Kat Eye Studio

Archives for October 2012

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What’s Your Input?

We are bombarded each day with images. Images come to us without seeking them, from TV, newspapers, magazines, emails, websites, billboards. We are a visual culture. We communicate with images. We remember in images.

I believe each image we see stays with us. Whether we consciously remember it or not, it is there. If it didn’t, why could an idea or a smell or a comment bring up a picture in my head in a flash? Why can I remember a specific image I captured 4 years ago, or a vision of something seen in an art exhibit, when the right trigger comes along? The image is there, whether I consciously tried to remember it, or not. It is part of what we draw upon, when we create something new. Input is the raw material we use to create.

Since our input informs our output, it begs the question, what’s your input?

Choosing to see beauty…

We talked about this a bit in the workshop with David duChemin, about how the creative process works. It requires input. And we should be selective about that input. We should look for good stuff, creative stuff, beautiful stuff to go in. We should study good photography to help us learn to create good photographs ourselves.

But I would take this concept beyond the visual imagery, to other areas of life. If we dwell on the bad or the ugly or the horrific, that becomes part of us. It starts to shift our point of view on the world. We start to live in fear of what bad things might happen rather than observe the good that does happen every day, right in front of us. BrenĂ© Brown talks about this in Daring Greatly. She talks about how we can squelch moments of joy by immediately worrying about all of the things that might take that joy away. Many of the things we worry about aren’t of our own experience, but what has come to us through the media. Input we would never have, in our own experience.

I learned the truth of this input/feeling connection in Italy, when I stopped watching the news on TV. Part of this change was language, my Italian wasn’t good enough to understand, and part of it was cultural, I had no connection to the current events of politics or pop culture to give me context. But an amazing thing happened as an outcome… I started living without as much fear. Because I wasn’t bombarded with all the bad going on in the world around me, it wasn’t input to my thought processes. I didn’t, by extension, start to worry what might happen to me or my family or my job next. I still found out about the important stuff that was going on in the area and world, but I could choose how I followed up to learn more rather than being fed fear.

…rather than worrying about who might pickpocket me.

And because I wasn’t spending time on the input of the bad stuff, I had more time for input of the good stuff. Art and creativity, which blossomed in a new way.

Now that I’m back in the US, I still don’t watch the news. I don’t want that kind of input. I want to read good books, watch movies that tell great stories, see good art and discuss interesting ideas. I find out what is going on in the world, but in a measured and balanced way that doesn’t fill me with fear. Not all of my input is happy and positive, but much of it is. It’s by my choice, because that is how I want to see the world. I truly believe 99.999% of the world’s population are good people. That’s who I want to hear about and interact with. That doesn’t mean I go through life thinking nothing will happen to me, but it does mean that I am more conscious and careful now to sort out the difference between things I really should be concerned about and what’s an irrationally generated fear.

This is all kind of roundabout today as I talk about input – the gamut from art to emotion. But it all ties together: Our input informs our output. How we view the world, what we create, even what we believe and feel.

I want to choose my inputs carefully. I want to view art that stretches me and helps me grow. I want experiences that help me see the world in different ways. I want to look at photographs that move me and touch my heart and soul. That’s the kind of input I’m seeking. That’s the filter I want to place when I have a choice in the matter.

What’s your input? How do you decide what goes in? Have you made changes in your life to improve the quality or the type of input you receive? What has been the result? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this topic.

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The Thrill of Discovery

Do you remember when you discovered photography? Remember the feeling when you first captured something amazing with your camera? Something that expressed an idea or emotion or moment and took your breath away? The first inkling that there was a connection between your image and your heart and soul?

If you’re new to photography, it’s probably not that long ago that you first experienced this feeling of excitement and amazement. For some of us though, we have to reach a while back to remember that first thrill of discovery. Yes, excitement still comes after time, but maybe not with that rush of discovering something completely new. At least it’s been a while for me. As much as I love photography and get great joy from it, as you all who visit here regularly know, I hadn’t realized how long it had been since that “rush” of exploring something new had taken hold. Until recently, as I’ve been getting into mobile photography.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I had no idea what getting on to Instagram would open up for me. And it’s not Instagram per se, it’s using the mobile camera (iPod Touch 4th gen) and the apps. Freeing myself to have a camera in my pocket all the time, to look for interesting things, and then to process them with abandon.

Yes, processing with abandon. I feel positively giddy. Like I’m breaking all of the rules. I’m painting and layering and altering photos in ways I have never considered on the computer. And I absolutely LOVE the results. All of the images in this post were taken and processed on my iPod Touch. You can see more of the images I’ve been posting on Instagram here.

