Kat Eye Studio

Archives for April 2011

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Bits and Pieces

I’m over at Mortal Muses today musing on repeating patterns, a perfect opportunity to share a couple of images of the Byzantine mosaics from Ravenna. I think my favorite mosaics are the patterns that decorate the borders and arches, like this one above. I love how these patterns continue infinitely, and how the artist used light and dark colors to give volume to an otherwise flat shape. All this with pieces of glass!

Many of the artistic principles that make a beautiful mosaic are no different than for painting or photography. It’s the execution of the mosaic, however, with its little bits and pieces combined into a larger and cohesive whole that makes it so amazing. All works of art are built up from the combination of bits and pieces, but the mosaic makes this obvious in a way that other art forms don’t. Maybe that’s what makes them special, what makes me look closer to see the details created centuries ago, with tiny bits of glass. I hope you enjoy today’s images, both here and over at Mortal Muses.

PS – Did you miss my announcement yesterday? If so, head on over here and check out what you missed!

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Florence Market, and an Announcement!

Our weekend in Florence was enjoyable, and confirmed once again that the back alley wanderings are the most fruitful for my photography. This lovely scene, another addition to my market/wheels series, was found taking a side street as we wandered.

This is our second visit to Florence, and I found I had gotten all of the Duomo-and-Ponte-Vecchio pictures out of my system the first trip. We visited a couple of lesser known museums (Bargello, for some fantastic sculpture, and the Museum of the History of Science, which houses some of Galilleo’s original instruments) and then wandered what we could find of back streets. Oh, and shopped for Florentine paper! There may be another giveaway, coming soon to a blog near you.

But today… as promised on Friday, I have an announcement…

Today I am launching a newsletter for my blog!  I’m so excited to have another way to chat with you, through an email newsletter that I will be sending once or twice a month. It will include articles on art, creativity, photography and interesting places, notifications and special offers on my classes, and will provide you a handy reference to what is happening on my blog in case you miss a post or two. Won’t that be nice?

As a thank you for signing up, I’ve created this little book on basic composition that I call a “Camera Companion” that you can fold up and put in your camera bag. Whenever you are feeling stuck you can pull this out and get a few ideas to help you, in the moment. The download and instructions to make the Camera Companion will come via email as soon as you sign up.

There was a lot of prep work to get all of this ready to launch today, and I have to thank my son for his help in filming a video. He was so funny, he had to go find these headphones, just so he would “look” the part of the director. He took his job seriously though, directing me quite well.

Aren’t you curious now, to see the video we made together? You’ll have to come sign up for the newsletter to see it! Just enter your information in the box on the left sidebar, as shown below. You’ll need to confirm your subscription via a link that will arrive in your email, and then you’ll get your first message from me in your inbox. I can’t wait to share all of this with you!

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Seeing Double

“Seeing Double,” capturing a subject in reflection, was the prompt for the last week in Picture Inspiration. I love capturing reflections in my images, whether in water, glass or metal. I found this image in Milan during our hunt for the tricolore in March. Piazza del Duomo is always a busy place, but on a holiday, it’s incredibly crowded. The puddle gave a fantastic reflection of the Duomo, but only when the space behind it was clear of people. I spent quite a bit of time waiting and watching how the crowd moved to capture this image, a great example of Waiting to Click. Even then, I had to do some creative editing (tilt, black and white) to eliminate some distracting elements outside of my control.

The other “Seeing Double” images I shared this week are of cars. This car in the streets of Ravenna was interesting on its own, but the reflection gives it a sense of place that just sings “Italy.” It reminds me of another reflection-in-car image I took, very early in our time in Italy. For me, that sense of place makes all the difference, since cars aren’t normally one of my favorite subjects.

That’s why it’s surprising that my third “Seeing Double” image is of a car as well. This fantastic black Mercedes from the 1930’s was found in the Museo dell’Automobile, just reopened after extensive remodeling in Torino. We visited last Sunday afternoon on a quest to see vintage Fiats, and were rewarded with many more vintage European cars as well. My favorite cars were from the 1920’s and 1930’s, they had such style! I loved how the reflection continued the pattern of the men in tuxedos from the wall behind into the body of this classic 30’s automobile. 

Have a great weekend! We are off to Florence this weekend, riding the Freccia Rossa (“Red Wind” – the high speed train between Milan and Rome) for one last visit. Be sure to come by on Monday – I have something new and exciting to share with you!

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Exploring with a Camera: Waiting to Click

Exploring Patience in Photography 3

Welcome to Exploring with a Camera! This next couple of weeks we are going to be Waiting to Click. As always, I have a lot of ideas to share with you in this post and then there is a link up at the bottom for you to share your images on the topic. You can also share your photos in the Flickr pool if you are interested in being featured on the blog.

