Kat Eye Studio

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Creative Connections

A month has slipped by since my England trip and I’ve barely written a word about it. I’ve barely looked at the images. I’ve moved on to one thing or another, my recent obsession taking up my brain space and creativity. And I need to spend some time on the trip to England, because it was a marker of sorts. A milestone with teaching my first in-person workshops, but a trip of creative connections too.

In fact, the creative connections are the reason I went in the first place. I had met so many lovely people in the UK, online and in person, that I felt drawn back. I wanted to renew these connections and deepen the friendships. The only way to do that is with time. So I plan to share a few stories here, of the people I connected with and the places we visited together. The things I learned from each of them.

First up, the Hebden Bridge crew: Fiona Pattison, Hannah Nunn and Rhiannon Connelly. I met all of these lovely ladies at the Do What You Love Retreat in May 2011. Fiona and Hannah both live in Hebden Bridge, and Rhiannon came to visit from Holland via Scotland. I spent most of my time in Hebden Bridge with them in some combination, and we took a walk together in the woods one morning of my visit. All of the photos in this post are from that lovely walk in the hills around Hebden Bridge.

Fiona was my host in Hebden Bridge, sharing her flat with me and my workshop. While I met Fiona at the retreat, I started working directly with her last fall on Public Relations. I was thinking she could help me get the word out on Kat Eye Studio, but it turned out she does so much more – business coaching and mentoring. Through our working together we have become great friends, so it was wonderful to deepen the connection in person, talking non-stop over a bottle of wine (or two!), great dinners and walks in the woods. She has so much wisdom and enthusiasm for living a creative life. She has a special gift; her art is helping creative people develop businesses that thrive. I have been lucky to be on the receiving end of her talents.

Hannah is an amazing artist, bringing beautiful light to the world. She creates handmade lamps with simple yet gorgeous flower motifs that cast beautiful and subtle light. She loves lighting of all kinds, so her shop, Radiance, showcases beautiful lights from different designers. Walking into her shop you just smile from the warmth of the lights. Or maybe it’s the warmth of Hannah! Being around her seems to bring a smile to my face and a sense of calm to my soul. It was so much fun to see more of her lamps in person and spend time with her. I’ve been dying for one of her lamps since I saw them at the retreat, even looked more than once online, so I was excited to finally buy one directly from her shop to have sent home. Now I have two beautiful pieces of Hannah’s art, bringing cheerful light to my house through the gray Oregon days. Is there anything better than having art you love, made by a friend, gracing your home? I don’t think so.

Last, but certainly not least, is my lovely friend and fellow photographer Rhiannon. I was so excited when she said she’d be able to make it down to Yorkshire for my visit. Her life is a bit crazy, splitting time between her permanent home in Scotland and her temporary home in Holland, so getting a few days with her was fantastic. She and I spent much time wandering Hebden Bridge with our cameras, discussing art, life and our respective creative journeys. I have always loved her painterly photographs created from Polaroids, and enjoyed watching her capture images with her iPhone while we were together. Now that I look back at it, I’m pretty sure our time together had a strong influence on my sudden adoption of mobile photography and editing. Seeing Rhiannon work and hearing her talk about her process planted a seed that burst free a week or two later.

And that, truly, is the beauty of creative connections. They plant seeds. They nurture growth. They encourage us and influence us, maybe sending us in new directions than we otherwise would have gone. I am glad that I heeded the call of my soul and spent the time to renew these connections. My heart is full and my journey is better as a result.

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Framing a Flower: Another Process of Elimination Example

Happy Sunday! I usurped my usual Exploring with a Camera wrap up post on Friday to celebrate my 1000th blog post (don’t miss the giveaway!), so I’ll finish up this month’s exploration of the Process of Elimination today with another example sequence from my recent trip to England.

First let’s look at the final image, and then let’s talk about how I got there.

Finished Product

It all started as I climbed a steep cobblestone street in Hebden Bridge, and noticed this lonely pink flower. I was attracted to the bright color and the contrast it provided against the brown of the town and green of the foliage. I took 19 frames of this scene in all, playing with the different elements. I won’t share all 19, but I’ll share enough for you to get the idea of what was going on in my head. All of the photos except the final image are straight out of camera, so ignore the exposure and focus on composition.

