Today’s image was found in the back alleys of Venice, where I loved to wander. It is another reminder that the work of getting the market wares to the populace of Venice is quite great. First on water, then on wheels. And not just any route! If you’ve been to Venice you know there are a great number of bridges with steps, so the route for wheels must be carefully chosen. Who wouldn’t maximize the amount carried in one trip? This cart, stacked high with crates, is a perfect example.

Before launching into the giveaway information, I want to invite you to come visit me elsewhere today! I’m guest posting on Caryn Gillen‘s site, with a photographer’s view on Enjoying Food Memories. I’ve mentioned a bit about my journey with Intuitive Eating, and Caryn has been a fantastic guide. This work has really clicked for me, and I’m excited to share my thoughts on her site today. Good timing too – with all of the yummy market food that’s been showing up here in the last week!

The Giveaway

Let’s get to the details of the giveaway, shall we? I’ll be giving away matted print of choice from my RedBubble shop to the winner. The prints are 8x12in matted to 16x20in and they are beautiful! This image shows a couple of examples, which are now framed and hanging on the wall of my home:

Greeted Cards and Matted Prints from RedBubble

Are you excited? Cool! Since there is no such thing as a free lunch – I need something from you too. Here’s what you need to do to enter:

1. Visit my updated Market/Wheels Portfolio and look through all the images. (Click on any thumbnail in the portfolio and you can scroll through full-size images.)

2. Come back to this post and leave a comment telling me which are your favorite images and why. Choose one or two or three, the number doesn’t matter. I’m interested in your feedback on any number of images – but only in one comment/entry per person please!

3. Leave your comment by the end of the day on Monday, 13 February. I’ll randomly draw from the entries on Tuesday, 14 February and contact you for your selection and mailing address.

A little bonus for you too – RedBubble has a sale going on through 15 February. Use the code cards143 at checkout and get 10% off all Greeting Cards and Postcards. Yay! I’ll have the full Market/Wheels series added to the shop over the weekend, so it’s a great time to stock up.

How “Market/Wheels” Came About

I’ve gotten a few questions about the series and how I process it over the last week. To finish up today I thought I would share how this series evolved and the creative choices I’ve made throughout.

The first image in the series, Where Fiats Retire, was captured and processed in December 2010. I chose the processing to create a vintage feel. I wanted to highlight the classic Fiat and make the image more timeless. You can read about the processing in this post.

In February 2011, I found two more images which some common elements after a trip to Parma, Classic Italian Transport and Offerta, and the series was born. Follow the links to read about the discovery of the series and more about the processing. From that time on, I’ve looked for opportunities to add to the series. I also knew early on that there were more images in my archive, and I would need to go back some day to find them.

As this series evolved, I had to become clear about what is and is not included. Since I named it Market/Wheels, it had to have an element of both. For the “Market” piece, I require some obvious element related to a market, which could be permanent, temporary, food, other wares, crates or carts. For the “Wheels” piece, I require some obvious element of wheels – used by the vendor or customer and in some close interaction with the market. This seems obvious when you look at the series, but it wouldn’t be if I hadn’t made careful choices. There are a number of interesting images in my archive that almost make it, and I’ve chosen not to include them in order to remain true to the series.

Another decision to create a stronger series was to continue with the vintage processing that started in the early images. I liked how this processing created a timeless feel, and supports the premise that markets and wheels are a combination that cross time and culture. It helps to pull the series together, especially as I add new images from the US to those I’ve already captured in Europe.

There are more Market/Wheels photographs waiting for me in the future, I know it. I look forward to seeking out new images around the US to complement and build the connection to those from Europe. Of all of the personal photographic projects I’ve undertaken, this one is closest to my heart. This is the series that tells me we are all the same, regardless of where we live. It has helped me with my emotional transition between Italy and the US, and has helped me grow as an artist.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the Market/Wheels series over the last week! I’ve truly enjoyed the opportunity to share it with you.