There is so much of our world that is changeable. When you tune in to it, you begin to notice the ebb and flow of life around us. “Waiting to Click” is about being aware of the changeable things in our environment, predicting what is going to happen and then waiting to capture the image we’ve anticipated. So often photographers talking about being ready, having the camera with us and available to shoot, in order to capture a fleeting moment as we see it unfold. Waiting to Click takes the readiness a bit further, adding a bit of both prediction and patience into the mix.

To get a great image by Waiting to Click requires your active participation. Here is what you have to do:

  1. Be aware of what is changeable in your environment. We live in a world of change, whether it’s the flow of traffic or the clouds blowing by, there are variables that affect the potential for us to make good images. By noticing the things that are moving and changing, and how they change relative to the things that are fixed, we can make use of them in our photography.
  2. See the image you want to capture. You need to see the potential shot. This may mean looking through or past the changeable things in the environment, or predicting their behavior to include them in the image you want to capture. 
  3. Know your equipment. In order to take advantage of a changing situation, you have to know your camera. What is the delay between shutter press and release? What is the timing if you use burst? I know we are talking about fractions of a second here for dSLRs, but those fractions of a second may matter. For point-and-shoots or phone cameras, the delay is longer and you really have to be able to coordinate the pressing of the shutter with the prediction of the shot.
  4. Wait for the shot to unfold, then capture it. This is the key. This could mean waiting for several seconds, or it could mean waiting minutes. Professional photographers might wait all day for the perfect light to capture the image they see. How long you are willing to wait is up to you.

Now let’s see a few examples of Waiting to Click, to further explain what I mean…

Moving Vehicles


Vehicles of all sorts are always moving around us, when we are out and about in the streets. You may recognize the lead-in image for this post as another in my emerging market/wheels series, and the capture of this shot is a great example of Waiting to Click. I saw this image across a very busy street in Siracusa, Sicily. I paused for a while and watched the traffic flow. There were a few moments in each traffic light cycle, where the cars passing by on the street cleared out just long enough to photograph a few frames. While traffic was going by, I looked at possible angles and compositions, and situated myself in the best spot for the image I envisioned. I waited for the next traffic light cycle, and the moment the cars cleared out, I got the shot.

In some cases, you want the moving vehicle in the shot, like this one of the Milan subway I captured with my iPhone camera. This was my first outing with the camera, and I was just getting used to the delay. I was fascinated by the crowd on the other side of the subway platform and thought it would be a great shot to have the crowd behind the train pulling into the station, so I practiced with a couple of shots of the crowd to get the framing and camera timing down. Then, when I heard the train coming, I was ready to click as soon as it entered the frame and captured the image I wanted.

The light this particular evening in the Venetian Lagoon was spectacular. I took several images of the sky but knew the shot would be more interesting with a boat in the foreground. I had my exposure and composition dialed in, it was just a matter of waiting for the right opportunity to come along. When this boat came by, I was ready and waiting to click.

People


We are often surrounded by our fellow human beings, and depending on the shot you want, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. You might think that Europe is an empty place, from my photographs. I really love to capture an empty street or place, to allow the viewer room to imagine themselves in the frame. To do this, I often have to wait for a lull. Just like cars, the flow of people will change, but it’s less predictable. Here is another in my market/wheels series, captured in Bologna. It looks like this was a deserted street, but this was a busy Saturday afternoon, the weather was nice, and people were out on the streets in force. I used the times when there were people coming by to set up the shot and play around with composition. When I found the image I wanted, I waited for the people to leave the frame, and clicked.

Here is another image where I waited for the frame to clear, with the exception of the people seated on the left. Evening at the Roman Baths in Bath, England is certainly quieter than the day, but there were still many people wandering around and listening to their audioguides. (I’ve learned to dislike audioguides – people stand immobile for minutes on end gazing at something while listening to the commentary, much longer than they do without the audioguide.) Meanwhile, I patiently waited for them to move on so I could get the right image. 

Often, your image will be enhanced with a person or two in just the right spot. The next two examples, from Cinque Terre and Bath, are images where the mood is further conveyed by the people in the frame. In both cases, I had to wait until the subjects walked into the right light to capture the image.

So far I’ve shown you empty or mostly empty places – what about crowds? I’ve learned quite a bit about photographing a crowd over the last couple of years. Capturing a crowd can convey the energy, the hustle and bustle of a place, but it has to be done right. In general, I’ve discovered that for a good crowd shot, you want to have full bodies – partial people walking into the frame or cutting off feet is distracting. For a generalized crowd, you also want the people to either be small enough their faces aren’t easily distinguishable or facing away from the camera. Nothing attracts the human eye quite as much as a face, so your crowd shot can become an unintentional image of a specific person if you’re not mindful. Here’s a comparison of two images within moments of each other in Madrid. The first shot is one I would consider a nice crowd-in-the-street scene, the second has more crowd distractions.

Crowds ebb and flow, which is a great thing. Unless you are in an insanely crowded place (like Venice at Carnevale), you can usually situate yourself in a good location and wait for the crowd to disperse itself in a way that works for your intended image. This example from Venice (not during Carnevale) was one where I waited for a good crowd position before pressing the shutter.

