I paint the way some people write their autobiography.
The paintings, finished or not, are the pages of my journal
and as such they are valid.
— Pablo Picasso
Paintings, photographs, words. Does it matter which? No, they are all an expression of ourselves, the autobiography we are leaving behind.
What does your autobiography say?
If there is a void, I want to fill it. As I work on letting go of old expectations, I’m discovering how hard it is to leave the void alone. My personality wants to fill it with new plans and new expectations.
What I recognize I need to do though, is sit with the void. Discover the texture and feeling of the open space. Let something new evolve to fill it over time. Yes, I can have plans. Yes, I can have expectations. But let’s set the big, long term ones aside for a while, I tell myself. Leave the void alone. Leave that space.
I’m not so good at that. It seems as if I’m always clearing space and filling it up again. Clearing space on my schedule. Clearing space in my expectations. Only to find a month or two later it’s just as full as it was before.
How about you? Any tips you can share, to help me keep the space I’ve cleared?
[Started while living in Italy, the Lessons from Abroad series shares some of the life lessons I learned through my expatriate experience. Since moving back to the US, I’ve found the lessons from living abroad have not abated; just changed. This post continues the periodic series.]
Each of us has a different path through life. Each of us has our own choices to make. We should make the choices with our own hearts in mind, finding the best option for us in the moment. We should be watchful for where we might be choosing to live up to the expectations of others, rather than what’s right for us. This is an area I’ve done a lot of personal work, and feel stronger about ensuring that I’m not following someone else’s path for me. I’m not trying to live up to someone else’s expectations. That’s a good place to be.
The new problem, I’ve recently discovered, is that I’ve been full of my own expectations. Expectations I made for myself while in Italy, upon return home to the US. I returned with many “this is how it’s going to be” statements. I was so worried about losing the personal growth I found in my expatriate experience that I set a path for myself to follow. I made plans. And while I’ve followed those plans for the most part, it’s been with increasing struggle and frustration. I’ve come to realize why – the plans and expectations set for myself while in Italy (let’s call that version of me “Italy Kat”) were done with the best intentions, but without knowing the reality of the situation.
Only the version of me that exists now, in this place and this moment, knows the reality of the situation. Only I can choose what’s best and right for me now. But I’ve become increasingly aware of this little voice in my head as I make new plans, saying, “But you planned… expected… thought…” The voice is Italy Kat, and she’s constantly judging the decisions I make now against the plans I made then. She’s constantly on the lookout for places where I’m off the path she set for me. And she’s quick to make me feel as if I’m falling down on the job if things don’t turn out as she planned.
So I struggle. And I get frustrated. And I discover it’s due to nothing else but my own expectations.
I discover this because the last of my Italy Kat expectations are starting to fray. One by one, over the past months, I’ve had to unravel these expectations. I did have big plans for what life would be like upon moving home. I wonder if I wanted to recreate my Italy experience here. I know now, I can’t. We are in a different place, leading different lives, with different needs. My Italian experience was wonderful, beautiful and life-changing. But I can no longer live my life under the shadow of that experience, with the expectations I set for myself during that time. It’s time to hug Italy Kat, thank her for her only wanting only the best for me, and send her back to Italy where she belongs so that I can get on with the business of living my life the way it needs to be lived. Here. Today.
So I find myself learning another important Lesson from Abroad, almost ten months after repatriation: Living to please and follow the expectations of an older self is just as damaging as living to please others. If we live our lives to please others we only find ourselves empty and unhappy in the end. We lose who we are. It’s the same for our own selves, with the expectations set in another place and time. If we live the path we defined for ourselves in the past, we won’t grow. In trying to keep my Italy experience alive, I wasn’t allowing myself to grow into new experiences. I was starting to lose the very thing that was so important to me – the connection to my heart and soul. That connection must be ongoing, in the moment. It can’t live in the past.
I don’t think I’m alone in this. I think it’s only obvious to me because the dramatic differences in life that repatriation brought. Has this ever happened to you? Do you recognize yourself in my words? I’ve thought through some steps to help me move through this, and they may be helpful for you as well.
I am still working through these steps for myself. I’ve recognized, acknowledged and let go the expectations set by Italy Kat. I have the blank slate in from of me now. I don’t know that the next step I take will be much different than the one that Italy Kat would have wanted me to take, but I know that I will be doing it for the right reasons now. I will be choosing with my whole heart and soul, in the moment, within the reality of now. That’s the best I can ever hope to do.
It’s time to go exploring! In this month’s episode of Exploring with a Camera, we’re going to look at the use of diagonal lines in our photographs. I’m calling it “Dynamic Diagonals” because diagonal lines add a dynamic element of perceived energy and motion to our photographs.
I started thinking more about diagonals after my portfolio class in March. The instructor commented on the effective use of diagonals in some of my photographs, like the one above from Amsterdam. I tend to incorporate diagonals naturally, so I thought it would be a good exercise do some research on the topic and explore how I use diagonal lines. Of course, I’ll bring you along for the ride too!
The Basics of Diagonals
Diagonal lines are effective because the viewer’s eye will follow them through the photograph. How the eye moves through the photograph is based on how we read, which in Western cultures is from left to right. (It would be great to have a comment from a native speaker in a language that is not read left-to-right. Do you read photographs the opposite?)
The diagonal that provides the greatest sense of motion and speed is a diagonal from top left to bottom right. In his book Photographically Speaking
The only other option for direction in a diagonal is the opposite, from bottom left to top right. This “secondary” diagonal is not as easy or natural for our eye movement, and is perceived as “uphill” because of how we read. If you place a downward moving subject on the top of a diagonal in this direction, it will not have as great of perceived speed as along the primary diagonal. You can begin to see that the direction of the diagonal, primary or secondary, is an important choice point for our compositions.
