Joyfully Green

In a Vermont State of Mind

Last week, our family was back on the slopes of Killington, Vermont--or rather, they were on the slopes and I was firmly down on the ground, exploring old bookstores and snapping pictures. I've said it before (and my kids still can't believe it), but I have no interest in skiing. Zero, zilch, nada. It's just an instinctive "nope!" for me, the way some people would say they'd never-in-a-million-years want to go sky-diving (which, strangely enough, I'd probably try before skiing).

The pictures above represent Vermont to me: Wide open spaces. Rolling hills and looming mountains. Red barns and white houses. Charming towns without "overly precious" pretensions. I'd be driving down a lonesome highway between the mountains and spot something (so many things!) too hard to pass up, picture-wise. Back I'd go, turning the car around for another impromptu photo shoot. That's how Vermont is: Pure beauty that keeps luring you back.

And how sweet are those little yellow and red cabins pictured above?! That's the Casablanca Motel, outside Wallingford. I'm definitely going back there for more pictures. It seemed like it was straight out of another (much less complicated) era.

All in all, it was a picture-perfect week. I hope yours was just as lovely.

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Enrollment is now OPEN for my next online photography course running in March 2016:

"The Charm of Children: How to Take Better Photos of Babies and Kids."

Click here for all the details and registration. No fancy camera necessary (you can even use your smart phone).

Spaces are limited, and this course will run only one time this year.

 

© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any of my photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

 

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The Sweet Charm of a Little Chaos

 

Joyful Reads & Finds for the Weekend, Vol. 65

As I type this post, I can hear the super-low baritone of the wind, howling through the trees behind our house. It's been such a chilly week here; I guess this is payback for our unseasonably warm December. In any case, I hope that wherever you are, you're cozy and comfy, and ready for this weekend's round-up of good reads and finds.

• I love how this photographer created hilarious little picture-stories with animal "characters" : Vadim Trunov

• Not joyful, but important: Why big blizzards don't disprove global warming

• Interesting job, no? Professional Panda Hugger

• I'd never have the patience for these thoroughly amazing leaf carvings

• Hilarious and oh-so-true:  "I'm not going to say it again..."

• And finally, a timely post from Yours Truly if you've been dutifully filling the bird-feeders this winter: Tips for Taking Better Bird Photos

Happy weekend, friends!

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Enrollment is now OPEN for my next online photography course running in March 2016, "The Charm of Children: How to Take Better Photos of Babies and Kids." Click here for all the details and registration. (Spaces are limited.)

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Love photography? Want to improve your shots? Sign up FREE for "Writing with Light" -- a monthly letter full of my photo tips & tricks, creative inspiration, exclusive e-course discounts & the occasional fabulous freebie! (Straight to your in-box with ZERO spam.)

 

 

© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any of my photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

Related articles

Joyful Reads & Finds for the Weekend, Vol. 44

Fine-Feathered Friends: How to Take Better Bird Photos

 

 

 

 

Still Lifes and Running Horses

 

"These days run away like horses over the hill..."

 

That's the line of a song* I tuned right into this morning, singing it to myself without even realizing I was singing, in the middle of racing thoughts and making plans. It's from those modern-day poets, Bono and The Edge.

I'd spent the morning flittering about, checking in on students, planning new courses, and spilling tea (thankfully cold) on the poor dog, who had been peacefully sleeping next to me as I worked. (She forgave me, as dogs always do, and curled up for further napping.)

It was the song accompanied by the morning light that made me pause. Not bright sunlight, but soft light, which I prefer. I don't mind overcast days; they're a photographer's friend, giving everything "the old Dutch look" of Vermeer and Rembrandt. The Dutch Golden Age painters were among my favorites to study in Art History 101. They really knew how to capture the quiet moment.

This is happening a lot lately:  I'll look up from a racing mind to see something so peaceful and utterly gorgeous, it almost startles me. Perhaps it's the "occasional gorgeous shock" (as Anne Lamott called it first). Whatever it is, I'm thankful that it makes me simply stop and take note of the fleeting moment.

