Feature Friday with Ginger Snap Photography!

The winner of last week's 'weather' challenge is Kate Viner of Ginger Snap Photography, and she has graciously shared a bit about her gear, her dream shoot, and what she has learned along her journey, as well as some more of her gorgeous work.

1. Please tell us about yourself...

Occupational Therapist by day, budding photographer by night! I love being an O.T. but I also really love the creative outlet photography allows me. Its only been a year that I have been taking photography more seriously. I am still very much a beginner, but enjoy learning and developing my eye. I’ve recently started a 365 photo-a-day challenge and it’s getting me to try new shots.

2. Can you describe your style in 3 words? Why those words?

“Trial and error”?! haha mostly! I think I will chose “developing, resourceful and creative”.

Developing: definitely still developing my style and finding what I like.

Resourceful: Using the light available. I enjoy trying to ‘find the light’ to highlight the subject. I also really enjoying the dramatic look of low light/night photography. It’s another challenge to get my camera settings right!

Creative: This is my creative outlet, so I love being able to share beautiful images with others, to capture interesting colours, textures, scenes as I see them.

3. What sparked your passion for photography?

I decided to invest in a DSLR when my first niece was born as I wanted to be able to capture special memories of her growing up. She is now 2 years old.

4. What's in your camera bag right now?

Seeing as I am doing a 365 photo challenge I have started carrying my camera everywhere with me, so I’ve transferred my handbag contents to a camera bag! Usually just contains my camera, my 50mm lens and one other (landscape or zoom), wallet, phone, keys and lipsticks.

5. What is your dream shoot or project?

At the moment my dream is to have a small exhibition. To display my work somewhere public, and to have a cohesive set of images that represent me and my style (hopefully I’ve found it by then!).

As for a dream shoot, anything! I want to practice anything and everything, more babies, landscapes, portraits, wedding, engagement, whatever.

6. What are some of the misconceptions you had about photography and photographers at the beginning of your photography journey? Have they changed, and how?

I thought photoshop was so hard!! Its really not once you get the hang of it! I’m still learning with photoshop too, but watched tons of youtube vids, read up on tutorials with photographers, did the Morgan Burks Photoshop Fanatic course, joined Ask Damien groups on facebook.

7. What advice would you give to newbie photographers? What advice do you wish you'd been given at the very beginning?

Practice, practice, practice! I’m only a month into the photo-a-day challenge and I feel like I’ve grown already. I am more confident in my camera settings to shoot in manual. In the past month I’m also less self-conscious about taking photos in public, whipping out the “big” camera at a café/pub, or in the street and snapping away.

Research – there’s so much info out there, its just about finding the time to get through it all.

Develop your eye – this is tricky. I tend to look at my images or others images and really critique them. If I like the image what is it about it that appeals to me? Lighting, composition, feeling, the edit? Similarly, if I don’t like it, why?

Find more of Kate's beautiful work here:

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Meet This Week's Judge: Danielle Lundberg

This week, we have Danielle of DaniPress Photography guest judging for the high Contrast Black and White" theme. Please enjoy her lovely photos and read about her world!

1. Tell us about yourself...

I'm a born and bred New Yorker who lives in WA. I have a charming husband, two delicious sons, a sweet dog, and a love for being creative. If I'm not being creative in some way, my world feels very small and boring.

2. What ignited your passion for photography, and what fuels it now? 

I think I'm the fourth or fifth generation of photographers in my family. My dad, his dad, his dad, and so on were all photographers. My mom was an art teacher. I grew up drawing and writing. I always had a camera, too. I remember being in high school and going out with my friends to the beach at night and bringing the camera with us. I wanted to make sure we had tangible memories. I guess my great love for photography arose when I had my first son, as it has with many women, and my dad gave me my first professional camera. Since then, I've branched out from portraiture to also include landscape photography, which I think is where my creativity has blossomed. I love portraiture, but I don't get to be as artistic with it as I do with landscapes. My need for creativity in my life is what keeps me going and learning.

3. What's in your camera bag right now, what do use the most? the least? 

My Canon 6D, 24-105 f/4 L, 35 mm f/1.4L, 50 mm f/1.4, 85 mm f/1.8, and 70-200 f/2.8. I use them all for different things. I guess the ones I use the most for landscapes are the 24-105 and the 70-200, and for portraits I use the 70-200 and the 35. I use the 50 mm the least for sure. I'm not sure why I hang onto it, except that it was the first non-kit lens I bought, so there's a little nostalgia there.

4. What's your dream project or shoot? 

I don't have a dream project per se, but I'd love to travel more and see more and put foreign landscapes into my portfolio. I also love dance photography and would love to have more opportunities to shoot dancers and yogis.

5. What is the biggest challenge you face as a photographer?

Shutting down the ego is a hard one! Listening to someone's critique and not letting my "but, but, but" get in the way. 

Being held back by time constraints or life getting in the way is another challenge. I want to go out shooting, but can often only do it during the day when the kids are at school. That's not the ideal time. So until they can stay home without a sitter, I'm tied to their schedule, which can be hard on an artist.

6. If you had $500 to spend on photography...

How should you spend it? On education. How do you wish you could spend it? On education. How would you really spend it? On education.

