Energy

I have a brief one for my fellow photo-lovers today :)

I was looking at older pictures in search of more photos to be printed and displayed on our lovely blank white walls when I came across this photo of my daughter taken last year at the beach. It immediately  went into the 'to be printed' folder.

It is not a perfect photo, but that doesn't matter to me.  What I love about it is the energy captured, the movement, the way she is embracing life, and the carefree nature of dancing to her own beat. So, I think I found my inspiration for this week-

Capturing energy & enthusiasm

Let's see your energy shots! #letsgatherinspiration

~ Andrea

DETAILS

I love details, and photography has opened up my eyes even more to the small details that make up the whole of a photograph. From the small details of a leaf . . .

When you look closer you can see the small detail of the yellow veins mixed in with the red of the whole leaf. For me, these details add so much beauty to the picture, and I appreciate the beauty this earth gives us that much more.


Different details mean different things to different people. I think that is why some pictures mean more to us than others - we love something about the details in the picture. For me, this next one makes my heart smile. Droll to some people may not be beautiful, but it reminds me of my baby boy, and makes me happy.

 

Details don't have to be small. In a landscape, I love to add as many larger details that I can.

I love the details of the snow-capped mountains, mixed with the green of the hills, and the red of the barn. Then the dirt of a newly planted crop that is just starting to grow.

 

What details speak to you?

 

I also love funny details. Take the photograph below, I love how the cruse ship is larger than the town. It makes me laugh. It would be hard to lose the ship!

 

And in this next one, how the sign says "Small Boat Harbor" then has the very large cruise ship docked behind it.

 

In each and every photograph I take, I try and focus on the details that I find beautiful. From colors, to textures, and lighting, to facial features or expressions.

 

This week try and focus on the details you love. Take pictures of those details. They make a picture mean something and speak to each of us.

 

Here are a few more examples. . .

Notice how the snow has melted around the berries.

 

 

Have you ever really looked at what a used eraser looks like?



 

 What details do you love about your children? I love her dimples, and this picture reminds me of that.

 

 

 

I always love a good sun flare and how it peaks around the balloon.

 

 

Have fun photographing the details!!



 

 





Selfies

Last year in February when we left the village I took a shot of me looking out the window....saying goodbye.

Last year I started a 52 weeks of me project.  I cannot begin to express the fear I had taking on a project like this.  I decided to give myself an out.  I would not have to publicly post all of them but I did have to take a picture each week. 

After a workout with no make up, close up.

The reason I even decided to do the project was an event in my life that made me take a good look at things.  I loved photography and I took pictures of everything and everyone but I was missing.  I had this great life but I was not showing up in it. I know the reasons and I am sure I am not alone when I say it is so difficult to see myself in pictures.

I start to pick myself apart.  I am my worst critic.  But I really started to think about my family and what they would be left with when I left this world.  Hopefully I live a long life and hopefully I will be documented in pictures.

On a bench with my niece and her dog Daisy.

I started to have fun taking pictures of myself and I even looked forward to the next week.  I still struggled with showing the world but it was getting easier.  I did see the importance of it more and more.

Up close with slight blur.

I am happy to report that I am doing another year 52 weeks of me.  I have gained such confidence and post most of my selfies these days and I will even do more that one a week at times.  I even added another project of my husband and I, 52 weeks of us (that one needs work...I have yet to hit every week). 

iPhone with the Hipstamatic app tag group on Instagram #shakeitout2014

I truly believe it is important for us to take more pictures of ourselves.  If you do not like what you are seeing and do not want to post it, don't post it.  Save it somewhere but do take it.  It might be the time to look at what you do not like and change it or to just accept you for the beautiful person you are.

Tips I have learned about taking selfies.....
1. Shoot from above
2. Lighting, lighting, lighting
3. Softening the photos is such a nice tool....use it.
4. See the beauty in you
5. Have fun....this is fun, really!

So here is my challenge, I want to see your faces.  It is going to be a selfie week.  Hands, feet, faces, shadows, cropped images, cozy pictures of you enjoying your down time, you doing your favorite things, I want to see them all.  We have got this.  Let me see your beauty.

Wisdom from the Masters

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo

There is something to be said about studying your craft through the eyes of a master. Why try to reinvent the wheel, right? The masters had a pattern and a distinct style that equaled success. I don’t think you have to be a “newbie” to benefit from their work; we should always be challenging ourselves to do more excellent work and maybe even step out of our comfort zone.

Someone that is resonating with me right now is Vivian Maier, obscure and unknown until her work was discovered in boxes at an auction. I am perhaps most enamored by her work because I have never done street photography of any kind. Maier’s work is amazing – and to think she used film, much of which remained undeveloped until after her death! She was able to “get in people’s faces”, capture the detail, and walk away! The mystery surrounding her only adds to the interest in her fascinating style.

Did you know that Ansel Adams said, “ Twelve significant photographs in one year is a good crop.”?

photo credit leaca_travels on Instagram

Oh my, what would Adams have thought about the digital era and its endless amount of images to record? And why am I disappointed when I don’t have twelve good shots in one outing? Ugh! I think I need to return to film where I was more calculated and thoughtful about “wasting (precious) frames”! Then again….look at this shot by Leaca! She’ll have to tell us if it was shot on her phone from IG headquarters (her car) ;) It’s timeless Alaska! There is something to be said for this digital era and its various editing toolboxes too.

“There is a brief moment when all there is in a man’s mind and soul and spirit is reflected through his eyes, his hands, his attitude. This is the moment to record.” – Yousuf Karsh

When my father-in-law asked me to photograph him in such a way as to mimic an Albert Einstein photo, I don’t think I realized that it was the Yousuf Karsh who had shot the photo of Einstein he wanted me to incorporate. I was just as surprised and pleased as my father-in-law was with the results! I studied the Einstein photo and did my best to recreate it with window light. 

But there are other “masters” I follow, everyday-nothing-is-ordinary-365ers. Photographers I have followed and admired for years on Flickr and now on Instagram as well. They have taught me more about photography in the past 8 years than I have learned in the previous 22 years of being a photographer. They (you) are my daily dose of inspiration and have influenced and stirred my photographic vision forever. Thank you :)

Who are the Masters that you admire, both the old and new? Share with us so that we too might muse over their work and be inspired!