Now is the time to turn from the world and its approval to the intention — deeply rooted — to serve your true creative expression. Intention is everything.
Jennifer Louden
It doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away.
Ray Bradbury
Linking to Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen Cafe.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
John O’Donohue
One of the most popular Ted Talks Videos is about gratitude. Millions have seen it. You may have seen it. If you’d haven’t seen it, here it is, or you may like to see it again.
Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.
Louie Shwartzberg is a cinematographer who has pioneered time-lapse photography. In this video he combines stunning images with the contemplative words of Brother David Steindl-Rast.
I love this video because it reminds me how photography can feed gratitude.
Making photos calls upon us to slow down and take the time to look deeply at the world we live in, to really see the beauty that surrounds us every day, and to let go for a time the cares and concerns that distract us from being truly present to life.
When we move into the moment to observe carefully with our camera — a bird in flight, a flower opening to the sun, a child cuddling a pet — how can we fail to be astounded by the wonder of it all? How can we fail to be grateful for the multitude of gifts we receive every day that come to us unbidden?
I believe the fact that there are more photos being taken now than ever before in history is not only because the technology for capturing images is much more available and easy to use, but also because there is a yearning on the part of many to really show up for our lives, and to pay more focused attention to the moments that make up our days.
Freezing them with a camera is one small way to be ever more aware of the magic, to share it, to connect with each other in our common humanity, and to be thankful.
“The root of joy is gratefulness…It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” ― David Steindl-Rast
Wishing our friends and family in the United States a joyous Thanksgiving.
Linking to Wordless Wednesday and This or That Thursday
You know how one things leads to another, and before you know it, something small gets bigger and takes on a life of its own?
Well, that’s what’s happened with this blog. One day I sat down to write a little blog post to keep in touch with family and friends during our extended sailing vacation last winter aboard Windsong II. When I came back to Canada in the spring, I thought I might continue with the occasional post to share some of my photos.
The next thing I knew I had published 100 blog posts! Now, I realize 100 posts is not many in the grand scheme of things, especially for professional bloggers or for those who have been blogging for years, or who blog every day.
But for me it is a surprising number. And what is even more mind-boggling is that so many people have visited my little blog in that time…I’ve had almost 9,000 views and have had visitors from 73 countries, including Belgium, Chile and Tunisia (for heaven’s sake!).
That’s got to be more than friends and family!
One thing that has completely delighted me — and which I never anticipated — is meeting and getting to know the most amazing people through the blog — whole-hearted people who live life with talent and gusto. Passionate people who love expressing and sharing themselves through photography and writing, and all types of art. People who inspire me with their artistry, their kindness and their desire to make the world a bit better through their contribution. If you’re reading this, I’m talking about YOU!
Many of these folks live in Canada and the U.S., but some are much farther away. Fortunately, distance does not seem to be such a barrier when connecting through our blogs.
One group in particular has been a sweet gift — these are the women I met through an online Photoshop class with Kim Klassen. Denise started a Facebook group that allows us to check in with each other regularly to share our creative flights of fancy and to encourage and support each other. We talk Photoshop and photo techniques, yes, but we also show each other snippets of our days and what makes us come alive with joy and wonder. I would love to name all of you here, and I want to thank each and every one of you for bringing your dazzling voice and vision to the rest of us.
Postcards from new friends…
One day Viv suggested we swap postcards. We jumped at that with enthusiasm, creating postcards from our own photos and mailing them off to each other. Each week there have been beautiful new surprises arriving in the mail. I love being able to look at and touch the tangible evidence of the way these kindred spirits see the world.
Please know that I appreciate every single comment I receive — short and sweet or long and thoughtful — because I recognize the time and effort it takes to read a post, really look at an image and formulate a response. But whether you comment or not, you are most welcome here any time — to have a look at what I see through my lens and what it means to me.
I never really set out to get here. Still and all, this is where the path has led. And it’s a good place.
I am very likely to stand in front of a scene or object and wait for it to tell me something. Photography is like a meditation for me. It is such a concentrated moment.
