How we move through this world

I had lunch with a friend today. When you’re self-employed and work from home like I do it’s always a treat to meet a friend for lunch somewhere lovely: today it was Jamie’s Italian in Bath. When our starters arrived I whipped out my iPhone, stood up and took a few shots of the bruschetta slathered in olive oil and crushed borlotti beans—luckily Hanne knew not to start eating until I’d got my shot. The same thing happened when our pasta arrived, and our coffees too. It’s not often I get to eat in restaurants so taking photos to record the occasion makes sense. But I also do this when I’m at home. And when I’m in the supermarket. And when I’m eating breakfast with my 18 month-old nephew. I take photos of the fallen leaves at my feet and broken doorways and daisy circles. I take photographs to anchor myself more firmly in the moment and use my cameras to capture the potential photos I see everywhere I look. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing—for as long as I am able to take a breath and lift my camera to my eye, I will be creating images with pixels and film. Do you have this urge too?

My constant—some would argue obsessive—picture taking is simply the way I move through the world. Photography is like a form of meditation for me and when life is feeling harder than usual I take myself outside and look at the world through my lens. There’s always a new way to see things—it’s uncanny, really. When I was grieving the untimely death of my partner it was my camera that helped me reconnect with myself and my world, and it’s the reason why I know that creativity is the fastest way to access our truest selves.

Next month I’m leading a brand new e-course sharing everything I know about photography. Photo Meditations: Infusing Your Images with Soul is a five-week exploration of the inspirational and the practical for anyone who wishes to sink deeper into their own photographic journey. We’ll be diving into compositional theory, self-portraiture, shooting for your blog, story-telling and so much more. I should probably mention right now that I’m not a very technical sort of photographer—I’m going to be sharing some important basics in the first week, but I’m not concerned with histograms and what have you. What excites me, and what I hope to pass on to my students, is a passion for creating pictures that tell stories. That move the viewer. That convey what I feel. That hold layers of meaning. That delight the eye. That’s what we’ll be exploring in Photo Meditations. 

Would you like to join me? 

Please leave a comment here between now and Friday (midnight EST) for a chance to win a complementary registration for Photo Meditations!

Images and words by Susannah Conway; photographer, writer and the creator of the Unravelling e-courses. A Polaroid addict and very proud aunt, her first book, This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart (Globe Pequot Press), launches in June 2012. You can read about her shenanigans at SusannahConway.com. Registration for her new class, Photo Meditations, opens this Saturday, October 15th.

**Congratulations to Julie Fairchild for winning a spot in Susannah's class! Thanks to all for commenting.

Day Off

This weekend, we ran away from home, if only for a day.  It was not a day to worry about what we were missing online, on television or what was still lingering on our to-do lists.  Rather, it was a day to give ourselves a break from responsibilities, spend time together as a family and indulge in our favorite activities.

Without the distractions, we focused on the simple joys of life.  And for our family, nothing soothes our tired spirits like visiting the ranch, playing with farm animals and walking the docks of the local fish camp.  We returned home relaxed and refocused.

Today, I invite you to share some images of your favorite activities. What do you like to do when you need to escape the day?

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We are giving away one $100 Paper Coterie gift card EVERY SINGLE DAY of September to one of YOU!  All you have to do is share a comment each day before midnight EST for your chance to Win that day's random drawing.  Be sure to leave links to your story shots.  

No Trespassing

I often find myself driving along, breaking my neck to check out some beautifully rustic piece of land, only to find a barbed wire fence and "No Trespassing" sign. Why do the most intriguing spots to photograph belong to someone else? There are times when I will risk the possibility of getting caught to get a good shot, but most of the time I'm too chicken. Of course, having a partner in crime seems to help calm my fears a bit, but that's not always convenient. And I am always on the lookout for beautiful locations to use for my portrait business, but tend to stick with public land in order to avoid the session getting cut short by an angry farmer or land owner.

So how do you find your favorite photo locations? Do you tend to stay with public spaces or are you brave enough to break the law for that perfect shot?