7. Is there any one thing you wish someone had told you at the very beginning of your photography journey?

"Hey, you should definitely take a class on the exposure triangle," or "You know what white balance is, right? Have you thought about correcting yours?"  

Honestly, I think I was told the right things at the right time for me. I was given good critiques by people who I trusted and that is so important!

{weather}

What an incredible week of Weather images!  

The diverse interpretations were so inspiring and made choosing a mere eleven almost impossible.  

Truly, there are at least ten more I wish I could include.  I really enjoyed seeing how you included weather either as the subject or in a supporting role throughout the submitted images.  

Kudos to the models for enduring some of the captured weather as well! 

Melissa Levesque Photography

Clouds, fog, and sunrise all come together to make this such a rich landscape image.

......................................

Kathryn Cooke Photography LLC

I'm a huge fan of macro photography.  Kathryn artistically used back light to enhance the frost on the grass.  The weather is the clear subject.  

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Evidence of Life Photography

Using the reflection of the clouds at sunrise in the puddle tells the story of the passing storm.  It's subtle and familiar.  I find this very engaging and really like the square crop.

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Mick Schilling Photography

I really like the juxtaposition of the cold fog with the warmth of the sunlight.  This image emits such a peacefulness and the fog is an important character in the image.

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Michelle Gurner Photography

This is such a wonderful view of wind with her hair as the vehicle.  The movement appears gentle through her hair and engages us in creating the story of a child at the beach.  (At least MY story for this image is at the beach!)

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Lori Dozier Photography

All of the components of this image work together to convey a cold winter day, the snow on the ground, the empty swings and the use of the lensbaby to add blur as if it is windy as well.  Weather is the dominating subject.

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Ashley Spaulding Photography

Weather plays a huge roll in this image of a child up to their knees in snow.  As if that isn't enough to make me chilled, he's eating some of the cold stuff, too!  I really like this clean edit and pop of green allowing the snow on the ground to be the anchor of this image.

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Channon Williamson Photography

The texture of the clouds reflected on the beach with the rainfall evident the background make weather an important component of the negative space of this image.  I love the rich, deep grays and blues with the pop of color from the clothing. 

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Thirty7 Photography

It's as if she is saying, "It's stopped now.  I can go outside now, right?"  Weather is playing an important role in this image of a child at the window full of raindrops and drips.

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Amanda Dora Photography

I really like the reflection of the snow in the window as we see this child's wistful, longing expression for the outdoors.  

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And the winner is.....

Ginger Snap Photography

The rich texture in the clouds and setting sun throwing those long shadows help to enhance the subject and provide drama to the pathway to the beach.  Kate's choice of a centered composition helps me feel like I am there.  The weather here elevates a potentially ordinary but beautiful image to extraordinary.

 Thank you again, Snap Maven, for having me as a guest judge.  And, thank you to everyone who submitted images.  I loved looking at and studying each and every one.  

Nadeen Flynn Photography

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The Maven Flyer Vol. 4

Welcome to 

 The Maven Flyer

Vol. 4

For the week of January 26, 2015

Here we will offer suggestions for places for you to submit your images

for sharing and competition.

If you have or know of a sharing community or theme, please let us know

by emailing the name, link, and specifics to 

snapmaven.info @gmail.com

At this time you will need to visit each page to learn the specifics of the pages 

rules and deadlines for sharing images.

Happy Sharing Everyone!

Snap Maven ~ High contrast black and white
Clicking Moms ~ Color or BW

Distorted Beauty~ Book

In Beauty & Chaos~ Movement, Weekly Favorites

Evoking You~SOOC

The Dark Room~  ?, Weekly Favorites

The Gratitude Collaborative ~ Forget the rules

Fantastically Flawed~ Smile (until Tuesday)

Giggles&Goldfish~Everyday Favorites

Picture Me Project~Include yourself in the image somehow!

We Were There Too~ Get in the photo with your kids!

Lemonade and Lenses~Weekly Favorite

Mozi Magazine~Weekly Favorite

Seniorologie~ Weekly Favorite(senior)

Love Photographs Beautifully~Negative space
Measure In Love~ Hearts

Photographer's Connection~Weekly Favorite

Photo Artistry~Moody (all January), Weekly favorite

EX.OH Blog ~ Weekly favorite

Light Inspired~ Eyes, weekly favorite

M4HP~A part of me

30 Minutes in the Life~ Narrow depth of field

Reflections~ Emotive

Sweet Little Muse~ New

Little Bellows~ Friendship, Weekly favorite

Photo Corner~ weekly favorite

By The Light~   Dramatic light
Life's Experience p52~Texture
The Monochromatic Lens~Weekly Favorite
My Beautifully Chaotic Lifestyle~ Beautifully Chaotic
Let the Kids Dress Themselves~ Back light
SHOTMagazine~ open, one photo per day
The Organic PhotograpHERS~ Emotion (women only)
A Day in the Life~ At the end of the day
Honestly, Photography  ~ Celebration