I love them so much, I was inspired to print and frame a little photo collage of a few images and put it on my wall this weekend. This is the first thing you now see when you enter my home:

This morning I realized these are the first photos I’ve put up on my walls that weren’t taken while living in Italy. Is that significant? Maybe not, as I’ve only recently purchased the printer and created the opportunity to do something like this as a quick weekend project. But maybe it is significant, because this is the first work I just want to gaze at for a long time. I want to say go around to everyone available and say, “See? Look what I did!”

At moments it seems silly, as if I’m acting like a little kid, but I’m going with it. I know inspiration when it hits me. I take joy where I find it. There is nothing like this early thrill of discovery, so I’m going to cherish it as long as I can.

PS – Have you entered my big celebration giveaway yet? If not, go here to enter.

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Exhibition Blues

There is nothing more exciting that opening an email or receiving a letter that says, “Congratulations! The following pieces of art you submitted have been accepted into our upcoming show…” I do a little happy dance and enjoy the moment before I switch into execution mode to get the submission ready to hang.

Last week I got one of these emails that told me I had two works accepted into the Oregon Waterways show at the Giustina Gallery here in Corvallis. Yay! The works were Mirrored and Morning Wings, below.

Mirrored

Morning Wings

I had a third work I submitted, Explore with Me, that wasn’t accepted. I’m not entirely surprised, as it didn’t fit as well with their theme. It was my favorite of the three, though, so I submitted it anyway to see what would happen.

Explore with Me

As I prepared for this exhibition, I thought I would share with you what I’ve learned about exhibiting. I’ve only been on this journey of exhibiting for barely a year. The first exhibition I participated in was the Nature of Oregon exhibit with the PhotoArts Guild last November. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

  • Participating in an exhibition is one of the best ways to really learn to present your work. You have to figure out how to print, prepare and hang the art. It’s a bit of a trial and error process, and I’ve evolved along the way, but there is no better way to learn than by doing.
  • Visit exhibitions before you start down the process to see how other artists present their work. What do you like? Not like? Jot down notes. This helps you know the direction you would like to go.
  • As a first step, consider participating in a “community open” exhibit or an organized group exhibit with a local guild or club. These exhibits usually don’t have a selection process, so they give you the opportunity to learn how to exhibit without the pressure of selection.
  • Selection for an juried exhibition is very subjective. If you submit a piece to an exhibit that is juried, you never know what might happen. It’s all up to the jury’s tastes and plans for the individual exhibit. Don’t get disappointed if you submit and hear nothing or a “no thank you” back. It doesn’t mean your work is awful, it just means that it wasn’t what they were looking for.
  • You are more likely to have work accepted if you submit to an exhibit with a specific theme than a general open call. Read the “call to artists” carefully and submit work you think best matches the theme. You can also be creative, submitting work related to the theme but with a twist, and see what happens. (My experience: That hasn’t worked out too well for me so far.) Don’t expect your favorite pieces to be selected because they are your favorites. The work you submit needs to be of high quality, but selection depends mostly on how well the piece fits what the exhibition is looking for.
  • Don’t expect to sell anything. If you do, consider it a fantastic bonus! Keep in mind that you will likely be bringing this piece home as you prepare your work for display. If it’s something you want to display in your home or give as a gift, go all out in the framing/preparation of it. If it’s something specific to the exhibition, however, and you don’t see it in your home, then you might want to think about how you can reuse the presentation materials. For my first exhibition, I had large canvases printed. They looked cool, but now what do I do with them? They don’t really fit my home decor and I don’t expect to sell them. Now I have amassed a stash of exhibition 16×20″ frames and mats, and can easily change out the prints as needed.
  • Give yourself plenty of time to prepare your work. Know your leadtime. If the timing is short between submission and exhibition, you should begin prep before you know you are accepted. Usually there is ample time between acceptance and delivery, but I got caught with this exhibition. I can print on demand and have the frames but needed more mats, so I was scrambling last week to order mats that could get here before the submission delivery deadline. The frame shops were backed up too, because other local artists were scrambling for the same exhibition. I ended up ordering mats that weren’t ideal and had to pay express shipping. If I had ordered the mats when I submitted for the exhibition, knowing I could always use them later, I would have had the mats I wanted without the extra cost. Grrr. But it’s all a learning process, and now I’ve learned one more thing with this exhibition.

Participating in exhibitions has been a great growth opportunity for me. It’s helped me learn to be more objective and less personally attached to my work as I submit. It’s helped me learn to present my work in a way that highlights the images but is also economical. It’s also driven me to learn to print, since I wasn’t happy with the prints I was getting, which has completed the cycle of creation for me.

Have you ever tried exhibiting your work? If not, I encourage you to consider it. There is nothing more exciting than seeing your work hanging on a gallery wall, visible to the public. Well, maybe selling a piece from an exhibition would be even more exciting, but I haven’t experienced that quite yet. đŸ™‚

PS – Have you entered the big giveaway for my 1000th post yet? If not, visit here to enter.

