Great Reads Archives | Carla Coulson

Carla Coulson, Carla Coulson Photography , Carla Coulson blog, Kefi, Greece

May 7, 2018

in Great Reads, Greece, Inspiring Lives, Lovely LInks

Why We All Need More Greek Kefi

Dear Folks,

Whether you are a photographer, creative or lover of life todays post is about joy.

One of my favourite things to do in life is to get on a plane to Greece because no matter how busy my year has been I know in my heart that I will put back what has been taken out of my creative well this year when I touch down on Greek soil.

For me the magic starts at the Athens airport and Greek folk if you are reading this I am sure you will know what I mean.

The nervous system seems to know its home!

It rolls over, it purrs, it knows it’s going to lie on a beach and become so hypnotized with good food, soft breezes, gentle joy and Kefi it kicks in immediately.

Kefi, like so many words in different languages never translates as the Greeks know it. It’s about joy, passion, living in the moment, togetherness, music and dance and more.

The above photos were taking of my husband on the last day of one of many of our Greek holidays.

I wanted a photo and had tried to make it happen the day before which ended in a rare fight. I found this amazing motorbike and the guy wouldn’t rent it to us. We drove out to this beautiful simple place on a ugly alternative and then hubs dug his heels in and refused. My sweet Italian wasn’t feeling it. We were leaving the island in a couple of days and I knew this window was closing but my philosophy has NEVER TO DO ANYTHING FOR A for a photo so I let it go.

Then later the next day he said ‘come on let’s go take some photos’. We rented the not so attractive bike, headed out to the beautiful spot and I started taking pics of him riding. Then he jumped off the bike and started humming the music to the sirtaki and just like that, on a dirt road, as the sun was setting with him and I dancing and humming we found our Kefi.

Sometimes I think Kefi is the secret to happiness!

There is a wonderful interview here unfortunately only in French or Greek that describes Kefi

Or you can catch a little bit of it here in this scene with Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek. I adore those words you would love any man to utter to another ‘will you teach me to dance’?

Here’s how I take Kefi home into my daily life:

Live in the moment – I try and stop living for tomorrow and live in the moment if whatever I am doing is enjoyable and not rush off to the next thing. Just sit, kick back and enjoy. Tomorrow will come but right here and now is amazing.

Relax – I find I get more done and am more creative when I take time out, have weekends and days away from the computer and meditate or relax during the day. Yes, when the sun is shining I take a long lunch break and even lie down during my work day and don’t feel slightly guilty about it because I know when I get up everything will be clearer.

Music – I make music a part of my life, it changes my mood takes me from lethargic to excited, feeling down to happy and helps me bring what I desire into my life. Yes folks I manifest to music!!

Dance – Even if it’s only for my husband I try and dance every day! Dance is the thing that connects us to joy and the forgotten wild women inside.

Share – There are so many ways to share our lives with others. Make a habit of sharing a meal with someone, share a ride home, an after walk or something that works for you. Actively share.

Let Go – If there is one thing that is tough to master it is letting go. Letting go of all the millions of things we think we should do and surrendering to them or delegating them to someone else. Once a day I let go of something. I allow things to be imperfect even if it’s a small thing and I am the only person that knows it, I just kiss goodbye to perfection and mentally let go.

So dearest folks, I hope you have enjoyed this little reflection on joy and life and hope you try and bring a little Kefi to your daily routine.

Sending love

Carla x

The Year of Yes

I recently read Shonda Rhimes book The Year of Yes. I loved it for so many reasons because it reminded me of me years ago when I was frightened of life and commitments.

I would say ‘no’ to everything. And it took years to realise I was saying no to myself and no to life.

Till one day I say ‘yes’ to me, I made the decision to leave Sydney and go find the right life for me and then there was no holding me back. I became the ‘yes’ girl (kind of like Jim Carrey in Yes Man) but without the old lady upstairs!

I said yes, to moving to Italy, to going out with cutie Italian hotties, to becoming a photographer, to having lunch with strangers, to improbable friendships, to picking a destination at the train station and going their spontaneously, to not knowing what tomorrow held.

I said yes to jobs that freaked me out, struggling with photography but kept on going, to learning about art and history, to meeting friends of friends for coffee or lunch. I said yes to Italy and travelled her from top to bottom, I said yes to writing it down in a book (Italian Joy) and I said yes to falling in love with the most beautiful man I know.

I said yes to life and that big old guy upstairs returned my Yes with love, friendship, tribe, happiness, excitement, travel and creativity. He decided to reward me for my bravery, my courage of going wayyyy out of my comfort zone and each time I became a little more open to life when I uttered the word Yes.

The last couple of years I got bogged down in stuff, in new learnings, a little too much routine and I started to become the ‘no’ girl again. I could hear it before it even came out of my mouth.

So yesterday I made a vow, that 2018 will become my Yes year. A year of adventure, love and happiness and I know the universe returns if you dare to open your heart and mind so dear folks anyone out there that wants to join me on the year of yes???

Ultimately the more we say no to others the more we say no to ourselves. What are you saying no to?

See you on the year of Yes??

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Carla Coulson In Interiors Addict

Dear Creatives,

I feel like I have been in a flurry of self promotion lately and looks like its continuing (whoops)!

I love the folks at Interiors Addict and all the good they do in the world helping folks make their homes beautiful. There is inspiration for making your nest special is endless.

They recently did an interview with me about my two series, La Vacanza Italiana and Jeune Fille En Fleur and its fabulous (eek).

