Kat Eye Studio

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Exploring with a Camera: Signs

It’s time for July’s Exploring with a Camera – Yay! This month we are going to explore Signs. Not signs as in symbols or messages from the universe, but signs as in those things printed on placards, streets, building walls, etc. that give us information. Have you ever noticed all of the signs around you? They are everywhere. I started paying close attention to signs a few weeks ago and have been amazed at the variety and of types and uses of signs. There is much here for us to mine photographically!

A building wall in Astoria, Oregon

Types and Uses of Signs

To prep for this topic, I started observing and categorizing the types and uses of the signs around me and that I’ve captured in the past.

Signs are used to inform…

Hot Dog Stand in rural Oregon

to educate…

A little bit of history about Astoria, Oregon

to direct…

Rainy day in Portland, Oregon

to warn…

Greenwich, England

to advertise…

Milan, Italy

to identify or specify a location…

Madrid, Spain

Do you start to see what I mean? I bet you can add even more to this list. Signs don’t have to have words either. Symbols often work just as well for their intended purpose.

Restaurant Sign in Madrid, Spain

Train Station Warning in Bacharach, Germany

Relative to Place

Signs are one of the “aspects of place” we talk about in my class, A Sense of Place. The language, imagery and surroundings of a sign all give you an idea of where the photo was taken. The signs can be the main subject or part of the background, but either way they are great indicator of place, providing the viewer clues to the location.

Lausanne, Switzerland

Chinatown in San Francisco, California

Signs can also highlight cultural differences. Instead of the bright green, reflective street signs we have in the US on every street corner to make things easy for navigation, the Italian street signs are often small marble placards on the side of a building. Impossible to use for navigation in a vehicle, but they look much more beautiful. A definite clue to cultural differences between Italy and the US.

Varenna, Italy

Modified Signs

A sign is created and placed with a specific purpose, but the age-old tradition of modifying signs to give them a different meaning is wonderful for photographers. The best modified signs are often more subtle than the typical spray-paint graffiti. These signs make you look twice!

All around Europe you will see these stickers on “Do Not Enter” signs. I especially loved this one, where the guy is “carrying” papers tucked under his arm along with the bar.

Bologna, Italy

On a family bike ride recently, I came across this modified sign telling visitors to GO AWAY. My husband and son continued to ride ahead, eventually noticing I was gone and wondering what happened to me. “Just a funny sign I had to photograph,” I explained to their worried faces when I caught up, “Sorry!” To my surprise, they hadn’t even seen the sign that stopped me.

Rural Oregon

Artistic License

We can create some wonderful images with signs, changing the sign’s intended meaning as we frame the photograph. I often like to capture one or two words of the sign with some other context to create a new story.

By framing this image with only the word “ART” and the open door and stairway visible behind, I intended the message, “The door is always open to art.” I think the sign actually said, “Art Studio.” Capturing the full sign would have eliminated this message.

The “Dream More” was added by some creative person to the exit sign of a parking lot. By framing it without the giant “Exit” to the right of the arrow, I focus in on the message of the added text.

One of the most fun ways to use signs is to capture humor or irony. The viewer has to look at the whole and then digest the contradictions within the frame to get the message. Of course, you as the photographer have to see it first, to create the image!

Yellowstone National Park, Montana

Chinatown in San Francisco, California

We can also create new messages during our post processing, combining images or words from various signs. These words both came from an old Levi Strauss ad on the side of a building, but by capturing them individually and combining them in my post-processing I create a new message.

Are you starting to see the photographic possibilities with signs? Chances are, you already have photographed many signs in different contexts, without even thinking about it.

We’d all love to see how you use signs! Go out on a photowalk or look through your archive and then come back and share with us your use of signs. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got!


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Balance: Found

We finish up Exploring with a Camera: Balancing Shapes today. While this ends the discussion of balance for the moment, the topic never really goes away in photography. Balance is one of those important concepts that make the difference between a so-so photograph and a great photograph, yet it’s one that can be hard to grasp. I hope that you’ve found a better understanding through balancing shapes these last two weeks.

Balancing shapes can play out in interesting ways. The facade of this church in Bologna loomed large on the narrow street, too big to capture with my lens. I could break it down to the lines and shapes though, balancing the elements to create an unusual point of view. While it’s a simple image in terms of lines and shapes, the subtle details that I find with further examination pull me in.

When you start with a good balance of the lines and shapes in a photograph, the viewer will stay with you longer. More can be revealed, with time. Isn’t that what we want, to engage the viewer and create a connection?

Today is the last day to link in! If you’ve explored the balance of shapes, you can still share your images below. If you didn’t have time this month, visit the links of the participants, and see what they found. There is a whole lot of balancing that went on these last two weeks. Thanks for joining me in Exploring with a Camera!


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How Connection Happens

My first Find Your Eye class of the year starts Sunday, and I’m so ready! It’s a full class, and the Flickr group is open and everyone is starting to introduce themselves. It’s so exciting to begin the process of connecting.

