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June 11, 2013 by Kat

In the Vortex

My hike in the aspens a couple of weeks ago has provided me much creative fodder. I have a new series I’m playing with (but not quite ready to share) and added one to my GeomeTree series I’ve been working on for a while, called In The Vortex.

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Things are really busy at work so I’ve been working extra hours, but I’ve still been creating and hiking. Just not as much time for blogging. It feels nice to do the things that are good for me, but I miss being here too. Hopefully I’ll be back with new insights soon!

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: aspen, Colorado, Geometree, tree

June 6, 2013 by Kat

Among the Aspens

“I want to go for a hike,” I told my brother, “I want to get into a stand of aspens.”

We were sitting at my nephew’s graduation party with my aunt and uncle. The party was going to end soon and we had the rest of the afternoon free. After some debate between my brother and uncle of where to go, I had them both talked into the idea.

It was a gorgeous spring day. Perfect Colorado-blue skies and comfortable in summer clothes even at 9000 feet. The aspens were gorgeous with their new-leaf green and the mountains in the distance still had some snow.

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We don’t have aspens in Oregon, and I miss them. There is something special about aspens. It may be the way the seem to shimmer as the light comes through their leaves.

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Or maybe it’s the gentle rustling sound they make as the breeze dances through the tree tops. Or the seemingly endless white trunks reaching into that deep blue sky.

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Or maybe it’s that there are the trees of my childhood forest. I camped with my family under these trees. Hiked with my friends. Saw the cycle of green to golden yellow to bare to new leaves again too many times to count.

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Whatever the reason, aspen trees hold a special place in my heart.

It was a short hike, seeing as I didn’t have the right shoes and I’m not ready for serious hiking at high altitude. I’m a sea-level girl now, much as it pains me to admit it.

But no matter the length, it was time well spent. Seeing the Colorado forest again, so different from the forests of Oregon, was a joy. Enjoying the sunshine and moving my body, after all of the sitting of travel and graduation and parties, felt wonderful. And most of all, connecting to my brother and especially my uncle, who is usually very quiet and reserved at social events, in an environment we all love.

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It doesn’t get better than this.

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: aspen, Colorado, family, forest, tree

September 18, 2012 by Kat

Wedding, Accomplished

What makes a successful wedding? I’ve always thought, if the bride and groom are married at the end of the day, then it was successful. And so, my brother’s wedding in Colorado was wildly successful. Not only were they married at the end of the day, but it was done beautifully, organized by my wonderful sister and held at her house. This was not a kick-back-and-relax kind of wedding weekend. We were the worker bees too. It was a whirlwind 3 or 4 days of setting up, decorating, cooking, partying, taking down and traveling.

But wow, do I love my family and what we do for each other. And I’m so happy for my brother Ryan and his new wife Darcy.

Wedding, accomplished.

I wasn’t the wedding photographer (thank goodness) but here are a few of my favorite shots from the day. One advantage of being the sister of the groom was that I could pick my seats for the ceremony. Yay! After the ceremony, I put my camera away and just enjoyed the party.

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Kurtz

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: Carbondale, Colorado, family, wedding

January 8, 2012 by Kat

Weekend Away: Wall Art

This wall mural, found in Old Colorado City, Colorado, cracked me up! You might remember a different view of this wall art in Exploring with a Camera: Opposing Lines.

For “Weekend Away,” I take a little blogging break and share random photos captured in my travels.

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: art, Colorado, colorado springs, mural, old colorado city, wall

November 4, 2011 by Kat

Exploring with a Camera: Opposing Lines

Watch your Steps, Chicago, Illinois

Watch your Steps

Lately I’ve been noticing lines in my photographs. Not just any lines, but lines that run in opposition to each other. In Today’s Exploring with a Camera, we are going to explore Opposing Lines. You can join in the exploration over the next two weeks, by adding your images to the link tool at the end of this post.

Lines are a fantastic tool to move the viewer’s eye through a photograph. When there is a dominant line, the eye wants to follow it through. We can use this to great effect in our compositions, drawing the eye to a specific point or subject by setting up leading lines. I’ve touched on this topic before, in Exploring with a Camera: Linear Perspective.