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Framing a Flower: Another Process of Elimination Example

Happy Sunday! I usurped my usual Exploring with a Camera wrap up post on Friday to celebrate my 1000th blog post (don’t miss the giveaway!), so I’ll finish up this month’s exploration of the Process of Elimination today with another example sequence from my recent trip to England.

First let’s look at the final image, and then let’s talk about how I got there.

Finished Product

It all started as I climbed a steep cobblestone street in Hebden Bridge, and noticed this lonely pink flower. I was attracted to the bright color and the contrast it provided against the brown of the town and green of the foliage. I took 19 frames of this scene in all, playing with the different elements. I won’t share all 19, but I’ll share enough for you to get the idea of what was going on in my head. All of the photos except the final image are straight out of camera, so ignore the exposure and focus on composition.

#1: Flower against the background of the town below.

The background, even with a shallow depth of field, is too busy and doesn’t give the contrast I was seeking. I changed my point of view to capture the flower against the brick and slate of the building. I have four images with various compositions similar to #2.

#2: Flower against the background of the building.

While this image has an uncluttered background (good elimination!) the images seemed flat to me, so at this point I stepped back to get the wider scene I was seeing. There was so much great texture in the hand rails and cobblestones as well. I took four more images with various horizontal compositions, similar to #3.

#3: The wider scene.

I liked the diagonal lines and the textures, but the original reason I was attracted to this scene, the flower, seems to get lost. I tried again with a vertical orientation, which puts more focus on the pot and flower. Closer!

#4: The wider scene, vertical orientation.

From there, I explored including or removing the different elements that remained in the frame. The hand rail posts and the tree were the main elements I was excluding/including, through both the focal length of my lens (zoom) and the angle of view. #5 is one with more of the tree included, while #6 is one with less.

#5: Including more of the tree and handrail at left.

#6: Excluding much of the tree and the handrail at left.

After 10 vertical images, playing with placement of the tree and handrails relative to the pot, I was ready to move on. This was an extremely steep cobblestone road and it was starting to rain, I was worried about slipping on my way back down.

The best image of the sequence was #5 above, and here it is again with the final crop and edit.

Finished Product

What I like about this is the frame created by the tree in the upper left, the slate roof at top, and the handrails at left and right. These elements frame the pot and bring your eye to it, where you (hopefully) see the lonely pink flower pop out in contrast with the surrounding colors and textures.

If I were able to go back in time, I would try a couple of things that might further help the “framing” of the pot. First, I would see if I could get a little more separation between the leaves of the tree and the pot, by moving myself to the left. I would have to balance that with the space between the pot and the right handrail getting smaller, but there appears to be ample room. Second, I would see if I could get a little more separation between the leaves of the tree relative to the slate of the roof, by getting down a little lower. I think the slate of the roof would make a better framing element to contrast with the brick and frame the pot.

Since I can’t go back and try again, I am happy with the end result. Between the exploration I did with composition in the field and the further review and adjustments at home, I have an image I like that successfully conveys what caught my eye. I’ve also learned a couple of things from the exercise, around paying more attention to the framing elements relative to each other, which will stay with me the next time I go out and photograph.

So, what have you learned in this exploration of the Process of Elimination? Can you see how this kind of intention and attention to detail can help your photos? Share a link to your exploration or let me know what you’ve learned in the comments below.

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Celebrating 1000 with Giveaways Galore

998… 999… 1000.

I’ve been watching my WordPress dashboard slowly inch toward 1,000 posts. One Thousand. Today.

For some reason, this seems like a pretty big milestone. Maybe it’s because I’m a numbers kind of girl, and I’ve just reached the threshold of 4 digits. Maybe it’s just because it highlights the enormity of how much I’ve shared here – one word, one image, one blog post at a time.

As a milestone, it causes me to pause and look at what this blog meant to me. This blog has become an important part of my creative process. Choosing an image and writing is something I do real time, each day, after I’m done journaling. It’s where the ideas that came out unfiltered in my morning pages start to shape up. It’s where my vision (photography) and voice (writing) converge. It tracks my progress and journey in a visible way.

The blog was started in late summer of 2008, when I found out I got the job that would take us to Italy. I thought it would be a good way to keep family and friends updated on the whole adventure. It’s become more. So much more. It’s been the place that I’ve slowly uncovered the layers of myself. Finding the color and texture that live underneath the dull gray exterior. Finding myself as an artist and as an imperfect human being. Being ok with who I am.

Peeling back the layers

And then add to that the connections… Wow. Incredible friends made around the world. People who are my kindred spirits and who get me at a soul level. It’s different kind of connection than I’ve experienced before.

I asked myself this week, as I watched the numbers change, “Can a blog change a life?” Yes, absolutely, it can. I’m in a incredibly different place today than I would have been, if I had not started this little blog 1000 posts ago. So much of what I have now, do now, am now, is because of what emerged here, one post at a time.