Consider this gentleman, a flower vendor in Paris. Waiting for a sale. Here at the edge of the market, customers peruse his wares and he waits. What ultimate patience he must have, to sit quietly and watch. All day, every day. Let people decide, on their own time scale and terms, if they want to buy anything. There is something we can learn from this gentleman who seems to have mastered waiting.

This is definitely one of the more “busy” of my new Market/Wheels images. There is so much going on in this picture, between the flower booth, the bike and the background. But there is this island of calm, the vendor who waits, that draws me in.

Tomorrow I will share the last of my new Market/Wheels images, and turn the tables to you to get your opinions on which I should include in the exhibition. It will be fun to hear what you have to say, and I have a great giveaway to go along with it too! See you then.

First, today is the last day to link up for January’s Photo-Heart Connection. There’s been a great response to this new series! I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to connect with each of you as you connect with your heart. I love seeing the community of kindred spirits grow around this. Don’t worry about being a “latecomer” to the party. It lasts a week so that you have time to find your heart connection and write about it. That’s not always easy! Consider joining in today.

Second, the winner of the Evidence of Love postcard giveaway is comment #20: Sharon. Congrats Sharon! Enjoy sharing a little love with the world. If you didn’t win and you would still like to share the love, the images in the Evidence of Love series are all available in my RedBubble shop. Or, as always, I encourage you to create your own images and share the love that way. So many options!

I continue my sharing of new Market/Wheels images today with this one from Venice. As I showed the other day, in the Venetian Lagoon it’s not all delivery by water. Wheels are needed to get the market wares to the shops, the same as in any city, they are just smaller and non-motorized. It takes effort to live and work in Venice.

This image shows you what a typical market store looks like in Venice. Tucked in a side alley, off the tourist paths, you will find these little markets bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to the permanent population. The texture that is found everywhere in Venice comes through here, from the rust on the cart to the crumbly brick walls. It’s a perfect example of why I loved photographing Venice so much, with the bonus of being part of the market/wheels series too.

I hope you have a wonderful day today!

Today’s market/wheels photo is no exception. It was taken just off Piazza del Duomo in Florence. This little snack cart also had bicycles for rental. As we walked around the duomo, I spotted it and spent a few minutes studying it with my camera, while the vendor of the stand looked critically on. Did it make me uncomfortable to have him there? Heck yeah. But I had a mission, to get a good market/wheels photo. I was struggling with this scene, but I knew I had a unique image here to capture. So I too a deep breath, ignored him, and moved around for a while, eventually finding this composition that worked. I love the depth of the image, looking down the street past the cart to the chair and the second bicycle.

I must be honest, if I had stopped, it would not have been the first time my resolve had withered under the gaze of a watcher. There have been countless times that I have noticed people watching me photograph, and stopped what I was doing. Why? Was I doing anything wrong? Being on the street, in a public area, absolutely not. There are no people, so neither was I violating anyone’s privacy by taking their photo when they didn’t want me to. And who knows what the vendor was really thinking. Probably, “Yes, a tourist! How much money can I get her to pay for an apple?” (I’ve never felt like I was a walking dollar sign anywhere in Italy more than I did in Florence. That town is tuned to squeeze every dollar it can out of tourists.)

So, how do you get over the gazes? The seemingly critical eye of people around you?

• First, you have to want the shot. Want it more than you care about anything else. If you’re worried about how you look more than how the photograph looks, you will not overcome your discomfort.
• Second, you have to be willing to look a little weird to the average person. Non-photographers will not understand what you are doing when you get down on the dirty ground to get that awesome angle. You will get looks. Accept that as a fact.
• Know your rights, but also be respectful of others wishes. Are you on private property? Is there a sign that says “no photography?” Are you in a store and the owner asks you to stop photographing? On private property, the property owner sets the rules. Respect them. In public places, a little respect also goes a long way, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t photograph.
• It happens rarely, but if someone asks you to stop photographing, politely apologize and move on. A little humility also goes a long way.
• Realize that the quizzical looks you get are really just passing glances. People aren’t paying much attention to you. They are off in their own world. If they stop and watch you for a while, you can acknowledge them with a smile and a shrug of your shoulders, and get back to capturing your images.

