Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Meet This Week's Judge: Sarah Rypma

This week, Sarah of Sarah Rypma Photography talks macro with us. Enjoy!




“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you will look back and realize they were the big things“  - Kurt Vonnegut



Chances are if you are a mother with young children, you are reminded almost daily that you should enjoy this time in your life - because it will be gone before you realize it. This sentiment seems to be repeated everywhere and by everyone from the little old lady in the checkout line at the supermarket to the Facebook comment you just received from your Aunt Sally: “Too cute! They grow up too fast!” Admittedly, it’s irritating to be warned of time’s fleeting pace when there is a sea of laundry to fold, a sticky house to clean, a stack of school papers to read and temper tantrums to weather. However, if I was a betting woman, I would wager that you probably became a photographer because you know that no matter how irritating and anxiety-inducing this warning is, there is truth to it.  Our time as mothers with young children will pass all too quickly.



Living in the moment has never been more difficult than it is for our generation of mothers. We are constantly inundated with emails, text messages, tweets, status updates and phone calls that continually interrupt our daily lives and take us away from the present. To make it more challenging, we carry around the heavy weight of “mommy guilt” – the feeling that we aren’t doing enough or aren’t doing the right things for our children. Add to that the guilt that we are too busy and not fully living in the moment and it becomes oppressive.



I chose Macro photography for this week’s theme because it challenges us to stop the glorification of busy and take notice of the little things that make up our daily lives, but are perhaps all too often overlooked. Macro photography is an extreme close up type of photography that makes small items appear larger than life. Macro shows us the beauty of subtlety. Using focus and magnification, it forces us to appreciate the details that otherwise go unnoticed. Macro photography, like motherhood, requires an extreme amount of patience. You have to force yourself to be still and overcome the slightest of interruptions to achieve focus.



This week I challenge you to take a look around. Spring is a great time to practice macro photography as trees are budding and new life is emerging. Many of the macro images I have are from nature walks with my children in our own yard. Although Macro is often associated with nature, there are millions of small details in our everyday life to highlight. As a general rule, f/16, is recommended in macro photography to get the majority of your subject in focus and manual focus helps achieve the sharpest images. However, play around with the aperture and focus. You are the artist and these are your little moments. I can’t wait to see how you capture them.



Enjoy the little things!

Sarah


Sarah is a natural light and lifestyle photographer in Michigan who won Snap Maven’s “fresh”  (link to: http://snapmavenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/friday-feature-with-sarah-rypma.html) theme in 2014. Sarah's photography uses unique perspectives, vivid colors, natural light and a shallow depth of field to capture her world. Children, animals, nature, food and landscapes (both rural and urban) often appear in Sarah's work. Sarah's work has been described as fresh and emotive and has been recognized on several national and international photography forums for its storytelling qualities and striking portrayal of the everyday.


Follow Sarah on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarahRypmaphotography







Tuesday, April 28, 2015

{at the park}

Looking through the At the Park images made my soul happy.  
All of these kiddos playing, being carefree, enjoying being young and energetic!  
It was a great reminder to relax and just enjoy this wonderful life.
I loved so many of these images but finally narrowed it down to these amazing shots.


I love the leading lines and color in this image.  
I also love that expression.  It may be a "boy mom" thing, but that is an expression that represents this age so well and that we boy moms know won't be here forever. 






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I love how this shot uses the angle and light to add to their playfulness.   
I also love all of the lines leading into their playtime.






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This isn't the first time I've seen this image, and I am so glad it was submitted for this theme so I could share it here.  The composition is perfection.  This is how you do a swing picture!  





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Those turned-in toes, those yellow boots, those bows!  
This is so "little girl at the park."  
I love how the depth of field adds to the reminiscent feel of this shot.





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I love a great sunset silhouette.  
The movement her is wonderful as are the gorgeous complementary colors in that sky!






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Such a cool perspective.  I like that I can see a hint of apprehension on his face as he climbs.  
And the colors -  I LOVE these colors. 






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This angle is awesome.  
I feel like I am right there, pushing my daughter on the swing, basking in the sun and loving my life.  





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Such a cool shot.  
I love the repetition and framing here as well as the tones and his tentative expression.





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I want to hang out with her!  Perfect timing on this shot.  I also love this conversion.






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I just keep coming back to this one. 
 That sweet face, perfect framing, and beautiful tones make such a lovely shot. 








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And the winner is....






The expression and movement of this photo are just wonderful.  
It screams carefree childhood times at the park.  
This photo makes me feel good every time I look at it and that's what being at the park is all about!



