Archives for April 2013

April 30, 2013 by Kat

The Workshop Report: Las Vegas

Sunny skies. Palm trees. A group of photographers gathered. Lots of interesting things to photograph. Is there a better way to spend a Saturday? I’m not sure if I can think of one! On April 13, I spent the day with five wonderful photographers at Selah {an art salon} in Las Vegas, Nevada for my one-day A Sense of Place workshop.

First off, Selah is in a gorgeous, refurbished old house near downtown Las Vegas. The light, the architectural touches, and the colors just make this space a great environment to enjoy a creative discussion. Walking in to the house, you feel soothed and refreshed. Ready to learn!

We started the day in the classroom, talking about the concepts of Photography of Place. We explored our individual philosophies and the kind of things that make up our unique sense of place. We looked at the ways to photograph places, from icons to small details. My workshops are very much a small group, discussion type of workshop. I don’t stand up and present material from a powerpoint presentation on a projector. We sit around a table and talk about the material. Everyone has something valuable to share.

Photo by Sabrina Cofield of Selah

Before heading out for the day, we had an amazing lunch! Fantastic, healthy food was catered for us, to fuel us up for the photowalk.

Photo by Daria Riley of Selah

After sitting inside and talking for the morning, we were ready to head out into the gorgeous sunshine and explore downtown Las Vegas. What an interesting place! Downtown Vegas is being revitalized so there is a lot of construction going on. Wandering around, you find a little bit of everything to photograph. There is something for everyone, regardless of your photographic interests.

We found vintage neon signs…

Photo by Rainie Martinez

… and interesting modern architecture. (Channeling my inner Brenda here!)

We could photograph close ups of desert plants…

… and wonderful little scenes that are unique to this place.

We encouraged each other to find interesting angles and explore new subjects.

It’s always interesting to take people who live in a place on a photowalk around their own city. Most of the places we walked, the locals had never been! It reminds me that we don’t need to travel a long way to explore someplace new, we just need to get out and explore our own area. No matter where we are, we photograph with our own sense of place. The more we cultivate our sense of place close to home, the better our experience will be in new places. And our photographs will be truly our photographs, not a replication of what others have seen and experienced in the place before.

After a pause at a coffeeshop for a cool drink, we photographed our way back to Selah and wrapped up our day. It was a truly wonderful experience to meet and talk photography with these lovely women! Joining me for the day were Rainie (who travelled with me from Oregon), Erin and Trisha from Las Vegas, Cindy from Arizona and Daria, one of the Selah owners.

Right to Left: Rainie, Erin, Trisha, Kat and Cindy. (Photo by Daria Riley of Selah)

A huge thank you to Daria and Sabrina of Selah for inviting me to bring this workshop to Las Vegas. They were wonderful hosts and I hope to go back and teach there again!

And when I do, I hope you will join me there too.

The weekend also included a night photography walk on Friday evening. More on that tomorrow!

April 25, 2013 by Kat

Want to learn Smartphone Art?

Since I started to explore mobile photography and app processing, almost immediately I heard the question: “Kat, are you going to teach a class? I would love one!”

“Not yet,” I would answer, “I’m still learning myself.”

That worked for a while. Now, I am still learning for myself, but the teacher in me just can’t be suppressed. When I love something, I want to share it! So there are a couple of ways I’m reaching out to teach what I’m calling “Smartphone Art.”

As a regular contributor on the Seek Your Course blog this year, I’ll be providing tutorials on Smartphone Art. The first one, Smartphone Art I: Getting good photographs with your smartphone, is available today! You can get a short introduction to taking great photographs with your mobile device.

But, no matter how hard I try, I just can’t squeeze all of the info into a few blog posts, so I’ve got a new workshop in the works!

Smartphone Art will be a one day, on location workshop first held here in Corvallis, Oregon on August 10. You can get all of the details on the workshop here and register here. In the one day, hands-on workshop, we will start with the basics of getting a great photograph using the camera on your mobile device, and by the end of the day you will be combining apps to create unique works of art. Sound fun? Yeah, I think so too. I absolutely can’t wait!! If you don’t live close by, don’t worry, I’m sure this material will eventually makes its way into an eCourse, but I’m inspired to teach it on location first. Contact me to talk about bringing it to your local area.

I’ll also be teaching A Sense of Place as a two-day workshop here in the local area this summer! Join me June 8 and 9 to explore your sense of place through photography. I’m running this workshop a little bit differently since I’m not travelling, with the classroom instruction portion on Saturday morning and then an image review and discussion on Sunday afternoon. Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning will be on your own, “homework” time. It will provide a really great opportunity to learn, practice and integrate the material. You can get all of the details on the workshop here and register here.

As I mentioned yesterday, these workshops are part of my shift to “local” that’s been going on over the last year. I look forward to meeting more of you close to home!