All other diagonals are variations on the primary and secondary diagonals; it’s just a matter of the angle. In The Photographer’s Eye
All of this so far applies to one diagonal line, but there are often multiple diagonal lines in a photograph. You can have parallel or non-parallel diagonals, along with converging and zig-zag lines. According to Michael Freeman, “A variety of diagonals gives the greatest energy to an image.” These diagrams will help you visualize the different configurations, and we’ll take a look at some examples below.
[20-Apr-12 Update: After studying this topic, I no longer agree with all of these statements about diagonal lines. Please visit this post for more discussion.]
Finding Diagonals
Now that we know why and how diagonals work for us, we need to find them for our photographs. There are two types of diagonals: Natural and created.
“Natural” diagonals are lines that are naturally diagonal relative to the other elements in our photographs and the frame edges. For example, the clothesline and rooflines in this image from Burano are natural diagonal lines. Along with color, the diagonal lines provide contrast that leads your eye directly to the subject.
The slope of a hillside, or the branches of a tree are other types of natural diagonals. Shadows will often create nice diagonals too. Keep your eye out for naturally occurring diagonal lines to incorporate in your photographs.
“Created” diagonals are those we create as the photographer, through our choice of perspective or composition. I’ve identified several different ways I create diagonals in my images: linear perspective, post-processed or composed tilt, point of view, and implied lines.
The most common diagonals in my photographs are created from linear perspective. This effect, the convergence of straight lines when viewed into the distance, creates wonderful diagonal lines. Changing your angle of view relative to the straight lines will adjust the angle of the diagonals. One of my new scooter sightings from San Francisco shows the effect. Getting down low with my camera, I placed the lines of the sidewalks and buildings such that they lead you right to the scooter. (Visit Exploring with a Camera: Linear Perspective for more on this topic.)
You can also create diagonal lines by tilting your photograph. You can do this at the time of capture or in post-processing. This image of the Milan Duomo in reflection was unique but lacked interest as I captured it in a standard vertical orientation. Tilting the image in post-processing made it more dynamic and interesting. I don’t tilt often — I tend to like my lines nice and straight — but this reminds me I should try it more!
Tilting the camera at the time of capture, I created diagonal lines by running the roof tiles corner to corner. I like the contrast of the diagonal lines created by the smaller roof below.
I somewhere heard a “rule” that you should not to run your diagonals into the corners, like I did in the image above. I don’t agree with this as a blanket statement, since I often like to run at least one diagonal into a corner. Take note and play around with where the diagonals begin and end in your images. It’s another choice point for your composition, along with angle and direction of the diagonal line.
The last type of created diagonal is the implied diagonal. You don’t have to have an actual line to create a diagonal for the eye to follow. A diagonal line can be implied by the gazing direction of a subject’s eyes, or the direction of repeating but separate elements. The sequence of paw prints in the image below form an implied line through the photograph. (I also noticed an opposing line effect, from the contrasting diagonals lines in the texture of the concrete. See Exploring with a Camera: Opposing Lines for more on this use of diagonals.)
Multiple Diagonals
As I looked at my images, I noticed that many of them have more than one diagonal element, often in opposition. These images do seem more dynamic, supporting the premise above that images with a variety of diagonals will create more energy.
One of my all-time favorite images, from Cascais, Portugal, uses a zig-zag to lead your eye through the frame. The diagonals were created by my point of view. I’m curious, does your eye move down the staircase or up? My eye moves down.
This image from Paris has a strong primary diagonal, leading you through the photograph to the spirals, my intended subject. The primary diagonal is created by my point of view, and enhanced by convergence due to linear perspective. Opposing diagonals come from the shadows of the bars lead you right back to the primary diagonal line.
In a very simple composition, the diagonal lines created by the designs in the ties make this image dynamic. For me, the direction of the diagonal lines also contrasts with the direction my eye wants to move due to color, creating additional tension.
Time to Explore
OK, that’s enough of my images, now it’s time for yours! Take a look at your archive or go out shooting with diagonal lines in mind, and share what you find.
A quick recap of the principles of Dynamic Diagonals:
You can link your exploration in below. See you soon!
To me, scooters have personality. You’ve got your cute scooters, your functional scooters, and then there are the eccentric scooters. We ran across a whole store just for scooters in San Francisco, how cool is that?
This crew was parked outside on the street, waiting for new owners. These guys definitely have personality. They’ve lived interesting lives, scootered in interesting places, had interesting owners. They might be a bit beat up, but that’s what gives them personality, just like humans. They are just hanging out for now, waiting for the next adventure to start. And you know there will be adventures, because any scooter with personality like this isn’t going to end up with the “average” owner. Any predictions on their futures?
Tomorrow is a new Exploring with a Camera! Be sure to stop by and see what we’ll be exploring this month. It will be dynamic and fun!
Yellow is such a happy color, don’t you think? Evoking sunshine and flowers, it’s hard to frown at yellow. And a yellow scooter? Now that is something that should make anyone smile!
Today I share another scooter sighting from San Francisco, this one so nicely parked so I could capture the street and architecture behind it. Sighting scooters in San Francisco was much easier than getting a good picture of them. It’s often hard to create a good composition when the scooters are wedged in between cars, or I would need to stand in traffic to photograph them. I guess that’s what makes getting a good scooter sighting photo so much fun. It’s a challenge!
What do you think, is yellow a good color for a Vespa? As cute as this one is, I don’t think I’ll switch my dream Vespa from red just yet…
