Archives for July 2011

July 9, 2011 by Kat

New Schedules + Favorites: Covered Parking

Covered Parking

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2009

I only have three more days of “favorite” pictures left on the schedule and then I’ve got to get myself back onto the regular blogging bandwagon. You can probably tell I’ve scheduled these posts on Italy time and then I’m writing them as I can. For some reason, I’m reluctant to change my blog back to Pacific Standard Time. I know, I’ll get over it. It will be too confusing not to change it.

So what will my blogging schedule be? The same as Italy, where I write in the morning? Do I change it up to write at night? Do I write whenever and schedule? How is it all going to work out? To top it all off I’m going part time at work (yay!!) but not immediately, so that means it will be a while before things settle out.

I was chatting with a friend at work today about my work schedule and said, “It’s fun to figure it all out!” I honestly didn’t know where that comment came from. I mean, it doesn’t feel very fun right now. I’m a bit overwhelmed and tired. And then I stopped and realized, my statement was totally true. When I stop focusing on my tired/overwhelm of the moment, I am excited to figure it all out. Even though I don’t have a routine right now (and I looooove routine), I have the possibility of figuring out something new. I have the possibility to combine some of the best parts of my Italy schedule with my Corvallis schedule and see what happens.

Add ingredients, shake well, taste. Stay tuned to see how it comes out!

July 8, 2011 by Kat

It’s Open! + Favorites: Tiny Pieces of Bliss

Tiny Pieces of Bliss
Barcelona, Spain, 2010

Today is one of my all time favorite images. A favorite favorite, if you will. With this happy image I also have the happy announcement that registration is OPEN for the July-August Find Your Eye series of classes! Woohoo! You can find the course details and register here. If you have any problems with registration please let me know ASAP, since I’m still working out the bugs with this new system. I already had a couple of issues after my initial announcement to newsletter subscribers, but I think they are fixed. Now I know why stores do “soft openings” before the official opening. 🙂

Wow, has this been a crazy week. I can’t believe I’ve been in the US a week already, time is already flying and I’m exhausted. You know when you put together a plan on paper, and it all sounds good, but executing the plan is so much harder than you envisioned when you wrote it all out? Yeah, that’s where I am right now.

For some reason, all of my energy was focused was on the “leaving Italy” part of the plan and I didn’t quite expect the “arriving in Oregon” part of the plan to be as much work as it has been. I think maybe I underestimated because it’s so much easier to get things done in the US as compared to Italy. Things are more efficient here, I speak the language and know how and who to call. Since we are coming back to the same place we’ve lived before, it all seems like it should be ready and waiting. But the boxes still need to be unpacked, trash service set up, addresses changed… you get the picture. The list is a mile long.

Even with all of the millions of details that still need to be done, we are now in our house and sleeping in our beds. We are cooking at home and don’t have to eat out anymore. Stevie the cat is doing well and seems to be adjusting without incident, much better than when we moved to Italy. All in all, things are good.

If you ask me how I feel about being back in the US though, I couldn’t even begin to answer you right now. I’ve been too busy to feel anything. In a couple of weeks or a month, I’ll probably have more to say on that topic. For now, it’s back to that mile-long list.

July 7, 2011 by Kat

Exploring with a Camera: Reflections in Glass (2nd edition)

[Author’s Note: Through the summer months Exploring with a Camera will be “Second Edition” postings of previous explorations with some new images. You will find a new link up at the end of this post to share your photos, and your photos are also welcome in the Flickr pool for the opportunity to be featured here on the blog. I hope that you will join in!]

I’m so excited for today’s exploration! The “Exploring with a Camera” series is about seeing things around you in a different way. To get good photographs, you first have to see, like I discussed in this post. Today we’re looking at capturing images with Reflections in Glass.

Reflections in glass are so cool because the image you see is not a direct image of a subject. What’s behind and around the glass changes the images, and the reflection itself often softens and distorts the subject.

Below is an example from our recent stay in Lucerne, Switzerland [2010]. In this image, the only “direct” image you are seeing is straight through the walkway. The rest of the arches and store windows are reflections. See the people on the right? They are really on the left, not directly visible to the camera, but in the reflection they have a “ghost image” quality. It’s like an optical illusion, but it’s just looking down a corridor lined with glass.

To get this image I moved around and took photos from several different angles and at different times with varying amounts of people. When I took this specific shot, I didn’t even notice the people visible in the reflection on the right because I was focusing on the “direct” part of the image being free of people.

Here is another example, of my son looking out of a train window. The reflection draws your eye to his profile. Look at it for a while and you start to see the symmetric shape between the two profiles. You’ll also notice that the key areas of his face in the reflection – eyes, nose, lips – are clearly visible while the other parts are modified by what is seen out the window.

If there is something immediately behind the glass, you can get really cool effects in your reflections. The security door immediately behind the glass in this photo enabled me to get an uninterrupted scene of the reflected street in Lucerne but with a really unique texture.

A reflection can completely change a setting. Without the reflection of me and my family, the image below would be just another doorway to a modern building. Nothing of note that I would routinely photograph. With the reflection, it becomes a family portrait with a sense of place – you can see the wording above the door is in Spanish (we were in Barcelona) and the funky tube things draped across the top show part of the science museum we were entering. Notice how everything in the photograph seems to draw your eye to the center, where the reflection is. Also notice also the cool “double” effect with our reflections because the entrance had two sets of glass doors.