So… we are celebrating! Celebrating 1000 posts. Celebrating every comment and connection. Every image and discovery. Celebrating and thanking YOU for being with me along this incredible journey through life.

1000th Post Giveaway Galore

The numbers girl in me would love to give away 1000 things but that’s just too much! I’ve come up with a great list of things to give away though. Things that evolved from this blog; that matter to me and I want to share with you…

  • Grand Prize (1 winner): A class of your choice in 2013. Will you choose a Find Your Eye class or A Sense of Place? Or something new I’m adding in 2013? It’s up to you!
  • First Prize (5 winners): A matted print. You choose your favorite image of mine! It will come beautifully printed, signed and ready to frame – straight from my heart and hands to yours.
  • Third Prize (10 winners): A set of 3 printed postcards from my stash. You can keep them or share them with friends. You know I love postcards! Liberate that art!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this blog post by the end of the day on Thursday, 1 November. That’s it! I’ll draw and notify the winners on Friday, 2 November.

Thank you so, so much for being here and for being part of this journey. It’s been an amazing experience getting to 1000 posts. Here’s to the next 1000!

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Addressing the “Shoulds”

What are your “shoulds?” Throughout the day, without even noticing it, many may run through your head:
I should call my mom.
I shouldn’t eat that brownie.
I should pay the bills.

Yeah. Lots of “shoulds.” They invade our artistic process too. We have a great discussion going on in the comments on yesterday’s post, and inevitably the “shoulds” have popped up there too. They do in almost any conversation about photographic process…
I should get it right in camera. I shouldn’t need to post-process.
I should use a tripod.
I should take a photograph every day.

What are your “shoulds?” I bet that you have some immediately that come to mind. We all have them. We carry them around, a lot of time without noticing them. And you know what? They drain us. They are an insidious way of saying, “I’m not good enough as I am. I need to change.” They are the voice of doubt. Fear in a subtle form. “Shoulds” are a nagging weight that pulls us away from our creativity and purpose, because instead of moving ahead with confidence they keep us chained to indecision, always questioning ourselves.

We need to address the “shoulds” and make a conscious decision on what to do with them. Make them to a “do” or “do not” and then move ahead. How?

  • First, you have to acknowledge the “should.” Write it down. Give it voice. You can’t address something if you don’t first consciously recognize it. Acknowledging there is a “should” does not make it truth. It just brings it to a place you can work with it.
  • Ask yourself, “Where did this ‘should’ come from?” Did it come from someone else? Who? Try and be specific. The statement, “I should call my mom” could come from internal means, you just miss your mom, or as a result of your mom repeatedly saying you don’t call her enough. The feeling “I should take a photograph every day” could come from your photography teacher or it could come from your own internal desires. Do your best to identify the source.
  • Next ask yourself, “Is this ‘should’ of value to me? Does it help me in some way?” The feeling we “should” do something can indicate that we want to learn something or grow in a certain direction. Look at it as objectively as possible. What is the outcome if you follow this “should?” It may mean you learn something new about yourself. Maybe more information is needed to answer the question, and that will define your direction. Ask yourself, “Do I want to follow this ‘should’?” If the answer is “no” or “not right now” then you will know your direction. The “should” may mean nothing to you, add no value, once you examine it in the light of day.
  • Make a decision. Ask yourself, “What is my choice around this ‘should’?” Move it to a “Do” or a “Do Not” and then set the “should” aside. If your “should” is, “I should be using a tripod,” decide if you will or you won’t. Maybe you need to practice with it and see what it brings you. Maybe you already have tried it and you know. Either way, make a choice and then move ahead. Write down your choice. Consciously say goodbye to the “should.”
  • Finally, give yourself permission to change your mind later. Nothing mires us in indecision more than the fear of making the wrong choice. But here’s the truth: You can always change your mind. Very few decisions are truly final. Thank goodness, or we would be living with choices we made in our teens or twenties that no longer fit our lives. If you struggle with the idea of changing your mind, thinking “I should stick to my decisions,” then maybe take a look at that “should” sometime.

None of these steps are easy, especially if it’s a “should” you’ve been carrying around a long time. It can be so ingrained you barely notice it. It can be difficult to tease out the source and what value it has to you.

It can be scary as hell to make our own choices, but we are always going to be the better off if we consciously choose our direction than if we live under the nagging doubts of the “shoulds.” Think of the parallel to our art. When we create photographs, we get to choose what is in or out of the frame. Our images will always be better when created with a conscious choice rather than a “should” picked up somewhere along the way. It seems so clear when put that way, doesn’t it? It’s the same with life.

So I ask you again… What are your “shoulds?” Start a list today. See how much these little things are hanging over your head. Pick one and work through the process. Let me know how it goes.

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