A boy and his book.

Lately our youngest has fully embraced reading, he's finally discovered the joy of submerging himself into a good book and he brings his book with him everywhere.

This love of books has prompted me to start a new iphoneography series and I'm loving the challenge of his book moments… photographing the different places and ways he's been reading.

Do you have a ongoing photo series happening? if so, we'd love to see it… if you haven't started one, perhaps you just need a nudge in that direction.

Talking of books…

This is the kind of project Tracey is encouraging in her wonderful new book Elevate The Everyday, and I'm totally over the moon to be a small part of this book. I'm giving away a copy today on my blog, so pop on over here and take a chance at winning.

summer storm

I am so very excited about this month's new One Word, moment.  That is exactly what I strive to capture with my photography, moments that make up my life, and the life of my family. A documentation of our days.

Summer moments are some of my favorites.  Summer moments can be sticky, sweet, salty, slower, and sunkissed. This past Sunday I think my family savored a little of all of these. We began our day with pancakes, blueberries and maple to sweeten the deal. Then we packed a lunch and headed out to the beach and got good and salty and sunkissed. We returned home just as storm clouds were brewing. I called my kids to my bedroom window to watch the skies in the distance. These are the moments that unfolded.

A breeze began to blow turning the leaves over... thunder was rolling... birds were spotted flying away from the storm...

then the rains began...

then...CRACK!  lightning flashed and excited laughter followed.

and I soaked it all in, watching them be 6 and 8, so full of wonder.  Thankful for the skies and the sounds before them, for the gifts of summer, for the cool breeze the storm ushered in, and for childhood.

Oh how I love a good summer rain.

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What moments make your heart flutter? Share one here today and add it to our OWP pool on Flickr. Don't forget to tag your images with our new tag for this month, #ssmoment and check out Haagen Dazs 50 Summer Moments project. Tag your images #hdmoment for a chance to have your image chosen for their book.

We are so excited to see your summer moments unfold through your lens.

the magic of a moment

It was a 9^th birthday fit for one very special little American girl; mine. A small group of good girl friends. The women in our family. A cafe that seemed straight out of a movie. It was a beautiful day in early summer with enough noontime sun to illuminate the whole room (photo moms appreciated things like that). A savory lunch. An enchanting cake. A rousing version of the birthday song with 9 candles for one big birthday wish.

As the birthday girl reveled in being celebrated—as any birthday girl should—I observed. Each interaction between she and her guests, I heard. Every gesture and expression—the sparkle in her eye, the doll at her side and the crooked birthday crown—I noticed.

I lifted my camera to my eye. Click, click, click. I captured every joyful moment of the afternoon. But it was one single shot that made my mama heart skip a beat.

Maybe it was the sideways glance or the impish—somewhat mischievous look—as she pulled the crooked crown down on her sweet head. Something about it took me back to birthdays past when my growing girl was much younger, much smaller, much less grown-up than she looked today. In that moment, I saw both the yesterday and the today. The glimmer of the past made me teary; my heart was full of gratitude that although I can never stop the clock, I would always have that moment captured, exactly how I will always remember it, forever in one single photograph.

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We invite you to join us this month as we celebrate the moments of our lives for our One Word Project. We are partnering with Haagen-Dazs in asking you to share your favorite moments with us; with them. We’re excited to be participating in their 50 Summer Moments project and we want to encourage you all to do the same. Savoring moments through our lenses is what our community is all about, so we feel like it’s the perfect way to honor those moments and let them shine all month long.

The 50 Summer Moments project has a few neat layers to it. First off is the sharing. The second is the incentive for sharing. Every image you share, Haagen-Dasz will donate $5 to honey bee research at UC Davis. Sweet! The third—and perhaps the cherry on top (we couldn’t leave out a good ice cream pun)—is the 50 Summer Moments eBook, An Ode to Summer where 50 images will be chosen and featured with the help of the awesome chef Alex Guarnaschelli.

Want to get in on the fun? All you need to do is tag your images on Instagram and your tweets on twitter (you can share tweets about your summer moments too) with the tag #HDMoment and you might see your moment on the HDMoment website. We’ve got our own Shutter Sisters tag too for the OWP (#ssmoment) so be sure to use it on everything you want to share with us (on Instagram and in our Flickr group). Its how we keep track of all the amazing stuff you’re capturing.