To celebrate them spreading my print joy I am giving a 20% discount on all prints with code print love

The full story on Interiors Addict is HERE and you can start decorating in my shop HERE

Carla x

Ends Tuesday 12th September 2017

READ THE FULL STORY HERE and start decorating your walls HERE

April 6, 2017

in Going Pro, Great Reads, Photography Tips, Portraiture Tips, Travel Photography

by Carla

0 Comments

How To Tell A Travel Story of Architecture

Dear Photographers,

I know everyone wants to take better photos and capturing the architecture of a city or place we are travelling to is high on my list.

The architecture of certain places prod me out of bed early in the morning and the town of Martina Franca and surrounding villages left me breathless.

Here is a basic lesson in shooting different types of architecture of a town to tell it’s story.

Iconic Masterpieces

Every city (almost) has an iconic piece of architecture (or two) that defines it. Sydney has the Opera House, Paris the Tower Eiffel, Venice the Doges Palace and St Marks Church and Florence the incredible Duomo. Martina Franca has this beautiful baroque church of known as the Basilico di San Martino.

Try and include an iconic masterpiece in your travel story, you can bring your own slant to it by shooting it in the light you like, or a particular time of day or something quirky in the foreground.

Humble Exteriors

A well rounded travel story needs many different angles of the city which means showing different areas and architecture. Although Baroque can be majestic in Martina Franca it also can be humble. Every doorway is framed in a baroque masterpiece.

Keep your eyes peeled for architecture that tells a different story to the iconic masterpieces.

Get Up High

In most cities there is an important landmark (such as the cathedral in Milan below) where you can get a different vantage point on the city. Can be fun too if there is a lift!

This was taken from a beautiful balcony where I held my first travel photography workshop in Puglia.

Interiors

Interiors are another fabulous way to get in the architecture of a city. Getting inside adds depth to your story and tells a more intimate part of the cities life. The pic was taken in Palazzo Ducale in Martina Franca

Architectural Details

I am a huge fan of details in all their form from architectural details to simple striped curtains covering a doorway to a house, a carved face on a corner of a street, washing strung in front of a beautiful buildings.. Don’t overlook details, they often tell the best stories!

I hope you enjoyed this little post about telling the story of a town’s architecture.

Love and light

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PS: if you thought these pics were beautiful standing in these streets is even better. One place available for my JUNE STORYTELLING WORKSHOP IN PUGLIA in this very town. Feel free to email me at carla@carlacoulson.com cause it’s going to be good!

Check out my Portrait Lightroom Presets.

March 27, 2017

in Get Published, Going Pro, Great Reads, Inspiring Lives, Italy, Photography Tips, Portraiture Tips, travel, Travel Photography, Workshops

by Carla

1 Comment

Want To Take Photos Full of Heart Without Figuring It Out On Your Own?

Dear Friends,

I love photography! It has brought me all the joy and reward I have in my life today.

I have gone back through so many of my different phases with photography to understand the process of learning so I can be a better teacher.

One of the things that I love to relive is how I started to take photos with conviction, photos that made me stop in my tracks in the darkroom when they appeared, photos that had soul and a lot of heart. The photos that were no longer capturing a scene but were capturing life and a story.

Here’s what I have learnt:

To take photos full of heart you need to master the basics of photography, understand composition, shutter speed and ISO then you need to know who you are!!

Waddya mean I can hear you saying? You need to dial into who you are as a person, to be awake to life and the moments that touch you, that mean something to you, that you want to capture in all their beauty.

To do this you need to know your values, what you stand for, what excites you, what motivates you and the wonderful thing is to profoundly know this stuff you can’t do it from your lounge-room chair. You have to get out there amongst life and open yourself and your heart. You need to decide to be available to take the next step and channel all those photos that are stilling calling you but you just can’t capture.

Life and situations call and you have to be willing to risk a little of you every day and in every photo and when you risk a little of yourself (and I don’t mean getting beaten up by a gang) the universe rewards you with magic.

Risking something might look like asking a stranger to take their photo, taking a different route in a familiar neighbourhood, booking a holiday to a new destination or doing something you have only dreamed about doing but never done. Risking might be standing in the one place for 30 mins waiting for the perfect moment, it might be telling your husband it’s your time and leave them to prepare breakfast and go for a morning walk.

Teaching manual photography requires patience and time, my true love is teaching something else. It’s teaching the next step, how to see, how to feel, how to take an idea, an image, a story and give it wings.

Last week I flew half way around the world to Hawaii to take my learning to a next step and yes I could have muddled through and figured some of it out on my own but I loved being catapulted to a new level with new learning and in a group. What I have learnt not only from teaching photography but being in a group is that you learn just as much from the group as you do from the teachers.

These photos were taken in beautiful Puglia in Italy that has everyone around the world with their knickers in a knot (my Aunty loved this expression and I thought of her today) where I will be taking a group of photographers to a new level in their photography.

Our Classroom in Martina Franca ready for the photographers

If you feel like risking a little, living a lot and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to take photos you only dared to take, we would love you to join us.

You can watch this video to see a little spirit of my previous Puglia workshop.

Please feel free to contact me at carla@carlacoulson.com or read all the details HERE.

There will be friendship, learning, delish food and beauty to fill your heart. You can read what the previous workshop had to say HERE.

It’s the trip of a lifetime.

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Check out my Portrait Lightroom Presets.

Why We All Need More Greek Kefi

The Year of Yes

Carla Coulson In Interiors Addict

How To Tell A Travel Story of Architecture

Want To Take Photos Full of Heart Without Figuring It Out On Your Own?

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