I think that's why I've been arranging so many still lifes lately. There's an inherent mindfulness, a soothing peacefulness, in arranging things for pictures. It's just me, my camera, and ordinary objects, working together to create a visual song.

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VERY GOOD NEWS for those of you trying to capture the precious and fleeting moments with your children or grandchildren: Enrollment is now OPEN for my next online photography course, "The Charm of Children: How to Take Better Photos of Babies and Kids." Click here for all the details and registration. (Spaces are limited.)

*********************************************************

 

Love photography? Want to improve your shots? Sign up FREE for "Writing with Light" -- a monthly letter full of my photo tips & tricks, creative inspiration, exclusive e-course discounts & the occasional fabulous freebie! (Straight to your in-box with ZERO spam.)

 

 

© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any of my photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

* Lyrics from the song "Dirty Day" by U2 from the album "Zooropa", Island Records, 1993.

 

 

 

The Ingredients for a Good, Creative Day

 "Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow, grow..." -- The Talmud

 

In equal parts, I love and hate the feeling of having too many projects going on at once.

On one hand: "Great! The ideas are churning!"

On the other: "Ohmystarspleasehelpme, I need a nap."

Because it takes time (of the rare, uninterrupted variety) and mental effort to get the ideas "out there", to give them shape. But if we're lucky, we get a lightning strike of a revelation. An "A-ha!" moment, as Oprah is so fond of saying.

 

 

I am a big list-maker of the "to-do" variety, and I've realized a few key things about myself. It's a sort of checklist for me to have a good, creative day:

• Funnily enough for a person who used to be a marketing director (among other things), I cannot stand marketing myself. Although it comes with the territory in this internet age, telling people about my courses, my social media pages, my blog...ugh, the whole thing feels icky and "toot-your-own-horn-ish." Thankfully, I have the most supportive photography students a teacher could ask for, who spread the word for me on their own blogs and social media pages (such as this one, that one, and this one). Most of my students have some connection to a previous student, and I am so incredibly grateful for that. (It's like "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", figuring out how students are connected.) SO: the less self-marketing I need to do, the more creative my day will be.
  

• If I've gone a couple of days without picking up my camera, I get very, verrrrrrrry crabby. Especially if I've had to do "marketing-myself" things instead.

• In the morning, it helps to read some poetry--any poetry. Or fiction of the poetic variety (see: Donna Tartt).
  

 

 

• Many times I need silence, but when I don't, 8tracks.com is great for background music. In the search box where it reads "what kind of songs do you want to hear?", I type in "study" plus "instrumental" plus "cello" and it comes up with the perfect soundtracks for working, without the music jockeying for my attention.
  

• I also require frequent cuddling breaks with Delilah. Listening to her rhythmic breathing, soft and measured...
  

 

 

• If I'm really stuck, taking a walk does wonders. There's something about watching a lone hawk gliding overhead, or the mist of melting snow rising off the pavement, or a dog on a jaunty jog with its owner. I guess it's a kind of visual poetry.
  

• If the real "meat" of the creative work isn't done by 1:00 pm, it's likely not going to happen that day, and it's best to move on to doing the laundry (woohoo!) or similar mundane tasks. (Strange how a former night owl has become such an early bird, at least creatively speaking.)

• To take a big weight off of myself, I realized I am not "a blogger who teaches photography courses", but instead I am "a photography instructor who happens to have a blog." You wouldn't believe the amount of pressure that self-realization took off my shoulders! Refocusing my daily efforts has made all the difference for me.
  

Today is a good, creative day because I'm finishing this post at 12:43 pm (just in the nick of time) and I'm prepping to introduce a new photography course. If you're all signed up at my new monthly e-newsletter, "Writing with Light", do look out for the details and discounts. (If you're not signed up yet, you can still do it, in the right-hand column. If you're receiving this post by email subscription, click on the title of the post to get to the main blog and the "Writing with Light" sign-up.) Sorry, some self-marketing was necessary right there!

And now, Laundry Mountain awaits...

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What are your ingredients for a good, creative day? I'd love to know!

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© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any of my photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

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