And, in celebration of summer and all this moment making, we’ve also got a very special day planned. We thought it would be totally amazing to pick one day this month where we can all celebrate our summer moments together! Won’t you join us in our first ever Shutter Sisters virtual ”collective moment”?

We’re declaring Saturday, July 28^th the day that all of us are going to “Take a Moment” together.  We’ll be sharing more details throughout the month but for now, put us in your calendar because we want to celebrate our summer moment with you!

For today, help us kick off this month of moments by sharing a moment of your own!

the colorful month of june

The above rainbow photos shared via Instagram
from top left: @batteredsuitcase @bal93 @kellykardos @magnetisedbylife

Oh my! The month of June was made spectacular thanks to all of you ladies! The world was awash in color each and every single day this past month (and for that my heart is happy!) To see the OWP flickr pool overflow with color and creativity was a feast for our eyes... but you know what we found ourselves instantly in love with?! The community that was created through the #sscolormonth hashtag over on Instagram! Wowzers. The beauty you can find there is something very special. And the art that is created through iphoneography is simply amazing.

Be sure to find us there on Instagram! We are @shuttersisters and we'd love to connect with you. Our feed is dedicated to showcase you! Afterall, you are the sisterhood that is the heart of our online community. It's been so fun playing with color this month, and we look forward to having even more fun connecting now that July is here. We are thrilled to see the friendships grow over there on Instagram.

Before we wrap up our SS Color Month for June and share the winner of the Epiphane giveaway, we wanted to share a glorious collection of photos! Photos you took of your colorful world all month long! Thank you.

The above images shared via Instagram
(red) @smallroots @debmedmb @elke1403 @magnetisedbylife
(yellow orange) @garlinjake @godaona @debdidit @dcw805
(lime green) @bal93 @katmcdknits @siobhanwolf @leslieradams
(aqua) @michelle_gd @wilburandfern @texturejunkie @kellykardos

The above images shared via Instagram
(orange) @jennhaakenson @beautifulnothing @meghandavidson @leslieradams
(grass green) @miansiena @dcw805 @colorlush @batteredsuitcase
(black) @lizbehm @beautifulnothing @marina_sorr @chereap
(white) @lucyloomis @debdidit @lyahle @rnstar43

Thank you all for rocking our world with color! It was simply amazing to play along, to find old friends and see new ones pop up in our community... and to reconnect in that way we all crave. I simply love that we find our tribe through photography. The winner of the Epiphanie camera bag giveaway: Pancakemama/Ani!

Tracey returns tomorrow with the announcement of our new One Word for July.  Can't wait to tell you all about it!

choice!

“Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways. ”  -Oscar Wilde

Here we are, the very last day of color month here at Shutter Sisters. What a celebration it has been. Have you enjoyed this month of color? I sure have! I loved how the OWP pool filled up each day. Something so beautiful about seeing the images all the same color together like that. Like a beautiful tapestry.Thank you for filling all the days of June with such beauty!

All month long we have been dictating the colors each day,  today is YOUR turn.  You choose.  What is your favorite color to shoot? Are you drawn to the rowdy reds or the cool blues?  Do you like the shiny silver or a soft lavender? Perhaps a sunny yellow or juicy orange speaks to you.  Today you get to show off the color of your choice. Or go wild with more wonderful rainbows if you like. Today there are no rules, just colorful fun.

Color makes such a statement in photography and can drive us to take shots just for the color alone.  Like my little i-pod shot above.  I was at Walmart, shopping for paint, I knew it was color month and what better rainbow then the paint selection chips right there?!?  i am SURE anyone walking by thought I had lost my marbles.  That is not the first, and certainly not the last, time I have gotten a weird glance for taking a shot. (you too huh?  :))  All that color drove me to take out my little camera and shoot. 

What color are you???

Share it with us today. This gives you one last day to play along and enter for your chance to win a beautiful new bag from Epiphanie!  (talk about delicious colors. have you seen the new spring line?  YUM!) Don't forget the tag, #sscolormonth.  On Monday we will be back to announce the winner.  Could be YOU!