Kat Eye Studio

Archives for April 2012

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The Simplicity of Intention

When I went in search of beauty on Saturday, I found it. I rediscovered the beauty of flowers against warm stone. I revisited a time and a place from a couple of years ago. I recreated a feeling of peaceful exploration through my images from Korkula. It was a joy.

Is this an example of intention? I wanted beauty. I intended beauty. I found beauty. It seems too simple, but maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s the perfect example, showing that intention is not hard. It just is. Wherever we set our attention, wherever we place our thoughts, we develop intention. When we switch it around, putting intention first, it changes the dynamic. Our thoughts and attention follow.

The concept of “intention” has been coming up for me a lot lately. It’s as if there is a cosmic neon sign flashing, “Start here.” This example tells me maybe I’ve been struggling too hard with it. It really is this simple: Intend beauty. Find it.

I sense there is more for me around intention… things like not trying to control outcomes, and being open to what comes. But this is enough for today. I’m going to keep it simple, and enjoy the beauty I found.

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In Search of Beauty

Today I find myself in search of beauty. Craving flowers in my images. As I sat down to write this morning, I discovered I didn’t have any photos ready that I wanted to share today. So I set out in search of some beauty.

For some reason, this brought to mind a day spent in Korkula, Croatia, in 2010. On this day, I wandered the alleyways of the historic stone town. I remember enjoying the shady light, the summer flowers and the texture of the stone. It was a quiet day, as if I had the town to myself. Me and my camera.

Revisiting images of Korkula, I found beauty.

What are you searching for today?

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Studying those Diagonals

It’s been an interesting week so far, studying all of these diagonal lines in our photographs! Exploring with a Camera: Dynamic Diagonals has got me thinking and observing how our eye moves in the frame.

How does your eye move through this image? The diagonals are integral to the image, yet they are not part of the main subject, the city sky line. The view through the fence creates a feeling of separation, but the crazy diagonals of the fence give more energy and life. It doesn’t feel like a stiff separation to me. What’s your response?

I’ve also been pondering the whole idea of the eye primarily “left to right” through the frame. I have seen many situations in the linked exploration where my eye does not move this way. I think the subject itself, along with our own perceptions and experiences, have a strong impact on how our eye moves through the frame. “We always read photographs left to right” is too much of a generalization.

For example, in this image my eye moves from the upper left to the lower right. All of the branches are along this diagonal, with varying angles. It feels as if I am following gravity this way, so it is a comfortable flow. Gravity is pulling the branches toward the ground; my eye follows.

I have noticed in images oriented vertically I tend to follow the diagonal top-to-bottom more than left-to-right. That is how I read the staircase image in my original post, top-to-bottom. Many others, however, followed the staircase UP, bottom-to-top. That is in direct opposition to both the premise that we will read a photograph left-to-right, or even my new idea of top-to-bottom in vertical photos.

As another example, I’ve noticed converging lines along a path or a road have a stronger impact on how I follow a diagonal than the expected “left-to-right” reading. My eye is going to want to follow the path to its conclusion, regardless of the orientation within the frame. In this case, my personal experience of walking down a path or road outweighs the other factors that might influence how my eye moves through the diagonal.

Without a doubt, I’m seeing that diagonals are a dynamic and powerful force in our photographs. How we read them, however, may have more to do with our personal experiences and perceptions than any compositional generalizations.

What are you seeing so far? Share with us today.


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New Music, Anyone?

No photo today, just some new music! I spent some time on iTunes earlier this week looking for some new artists that primarily use guitar. I’ve started to learn the finger-picking style of guitar, and wanted some new inspiration.

I stumbled across Ed Sheeran, a young artist from the UK and am in love with his music! There is not much available yet on iTunes in the US, but I purchased the EP that is available, The A-Team, and have been listening to it non-stop in the last day.

Here’s one of the songs, Firefly, in a video with some nice photography as your inspiration today. Enjoy!

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Your Autobiography

I paint the way some people write their autobiography.
The paintings, finished or not, are the pages of my journal
and as such they are valid.
— Pablo Picasso

Paintings, photographs, words. Does it matter which? No, they are all an expression of ourselves, the autobiography we are leaving behind.

What does your autobiography say?

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Filling the Void

If there is a void, I want to fill it. As I work on letting go of old expectations, I’m discovering how hard it is to leave the void alone. My personality wants to fill it with new plans and new expectations.

What I recognize I need to do though, is sit with the void. Discover the texture and feeling of the open space. Let something new evolve to fill it over time. Yes, I can have plans. Yes, I can have expectations. But let’s set the big, long term ones aside for a while, I tell myself. Leave the void alone. Leave that space.

I’m not so good at that. It seems as if I’m always clearing space and filling it up again. Clearing space on my schedule. Clearing space in my expectations. Only to find a month or two later it’s just as full as it was before.

How about you? Any tips you can share, to help me keep the space I’ve cleared?

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