I could have let the looks of the vendor scare me off here, but I’ve grown a thicker skin. The image I’m working toward is worth more than avoiding the looks I might get. If you get tripped up by this common feeling of worry about what other people are thinking as you take a photo, I encourage you to take a deep breath and continue. Do it once or twice, to push past the discomfort, and see how it goes. What’s the worst that can happen? You apologize and offer to delete the photo if someone asks you to stop. The best that can happen? You get an awesome image, and you have a little more confidence the next time you are photographing out and about.

Don’t miss the giveaway I have going on right now for some Evidence of Love! Visit here to see the details and enter. Today is the last day for entry – I’ll draw tomorrow morning!

Today’s market/wheels image is from Padua, Italy. I spent one day here with my sister during our “Sister’s Tour of the Veneto” in late 2009. We had a fun few days of exploring the Veneto, the region that Venice used to control, and we visited this famous market square in the university town of Padua (Padova, in Italian). This image is a great capture of a moment between vendor and customer, with the inclusion of this customer’s fabulous red wheels. I want that bike!

I’m breaking with the market/wheels theme for the giveaway though, to give away some postcards from my Evidence of Love portfolio available in my RedBubble shop!

I love how these turned out! I want to get these sent off to someone (you??) so that you too can share the love for Valentine’s Day. All you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post to enter, one entry per person. I’ll draw and announce the winner on Tuesday morning, 7 February. It’s been a while since I’ve given anything away, so I’m excited to liberate these into the world. You can share the love, by helping me share the word on the giveaway too!

I was lucky enough to catch this transition from water to wheels on my favorite island of color, Burano. This is just a little glimpse into the daily life and all the work it takes to live in this fascinating place. Enjoy!

PS – The Photo-Heart Connection is going STRONG! I’m so excited for all of the connections we are making through this new project. The link up is open for three more days, there is still time for you to join in.

Cute vintage scooters and red wine with dinner…

That’s all I have written so far, but these are two of my favorite things from Italy. Found here in one photo! Today’s market/wheels photo is from Pavia, a smaller town just outside of Milan. We visited this town for a day trip in 2009, early in our two years in Italy. It’s so fun to look back and see this early capture of two things I came to absolutely love later.

It’s also the perfect image to share today, for our Mosaic Muse link up at Mortal Muses. We are finishing the theme Looking Out, Looking In. I love the texture and depth that is added to this photo by the reflections in the window I am looking through. Another cool thing – if you look closely, the graffiti that is reflected in the window is also reflected in the Vespa side mirror. This was a fun discovery of “looking out by looking in” as I edited the photo.

Wherever you find yourself today, enjoy the view, whether looking out or looking in!

I’ll be showing images from my Market/Wheels series. Since I discovered this series in the last six months I was living in Italy, I had always planned to go back through my archive from Europe and find more images to fit. I knew there were more there for the series, just waiting for me to re-discover them. The upcoming exhibition gave me the motivation to get this project done.

The problem now… I have too many images for this small exhibition! I’ll have to carefully choose which I want to display. I thought I would share the new images here over the next few days, and at the end add them to my Market/Wheels portfolio and get your opinion on which you like best. I have my favorites already, but this will be a fun, interactive exercise to provide more feedback as I get ready to decide and order prints.

This first one I’m sharing is from Taormina, Sicily. I love how the shape of the crepe cart echoes the shape of the doorway behind, and how the vendor situated the cart so perfectly in the opening. I wonder where the vendor disappeared to? It doesn’t really matter, since no one seems to be interested buying crepes at this time of night. Poor lonely, little crepe cart.

