Kat Eye Studio

Archives for October 2010

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The Beauty of Reality

Yesterday we took a day trip to Bologna, a two and a half hour drive south of where we live. It’s been a while since we’ve taken just a day trip, somewhere near by. We all enjoyed it – seeing someplace new, and then coming home to our own beds and another day of the weekend left to play around.

It was wonderful for me, to get out and shoot someplace completely new again. It’s been a while since I’ve done that since I travelled to the US and then have been focusing on fall in the park lately. Loving every minute of that too, but this was refreshing. It was also amazing to me to notice how differently I see now, as compared to, say, a year ago. Back then, I would have never have “seen” this image. It would have been part of the alley I walked by, with lots of elements I avoid… graffiti, dumpsters, street signs, windows with bars. I mean, where are the flowers, the doorstep beauty? But I love this. This is back-alley Bologna. This is real life, with it’s imperfections but worthy of capture anyway.

I think this is just another step along my journey. As I accept the imperfections in myself, I find I am able to accept them in the world around me. Apparently, that also means I am not always seeing just the lovely textures in the places we visit – but the reality of dumpsters and street signs. Finding interest in those too. And while I would not call this image “beautiful,” it does appeal to me, and does say “Italy” in a very real way.

It’s kind of fun to observe these changes in myself, to surprise myself. I also surprised my husband, who has gotten pretty good at being able to predict when to get out of the way for a photo, what little scenes might catch my eye. Yesterday, however, I messed him up because I was stopping to study things that would have never been photo-worthy to me before. Interesting to notice how it affected not just me, but him to.

And how does it affect you? Does it surprise you too? How do you look at this image? I think you may have to get used to it. There will probably be more graffiti and back-alley reality popping up around here, if my day in Bologna is any indication.

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Don’t Worry, Be Happy

 

Do you have a song running through your head now? 🙂 The catchy song by Bobby McFerrin espouses such a simple philosophy – “Don’t worry, be happy” – but it is often so difficult to put into practice.

 

I read in Simple Abundance today:

Worry is a future-tense emotion. Worry is a projection of a possible – not necessarily probable – scenario. Will there be enough? Where will it come from? How long will it last?

Worry is part of the habit of brooding I mentioned in Monday’s post. Worry does us no good, it just keeps us mired in an unproductive place. Unless we can use our worry to create an action plan to move forward, away from it, through it – it’s just wasted energy. I know from experience, I’ve wasted a lot of energy on worry in the past. It got me no where.

A counter action to worry is to be happy. Find moments of joy and beauty around you, and notice them. Intentionally dwell on them. Find things like these little wooden toys, smiling out at you from a souveneir kiosk in Venice. Painted on smiles, but do you smile back at them? I do, I can’t help it.

Happiness can be found, it is a choice to look for it. So don’t worry, be happy.

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A couple of random things…
  • I’m on twitter! Come follow me @kateyeview so that I can find you and follow you back.  Let’s take this conversation further!
  • Does anyone know of a charity that supports or promotes art and creativity? I’m looking for one! Even better if it has an international presence and focuses on women or children. Post any ideas here or email me kat [at] kateyeview.com. Thanks!

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Share Your View: Rain

I love how the rain fills up these paw prints, and provides the contrast of light and dark on the concrete sidewalk. Can you just imagine the chagrin of the dog owner as the dog traipsed through the wet concrete? Who knows when it happened, but the perfect prints left behind made me smile when we came upon them during our rainy Photowalk in Portland. (Post on that coming soon!)

It’s been a week since the Exploring with a Camera post on Rain. Have you been lucky enough to get some rain in your area in the last week? Did you get out in it and shoot? I hope, if life graced you with rain, you had the opportunity to take photographs. We had tons of rain here on Monday, and I was able to capture some beautiful images myself.

But today, it’s time to share your view of the rain. Recent or archive shots are welcome, link to them with the widget below (viewable on the blog). I can’t wait to hop around and share some blog love with all of the participants – you guys always inspire me and make me see things in a new way!

Note: Please use a permalink to a specific blog post or Flickr photos, so that we can find the image you intended to share later. Thanks!

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Potential of the Day

Yesterday morning, on my walk in Parco di Monza, I saw this. Such amazing light and mist, and mystery. It seems an infinite path, you wonder where it ends.  What a difference a day makes, the intense rain of the previous day contributing the moisture for the mist in this otherwise sunny morning, making this image possible. A moment where you can sense the potential of the day.

Would you believe that this is straight out of the camera, and a point-and-shoot camera, no less? This supports my fundamental belief that it’s not the equipment that makes the photographer, it’s the eye. I keep coming back to this quote, “The best camera you have is the one you have with you.” I keep my Canon Elph with me at all times in the park, so I’m armed for whatever inspiration is shown to me. And lately, things are shown to me often. I must have just started to see it in a different way, because I doubt the park has changed substantially in the year and a half I’ve been here, but my enjoyment of it has deepened substantially and it’s become a wonderful source of inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, have you been keeping up with the 9 Days of Inspiration on the Mortal Muses sites? If not, go right now and read this post by writer Cara Lopez Lee. Her words are incredible. And while you’re there, look around and leave a comment or two on the different sites to win some of the cool giveaways (including a set of my postcards – I have more on the way!).

I hope you have an inspirational day! The potential is there, in every day.

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Words for Breakfast

Yesterday, it rained. And rained and rained. I seem to recall that last week I wrote the words, “When life gives you rain, take photos anyway!” in more than one place. Well, here was my chance to live up to my words or to eat my words. I decided to live up to them, as words for breakfast don’t sound too nutritious. My shoes were soaked and people might have thought I was crazy, but I had a big grin on my face and I managed to get this image for the “Fall Color” prompt in Picture Fall.

I realized with yesterday’s rainy situation that this blog keeps me honest with myself, if nothing else. I mean, if I’m going to write about it here, it would be false to not follow my own advice. I think you would eventually see the truth of the matter, feel the hypocrisy come through, and abandon me to my own devices. I would be writing in my own little dream world.

Since I would rather be connecting with the real world, with real people, I’m going to have to assess myself honestly. Flaws and all. Thankfully, so far, I haven’t had to eat any of my words for breakfast.

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The Habit of Being

As I was reading in Simple Abundance this morning (yes, there’s that book again!), I was struck by the concept of the habit of being. As opposed to the habit of doing, constant movement on the “to do” list, or the habit of brooding, focusing on the past or the future. The habit of being, just existing in the moment. Such a simple concept, yet one I am constantly re-learning. I keep turning back to this idea of late – of being in the moment, conscious of the now. There must be something to that.

So this morning, this image from our Bath hotel room jumped out at me. Seeing the beauty of light and dark, the monochromatic composition that presented itself. No other reason to take this photo, than to capture an observation of the moment. And yet, it pleases me. Brings me some peace and stillness, even now. My eyes wander over the details brought out by the light and the shadows.  Marvel at the beauty of the simplicity and the artfulness of the composition that the designer created in this space.

A reminder that along with the habit of being, you gain the habit of seeing. A good habit to have, as an artist.

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