From the category archives:

The Book

Life Is a Photo Op | Ketti Phillips

Today is the day we start our new photo blog series. The second half of our book is an inspirational guide entitled Life Is a Photo Op because we feel that the world around us offers us endless inspiration on a daily basis if you just know how to look for it. Not only is it a chance to highlight photographers around the world, both professionals and hobbyists, but this is a chance to inspire all of you to start a photo project that maybe you will someday share with us. We are thrilled to kick off this series with a clever and almost hauntingly beautiful look at life with children.

Thanks to everyone who has already submitted their projects! We would like to extend an invitation to those that have or are currently working on a personal photo project to email us at info@beyond-snapshots.com. It can be anything that sparks your creativity. We just ask that you submit work that you were not paid to produce. Please send us a brief description of your project with up to 10 images. We would love to see what you are working on, and possibly share it with everyone here!

Ketti Phillips | kettiphotography.com

Where are you from?
Southern California.

Where do you currently live?
Seattle, WA

How long have you been shooting?
About 4 years

Are you self-taught or schooled in photography?
Mainly self-taught. I had to take a photography course while I was studying graphic design in art school and it made me fall in love with shooting. The darkroom was not my favorite though – I did not have the patience for that.

Do you photograph for a living or is this a hobby?
That is a bit of a gray area… I have a business and photograph families for money, but it’s not something I market or really work at to gain clients. I have about 1 shoot a month, and about a quarter of those end up being freebies. So I don’t earn a living through photography, but it’s also more than just a hobby.

What is in your camera bag?
Canon 5D, 35L, 24-70L, 85 1.8 and 50 1.4. I also have a Pentax 645 that I like to play with.

Do you shoot digital or film or both?
Mainly digital but I am trying to get more film into the mix.

What do you find both positive and negative about shooting in both formats?
The instant gratification of digital and being able to correct myself on the fly. I love how film forces me to slow down and really think about a shot before I push the shutter.

Why do you love Film or Digital?
They are both great mediums! There is a tactile quality to film that is so beautiful. Digital can try to replicate it, but the real thing is always better.

How did this project come about?
I was looking for something to shoot that would push myself to explore an area I felt I needed to work on. In this case it happened to be detail shots and storytelling through objects and scenes. Since I work at home, I am never without my kids and don’t get out much. It is easy to fall back on them as subjects, so this time I kept them as the subject but removed their physical presence from the equation. It’s called “Kids Were Here” and the rules of the project were one photograph a day for 30 days, about my kids, but with no actual children in the photograph.

What is it about this project that speaks personally about you?
It is all about my children and tells me so much about them and what stages and quirks they were going through during this time period.

What would you want this project to say to the viewer?
To give the viewer a sense of my children, their personality, behavior, the chaos that exists in our home…

Are you currently shooting or planning to shoot another personal project?
I would love to but haven’t found the inspiration yet!

How do you keep challenging yourself photographically?
I give myself little rules to follow. Right now I’m focusing on composition so I tell myself nothing can have a center comp, I need to explore new angles.

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Books!

We are only a couple months away to the release date of March 20th of the Beyond Snapshots book. Not only is it exciting that we are seeing this project come to fruition, but what gets us head over heels is the sheer fact that this book is just that, A BOOK! It’s made of paper, that smell that only you can get from opening a brand new book. So very full with not only the written information and inspiration you need to pick up a camera and shoot, but also beautiful examples of pictures that you can learn how to take!

But where will you buy the book? We all know Amazon is a great place to get books, but did you know you that all of our other favorite vendors are pre-selling the book as well?

We also hold a special place in our hearts for the local bookstore and we encourage you to support them by visiting one that is in your neighborhood. Ask them to order it for you. That’s right, they do that!

There is a stop motion video called the “The Joy of Books”,  by Toronto book store owners Sean Ohlenkamp and Lisa Ohlenkamp, that has inspired this post and made us want to proclaim our love for books and now hopefully proclaims yours. Just remember the simple pleasure of sinking into the corner of a book store and getting lost in a book. Where will you get your copy of beyond snapshots and where will it take you?

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Dusting Off The Beyond Snapshots Blog

Exactly two years ago we announced the journey to bring our dream of an idea to bookstores with this blog . It always seems that in the first week of January we have something noteworthy to report.  This year isn’t any different and we have exciting changes for us, including new faces and plans that we hope will excite you as well!