The Natural Elements


So far I’ve talked about human elements, but natural elements – such as light and wind – are some of the more changeable features in our world. As photographers, we live for light, so being aware of the light you are working with and how it may change is an important skill. Partly cloudy and windy days can be great days for waiting to click.

The following set of images from Stonehenge show how just a few moments difference on a partly cloudy day can make a huge difference in an image. Watching the light, and waiting to click at the right moment, can pay off big dividends in your images.

You may remember this group of three image from Cascais, Portugal.  This another time when I waited for the right light to click. The sun was going in and out of the clouds, and without the dappled light this image was not the same. I waited for quite a while for the sun to come out from behind the clouds to capture this scene.
For the next example, it was the wind that made a difference. With wind, you sometimes have to wait for a gust or wait between gusts, depending on what you want to capture. In this image of the main street of Murten, Switzerland, I had to wait for the breeze to die down so that the flags were hanging straight and clearly visible. A subtle detail, but one that means the difference between you being able to tell the location by looking at the image or not.
I’ve shown you a lot of examples where my patience paid off, but also realize that waiting to click doesn’t always work out. There are times when the elements don’t change as you predicted. There are times when you can’t wait as long as you like – the people you with are impatient or you have someplace to be at a certain time. But when you are aware of your environment, seeing the opportunities and waiting to click – sometimes magic happens. 
Wait for it…
Wait for it…
Click.
I can’t wait to see the images you captured by Waiting to Click, new or archive shots are welcome. Link your images in below or put them in the Flick pool. If you have the opportunity to comment on how you set up the shot and waited to click, that would be fun to read. I would love it if you want to add my button to your post, you can find the code here.

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Countdown from Three

evening light
evening light by Tammy Lee Bradley

Three, two, one….
We move on from Group of Three tomorrow, but here is one last glimpse of some of the wonderful groups of three that were shared in the Flickr pool and in the link up. So many creative ideas!  Tomorrow we’ll be “Waiting to Click” as our next Exploring with a Camera topic.

Also stop by today and say hi on the blog Just Travelin’ Through, where Christine interviewed me on expat life in Italy. I’m discovering that it’s an interesting process to be interviewed, I learn more about myself each time I answer new questions. 

Chandeleur
Chandeleur by Sandrine Camus
Joy
Joy by Beth Crocker

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A Decade Later

Today is a big day, in our family. Today is the day that my son Brandon turns ten. Ten years old. A decade of life. I’ve realized of late, if he goes off to college at eighteen, we have less left with him in the house than we’ve already spent. What seems so long at the outset, with all of the sleepless nights and diapers, is really so short, when you’re on the side of looking back.

I shared this image, snapped with my iPod on a neighborhood walk, a couple of weeks ago. It’s stuck in my mind since then, because it visualized how I feel about my son perfectly. He is my heart, outside myself. We are attached and yet separate. He is still smaller than me, but that won’t last long.

He is at the cusp. No longer child, not yet teenager or adult. He doesn’t want physical displays of affection in public yet his body betrays him. His had reaches for mine as we cross the street, his body leans in as I go to hug him, even if his mouth tells me to stop. At this moment, he still wants me, needs me, in his life.

A rare moment last November when he posed for a few photos.

He has grown so independent, in so many ways. There is so much that he does for himself. So much that I trust him with. He takes his responsibilities seriously… when he remembers. I think I’m starting to define what grown up is: It’s when you remember to brush your teeth by yourself. We’re not quite there yet. Talking to parents of other kids his age, it sounds like a common thing.

I have been pondering, at the decade mark, what my role is as a parent. We’ve moved well beyond the point of protecting him from putting his had on the stove or drinking household cleaners. We’ve moved into more intellectual discussions of how to treat his friends, what is happening to his body, how to deal with peer pressure, taking responsibility for his own actions and decisions. And of course, reminders of basic hygeine seems to be a continual thread of conversation.

All in all, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that my role as a parent, a mother, is to help my son be who he is. He’s not becoming the person he was meant to be, he already is that person. It’s my job to make sure he isn’t forced into being something other than he is, especially as we head into the teen years. That he learns to recognize and follow his intuition, his heart. That he doesn’t fall in the trap of living his life for other people’s expectations… mine or anyone else.

It’s a fine line, isn’t it? On the one had, I spend my time reminding him of expectations (Brush your teeth! Pick up your clothes!) and on the other I’m talking about helping him learn to avoid living by the expectations of others. That’s the mine field we’ll have to carefully cross in the teenage years. We’re not quite there yet.

Taking a self-portrait with his Nintendo dsi at a car museum last weekend.

For right now, I just want to bottle this moment and put it in a jar for safekeeping. This smart, quirky, energetic, obsessive, happy-but-sometimes-moody ten-year-old boyness. This beautiful spring morning in Italy, with the birds singing and the trees sprouting leaves, when my son still wants and needs me. This moment when my son will reach for my hand at the crosswalk and say, “Mom, have I told you about…”

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