I was pondering how connection happens this morning, especially in the online world. It certainly takes effort on both parts, yours and mine, for us to connect. It’s not like in the “real” world, where circumstances could put us together in work or social environments, to help that connection along. We have to choose to be here. That’s the first step, but it’s not enough is it?

There has to be something more, to make a connection. There has to be an human, or emotional, sharing and response. If you visit a website, and get factual or useful information, do you feel a connection? I don’t. If there’s no personality involved, no sharing of self, there is no connection for me. Connection starts to happen when one person shares a little bit of themselves, along with whatever info they are sharing. It could be the sense of humor that comes through in their words, or a little about their lives or personal philosophy. Whatever that special something is, it’s important to start the connection.

Hidden Window in Bologna

That’s important to me, maybe because it’s what I do here every day, share bits and pieces of me through my photos and words. Today I share this window in Bologna: Partially hidden, partially revealed by the vines, but completely blocked off to light. I wonder, why is the window hidden and blocked off? Isn’t the point of a window to let in light, and air? This image makes me feel somewhat sad, and anxious. What windows do I still have inside me, hidden and blocked off like this? I know they are there, I stumble across them from time to time. Perhaps that’s why I’m anxious, worried about what window I will need to open next. It’s always hard to open a blocked window within our soul.

So I share, and I learn something about myself in the process. The next part of connection is up to you. It’s how you respond. Not everyone will feel a response to what I write, the images I share. For some, they will take away only the factual and useful information. Others will have a response, an emotional connection, with what I’ve shared. You may see yourself reflected in my words. You may see things entirely differently. Either way, that’s where the connection begins to happen in online interactions. One shares, the other feels. The recipient feels connected.

Connection is deepened, the cycle of connection is completed, when there is a response. That could be a comment, an email, an interaction that somehow closes the loop. It could even be signing up for a newsletter or a class. Something that tells me, the person who originally shared, the message was received. And valued. It’s weird sometimes in the online world, because there is the potential to connect with so many people by putting information out there, but you don’t always know who and where it’s being received. You only see numbers. I greatly value the connection I have with those of you who respond, even once in a while to say, “Message received.” It turns the numbers into real people, real connections.

Regular interaction over time, sharing a little bit of the “self” from both parties, becomes a real two-way connection. As real as any connections I make face-to-face, maybe even deeper, because with these interactions we’ve connected on something very, very important to me. Likely, to both of us.

That’s what life is all about, isn’t it? The connections. Of ourselves to the moment, and to the world around us. Our connections to other people.

What do you think? What does it take for you to feel a connection in the online world, and make a connection back? Close the connection and let us all know what it takes for you.

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Looking Back, Looking Forward

I debated on doing the obligatory end-of-year post. In the last week I wrote down a list of all that has happened this year, with the idea I would summarize it here. It turns out, just writing it in my journal was enough, I don’t need to publish a list for effect. It was enough to show me I had an amazing year. A year of transition, of endings and beginnings. A year of wonderful opportunities. In some ways, I’m sad to see 2011 go. As we roll over into the new year, it will be in a year I didn’t live in Italy. 2009, 2010 and 2011 will forever hold that special designation. 2012 will be the year “after Italy.”

Window in Bologna, Italy

But then again, maybe 2012 will earn itself a different designation. As I look at the coming year, I see lots of opportunity. I have some goals, but am leaving space for new ideas to form. I find myself drawn to the concepts of empowerment and connection, and I can feel things shifting to align with these ideas. Stay tuned, there are some new things to come I’ll talk about in the coming days. I’m sure there will be more as the year progresses. That’s the fun of looking forward, you never know what the future will bring. I find myself comfortable, even excited, with that delicious uncertainty.

Window in Ashland, Oregon

Happy New Year to all! Enjoy the last hurrah of 2011 today and the transition into 2012 tomorrow. It’s going to be a very good year, I can feel it!

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Back to Bologna

Yesterday as I was writing yesterday’s Exploring with a Camera: Found Texture post I rediscovered an image for my market/wheels series. Taken over a year ago, this street scene in Bologna captured my interest for the texture, the scooter and the bustling street market. It was taken before I “discovered” my market/wheels series early last year. How many more images for this series do I have, hidden in my archives? I hope to find out.

As part of my goal to seek balance, I want to go back and sort through the thousands of images from my time in Italy. Seek a balance of working with the old and the new. Some of these images have been reviewed, edited and shared, but many, many more have not. I know I will learn more and see more with this review, both about myself and my photography. And hey, I can learn how to categorize and edit even more in Lightroom too, at the same time. Perfect.

I hope you all have a great weekend planned! I’ll be working on my website, getting it ready to launch very shortly. I would love to have you to visit me in a few places, while I’m busy working…
– Musing on “home” at Mortal Muses, with a story of quilts, handmade with love.
– An interview on the Seek Your Course blog with me.
– Today I am the “Sparkling Sponsor” for the World’s Biggest Summit. Yay! Welcome to all coming by! You can still sign up and join in this great, free class.