#1: Flower against the background of the town below.

The background, even with a shallow depth of field, is too busy and doesn’t give the contrast I was seeking. I changed my point of view to capture the flower against the brick and slate of the building. I have four images with various compositions similar to #2.

#2: Flower against the background of the building.

While this image has an uncluttered background (good elimination!) the images seemed flat to me, so at this point I stepped back to get the wider scene I was seeing. There was so much great texture in the hand rails and cobblestones as well. I took four more images with various horizontal compositions, similar to #3.

#3: The wider scene.

I liked the diagonal lines and the textures, but the original reason I was attracted to this scene, the flower, seems to get lost. I tried again with a vertical orientation, which puts more focus on the pot and flower. Closer!

#4: The wider scene, vertical orientation.

From there, I explored including or removing the different elements that remained in the frame. The hand rail posts and the tree were the main elements I was excluding/including, through both the focal length of my lens (zoom) and the angle of view. #5 is one with more of the tree included, while #6 is one with less.

#5: Including more of the tree and handrail at left.

#6: Excluding much of the tree and the handrail at left.

After 10 vertical images, playing with placement of the tree and handrails relative to the pot, I was ready to move on. This was an extremely steep cobblestone road and it was starting to rain, I was worried about slipping on my way back down.

The best image of the sequence was #5 above, and here it is again with the final crop and edit.

Finished Product

What I like about this is the frame created by the tree in the upper left, the slate roof at top, and the handrails at left and right. These elements frame the pot and bring your eye to it, where you (hopefully) see the lonely pink flower pop out in contrast with the surrounding colors and textures.

If I were able to go back in time, I would try a couple of things that might further help the “framing” of the pot. First, I would see if I could get a little more separation between the leaves of the tree and the pot, by moving myself to the left. I would have to balance that with the space between the pot and the right handrail getting smaller, but there appears to be ample room. Second, I would see if I could get a little more separation between the leaves of the tree relative to the slate of the roof, by getting down a little lower. I think the slate of the roof would make a better framing element to contrast with the brick and frame the pot.

Since I can’t go back and try again, I am happy with the end result. Between the exploration I did with composition in the field and the further review and adjustments at home, I have an image I like that successfully conveys what caught my eye. I’ve also learned a couple of things from the exercise, around paying more attention to the framing elements relative to each other, which will stay with me the next time I go out and photograph.

So, what have you learned in this exploration of the Process of Elimination? Can you see how this kind of intention and attention to detail can help your photos? Share a link to your exploration or let me know what you’ve learned in the comments below.

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The Workshop Report: Hebden Bridge

After months of planning, weeks of busy preparation, and days of travel and jet lag, the moment of truth had arrived. Saturday, 29 September was the first Kat Eye Studio on-location workshop: A Sense of Place in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, England.

My impression: I couldn’t have asked for a better day!

A lovely group of five class participants gathered on a partly-cloudy Saturday morning at my friend and PR consultant Fiona Pattison‘s flat in Hebden Bridge. Some participants were local, some had driven for a couple of hours, and one had come all the way from Holland via Scotland to be there. Some I had met before, some I knew from my courses online, and one participant was completely new to me and my photography. I was honored and excited that they all chose to join me on this day.

We started our morning with the classroom discussion. We talked about my philosophy of the Photography of Place, and how we all have our own unique “sense of place.” We talked about how we each develop that sense of place, and how to better express it in our photographs. We learned a little bit more about each person as we discussed what inspires us and draws our eye in the Photography of Place. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we were so busy and engaged with the workshop discussion that I have no photographs of the morning workshop portion of the day!

After a hearty lunch of soup, bread and jacket potatoes (aka “baked potatoes,” for those of us from the US), courtesy of Fiona’s wonderful cooking, we headed out to explore the countryside of Hebden Bridge. We lucked out on the weather! After torrential rains across Yorkshire earlier in the week, we had a partly cloudy day with some sun and minimal showers.

