It Begins With A Subject

Photography has long been a passion of mine. I was bitten by the photography bug much more when I got my first digital camera. I took tons of pictures with my film camera, but I never really practiced close up shots or different angles. Who could afford the film?

 I don't think it requires a high end camera to get good pictures. It begins with a subject. Whether the person behind the camera focuses on children's faces, dogs, trees, roses, or sunsets , he can practice the craft by photographing the subject in different ways with different settings. My brother does much of his photography in black and white, but often moves between color and black and white using the same subject.

I wish I had children around more often. My students are not at the age that they want to pose with hands folded, or looking down,or being pensive. They all want to make silly faces, put their arms around each other, and yell funny words. When I am around other children I can practice posing, expression, and light in different settings. That doesn't happen very often.

I have hundreds of photos of my pets, but often they are just lucky shots. Nothing can be too planned with a red heeler, or an energetic kitten named Grayson. My dog Annie is too shy most of the time to look at the camera and a few of the cats walk off in disgust. 

Bless my husband's heart. He has held flowers, let me use his hands, face, and back in numerous poses, but he doesn't really want to be the main subject of my photos.

I raise flowers in my garden and love to create bouquets. This is the subject that has been successful for me in practicing photography. Flowers provide color, composition, and light depending on where I move them, arrange them or style them. I have been known to carry a bouquet of flowers out in freezing weather to get better light.

Choose a subject that is readily available to you most of the time then shoot away. Using my subject of flowers  gives me a perfect excuse to buy grocery store bouquets in the middle of winter.

It Begins with Words

Whether I am teaching writing or immersing myself in the craft, I have learned one very important lesson. What works for you may not work for me. 

Experienced writers often give out advice which includes where they write, what paper they use, what pen works best, and where their ideas come from.  Along comes a person who wants to spend more time with the written word, but doesn't know where to start. An experienced writer has shared all that works. It seems so daunting. "Oh dear....that room didn't work. Legal pads are better than a journal. What do you mean a red Bic pen?" 

I want to let you in on a  little secret. It begins with words. It doesn't matter where you are, what you are wearing, what you are drinking, or what color of ink you are using. It begins with words. 

Get the words down. With my own students I have an exercise called word spill. "Write down everything that comes to mind when I say............."Myself it is just beginning the words and writing until I can't think of anything else to say.  Whether thinking quietly first about the words helps, do it. For some it is brainstorming. Others read others' words to get inspired. It begins with words. Do what works for you.

I believe there are many writers that have much to say, but aren't writing because of being afraid it may not be done right.  Insecurity creeps in because they don't know the rules of the writing club. There is much to share, much to say, but  the person is crippled with writer's block.  

Guess what? There are no rules. You can't be wrong. That is why I love writing so much. I can do it anywhere, any time, any place. I can save it, rip it up, delete it, or publish it. I can put it here on my blog or share it with my students. They are my words. I put them all together and arranged them to suit me. I own them. 

Remember, it begins with the words. Oh... and you don't have to use an old typewriter!

What writing rituals work for you?

What holds you back when you have something you want to write?

What advice do you have for other writers?

 

 

Gather Up Winter

As the end of spring I often find myself gathering up dead leaves from spent tulips while trying not to pull up the bulbs. Gathering in summer could be flowers for a bouqet, bugs off of roses, deadheads off of geraniums, or fruit off a tree in the orchard. Autumn is the queen gathering season. Leaves are gathered, the last tomatoes before the frost, eggs before the chickens begin molting, and the last of the garden vegetables. 

 

What do we gather up in winter? The last of the holly that was in the pot for decoration? The Christmas lights that still haven't come down? The little items that were dropped and lost in the snow during the long winter months perhaps?

I do gather photos. Winter photos are a challenge. The days are darker. Snow sometimes doesn't look very pretty. As my husband loves to say, " You see one snow covered fencepost...you've seen them all." I gathered a collection of my favorite winter photos as spring looms in the horizon. 

One Word Project: Gather

Gather is the One Word Project choice for this month at Shutter Sisters. Gather is a good word for any day. I always feel like I am gathering. I am gathering student papers, laundry, photos from online files, stuff for an photo outing, new ideas, books to read, and so much more. One of my next projects will be to gather photos and sort them in some organized fashion. In preparing for this huge project I began revisiting, revising, and redoing files on my laptop. I found a few of my favorite foodie photos to share today. The one above makes me yearn for gathering the harvest of late summer.

I can just smell the fall fruit from the orchard.

Here is my favorite salad to serve at a family dinner: Sarah's Autumn Red Salad.

An image of a refreshing huckleberry martini as we celebrated Mom's birthday in the Peacock Room.

I love to prepare and photograph warm, hardy breakfast dishes.

March Came in Like a Lamb

Our March left the lion behind. We have had sunshine, temperatures above fifty degrees, and blue skies. How heavely. 

The Flowers of Winter

A week ago I thought I'd be planting primroses soon. Mother Nature once again fooled us. The cold temperatures and late winter snow made be thankful I have surrounded myself with winter flowers this year. I have had some beauties also. This poinsettia has brightened the room for two months.

The amaryllis plants have been the stars of the winter. I have loved experimenting with my camera and lighting with these blooms.

The orchid that arrived Valentine's Day from my husband is another plant that has brightened some gray days in the dining room.

I am never disappointed by the Christmas cactus. I just don't know what holiday the buds will appear.