Here is another reflection of an entrance, a self-portrait of me at our apartment building in Italy. I love the sense of place that is achieved by what is reflected in the background, along with the tiny little suggestion of what is behind the door. Not a huge fan of my pictures of myself (who is?), I also like how the reflection softens my image so that I don’t focus on all of the things I immediately see as “flaws” in a regular photograph. Maybe I’m able to better see the real me, as others see me, because it’s a reflection.

And, just a reminder, glass is just not windows and doors! Here is a wine bottle, but in it there is a reflection of me and my family along with the buildings across the street in Nice, France. The subject here is the bottle, but the reflection adds interest.

Tips for getting your own images of reflections in glass:

1. Look for indirect light on both sides of the reflection. In reviewing pictures for this topic I realized that the most interesting reflections have indirect light as the main light source – either in shade or cloudy day or evening light. When there is a direct or strong light source on either side of the glass you will not get the kind of reflections I’m showing here.

2. Look in and Look out. Keep you eye out for reflections on both sides of the glass, whether you are indoors or outdoors. When you see the reflection, also notice what you see through the reflection. That can make or break the image! It’s easy to focus so much on the reflection that you don’t see something distracting on the other side.

3. Change your perspective. If you see a cool reflection, move around and photograph it from different perspectives and compositions. Because of the way you can often see what’s on both side of the glass, you may find a more interesting composition, or even a different reflection, if you move a few steps to the left or right than where you first noticed the reflection.

4. Look for reflections in all kinds of glass – not just windows. When you start to see these, you will notice that glass is everywhere, in all shapes and sizes and colors.

Update: The lead-in image in this post is from my latest trip to Venice. I had a prime spot at the front of the Vaporetto and loved getting a few of these reflection images. If you didn’t recognize this as the view from the Accademia bridge alone, I have the text right there to help you! Since this original post, I have been on the lookout for interesting reflections. You can get great contrasts and interesting compositions this way.

Have fun seeing all of the reflections in glass around you in a whole new way. Share your recent or past explorations on this topic, link up below or join the Flickr group to share.

FYI – Links will be moderated. Please use a permalink, ensure that your linked image is on topic, and include a link back to this site in your post through the Exploring with a Camera button (available here) or a text link. Thanks!

PS – Visit Mortal Muses today, I’m musing on Summer Fun and giving away two spots in my Find Your Eye: Starting the Journey class!

July 5, 2011 by Kat

Favorites: The Sheltered Path

The Sheltered Path

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, 2010

[Note: I’m in the midst of moving from Italy to the US right now, so instead of letting my blog sit idle I’m sharing some of my favorite images from the last two years of living in Italy and traveling in Europe. Enjoy!]

July 4, 2011 by Kat

Letter from Carola

Returning from Taiwan

Almost 30 years ago, in 1983, I was fortunate enough to live in Taiwan. I was half way through my program of Chinese Studies at the University of Tübingen in Germany and thought it was time to experience the Chinese world by myself.

In 1983, Taiwan was still closer to being a developing country than a developed one. It struggled for political recognition next to its “big brother”, the People’s Republic of China, or “mainland China” as it was called in Taiwan.

For a 23-year old German girl, who had been to many European countries, arrival in Taiwan was a culture shock. At the same time it was an exciting adventure. New impressions, misunderstandings, exotic food to taste, new sounds and scents, snakes, dirt, dust, heat and high humidity and the ever present awareness of being a foreigner – you stand out as a “long nose” among the Chinese.

So when I returned to Germany shortly before Christmas on the height of consumerism, I was eager to tell my stories, to share my experience – and to my utter surprise I had a hard time to find the right words.

What do you answer to “How was it?” Fascinating? Interesting? Horrible? Sometimes downright heartbreaking? Well, imagine doing your laundry on a wooden washboard in cold water. No washing machine. No refrigerator either, for that matter. Was there even a Chinese word for dishwasher at that time? Blank faces were the answer, sometimes un-derlined by an “Oh my God”. Other people – those who KNOW EVERYTHING BET-TER – explained to me that Taiwan was not the “real China” – that was the People’s Re-public of China. What do you say in the face of so much ignorance?

The hardest part to tell and find even a hint of understanding in a country with excellent healthcare for everybody, was talking about the sick people. I had spent a lot of time with people suffering from leprosy, enjoying their company, sharing their laughter, feeling touched by their honesty and generosity. Only once after my return did I meet someone who had spent a year in a developing country and asked the right question, “What left the biggest impression on you?” Answer: an orphanage next to a Catholic church. A big room full of cribs with babies and toddlers. It was so crowded that often two kids had to share a bed. All of them were physically or mentally disabled, left on the steps of the or-phanage. Unwanted children. It was heartbreaking. It still haunts me.

Upon returning to rich Germany, it was hard for me to see the abundance here, especially when food was thrown away. Coming back to your own country can be a challenge. You are not the same person you were when you left. Your horizon has expanded; you were immersed in a different culture. You know that your country’s way of life is not the only one, and, far more important, not the only right one or superior one. Coming back to “my world” was almost as challenging as going away. The transition, however, didn’t take such a long time.

[Today’s letter is from Carola, author of the blog carola bARTz. She is currently living the ex-pat life again, this time in California. You can see all “Letters to Kat” posts here.]

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