thrill rides

Shutter Sisters have long loved Lensbaby since foreverand we're giddy that more of you talented ladies (and a few men) got to actually try them out with our walkabout guide Kirsten. Not only is she just a whole lot of fun to be around, she can wield her baby around like nobody's business! We couldn't resist featuring a few of the shots she captured on one of our Shutter Suite / Lensbaby outings. Wow, right?

I have been loving so many of the shots that other's have posted from the walks as well. Each time a group would return from the walk they were bursting at the seams with excitement at the experience. Getting outside and getting creative was a true boost on so many levels. Thanks Kirsten and Lensbaby!

A few of the lucky walkabouters won some cool stuff from Lensbaby too. Allow me to announce the winners today-

2 $50 gift cards are going to Kathleen Steele and Lisa Wahrmund

2- $100 LB Gift Certificates are going to Lucrercer Braxton and Gudrun

And a Lensbaby Composer is going to Melissa Esplin

Yay girls!! So excited for you. Thanks for joining us in the Suite!

But that's not the only thrill we've got today...

Jen and Stephanie are Rwanda-bound and are taking the ride of a lifetime by kicking off the Picture Hope Project today! OMG! We are beside ourselves! Between a Shutter Suite reception for them and our Picture Hope book, we are sending them well on their way with all love and support we've got.

Light a candle, do a cartwheel, take a picture...do anything today with this amazing duo in mind. They are incredible partners and dear dear sister-friends. I love them both so much. We all do, I know.

Follow the trip on the Picture Hope blog (right here at Shutter Sisters) for all the latest news and updates from the road. And be sure to mark on your calendars their LIVE CHAT from Rwanda hosted by The Motherhood on Monday, Aug 3rd at 12pm Eastern Time. I know, I know...can you stand it??? Pop over now and sign up for the chat and put it on your calendar today!

And on the subject of both Hope and big thrills...the winners of the Picture Hope book giveaway are

Ryann, Faith, Chris, Claudia and BusyMomma66

And the winners of the Picture Hope 8X10 prints (printed courtesy of ColorInc Pro Lab) are

Jody, June, Alyssa, Kari and Melinda

 Congrats to you! And to those who would like to help us get money into the hands of the incredible women that Jen and Stephanie will come across on their travels, please go buy the book from our Blurb store. All the proceeds will go to those who's stories will be shared during the Picture Hope Project. Good stuff.

OK sisters, let's gather our forces and send Jen and Stephanie off today with kind words and images to remind them that anything is possible and that Hope is waiting for them around every corner. Click!

Picture Hope Gets Ready to Take Off

Just one week to go and Stephanie and I will be on the plane on our way to Rwanda for the launch of Picture Hope. Here are several ways you can come along with us as we get ready to take off on this year long journey.

Submit a photo of yourself or your children to the Picture Hope Flickr Pool. We'll print up these images as hope notes with the message "Thank you for sharing your story" for every story teller we meet along the way. To see your face and to know you're listening will give this work heart and soul wherever we go.

Join us for the special Picture Hope reception at the Shutter Suite this Friday at 4PM in Chicago. Held in conjunction with the Blogher Conference, the Shutter Suite is your place to lounge, check out our sponsors, get a taste of Open Range Wines from Casey Flat Ranch Vineyards, make hope notes with suite full of hip HP technology goodness and say good-bye before Stephanie and I head out next week. We'd love to see you!

Purchase the Picture Hope book in the Blurb Store and directly support the people we meet along the way. Too often photographers come to the global south to shoot without making any impact on the lives of their subjects along the way. We are so hopeful about another way of sharing our content--especially in Africa. 100% of all profits from the book go straight to the people who were generous enough to tell their stories.

Join us on themotherhood.com as Stephanie and I LIVE chat directly from Kigali, Rwanda about our experiences on the ground. This will be your time to ask questions, see first images and share our first experiences as photographer partners in Rwanda. Mark your calendars--the chat will start at noon Eastern Standard Time on August 3rd. We can't wait to share this journey with you!

splashy

Happy Summer everyone! I know it's been summer for a while now but around here it never really feels like summer until July. Even though southern California has good weather almost always, here on the coast we get faked out in June. They call it June gloom and it doesn't lift until, well, July. So, here we are...enjoying sun and summer and all that goes with it. The beach, the pool, bike riding, dog walking, you name it.

So with this month also comes a new word for our One Word Project. What better word to mark all things warm and wonderful than the word summer? We've got so much to look forward to in the coming months, why not celebrate it? We're featuring a ton of your pictures and posts in the Your Local Picks feature, The Shutter Suite at BlogHer and soon after Picture Hope officially kicks off with trip #1.

So many good things coming it's true but for now, let's bask in the glow of the summer sun and appreciate today. Share with us all the things that speak of summer. Leave links in the comments and submit them into our One Word Project Flickr pool. Let's enjoy the season with a splash.

Priceless

Cardstock to make cards from scratch: $5

Colored pencils, pens and stickers to decorate cards: $15

Postage to overnight the cards to the messenger: $45

A chance to send hope notes to the girls of Rwanda: priceless

As many of you know, our lovely Jen is leaving to take her sweet self, her zines, blank journals, pens, hearts, these handwritten hope notes and a film to share with the girls of Rwanda. Girls who need encouragement and support more than we can ever imagine.

For those of us who remain here while Jen single handedly delivers these messages (indeed, she is a superhero of hope), the photos and videos that she captures over there will be the only way we can truly share the trip with her. But beyond that, her photographs will serve as the only recent record that one mother has of her daughters. Imagine how it would feel to see a photo of your child after 2 years of not seeing any. Two years. And then comes a day when a rare and beautiful gift is handed to you through one photograph. A single image that would surely take any mother’s breath away.

Simple truths like this remind me that when we hold our cameras, we hold incredible power. How lucky are we to shoot photo after photo of our own children, of friends and family. Each image a gift. A gift that is indeed priceless.

As we send our sister off on the journey of a lifetime, let’s honor her with links to our own priceless photographs, shall we? It’ll be our little way of showing her our Shutter Sisters support.

Safe travels Jen, we will all be eagerly awaiting stories and photos. Lots and lots of glorious, priceless photos.