Kat Eye Studio

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A Week of Lights

Since we’re experimenting with the Lights of Night in Exploring with a Camera this month, I’ve decided this week I will share night shots to get you in the mood. This last weekend, I got up early on Saturday morning to go out and practice some night photography. Armed with my tripod and my new cable release, I was ready. I experimented with bulb exposures (a new one for me) and was reminded that patience is key. Everything, from setting up to taking test shots for exposure, takes longer with traditional night photography.

I also learned that I could only take it for so long. After a while I abandoned the tripod, leaving it tucked out of the way on the sidewalk (because no one was around at 5am), put on my “night lens” (35mm f/1.4) and went back to handheld. And was so much happier!

Handheld, ISO400, 35mm, f/1.6, 1/60

I’ve known this for a long time… Something about using the tripod disconnects me from the creative process. It disconnects me from the intuition that tells me when I to the camera to my eye. It’s more calculated and less responsive. There are times you absolutely MUST use a tripod to get the image you want, but if you are disconnected from the image at the end, is it worth it? I’m not sure it is to me. Maybe I just need to walk around with the camera in my hand for a while, and then go back for the tripod when I’ve found an image I can’t get any other way.

I will continue playing with the tripod… because I love the Lights of Night. And I’ll continue to push the limits of handheld night photography too, because that’s the best of both worlds, to me.

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Two of my Favorite Things

Sing along, to the tune of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music:

Cute vintage scooters and red wine with dinner…

That’s all I have written so far, but these are two of my favorite things from Italy. Found here in one photo! Today’s market/wheels photo is from Pavia, a smaller town just outside of Milan. We visited this town for a day trip in 2009, early in our two years in Italy. It’s so fun to look back and see this early capture of two things I came to absolutely love later.

It’s also the perfect image to share today, for our Mosaic Muse link up at Mortal Muses. We are finishing the theme Looking Out, Looking In. I love the texture and depth that is added to this photo by the reflections in the window I am looking through. Another cool thing – if you look closely, the graffiti that is reflected in the window is also reflected in the Vespa side mirror. This was a fun discovery of “looking out by looking in” as I edited the photo.

Wherever you find yourself today, enjoy the view, whether looking out or looking in!

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An Artful Arrangement

I am musing on “still life” over at Mortal Muses today, head over to see a companion photo to this one. This theme encouraged me to photograph two of my favorite foods of Italy – Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Amarone della Valpolicella wine. Yum. Both of these items will be much harder to find and quite a bit more expensive when we return home, so I am enjoying them as much as possible now.

Not only that, but I was able to capture this still life in our beautiful kitchen. Aren’t those marble countertops nice? The apartment we’re living in here has much nicer finishes than our home in Oregon, and we’ve gotten a little spoiled.

It’s nice to capture these little memories in an artful and intentional way. I’m on a quest to photograph “what I’ll miss” in the next few months before we move back to the US. I’m going to be a blubbering mess as we get closer to actually moving – we have just over four months left!

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Loving the Lights

I am so loving the lights around me! How about you? The reflection of all of the lights in this wineglass caught my eye, that’s what I was trying to capture in this restaurant in Sorrento. The background light bokeh, self-portrait in reflection and the memory of delicious wine were just bonuses that came along for the ride.

The 9 Muses Musing theme today is LIGHTS. It’s my day as muse, and I’m sponsoring a space in my class, Find Your Eye: A photo course with heart and soul, as the giveaway. I hope you will come by and link in or comment today for a chance to win the space.

Tomorrow’s theme is BELLS. See you then!

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And once you’ve tried the wine…

You have to try the Grappa! You don’t have to like it though. Grappa is a strong, grape-based liquor that is special to Italy. There are as many grappas as there are wines, with quite a range of flavors and strengths. I, personally, don’t really like it. I would prefer a nice after dinner sip of Limoncello! But you have to appreciate the dedication to it here. Just look at that beautiful bottle, all sealed with wax and a special cork! Nicely presented of course, you can’t just drink your drinks, you have to appreciate how they look first.

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The Good Stuff

Since we’ve been here in Italy, we’ve tried a lot of wine. And we’ve found a lot of good wine! I didn’t like wine very much before we came here, but now I appreciate it in a different way. Now I can really tell the young wines that are more like juice from the more complex wines. There is nothing quite like tasting a fabulous new wine!

I also love all of the enoteche (wine shops) and grocery store shelves and window displays (like this one) that are filled with so much wine. It’s such a part of the culture here. And when you buy wine in a nice shop, they wrap it beautifully for you or, really nice wines, come in these boxes. I really want one of these wine boxes, I have no idea what for, but I want one!

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