M.O.O.D. ~ On pause

Minimalist Mondays ~Minimalist
Euphoric Capture~ Beach
CLICK STYLE~ It's a mom thing, weekly favorite
Yip Yap Girl~ Pig tails
The Inner Lens~Adventurous (all January)
The Masterpiece~Family, Weekly favorite
The Snappy Mama~Serene
Photographer Obsessed~ ?
In shadow of life~BW weekly favorites
The Creativity Project- Family
Poétique~ Pure imagination
Boys Will Be Boys~Monochrome
The Snap Society ~ Weekly favorite
Click Clique ~ Diptych (new theme every two weeks)
Finding Bliss- BW
Life Unscripted-Mother and child
Project:life your way: weekly favorites
The Artistic Tog: recent favorite
Pearls and Roses: Winter magic
The Thrifty Tog Blog~Colorful (all January)

<<<>>>

That concludes the links for this week!

If there is a link you'd like to see here, please let us know at

snapmaven.info@gmail.com

Please allow 2-3 weeks for addition to The Maven Flyer

Same goes for errors, though we hope to get those fixed right away.
Future issues of The Maven Flyer will be posted on Monday evenings.

You can't get featured if you don't submit!!

Go for it!

If you would like to receive
The Maven Flyer
in your inbox each week
please sign up
HERE.

Meet This Week's Guest Judge: Nadeen Flynn

This week, Nadeen of Nadeen Flynn Photography shared her eye for the natural world for this week's "weather" theme. Please enjoy her beautiful landscapes and rich macro work as you read a little about her!

Tell us about yourself:

I'm a wife, mother of two grown sons, former elementary school teacher, part-time farmer, lover of exercise, and a hobbyist photographer. My husband and I own a young walnut orchard and have
common interests in wine, food, excursions, and photography. We live in both TX (for my husband's job) and CA (the location of our orchard). I don't like to cook. At all. But I do. Everyday.

What ignited your passion for photography? What fuels it now?

Oh, how I wish the photography bug would have bitten me when my kids were little. You cannot
imagine how many horribly exposed, out-of-focus pictures I have from their childhoods. My
photography obsession began a little bit differently from most. Although I always had a little point and shoot camera as a kid and young adult, my sister was the photographer in our family. When she lost her battle with breast cancer, I took over that role. But, yes, I was still making bad images with a point and shoot or my phone. Then a friend invited me to a one-day workshop sponsored by Canon. With a borrowed 40D, I spent the morning learning about the exposure triangle and spent the afternoon shooting at the beach. I was hooked! I was then on a quest to learn all I could; a quest that continues today. My goal is to continue to improve and evolve as a photographer. Each day provides an opportunity to do just that. I'm hoping someday to merge the role of photographer with that of teacher.

What's in your camera bag?

Happily, my camera bag is becoming very full! I shoot with a Canon 5d miii body. My lenses
include: 24-105L, 100L macro, 70-200L, 50 Sigma Art, Lensbaby Sweet 35 and Edge 80. I also have access to my husband's lenses. I just received a speedlight, so that is next to learn. You will also find remotes, cleaning cloths, graduated filters, my camera manual, fingerless gloves, and a drop cloth for laying my bag on (or myself) if the location in which I'm shooting is wet or sandy. I probably use my 100L most often. Not only is it a fantastic macro lens, it is great for shooting at varying distances. I've even used it for portraits.

What is your dream project?

Oh! My dream project would be to shadow some of my favorite photographers, one a month, for a
year while soaking up all their knowledge and learning to SEE what they SEE! You did say dream!

What are the biggest challenges you face as a photographer?

The biggest challenges I face as a photographer are maintaining confidence in my work and finding
ways to continue to push forward, to see and create differently than I did the day before. I'm just
beginning my third consecutive 365. I have a bit of angst about it this time around. It's not easy
shooting daily and I won't allow myself to skip. In the past, it has been those days that I just didn't
know what or how I was going to shoot that have ended up providing some of my most favorite
images.

If you had $500 to spend on photography...

I'd use it toward an on-location workshop. I
really want to shoot in the Palouse area of Washington and have been considering a three day workshop there. But, a workshop requiring travel is very spendy!

What advice do you wish you had been given when you started your photography journey?

Oh, gosh, there are probably dozens of answers to this, but the question is, would I have really heard what they were saying? I was so obsessed at the beginning of this journey (Some people may say I still am!), I don't think I would have really gotten the message whatever it was.

Feature Wednesday with AnnMarie Denis of one33 Photography!

one33 Photography was the winner of our 'fresh' challenge 2 weeks ago, and as she has been featured on Snap Maven before (see here), she has graciously agreed to share her absolutely adorable Valentine's Day shoot with her kids!

"I will take/make any excuse possible to get my boys together for fun and cute photo session.  So when we were at Target the other day and we came across some giant Lollipops, the cute chocolate mustache suckers, the fun tissue paper garland and the pink balloons I knew I could pull of a simple and fun mini Valentines Day session for my boys! Normally they are not such willing participants of posed photographs but in this case, they will do pretty much anything for some candy! They take after their momma! I'm pretty excited about what I captured in an hour! I think I will use these for their Valentines they give out at school :)"  -  one33 Photography

Find more of AnnMarie's gorgeous work here:

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