Stephanie Torbert
I’m sharing this over at This or That Thursday and Photo Art Friday. Come on over and have a look at the galleries there!
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.
I take photos and make images purely for the love of it. Of course, I enjoy sharing them with other photo buffs as well, which is why I joined Flickr a few years ago.
It never occurred to me that this would turn into an opportunity to license my photos for sale. So I was very surprised to find out that as a result of Flickr’s partnership with Getty Images, some of my images were selected for the Flickr collection on Getty. And some have even sold!
Some folks on Flickr go out and shoot photos they hope will appeal to Getty editors and curators. I could study what Getty is looking for and try to capture those types of images.
But I don’t. I focus on creating images that make my heart beat a little faster, and if others like them too, that is a lovely bonus.
I will admit that I’m happy when I get a request from Getty to license a photo, and it makes my day when I have a sale, but even if all that ended tomorrow it wouldn’t change how or what I shoot, or how much joy I get from what I’m doing.
Getty says that “the strength of the Flickr collection lies with the connection the photographers feel for their subject matter. The fact that many of the images are created with no commercial end use in mind lends them an unexpected originality and freshness that audiences can easily identify with.” That’s what I like about the collection.
Getty Images now has half a million images licensed from Flickr (!) and the collection contains images that are original, humorous and relevant. You can find imagery ranging from the highly conceptual to everyday scenes from all parts of the world. The collection appeals to customers looking to get away from airbrushed stock photos in favour of images of real life.
So while I don’t actively try to sell photos through Getty Images, I do have a small and humble project called Sparks of Grace, where I sell postcards and note cards based on my photography to raise funds for a local hospice project.
The response to the project has been wonderful, and it warms my heart. You can read more about Sparks of Grace here. I am truly grateful to all those who have supported the project with their purchases and kind words and sharing through social media.
Getty Images, a set on Flickr.
I think it was Susan Sontag who said: “I haven’t been everywhere yet, but it’s on my list.”
I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled a fair bit in my life — to southeast Asia, parts of Europe and Africa, Ireland, England and all over the Caribbean — but I still have a long, long list of places I want to visit before I kick the bucket.
Let’s see, there’s Iceland, Scotland, Wales, some of the islands around England, beautiful Vancouver Island, San Francisco, Norway, Oregon, more of the Canadian North, and that’s just the beginning….
So while I figure out how and when I’m going to accomplish all that, but I also like to immerse myself in blogs that feature places on my list and do a bit of dreaming.
And not only is it fun to travel for real, and vicariously online, I also enjoy taking trips and flights of fancy in my imagination. Here’s a recent voyage I took with the help of Photoshop.
I combined two very different photos here into a composite to create this postcard of an imaginary place. If you click on the image you’ll see which photos I used. I used textures from Kim Klassen to create the vintage look.
How about you? Where has your imagination dreamed up lately? What wonderful places do you think I should I add to my list?
Sharing with Texture Tuedays: the Dream Edition. Why not come on over and share some dreams?
My Photo Heart Connection for October
October was about surprising myself — seeing new paths emerge, taking turns I didn’t plan in advance, moving in new directions, going with a certain flow that felt right…
I’ve been playing with longer exposures, intentional camera movement and making composite images. I’ve diverged from looking mostly close up with my camera to trying to capture bigger vistas. I departed from taking only candid people shots and even did my first formal portrait sitting.
As I’ve experimented more with my camera and with post-processing I’ve made some unexpected and important discoveries.
Ever since I began taking photography seriously a few years ago, I’ve been striving to simplify my images and distill them to their essence.
I generally turn away from photos — my own and others’ — that are busy and cluttered, because they leave me with a feeling of unease and not knowing where to look. Instead I gravitate to — and try to create — images that are sparer and stronger in composition, where the extraneous has been eliminated.
I know that what I have been drawn to in photographs is a clarity of vision, almost a purity, as well as a sense of serenity, balance and even a certain restfulness. This has meant that many of my own images have featured a restrained colour palette — only one or two colours — or very soft, muted, desaturated analogous tones.
