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June 15, 2010 by Kat

When life gives you rain…

Take photos anyway! This photo is from a back alley in Orvieto, a hill town in Umbria. I love the old scooter, the textures of the wall, the greenery and the reflections of the wet ground. A peaceful little scene, I can almost feel the cool, damp air.

The two days we spent in Orvieto on our April were rainy. I found that I wasn’t as inspired to take photos – have you ever tried to take good photos with a two handed camera while holding an umbrella? Not the easiest thing to do. But the photos I did take, I find that I like. They have a very different mood than the sunny, perfect weather photos. Maybe even a little more character.

As we travel around, sometimes only a day or even less visiting a new place, I have to make the most of that time. Regardless of the weather, my goal is to capture some essence of that place. I don’t have the luxury to visit again and again, to study a certain place in all light, all weather, all seasons. And you know what? I find that’s ok. I’ve learned that when life gives you rain, you take photos anyway.

As usual, another life lesson we can take beyond photography or our other creative endeavors. Today, here in Italy, it is rainy. I think I’m going to make the most of it!

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: alley, Italy, Orvieto, photography, rain, scooter, stairs

April 22, 2010 by Kat

Time to PLAY!

Today’s image is from the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto. We had two rainy days based in this hill town on our spring break trip. I found I took fewer pictures than normal on these days, probably because it’s hard to hold an umbrella and take a picture and keep your camera dry all at the same time. This image normally wouldn’t make it to my blog. I would include it the overall album of the trip as a nice shot of the streets of the town and the weather of the day, but nothing special. But today, just for fun, I decided to play around with it.

You see, the Pioneer Woman Photography blog recently offered their free actions for Photoshop Elements. Yay! So today I played with them on this photo and was amazed at the all of the different feelings I could get with this one photograph. I view actions as a little like candy – easy to overdose on if you’re not careful, but a little bit is fine! I would love to hear your comments on these. Which do you like? Which don’t you like? Why not? (There is no special order to these, I’ve just uploaded them in alphabetical order by action name – because it was easiest!)

Boost

B&W

Define&Sharpen

Dim the Lights

Fresh & Colorful

Heartland

Lovely & Ethereal

Sepia

Seventies

Soft & Faded

Vintage

I didn’t include all of the actions here, just the ones that I thought “worked” in some way with this image. Some really didn’t work at all! What’s fun about all of this playing is that you learn in the process. I hope you have some time to play too!

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: actions, creative, Italy, Orvieto, street

April 16, 2010 by Kat

Beautifully Backlit Boy

Occasionally, when I look through photos from a trip, something just jumps out at me. Something different, striking and wholly of my own vision. The Kat Eye View.

This photo of Brandon at the bottom of Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Patrick’s Well) in Orvieto is one of those photos. A new favorite. I saw the light, I saw the opportunity, I asked Brandon to pause for a moment and… magic. To me, this photo is magic.

When all of the elements of your art come together in a new, creative way you just have to enjoy the moment. Of the thousands of photos I take in the course of the year, I might only get a couple of these moments. I’m happy to share this one with you today.

Filed Under: The Kat Eye View of the World Tagged With: Brandon, Italy, light, magic, Orvieto, Pozzo di San Patrizio, St. Patrick's Well

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