathering. All the details, like when registration will open, will be shared in the near future, but for now just the thought of gathering again with our fellow shutter sisters is enough. Start packing your bags!

And as you gather, take the time to document some of those sacred moments and share your images with us all month long in our One Word Project Pool on Flickr (tag your One Word photos this month with the following: owp, gather, march). Your photo may be featured here!

Life Through My Lens

The word trickled through my core group of girlfriends, my tribe, that there was a diagnosis of breast cancer.  We have all been friends since high school, some of us even longer, and the majority of us are still here in California while our sweet friend who had just been diagnosed lives out of state. When something like this happens, the first people you want and need is your family. Like most of us, her family is here in California as well.  We knew that even though she was trying to be brave, she needed them. The decision to fly her in to be with her family was a simple one, so we put her on a plane and brought her home.

After we picked her up at the airport, we took her to lunch where we talked about high school and old crushes and who was still married and who had divorced.  And we laughed.  A lot.  Then finally, in a quiet and safe moment, her eyes filled with tears.  Letting go of the false bravado, she let all of her fears come to the surface and spill over while us, her tribe, did what we do best: we surrounded her with all the love, faith and hope we could give her.  It was at that moment that I picked up my camera and took this photo. 

I've taken hundreds of those happy photos we all take of babies and families and people.  I'm a photographer.  It's what I do.  But life is so much more than that, and that's what I tend to photograph: life in all it's glorious, raw beauty.  It's also what I tend to do when I can't really put what I'm feeling into words so I let my camera do the speaking for me.  When my grandma was at the end of her days, I documented it with my camera.  When my son was critically ill and there was nothing I could do but wait and hope and pray, my camera was my saving grace.  So while this photo isn't your basic posed and happy photo, the love in that photo is undeniable and that, my friends, is everything.  It's what life is all about.

Share with us today your photos depicting life. Tell us a story. We're listening.

the six questions featuring Bonnie Tsang

Image Copyright Bonnie Tsang

I remember coming across L.A. based lifestyle and wedding photographer Bonnie Tsang's blog a few months ago, and instantly falling in love with the way she approaches life, natural and real, and shares her passion for art, design and food with a most delightful sense of style, simplicity, beauty and attention to details.

Bonnie is one of the most creative, talented and hard-working photographers I know of, and a most awesome mother who inspires me to keep doing what I love and enjoy life the fullest. I am most happy and excited to share with you her answers to our Six (actually Eight!) Question interview today.

1. What's the story behind this photo?

It was taken almost two years ago. My photography business started to do well at the time, but I found myself having less time with my daughter, Venise. So one free Sunday, she and I decided to spend a day together and took a short road trip to Joshua Tree. We stayed until sundown. I took a picture of her collecting and putting little rocks into her shorts' back pockets as the sunset light glowing behind her.

2. What was it that lit your photography spark? Do you remember a particular camera, course, person, roll of film?

My Dad was a professional photographer before I was even born, so I grew up with photography. But what really got me started was this doll called Blythe (http://www.blythedoll.com) and my daughter, Venise. I took one shot and that was it, I couldn't stop.

3. What's your photo philosophy? Does it reflect your life philosophy?

My photo philosophy is simple - to capture and report the reality. I always believe art was created to document life's important events. And that probably does reflect to how I see life - live your truest self.

4. Where do you look for inspiration?

Family and friends that I surround myself with. We often go far and beyond to look for ourselves, for inspirations, but the truth is we have it all within ourselves.

5. What would you say is one of your 'signature' editing tricks, themes or style? What do you think makes an image recognizable and uniquely yours?

This is actually a tough question for me and I always get asked this! It's tough for me to answer because... how do you turn your feelings into words? There's no word for feelings, something that's untouchable.  We might say, "Oh, I love that person because she's nice, she's pretty", but it's not, it's MORE than that. I don't edit images base on what is "Bonnie Tsang" because I'm always revolving. Maybe I'll know in 20 years.

6. What aspect of your photography are you constantly working on, trying to improve?

Everything.

7. If you could go anywhere in the world for an epic, weeklong photo excursion all by your luxuriously unhurried self - regardless of money, time or childcare issues - where would you go and why?

My hometown, Hong Kong. I went few years ago and, sadly, I wasn't really into photography at the time, so it'd be nice to go back.

8. Are there women out there that you consider your shutter sisters? Who, and why?

There are two ladies that I look up to personally and professionally - Carrie Cook and Jen Gotch. They're both my very good friends and they've been around shooting a lot longer than I have been, but they're always very encouraging. Sometimes when I'm stuck at something, whether it is about life or photography, they'd say to me "you can try this" or "how about if you do this". They challenge me to do better in the most nurturing way. And of course, their work is amazing!

Thank you so much Bonnie!

You can see more of Bonnie's work on her personal blog, professional blog, portfolio, and if you're on Instagram you absolutely HAVE to follow her @bonnietsang.

Pushing Through Creative Blocks

a gentle day with kinfolk magazine....guaranteed to inspire.

I've been hearing a lot lately from creatives who have hit a wall, a dry-patch, a slump, a creative block.... Many say it hits hard in the winter....others for no reason at all. I get it! I've been there, done that.... many, many times. My longest block lasted almost 2 years. 'ugh'.... I mean, seriously.... can you imagine? Thankfully, that was my last major dry spell...and it was almost 3 years ago now!! Woo hooing here!

I have found a little 'trick' for knocking down the wall...crushing it.... kicking it to the curb..... before it takes over my creative life.

It's simply, showing up .... I push through, keep creating.... soon I find my way to the other side of the slump.... re-inspired and fired up again!! I push by changing things up. I focus on learning something new, trying a different technique, pushing my limits.... Or I switch over to something a little dreaded.... like file organization... my weak link.... Or bookkeeping...another weak link or organizing my studio. If that doesn't work I give myself a gentle day..... a day to relax, regroup.... and just be.... But just one day, maybe 2.... Then I move forward...do the work, make the art.... do.

Let's talk about inspiration.... slumps, droughts, blocks... How do you push through to the other side? What works for you, what doesn't? Share with us today.

tomorrow

"Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow." -Imogen Cunningham

And it's true, it's so totally and completely true. It's what I love most about photography. There are always images for the taking, stories for the telling. No way of knowing what tomorrow holds, what photographs lay waiting. For this reason, I am never without a camera, never ever. Sometimes people think this is funny, sometimes they ask why. Because you never know, I tell them. You just never know. 

Are you this person too? Do you carry a camera with you everywhere you go? Do you wonder what images tomorrow holds? Are you as excited about the potential as I am? Tell us, what photographs do you look forward to taking? What images snuck up on you and took you by surprise?