We are growing! Last year we added Meredith to the Beyond Snapshots team and just this week, we have added the awesome Isabel to help with the blog and some of the administrative tasks to help the blog grow and bring you some more interesting articles to read.

my love of photography was first born in the bottom of a cardboard box. one filled with curled and crumpled memories of the lives of my mother and father. as an only child living between two homes i found family in those photos. i found a history for myself, beyond the two spaces i floated between. i started out in the tiniest town in the world, warwick ri, and now reside in Medford MA with my husband and two kids, Jack (6) and Leo (3). i’m the daughter of a photo journalist from the days when journalists had to shoot their own images. i grew up on film and the darkroom was my first love. i can still remember the first time i developed one of my photos. from camera to paper. this white square, floating under my rubber tipped tongs. swaying gently back and forth in the small waves of the developer. and from the fog an image emerges. i was hooked.

after having my first son at the age of 19 and marrying my long time hunny, i felt lost in the motherhood identity and knew there was something missing, something just for me. i was always taking photos but my point and shoot just wasn’t giving me the satisfaction i missed from the days of shooting film. capturing a moment, but so much more than that. a feeling, a connection. it’s more than wanting fancier equipment, it’s the calling you have to be a storyteller of sorts. so, two and some odd years ago i invested in my first dslr. for the first 6 months i spent a lot of time on the computer and a lot of time shooting. transferring what i knew about film to digital was harder than i had anticipated. it was at that time that i stumbled upon rachel’s site and the beyond snapshots blog. i was starving for knowledge and any blog that offered sincere help and genuine caring to the importance of teaching this craft was devoured. of course it’s rachel’s sense of humor and the genuine emotion she captures in every photo, of kids or lemons (really, one of my favorite shots of hers is a lemon on a tree in a diptych with a window…), that keeps you coming back for more, and it was the same for me.

i photograph my life and when i’m lucky i get to photograph other families lives too. i write, i play with the kids, i love the husband, i spend way too much time on facebook and instagram (@ifurie), i’m a music and concert junky, i have a not so perfectly kept home and a few laundry piles lying around. but at the end of the day, these photos i take of our life, of my kids, of them with their cousins and grandparents and each other, they are the greatest love letter i’ll ever write.

i’m so excited to be a part of this team, that is committed to continuing to inspire and teach the artist in all of us and build a supportive community for anyone who shares this love of photography.

you can find me at my blog http://www.ifurie.com/
on instagram: @ifurie
and on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/furiephotography/

Now that the Beyond Snapshots book is written (with nearly 2 years of constant work, you can be sure this is a VERY complete opus) and our blog family has expanded a bit, we decided to take a step back and really reflect on what we wanted to give our readers on a more consistent level. We even wrote a mission statement of sorts!

It is not JUST that you don’t have to be a pro to take great photographs, but that if you take great photographs, you don’t have to BE a pro. There is more to professional photography than the ability to expose properly and compose with interest. There is so much more. We at Beyond Snapshots are not here to make new pro photographers. We are here to encourage natural talent to see a moment and record life beautifully with still images. We want to share those results as inspiration for others who see photography as their art form, whether it is their livelihood or not. We embrace this photography renaissance and all the opportunities it provides those who previously could not afford to pursue their passion. To sum it all up, we exist to champion the desire in anyone with a camera to go Beyond Snapshots.

mobile PHOTO monday’s are coming back! Our weekly feature where we highlight 3 images that our readers have taken with their mobile devices, will be revamped and more accessible to everyone. We are excited about the changes to the submission process to make it easier for you to participate. The goal is to not only to educate you on popular mobile applications, but to encourage everyone to record their life regardless of what kind of camera you have. Check back soon for more info!

The revival of thinking thursday will be featured once a month, where we will be selecting some images from the thinking thursday flickr group to give individualized help as well as posting tips for getting better pictures with fewer shots taken and less time spent on the computer.

We are also excited to reveal a new blog series, “Life is a Photo Opportunity”. Every two weeks we will be featuring a photographer and their personal photographs. These artists will not necessarily all be professionals, as we want to celebrate the general enthusiasts and everyone who loves taking pictures. In fact for the pros who are featured, the one requirement is not about subject matter, but that your session/shot was non-paid work. Travel, food, kids, pets, LIFE photos… There will be more details on how you can submit your work in the next few weeks, but here is a glance (in no particular order) of some who we already have lined up:

rosina waszaj :: www.rosinasphoto.com

mary collier :: www.mkcphoto.com

abbie mcfarland :: www.abbiemcfarland.com

sara tegman :: www.sarategman.com

molly flanagan :: www.mollyflanagan.com

rebecca conway :: www.rebeccaconway.com

shannon harrison :: www.jackandrubystudios.com/blog/

ketti phillips :: www.kettiphotography.com

amy lucy :: www.amylucy.com

amy boring :: www.aboringphoto.com

The book is almost here! An advanced copy of “Beyond Snapshots” is literally on it’s way to us and we are so close to the March 20th release date. The PR madness for the book has begun, and we are looking forward to an article being published by the New York Times this week!

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The journey to bring Beyond Snapshots to bookstores and libraries everywhere

is finally officially underway.  We have been working hard on this dream for some time now and today we can finally spill the beans.

We are excited and proud to announce our news that we have signed a book publishing deal with Random House / Amphoto!

With a focus that extends past just the time spent raising kids, Beyond Snapshots the book will teach people in all stages of life how to take their fancy cameras off auto and shoot life like the pros.

There are so many wonderful things in store for the blog now that this book is underway.  We will continue to bring you all the tips and features as we have been doing…there is just going to be even more to offer!  Make sure that you sign up for our mailing list and check back here for updates and casting calls…

Thank you all for being part of this journey, we expect it to be a lot of fun.

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