Now, none of this was done consciously: I only realized that this was common to my favorite images while taking Kat Sloma’s Find Your Eye online course recently. Here’s an image that illustrates what I mean.
So I didn’t expect to feel a strong affinity for the image of the trees at the top of this post. It doesn’t have any of the characteristics I usually love. It is quite colourful, it is very detailed, and there is no obvious subject. It is certainly not minimal, although it does feel a bit magical to me.
But a few months ago, I would have just discarded it without much thought. Now though, something in it keeps me coming back to look more deeply. Something connects. The image is clearly speaking to me, but what is it saying?
I’m still reflecting on this.
Maybe I am less overwhelmed by the idea of making an image that is complex and intricate but also clear and strong visually.
Or at a deeper more metaphorical level, I wonder if I was I seeking to focus on the forest in my photography because I feared getting lost in the trees? Maybe I now appreciate that the forest is made up of trees.
Whatever is going on, it does seem that my eye is changing. Maybe my vision is expanding. Maybe my preferences and ways of approaching the world are not set in stone forever, even now. Maybe I am realizing that I can shift and change and flow, and that that will be true as long as I live.
I’d love to know if you’ve surprised yourself lately…
Note: I use Kim Klassen’s textures all the time and love them. Sharing this with Texture Tuesdays.
If you’d like to read more posts like this, why not subscribe to my blog?
Know where you can find some of the most inspiring photography on the Internet? On food blogs…
And as the weather turns chilly and wet, I find myself drawn to my favorite recipe sites to get my creative — and gastric — juices flowing. It’s a comforting and comfortable thing to do — and it often results in the urge to whip up some culinary creation — partly so I can eat it — but also so I can experiment with taking photos of it.
(I secretly aspire to be a food blogger…but that’s not in the cards for me, because my desire to be in the kitchen comes and goes with my mood — and appetite.)
So that’s how these double coconut muffins came into being. I was looking for a recipe to test out the virgin coconut oil I just bought, and I happened to have coconut on hand too.
Once I had baked the muffins and taste tested them (they passed with flying colours), I set about finding their best angle to photograph.
I styled them a few different ways and moved the muffins and the pile of coconut around here and there on the counter. I love the look of linen so I placed them on a linen napkin. I like this result. I especially like that now that the muffins are all gone, I can still enjoy them.
Here’s the recipe for Double Coconut Muffins in case you want to try them. It’s from one of my favorite recipe sites, Smitten Kitchen, where you get homespun stories and great photography along with every recipe. And blogger Deb has just published the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which is going on my “to get” list right now.
While I’m at it, let me share a few more sites where the photography is as fabulous as the food.
101 Cookbooks (Heidi’s recipes are unique, tasty, natural and super healthy and she is a superb photographer. I especially love her Polaroids.)
Orangette (Molly just had a baby so she is not blogging as much as she used to, but I suggest you browse the archives and delight in her lovely writing, quirky photography and yummy recipes — she loves breads and desserts. I can recommend her memoir too, A Homemade Life.)
Tea and Cookies (This one is far more than a recipe site; it’s full of Tara’s thoughtful reflections on life. She’s someone I’d love to be friends with. Check out her recent post Anatomy of a Food Photo.)
If you want to improve your food photography, here’s a nice tutorial I just ran across on using Lightroom 4.
So what about you? Do you have favorite sites you go to to look at glamour shots of food? (I refuse to call it food porn!) Do you like making images of food? Why not share some links…
Every year our neighbours outdo themselves in decorating their yard and trees with ever more ghoulish creatures and body parts. Their kids and all the neighbourhood kids get such a kick out of it. And this year I managed to get a photo that creeps me out.
Wishing you all a safe and enjoyable Halloween!
Sharing with Texture Tuesday and Sweet Shot Tuesday.
Today, I’m thinking of all those who have suffered the ravages of Hurricane Sandy, including the families of those on the HMCS Bounty. Wishing them comfort and courage in the days ahead.
I used Kim Klassen’s magic textures and French Kiss’s Craquelure to create the image above.
Sherrygaley.com 