Anyone interested in crepes today? I find I wouldn’t mind one for breakfast, right now!

As I’ve grown older, I look less and less to external validation. The insecurities of my youth have been replaced with a quiet confidence. Confidence in my strength, and also my vulnerabilities. I’ve learned that admitting vulnerabilities and imperfections doesn’t make us less of a person. It makes us human. Accepting ourselves as we are makes us stronger.

I want this kind of strength, to weather what life brings and to share my purpose and passion regardless of the imperfections.

I have this kind of strength within me already.

That is the message of my Photo-Heart Connection this month. A message of strength, confidence, and empowerment. As I mentioned yesterday, I was surprised that this photo, of all of them, had the strongest heart connection. It seemed like it was bashing me over the head in some ways, being so obvious. But as I went with my feelings and wrote about my connection today, I can see why this photo connects with my heart so deeply. This was the message I needed to uncover.

What did you discover in your Photo-Heart Connection this month? I look forward to visiting you, and reading about your heart connection as you link in.

If you would like to learn more about what I mean by a “photo-heart connection” and how I chose my photo for this month, visit yesterday’s post. You can also find the guidelines for participating here. The link up will be open through February 7th.

When we get down to it, what is a photo-heart connection? A heart connection is, for me, a reaction that bypasses my brain. It’s not about what I think of the image, or how technically good it is. It is not about how others will react to it. It is how the image makes me feel. When I have a heart connection, I feel it in my body. There is a little jolt, that tells me of a strong connection. Have you ever noticed how we feel emotions in our body first? Even though we will have thoughts that accompany emotions, they arrive split seconds later. I want to tap into the signals from my body, before my brain starts to filter, and then explore what I find through this process.

Here’s how I prepped to find my photo-heart connection this month:

• Throughout the month, I saved a low-res copy of the files I worked with into a specific folder. This way, I had all of my January photos in one place to start the process. I didn’t save every picture I took in January here, just the strongest ones. The ones I cared enough to share on my blog. I will always want to share photos with a heart connection. I also included images from my archive I worked with this month. I don’t care what year they are from, I want to learn by this process without putting too many rules on it.
• I found a time with no distractions to start the process of review. It is important to be focused and without distractions – if you hurry through this process with limited time, or have interruptions, you are not going to be able to notice the reactions in your body that tell you of the heart connection.
• There were 44 photos in my file for the month, and I went through and viewed the photos one by one. I noticed my reaction for each. It was pretty clear in this first round, which were at the bottom with no reaction and which I felt something for. From this, I created sub-file with the one I felt any sort of reaction. I was down to ~12 photos.
• The next round was a little harder. I had to spend more time noticing how I felt in my body with that image, what emotions came through. Even though I cycled through the images several times, this round still wasn’t too hard. I got it down to a final four photos that created the strongest heart connection for me.
• Finally, I went through the final four very slowly. I let each one sit on the screen, alone, for a while. I first noticed how I felt, then I asked myself what this image was telling me. This was where I let my brain come into the process a bit more, I wanted to understand why the heart connection was there. As I did this, I noticed that there were two that felt stronger to me. As I slowly considered both, it became clear to me which image was my top photo-heart connection for January.

I thought I would share the 3 runner-up images of my top 4 today along with the process. These images are from different times, of very different subjects, evoking different responses within me. Two were taken this month and one in June 2011, so it’s clear that time of capture is not a factor here. The message I read from the heart connection with each was very different. All of these are great images, some of my recent favorites in fact, but they weren’t my strongest heart connection.

I wanted to share these today to remind you it’s not the strength of the image, in purely aesthetic terms, that matters in this process. It’s the not the date of capture, it’s not the composition, it’s not technical perfection. It’s the strength of the heart connection. It’s what you can learn about yourself, through the photos that speak to you.

I was surprised with the photo that had the strongest photo-heart connection for me this month. I can’t wait to share the image with you, and what I learned from it, tomorrow.