print me

I think all of us, in some form or fashion, grew up with the instant gratification of photography. Sometimes it was the polaroid that jumped out of the sx-70 to be developed. Most of the time, it was waiting a few days to save up babysitting money in order to pick up prints at the drugstore. And often, it was life revealing itself in the slow motion stir that came from behind the closed door of the darkroom.

I know I've said it before. But I'll say it again: photography is meant to be held.

In this day of instant everything I find myself taking even more photos while I'm on the go. This means my iphone has become a great resource for documenting my everyday ordinary magical moments. The same day I took this photo with my Nikon, I also played with my iphone a bit and came up with a different perspective on the same thrifted hat. I am still loyal to my Nikon, but most days I swing towards the lightheartedness and ease of the iphone.

So, how easy is it to get your mobile images off your phones and into print? For those of you shooting with an iphone, I've recently discovered a great app that gets your prints in hand! Postal Pix is my new go-to instant gratification for all things iphotography related. No, they're not paying me to say that, I simply love the fast and convenient service they provide and the quality of their prints is great too. I've placed quite a few orders and I'm turning on all my iphone friends to their services! If you're on an iphone and you love prints in hand, you gotta check them out.

Today, share with us your everyday ordinary magical moments taken with a phone camera. 

A Legacy

Watch this. 

Those words and a link to a video of Vivian Maier was all that was in an email that my friend had sent to me.  As I watched the short video piece, I was mesmerized and intrigued by this unkown woman.  In 2007 John Maloof purchased from an art auction a box that had been owned by Vivian containing over 30,000 negatives dating back as early as the 1950s. He decided to develop some of the photos (like the one above and the self portrait below) and what he has found is an absolutely amazing treasure.

In John's research on Vivian, he learned that she had never married or had children and was a very private person. She died alone at the age of 82 in a nursing home, her photographs never seen by anyone until now. So incredible is Vivian's photography that there will be a showing of her work next month at the Chicago Cultural Center.  John was able to purchase even more of her negatives and now has over 100,000 of her negatives and hundreds of undeveloped rolls of film which he plans to put into a book or make a documentary about Vivian.

Two things came to mind after learning of Vivian.  First, how sad that this wonderfully talented woman died alone, having never shared her gift of photography with anyone, ever.  If she had, I wonder how different her legacy might have been.  She very well may have helped pave the way for woman in photography all those years ago in a time when female photographers were a rare commodity.

Second, after seeing Vivian's story, I began thinking of what my legacy might be.  Yes, I would be remembered as a wonderful wife and mother but there is more to me than that.  I'm a photographer, too.  It's a large part of who I am.  If something were to happen to me tomorrow, would I have anything to show for it? Sure I would - and there are hundreds and hundreds of photos on numerous hard drives to prove that.  More importantly, would my husband or friends know how to gain access to them? No, they wouldn't and that is about to change. Some of the hundreds of photos on my hard drives will now be printed, matted and framed, put into books or given to friends.  What good is it to keep all of them stored and never shared with anyone? When I am gone, I want people to say that I was a wonderful wife, mother and photographer. 

What about you? What do you want your legacy to be? If you could choose one photograph (or two or three or more!) that you would want people to remember you as the wonderful photographer you are, please share.  Let us know you, too. 

You can see more of Vivian Maier's photography on the blog, Vivian Maier - Her Discovered Work.

Update on Friday, December 31, 2010 by Chris Sneddon

Since I've become so intrigued by Vivan Maier, I've learned that John Maloof is trying to raise funds to make a documentary film about Vivian.  If you'd like to donate to the making of the film, stop by Kickstarter to see a quick video by John describing just what it is he wants to do.  I think it's a great investment!

-Chris Sneddon

warmest wishes

Every year, about this time, I get asked to share Holiday photo tips. And with the popularity of photo greeting cards, the question always comes up asking for clever ideas for Holiday card photos. We had a series of posts called Great Greetings a few years back where I went into great detail about ideas, tips and tricks.

But, the other day, the folks at Martha Stewart Radioasked for ideas for listeners that don't have kids. It was one on a list of questions that we didn't even have time to cover on the segment (time flies when you're having fun chatting over the air waves) but it got me thinking. It's a really good question.

I began brainstorming about universal symbols of holidays, seasons, peace, joy, and of course, wishes. In other words, you most certainly don't have to use a family photo for your holiday card. There are more than enough ways to Picture the Holidays!

Today, I would love to hear (and see) some ideas from you. Share a photo of something that you think would be a fantastic holiday card photo. Who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to use these kinds of images as gift tags, on calendars, or other gifts! For as many images as there are to take, there are that many ways to share them. Inspire us!

2011 photo calendar templates

Sharing these photo calendar templates has become a yearly tradition at Shutter Sisters. They are a great way to use your own photos to create a custom gift for the holidays. The calendars are compact, cute, and something you can easily print and assemble at home.

Click here to download the zipped Photoshop files.

The files include basic instructions for creating your custom calendar pages in Photoshop. Then just print them on some photo paper or cardstock and cut them out.

These templates are sized to fit in a cd jewel case, but they can also be fastened together with a binder clip and hung on the wall (see photo below). If you choose to use a cd jewel case, you'll just need to carefully take apart the case and put it back together so that it stands up like the photo above.

I hope you enjoy creating your own photo calendar! Your friends and family will be thrilled to see something custom and handmade everyday. There's nothing better than a gift made with love.

for the love of prints

I hold the photo up to the webcam and there's silence as my entire family gathers in the kitchen 1500 miles away from where I now sit. At first there's silence and then everyone bursts into chatter all at the same time as their eyes adjust to the image on the screen. "Where did you find that?" ...  "Look at how young she is!" ... "That looks like you!" ...

We, as photographers, are keepers of treasures.

I have an obsession. And I know I am in good company here. We all take tons of photos. (The above is a recent stack of 200+ prints from a three day weekend spent in NYC) I am an everyday shooter, as are many of you. This means alot of hard drive, alot of archives, alot of backup, and hopefully alot of prints. 

My love in real life is in the texture of a photograph in my hands, something I can actually hold. 

As photographers, we are the family documentarians. How has the digital age changed the role of the photographer? I take this job seriously. My brothers used to joke me about it, but now everytime I show up with an image, a memory, a 2x2 inch square of photobooth paper; they realize my deep photo love and they appreciate it even more because I am bringing the past to light for them to enjoy as well. An image in hand can touch your heart more deeply than an image on a computer screen. Printed photographs are gifts.

We've talked storage before. But what I want to know is: do you print your photos like in the days before digital? Do you have a shoebox, an album, a wall of photos? What I want to provide for my son is what I find in my own parents home now as a grown woman. Yes, albums of our lives documented. Yes, milestones and favorites framed on the wall. But the biggest gift to me is the side table. The drawer in the upstairs office that is crammed with photos all randomly tossed in there. Photos mailed from lives in other states, photos carried to nursing homes and back from funerals, photos of lives spent in day to day beauty. It's a treasure chest to me. I grab handfuls of photographs everytime I go visit, I sit down with a lap full of faces and memories and outtakes. And each time I do, I find something new. All equally important. All coming into my life at the most important juncture. When pictures speak more than a thousand words, these scraps of kodak paper float down on me like dreams.

Many of us have a memory lane. Do you? Some of us come to see our parents and generations before them with an entire set of new eyes. Show me today, great basement finds, a favorite oldie, or even the photograph you took just last month that you keep telling yourself you'll print up someday. And think about making that someday today, your future self will thank you.