Kat Eye Studio

Archives for February 2011

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Waiting

The night is so quiet and still, you almost have to hold your breath for fear of making a ripple in the water and ruining the scene. The lone gondolier on duty rests silently in his craft. He has nothing to do, other than wait for customers to appear for a midnight gondola ride. His daydreams and night dreams drift off into infinity like the reflections in the water. Just waiting. Someone will come.

Guess what? The creative space I was feeling yesterday was perfect. A friend asked me for some design help, and I happen to have this creative time free. I love how things work out. Now I have a fun new project, something completely different to do for a little while. I can help her out before getting back to my own ideas, and will be refreshed for the change of activity.

I was just waiting, like the gondolier, and the right thing appeared…

Do you find yourself waiting? Do you take the time to pause and breathe, and see what comes along?

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Creative Space

I come at you this morning from a blank page. No preconceived notion of what photo I will choose, what words I will write. No agenda. This is what creative space feels like. Breathe into it. Let the ideas expand to fill the space, let them go. New ideas will come to fill the space.

This weekend I spent some time being creative. Editing photos for fun rather than to get something together for a specific project. Creating a collage intuitively, to see what comes out. I need the time and space for these things, in order to maintain my balance and perspective. Do you find the same?

So I start again with a blank page. Sometimes the blank page can be frightening, but right now it feels wonderful. Maybe it’s more like sitting in an empty room than a blank page. A room where I can see the door but I’m just going to pause here and rest for a while. Breathe in, breathe out.

Photo is from Casa Batlló, by architect Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona, Spain.

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Mind the Gap and Other Phrases

You can’t travel in England without hearing, “Mind the gap.” On the regional trains, underground, wherever, there is always this little reminder as you get on and off the train.

It’s also a reminder that British English is not the same as American English. We really don’t speak the same language, even though it’s called “english” from both countries. We would say “watch your step” instead of “mind the gap” in this case. Since we are surrounded by British English – between Brandon’s school, our satellite TV, my online friends and our travelling – we’ve become accustomed to the differences. I find myself saying “fabulous” and “lovely” all of the time now.

Here are a few other words I’ll translate from British English into American English:
Way Out = Exit
Pavement = Sidewalk
Carriageway = Road
Queue = Line
Right = OK then
Sorted = Sorted out, finished
Brilliant = Awesome, cool
Blimey = Oh my goodness
Maths = Math
Climbing Frame = Play structure, jungle gym
Play time = Recess
Torch = Flashlight

It’s actually hard for me to come up with this list at the moment, I’ve gotten so used to some of the differences. Can you help me out? What additional words and phrases can you think up?

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London Photowalk: The Report

Have you ever met an online friend in person? If you haven’t, I encourage you to try it. You might be a little nervous about how it is going to work out, but you will likely discover that your online friendship and interests translate into real life meetings naturally. That’s been my experience anyway, and I’ve now met quite a few of my online friends in person as we travel around Europe.

The London photowalk was a great way to meet a few photography friends at once. Justine, Laura and Christine joined Kirstin and I for a few hours of walking and talking last Sunday. I’m thinking we should call them phototalks, because we talked about photos more than we took photos. It was chilly so we popped into a cafe for some hot chocolate for a while, and later finished up with lunch.

A few hours with some fellow friends who love photography was heaven. We talked about cameras and classes and what we love to shoot. We talked about our families and kids and jobs and current events. They already started talking about where to go for future photowalks, and I’m sad I won’t be there!

Below are a few of my favorite images from the photowalk. I’m happy to have these images, but I’m even happier that I now have a real world connection with more of these wonderful women photographers. Justine, Laura, Christine, Kirstin – thank you all for coming! Links to their photos can be found below.

We met at the Greenwich train station and started through some of the old brick houses. I wonder what’s up in this attic?

The Greenwich Circus is beautiful, I love all of the shades of brown.

Along the way we found some nice color, and texture. Justine had fun peeking in to see what was behind this broken window.

Christine must have been attracted to the brick buildings too, stop by her blog post here to see her photos.

We stopped to talk equipment now and then, it was fun to see what everyone had. We had quite a variety among the five of us. Below Justine and Laura admire Kirstin’s tiny Lumix.  Kirstin has another photo of us talking cameras on Flickr here (scroll down to the comments below her photo).

We climbed to the top of the hill in the park (not sure which one it was!) to the Royal Observatory. I enjoyed the mpressive views of the city and another wonderful English sky.

But the best part of the Royal Observatory was visiting the Meridian line. Greenwich Mean Time ring a bell for anyone? Thanks to Kirstin for capturing the moment for me.

One of the things I wanted to learn from Kirstin was flare – she’s a master! Thankfully the sun decided to appear for a few brief moments for some instruction. I think I figured out my big problem – I need to learn to use the Live View mode on my camera because I need to shoot into the sun. Below is an image straight out of my camera using live view, I didn’t even know how to focus in this mode at the moment I took it. I kind of like the tilty-out-of-focus-odd-composition though, as a memory if nothing else.

We ended up at the naval college, which is where many movies are filmed since it still looks like the 19th century with no stoplights, etc. Gulliver’s Travels and The King’s Speech are two recent films that had scenes shot here. My favorite part was this collonade. I loved how the light was streaming through, and the light/dark contrast of the columns. Laura has another image of this same location on her blog here, Justine’s is here, and Kirstin took one of all of us shooting this area that is really fun (linked above).

We stopped for lunch after this and then went our separate ways, although we’ll stay connected online. Another great day, bringing my online connections into the real world.

So, where shall I go photowalking next?

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So Many Angles

Lately I’ve been thinking about time and space. I’ve started to see more personal time free up, and I have not been intentional with how I spend it. I’ve spent it on the computer, hopping around on the internet, reading blogs and getting “caught up.” That certainly fills the time, but leaves me without the space for dreaming and scheming, letting the new ideas come and flow. Letting creativity take me where it will.

This line of thought, about how I spend my time and energy, is not new. It’s been with me for a while as my Dramatic Cropping post will attest. These thoughts are a natural outcome right now of finishing my work on Find Your Eye as well as participation in Christine Kane’s Uplevel Your Life Mastery Program. My brain is filled with a lot of thoughts about being clear and intentional about my time and energy.

I have no answers right now. There are just too many angles and directions to sort out in this moment. But I am aware and asking the questions, and that is always the start. Taking the first step, to start close in.

Image is from Nice, France.

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Share Your View: Fog

Yesterday I took my camera and spent time noticing the details of Parco di Monza as fog hid the greater world. I saw new things, like the moss and roots of this tree, because I was looking closer. I almost felt done with the fog this year, but I reviewed my images from yesterday’s photowalk and I’ve fallen in love with fog all over again.

Have you seen fog this last week? Did you find a favorite fog photo in your archives? It’s not too late to share your view! Even though I opened the linky in last week’s Exploring with a Camera post on Fog, you can still link up for another week. Come by the blog to see who’s already joined in. Visit some of these sites, there are some wonderful and creative fog photos included already.

Don’t forget there’s a giveaway of postcards too – I’ll draw a winner from those who link up. One lucky person will win a set of my Black and White postcards this week! I can’t wait to find out who it will be.

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