Thank you so much for sharing these sweet souls with Snap Maven.  
What a wonderful way to spend a week, looking through images of joyful kids!

Mel Karlberg





Monday, April 27, 2015

Maven Flyer Vol. 18

Welcome to 
 The Maven Flyer
Vol. 18
For the week of April 27, 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
Include "Please Add This Page to the Flyer"
in the subject line so we won't miss it.

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 ~ Macro
Clicking Moms ~ Imagination
In Beauty & Chaos~ Water, Weekly Favorites
Evoking You~ Night
The Dark Room~  Hair, Weekly Favorites
Fantastically Flawed~ Night (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~Happy thoughts for Amber, Weekly favorite
Measure In Love~ Hearts
Photographer's Connection~Weekly Favorite
Photo Artistry~Water, Weekly favorite
EX.OH Blog ~ Weekly favorite
Light Inspired~ Games, weekly favorite
M4HP~Bird's Eye View
30 Minutes in the Life~  (Mundane, yet marvelous)   ?
Reflections~ Negative Space
Sweet Little Muse~ (on a break- no theme)
Little Bellows Porta 800, Weekly favorite
Photo Corner~ weekly favorite
By The Light~   Side light
Life's Experience p52~ ?
The Monochromatic Lens~Weekly Favorite
My Beautifully Chaotic Lifestyle~ Beautifully Chaotic
Let the Kids Dress Themselves~ Explore
SHOTMagazine~ open, one photo per day
The Organic PhotograpHERS~ Sensual (women only)
A Day in the Life~ (no longer active-no theme)
Honestly, Photography  ~ inanimate object
Euphoric Capture~ Emotive freelensing
CLICK STYLE~ Storyteller, weekly favorite
Yip Yap Girl~ Pig tails
The Inner Lens~Embarrassed (all April)
The Masterpiece~(no active theme), Weekly favorite
The Snappy Mama~Discovery
Photographer Obsessed~ Mothering
In shadow of life~BW weekly favorites
The Creativity Project- Pastel
PoétiqueI need to touch your life and leave a joy ..,.... 
an inspiration ...So you will love me soon in reality ...
... not imagination ...Boys Will Be Boys~Weekly Favorite
The Snap Society ~ Weekly favorite
Click Clique ~ Reflections (new theme every two weeks)
Finding Bliss- (B&W)
Life Unscripted- Connection
Project:life your way: weekly favorites
The Artistic Tog: Unique composition
Pearls and Roses: Sunlit
The Thrifty Tog Blog~Self love (all April)
The Photo Nook ~ Earth (all April)
Sham of the Perfect~ At the store
Life In Loud~ Weekly favorite
Fearless and Framed~ Honestly documented
Inspire me, Inspired be.- Sky
<<<>>>

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
Include "Please Add This Page to the Flyer"
in the subject line so we won't miss it.
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.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Feature Friday with Red Bus Photography!

We're so excited to learn a bit more about Kerry of Red Bus Photography, the winner of last week's 'emotional' challenge!




1. Please tell us about yourself…

I’m from Singapore where I live with my two young sons and incredibly supportive husband (hey I’m never gonna win an Oscar so this is my moment to give him a shout out!).  I’m a bit of what some might generously call ‘type A’, which suited me well in my previous job as a strategy consultant, but these days I’m grateful just to make it through a day with minimal yelling (my kids) and crying (me), and a nice long shower.  I was at home with my kids in London and Singapore for over 3 years before starting my photography business in late 2014 (just prior to this I set up a personal Facebook blog The Biscuit Diaries, which now hosts my 365 project).  I get a big kick when someone calls me a ‘photographer’ and I still find it difficult to introduce myself as one.



2. Can you describe your style in 3 words? Why those words?
 
Authentic - I like to photograph people and relationships as they are, no props, minimal posing and in a context familiar to them
Emotive - I look for moments of true emotion and connection above all else, whether these be quiet or loud moments … I find myself willing to work around a lot of technical flaws if the image makes me feel something
Intimate - There is something inherently intimate in being invited into a stranger’s home to observe them in their private spaces.  I work hard to preserve and convey this sense of intimacy by encouraging my clients to interact with each other rather than with me (even if I am sometimes right in their faces!)