 

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Exploring with a Camera: Group of Three

Welcome to Exploring with a Camera Thursday! Today we are going to be exploring Groups of Three in photographic composition. At the end of the post there is a link up, for you to share your images using groups of three. If you want a chance for your image to be featured here on the blog next week, you can also place your photo in the Exploring with a Camera Flickr group. A big hello to Ashley Sisk’s Scavenger Hunt Sunday participants – I’m always happy to have you joining me here!

A general principle of design, in decorating or any visual art, is to use odd numbers. A composition with odd numbers is pleasing to the eye. Why? In the Visual Composition article on Wikipedia, it states the “rule of odds” works “by framing the object of interest in an artwork with an even number of surrounding objects, it becomes more comforting to the eye, thus creates a feeling of ease and pleasure.”

A group of three, versus a larger odd number, is fun to work with in photography. It is small enough that compositions are simple and uncluttered, yet also large enough to provide a lot of variation in how the group can be presented. I have found there are many ways that groups of three work compositionally. Let’s take a look…

Basic Geometry


Going back the basics, three objects can be arranged to form one of two things: A line or a triangle. There are no other options. This is great from a compositional standpoint – we can use lines and triangles!  I did some experimenting last weekend with my origami cranes. No matter how I arranged them, they are either in a line or a triangle, but the creative possibilities are endless.

Taking three objects on a simple background and arranging them into different compositions as I did is a great exercise. You can really play around with the photographic possibilities found in groups of three.

Most of the time I’m photographing in the “real world” though, which means I’m capturing what is already there and choosing my composition solely by framing. In all cases, you will see it comes back to the basic geometry: lines and triangles. For my eye specifically, I use mostly lines.

Pointing out Differences


A group of three can be a great way to compare differences. In the lead-in image of this post, a pretty little scene discovered in Cascais, Portugal, the orange buckets are flanked by the two candle holders. Even though the candle holders are different colors, the similarity of shape and size of the candle holders serves to highlight the difference of the stack of buckets. This image also has a group of three within a group of three with the stack of buckets, but you don’t notice the stack (which are similar) as much as you notice the buckets (which are different).

This image of mailboxes on a wall in Sicracusa, Sicily highlights differences in the group of three. They are all post boxes, yet the interest is that they are all different. Being slightly out of line on that fantastically textured wall adds interest too. (I also noticed the colors are the Italian Tricolore – go back and take a look at the images in that post again with an eye to groups of three.)

These lockers are framed as a group of three, but the repetition of the pink lockers serves to highlight the differences in the locks. Notice all of the lines – the locker outlines, the row of handles, and the contrasting diagonal line formed by the ever-smaller locks.



Using Similarities


Even while a group of three may be useful to highlight differences, using similarities in a group can get you to pleasing composition.  For these paperweights of Murano glass from Venice, the group of three forms a line to bring your eye to the focal point. Since the paperweights are all similar in color and shape, they don’t distract the eye.

I love this image of flower pots on the steps in Varenna, Italy. The pots are similar in color and shape, and form a line that contrasts nicely with the lines of the stairs. The contrast in color along with the intersection of lines draws the eye to look closer at the pots, where you begin to notice the subtle differences in their shape and size. 

This image from Mt. Etna in Sicily uses the similarity of the tree silhouettes to catch your eye. Since there is no “obvious” tree of the three, you begin to see the subtle detail of the landscape illuminated behind as you look closer. I love images that hold layers of detail in them like these trees and the flower pots above. Groups of three seem to be a good way to initially pull a viewer in, where they remain to explore the multiple layers.

Groups of three are also great for highlighting architectural details and spaces. In this image of the Roman Bath in Bath, England, a composition of three openings serves to highlight the structural design of the baths. You notice the details that repeat multiple times – pillars, torches, archways. The reflection only serves to emphasize the group of three and the details further.

Clustered vs. Spread


In preparing for this topic, I’ve noticed that my images with groups of three usually have the objects in the group spaced evenly. These prehistoric pots from the Orsa archeological museum in Siracusa are a good example. Even though they are presented front-to-back rather than side-to-side as many of the images above, there is still an impression of even spacing and they are spread to fill the image.

This example of architectural details in a stone wall is from Bologna. By their design, the blocks are evenly spaced. By presenting them as a group of three in a diminishing line spread across the frame, the repetition of the blocks and carvings is shown while highlighting the detail of the single carving in focus.

Even though I don’t seem to use them often, groups of three work fantastic in clusters. I have a classic interior design image in my head: Three vases of varying sizes clustered together on a mantlepiece. In a cluster, a group of three becomes a unique object of its own. The group is the object. In the image below, the subject is “art for sale” and the group of three paintings illuminated form that subject.



As you review the images in your archive, take new images or just go about your daily life these next couple of weeks, notice groups of three. Are they found clustered or evenly spaced? Do you see the groups in lines or triangles most often? Are they used to highlight similarities or differences? How else can you see to use groups of three in your compositions?

I can’t wait to see what you find, I always learn something new when we explore together. Link your images in below or share them in the Flickr pool. The link tool will remain open through April 5. Have fun exploring!

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