The participants: Amanda, Maki, Bernice, Carolyn and Rhiannon

We had a lovely walk along the stream, capturing the natural beauty of the area as we practiced the concepts discussed in the morning session. The great thing about being with a group of photographers is that you understand there is no hurry. The group spread out as each one of us stopped to capture what caught our eye. We mixed and mingled and chatted with each other along the way.

Maki finding something interesting across the stream.

Here is a sampling of the the details, textures, lines and moments that were captured by the participants on this day.

hebden2
Photos by Rhiannon

P1160998
Photo by Bernice

'a sense of place' workshop - Woodland walk
Photo by Maki

HCC9
Photo by Carolyn

Our walk upstream was rewarded with a visit to Gibson’s Mill. The reflections in the mill pond were stunning! The different perspectives of these wonderful reflections and buildings serves to show how we will each have a different interpretation of the same place.

'a sense of place' workshop - mill at Hardcastle Crags
Photo by Maki

P1170019
Photo by Bernice

hebden3
Photo by Rhiannon

HCC18 copy
Photo by Carolyn

Photo by Kat

Our day together was warm and wonderful. I couldn’t have asked for a better group to help me launch my on location workshops. I enjoyed every minute of the day, and appreciated the understanding the participants had for the little glitches that came up along the way. Sharing my love of photography and my belief that we all have a unique and worthy vision of the world with like-minded people was fantastic. I want to do more of these!

You can read more about the experiences of the Hebden Bridge workshop participants in their own words in these blog posts:
a sense of place by Maki
A Sense of Hardcastle Crags by Carolyn
Sense of Place with Kat Sloma from Kat Eye Studio by Fiona

Stay tuned tomorrow for The Workshop Report: Hampstead.

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Hebden’s Bridge

Of course Hebden Bridge has a bridge. The town is in a valley, with many streams and rivers running together. It has many bridges. But “the” bridge of Hebden Bridge is this one, the “old” bridge. It’s just over 500 years old. There probably was a time this was the only bridge across this waterway. It’s hard to imagine, with the town built up all around.

Since I read about bridges non-stop to my son when he was a 2-year-old, I recognized the type of bridge as a stone arch with pointed abutments, which not only help reduce the wear and tear of the water on the bridge supports but provided places for pedestrians to pull out of traffic when a cart went by.

There is no cart traffic across the bridge these days, only pedestrians. I was struck with how steep it is. You literally have to climb up, over and down this bridge.

Now it’s a gathering place for the ducks, and a nice place to pause and take in the view as you walk about the town.

The town is quite fond of their old bridge, and I can see why. With time and use this bridge has earned it’s place as the icon of Hebden Bridge.

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Welcome to Number 53

This is why I love wandering around places. Sometimes you come across a scene that just says, “Hey, life is good.”

Closed doors can provide all sorts of things… barriers to entry, privacy, protection. The idea of a “closed door” is often negative. But somehow, this door manages to switch it up and convey a welcome and a love of life that reaches out to connect with my heart.

Even though actual people aren’t usually in my photos, yesterday’s images being the exception and not the rule, people are still in my photos. They are there through the things they leave out or behind to show that they exist. That they love. That they want beauty and joy and happiness in their lives.

This is a universal truth, across places and cultures. We all want beauty and joy and happiness in our lives, don’t we?

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Hello from Hebden Bridge

Have you ever visited someplace new and felt like it was coming home? That’s how I feel here in Hebden Bridge! I don’t know if it’s because I’m back in Europe for the first time since moving from Italy, or if it’s because I visited with several friends today, but I feel at home here. It’s a lovely little town! I love the stone buildings and the colorful doors.

My journey was fairly uneventful and luckily enough the rains stopped before I arrived. There were many places in the Yorkshire area that were flooded and travel was interrupted for many people on Tuesday, but there were no interruptions to my travel on Wednesday. Thankfully, this time Hebden Bridge did not suffer any flooding. They’ve already been flooded twice this year, and you can see the evidence in the storefronts that are being cleaned out and the sandbags at the doorsteps, ready to be put in place.

Well, I’m off to bed… It’s 11pm here. Jet lag hasn’t been a problem for me yet. I wonder when it will catch up with me? Oh, and I tried Wensleydale cheese for the first time today. Yum. Fabulous!

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