3. What sparked your passion for photography?

No points for originality here - definitely my kids.  I guess pre-kids, I did derive strange pleasure from taking travel photos without subjects, unless say a monk in bright robes or nuns eating ice-cream popped into view and I would chase them down (true story).  I also developed a bit of an obsession with ogling pretty styled engagement and wedding shoots when my own wedding came along.  But photography was never something I worked on consistently until I had my first baby and spent hours on Etsy purchasing wooly animal costumes and various hats.  What really kicked things into high gear was taking a few online courses in 2014 that opened my eyes to photographing light and real life.  I have never ever considered myself a creative person, but there is something about walking into a scene and challenging myself to quickly distil it down into a few frames that really appeals to the ‘type A’ in me.




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

I’m quite awful about leaving my stuff all over the place - I have left lenses at client shoots before - but these should be in my camera bag: Canon 6D with Sigma 35mm 1.4 semi-permanently attached, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, Fuji x100s, handful of SD cards, business cards, lens pen, lens cloth, toy red bus.



5. What is your dream shoot or project?

A traditional Indian wedding! But only in natural light, heh. I would also love to shoot a ‘day in the life’ for a client, I have attempted personal ones but always get wrung out before the day is over. Oh and a family shoot on top of a mountain where the air is cool and the light is golden … Clearly I dream a lot, which is surprising given how little I get to sleep.



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 that some styles of photography were inherently better than others.  They are not.  You might like something or not like something, but that in itself doesn’t make it any more or less valid as ‘good’ photography.  I thought that it mattered how you get to your final image - flash vs. natural light only, manipulated in Photoshop vs. minimal colour correction.  I don’t believe this anymore, which is not to say that I don’t believe in getting it right in-camera as much as possible, but I don’t think that an image is necessarily better by virtue of it having been virtually untouched.  An image with artificially pink skies or flare applied in Photoshop might not be to my personal taste, but that in itself doesn’t make the photographer technically less competent.



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

Be confident but not defensive. Be proud of where you have gotten to in your journey but never stop
working on your skills. Don’t wallow in self-doubt - even experienced photographers have moments where they feel like they are producing drab work. Pick up your camera and keep shooting - or, take a complete break and don’t even analyse your images, start shooting again when you feel the urge. Reach out to other photographers in the local or online community, it might feel weird initially but you can start slow until you find a person or forum that you can click with. Do NOT get caught up in drawn-out arguments about whether buying presets is cheating, whether bundling digital files is selling out etc., it will drain you and confuse you - learn what you can from the experience of others, but don’t allow them to make you feel bad about your own decisions. Give back, give back, give  back - engage other photographers and be responsive to them.




Find more of Kerry's beautiful work here

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

{emotional}

An amazing experience to be a part of. Connecting and expressing yourself through your images will have a greater reaction. This is why it was hard choosing as I connected with all of these beautiful images in front of me today.

I love the conversion and movement. The full frame brings me closer to them. Her little hands delicately touching her fathers face, intrigued why it's so different to hers. 
I love how children feel to understand and I can feel her curiosity through this image.





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So raw, real and emotional. Pure and heart felt. I love this capture - such a surreal moment 





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This is why children are amazing.  Who else can make you laugh and smile like this? I feel I'm in this moment with them.





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As he looks straight into the camera, I feel he is staring straight at me. His eyes are wanting to tell me something and I'm waiting on the edge of my seat to find out what it is.






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This little girl stopped me in my tracks, as the wind blows her hair, she stands tall and confident and ready. Such a stunning image.





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The soft lighting on the hands touching, the girl resting her head, eyes closed brings a special kind of love, a love that has so much history, so many stories to tell, such a tender moment to keep close to the heart. 






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A beautiful image. I love how happy they are, love how they are enjoying the moment.  It may be cold but their warmth brings the light in this image for me.





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Two different emotions created as there are two different facial expressions which I love, but the main story in this image is the father's hands. He stands tall and strong behind them and his boys will always be his boys.






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I love how the hands are the main focus and immediately I feel connected, the feeling of love (newly married love).  The soft lighting and the dark tones creates the mood for me.





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I feel a strong connection by the full frame, the firm grip on his shirt, the closeness, while their faces are softened. The love is powerful.






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...and the winner is








I feel the love, the honesty and the delicacy of this image. The way this is captured takes me into their little world, a new world that will have so many special memories created.