What happens when there is more than one line? If the lines converge to a point, there is a flow to the photograph, leading the viewer’s eye to the convergence point. If the lines are in opposition, however, there is a dynamic tension that is set up in the image. Your eye moves from one place, only to move back in the other direction. This tension is fascinating to me, and is what I’ve been exploring with Opposing Lines in my photographs.


The dynamic of opposing lines in an image first caught my eye with this image, from Old Colorado City, Colorado. The perspective in the mural leads you in one direction, from left to right in the photograph. The direction of the bricks, however, leads you in the opposite direction: right to left. This dynamic of opposing lines was set up by the angle of the shot. If it had been straight on, the bricks would have been straight and would have served as a backdrop rather than a key element as an opposing line.

Frontier Town Mural, Old Colorado City, Colorado

Mural Lines

In the image below, the lines of the brick wall and the lines of the shadows from a nearby tree are in opposition. How does your eye move through this photo? The perspective, again created by standing at an angle to the brick wall, creates the opposing lines. The lines make an otherwise simple image more interesting. The lead-in image, of the stairway and shadow, provides a similar dynamic of opposing lines using shadows.

Lines of Brick and Shadow, Corvallis, Oregon

Lines of Brick and Shadow

I loved the lines created by the architecture in Chicago, and this image of reflected buildings sets up an interesting opposing-line dynamic. Without the reflection, the image would be a simple repeating grid of windows. With the reflection, there is a strong diagonal created by the buildings along the lines of the side of the windows. That diagonal is opposed by the thicker lines of the bottom of the windows. I find the opposing lines in the image more interesting than a standard view of buildings against sky.

Reflecting Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Reflecting Chicago

Opposing lines aren’t just found on the outside of buildings, in this image from the Art Institute of Chicago, the reflection of the beam creates an opposing line. There is not as much tension in this image as those discussed previously, since the reflection serves to connect the two beams into a zig-zag. This leads your eye through from beam to beam. The opposing lines of the window panes makes a stronger dynamic, leading your eye back up to the top of the image after you zig-zag down.

Down and Up Again, Chicago, Illinois

Down and Up Again


Shadows, reflections and angled perspectives are all great ways to create opposing lines in your images. What other ways can you find to set up this dynamic? Take a look at your archives and go out exploring to find opposing lines. You can link up below, through 17 November. I can’t wait to see what you find!



FYI - Links will be moderated. Please use a permalink, ensure that your linked image is on topic, and include a link back to this site in your post through the Exploring with a Camera button (available here) or a text link. Thanks!

Filed Under: Exploring with a Camera, The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: architecture, black and white, Chicago, Colorado, Corvallis, Illinois, lines, opposing lines, Oregon, reflection, shadow

September 7, 2011 by Kat

Fascinations, Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my latest fascinations is mail boxes! (“Letter boxes” for those of you in the UK.) These are disappearing around the US too, just like parking meters. Replaced by safer and more efficient shared post boxes, these are a bit of life that is going away. I remember the excitement as a child, of putting up that flag when the box had mail and seeing it down later in the day after the postman had come. I would run to see what had arrived in the mail. It’s sad, I don’t even have one in front of my house now. We walk up the street with a key to see what arrived, and it’s usually junk. Bills don’t even come anymore, they are sent via email.

Mail boxes are a symbol of so much else disappearing too, personal mail and the written letter. We all love to get mail but how often do we send it? Not so often. That’s why the Liberate Your Art postcard swap was so much fun for many of us. For a little while, we got fun mail!

In honor of little-used mail boxes everywhere, let’s all send a postcard or a letter or a note to someone we care about today. I’ve got my pen out now! Won’t you join me?

_________________________

What’s going on around The Kat Eye View of the World…

  • The current Exploring with a Camera theme is Process of Elimination. Check out the post and explore with us.
  • Do you want to deepen the connection between your heart and soul and your photography? Registration for the fall series of the Find Your Eye e-course is open! Visit here for more info.
  • You can subscribe to the Kat Eye News to stay up-to-date on all the happenings.

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: Carbondale, Colorado, flowers, green, mail, mailbox, red, window

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