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



Denise Saba

Monday, April 20, 2015

The Maven Flyer Vol. 16

Welcome to 
 The Maven Flyer
Vol. 16
For the week of April 20, 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 ~ At the park
Clicking Moms ~ Imagination
In Beauty & Chaos~ Creative Cropping, Weekly Favorites
The Dark Room~  Time, Weekly Favorites
Fantastically Flawed~ Grief (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~Happy thoughts for Amber, Weekly favorite
Measure In Love~ Hearts
Photographer's Connection~Weekly Favorite
Photo Artistry~Water, Weekly favorite
EX.OH Blog ~ Weekly favorite
Light Inspired~ Pink, weekly favorite
M4HP~Red
30 Minutes in the Life~ With me (Mundane, yet marvelous)
Reflections~ Light and dark
Little Bellows Ektar, Weekly favorite
Photo Corner~ weekly favorite
By The Light~   Side light
Life's Experience p52~ ?
The Monochromatic Lens~Weekly Favorite
My Beautifully Chaotic Lifestyle~ Beautifully Chaotic
Let the Kids Dress Themselves~ Explore
SHOTMagazine~ open, one photo per day
The Organic PhotograpHERS~ Sensual (women only)
A Day in the Life~ At the end of the day
Honestly, Photography  ~ BW
Minimalist Mondays ~Minimalist
Euphoric Capture~ Outside looking in
CLICK STYLE~ Motion, weekly favorite
Yip Yap Girl~ Pig tails
The Inner Lens~Embarrassed (all April)
The Masterpiece~Green, Weekly favorite
The Snappy Mama~Belly laughs
Photographer Obsessed~ Siblings
In shadow of life~BW weekly favorites
The Creativity Project- Pastel
Poétique"I have seen the best of you and the worst of you, and choose both"- Sarah Kay
Boys Will Be Boys~Weekly Favorite
The Snap Society ~ Weekly favorite
Click Clique ~ Reflections (new theme every two weeks)
Finding Bliss- Erthy
Life Unscripted- A walk in my shoes
Project:life your way: weekly favorites
The Artistic Tog: Lens flares
Pearls and Roses: Smile
The Thrifty Tog Blog~Self love (all April)
The Photo Nook ~ Earth (all April)
Sham of the Perfect~ At the store
Life In Loud~ Weekly favorite
Fearless and Framed~ Honestly documented

<<<>>>

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
Include "Please Add This Page to the Flyer"
in the subject line so we won't miss it.
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.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Meet This Week's Judge: Denise Saba


This week, Denise Saba of Catchnkiss Photography is with us to judge the "Emotional" theme. Read about why she prefers black and white photography for full emotional impact.




Shadow and light or light and shadow, does it matter which one comes first? The two elements compliment each other, so it doesn’t matter as long as they are both there, I’m happy!


It is only recently that I have found myself and where my artwork was heading. I use to care about creating pretty pictures, concentrated on technicality, composition and how much light to allow in, my mind was working over time.  I felt like my images were not good enough and really cared about what other people thought instead of listening to my gut.
I gave shooting a break as I tried to figure out what I needed to feel satisfied and complete. What were my images missing? Why did I feel that it wasn’t right?



After sometime, I started jumping onto photography blogs and seeing other amazing photographers capturing day to day living, everyday life and what seemed to be ordinary was absolutely extraordinary to view.


I can do this, I know I can because that was exactly what I was missing, missing the truth, the honesty and the rawness of life. I was lured in and fell in love with this concept.
It wasn’t that I wanted to be like other photographers but it was confirming that an imperfect image can also be perfect, every flaw, every blur, every under exposed or over exposed image was acceptable because it can be, who made the rules that an image has limitations – No one.



Step out of my comfort zone and take the next step, what was I waiting for?
So I let go of all restrictions, letting go from calculations, letting go from the norm and started shooting the moment, be in the moment, feel the moment.



I started to become more intrigued with shadow and light, depth and texture. It doesn’t really matter what the subject was, it was more now how to make the subject come alive and connecting with it.



As I grew and became more acceptable of my own art, I now started connecting with my images; it felt amazing, cause I knew where the image was going. Light is such a powerful tool and I didn’t appreciate it like the way I do now. Didn’t understand why light was so important or what you can do with light as I was limiting myself to set boundaries.
As I became more confident in my use of light and shadow, I started acknowledging depth, texture and dark tones.  WOW! There was no stopping me now. All these elements combined together were creating a deep sense of accomplishment. This was me! My images are soulful, powerful, honest and emotional.



My conversions of black and white was to take it to another level, this included pockets of light, dark backgrounds, blurred foregrounds, distinctive lines, piercing eyes and messy hair –(gotta love the hair blowing over the face look). 


Im thankful now that I can look back at my previous work and not feel ashamed but to feel satisfied.  Its such an honour to be able to tell a story that I have created and to know that there are people out there that can connect with me. It’s not for all but it’s definitely what makes me as a photographer, as a mother and as a storyteller.



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