April 24, 2013 by Kat

On the Other Side

I’ve come out on the other side of the craziness, and have figured out a few things. Don’t you love it when that happens?

It all started with the pause several months ago, and then I followed my instincts and restructured a few things in my routine. Then came along the crazy travel period, which swept me along without much time to think. Lots of fun, all good stuff. Now I’ve landed on the other side and am putting myself back to rights. Along with the chance to push the reset button on my routine, I see where I’ve landed is a different place.

Or maybe, the same place but a different perspective.

I’ve shifted my focus, to include more local.

That’s probably a lot of cryptic nonsense if you don’t follow my blog closely, so here’s the quick backstory: I started my blog and got the idea for much of what I do as an online business while living in Italy. I was separated from most of the people I interacted with creatively by a few time zones and an ocean, so my whole focus was online. I moved back to the US, my permanent home, and started Kat Eye Studio. Again, the focus was online classes and my online community. Slowly, slowly, as I’ve settled in over the last couple of years, I’ve been finding a local creative community. I’m part of art guilds. I’ve starting teaching classes in person. I’ve been presenting my art in person, in exhibitions and fairs. I’ve brought it local. And my photography has been changing. Expanding.

Now I’m seeing that part of the shift I made a couple of months ago gives me more space for local activities. I’m the president of the PhotoArts Guild this year. I was juried in as an exhibiting member of the Corvallis Art Guild. I’m participating in more local exhibitions. I’m taking more local classes. I’m proposing an exhibition at The Arts Center next year. I’m planning to teach a couple of workshops here in town this summer. (Details to come soon.)

And I’m spending more time focusing on my own art. Looking at where I want to go, what I want to do, how I want to develop.

There is nothing wrong with online. It’s a fabulous place to be, and I’m going to stay here. I love what I do here… writing on the blog, the classes, the interactions with people from all over the world, the ability to connect from anywhere. I’m realizing though, through many strands this past year, that I can’t be 100% online with either my business or my art. I needed to get my art out in the real world, to print, exhibit and share, and I need to get myself out in the real world too – interacting, teaching and learning in person. To be a whole “me,” I need to find a balance between the online and real worlds.

It’s interesting to recognize this transition, now that I’m on the other side. I believe it’s a continuation of the “settling in” I’ve felt over the last year. And it’s a reminder that once again, following my intuition, rearranging things to make more space a couple of months ago, was the right thing to do.

Where do you fall, with your own art and your interaction with others around art? Is it mostly online or local? How do you balance the two?

April 22, 2013 by Kat

Watch and Learn

Last week at the dinner table, we had an interesting conversation. In my son Brandon’s sixth grade health class they are talking about setting goals. Trying to get the kids to look to the future, no doubt, and recognize that the decisions they make and the actions they take affect tomorrow. As part of his homework, he needed to interview his parents about setting goals. If they do; how they do it.

“I don’t need to ask you this question, Mom,” he says, “I already know you set goals.” I was taken aback. We’d not really talked about goals explicitly, how did he know? “Because you wanted to start Kat Eye Studio and you did it,” he answered.

I got a little jolt. Brandon had shown, all too clearly, how much he watches and learns from me.

After that jolt, I got down to thinking about it, and realized he was right. I talk about my goals. I’ll tell my husband and son at the dinner table, the one time of day that we are usually all together, “I think I want to do this new thing…” and then I go work on it. Usually by the time I bring it up I’ve been thinking about it for a while and am a couple of steps on the path to get there, but I talk about it all the same. Sooner or later, my goal comes to pass as if it were meant to happen all along.

OK, that’s cool, I thought. Brandon’s learned about setting and achieving goals from me. But, what else is he learning from my actions? Scary thought.

This conversation reminded me he’s watching. He’s been watching, all along. He sees the good and the bad in what I do, probably more than any other person in the world other than my husband. He’s part of my inner circle, observing from the inside of daily life. It was one of those moments that made me step back and think about the example I’m setting. I felt my responsibility as a parent a bit more keenly than normal. It’s a reminder of the influence that we, as parents, have over our children. They are their own people with free will, but they learn much of how to navigate their lives by watching us. Not listening to us. Watching us. Yikes.

But we learn from them too, don’t we? He has always been the best conscience. If I tell him not to do something and he comes back with, “But YOU do that Mom!” I have to stop and take notice. Even if lately it’s layered with pre-teen attitude, I have to admit: He’s usually right. And I have to take a step back and rethink what I’m doing, too. It’s humbling.

Brandon just turned twelve a couple of weeks ago. Some days, it feels as if we have a long journey yet ahead of us, through the teen years. But recently I realized that if he leaves at 18, two-thirds of his time with us is past. We have six years left, and he’s not going to want to spend as much time with us as the previous twelve. Our influence is waning.

But… it’s still there. Every day I have the chance to be the example. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. I didn’t know I signed up for this all those years ago when we decided to have a baby. I don’t think I’m a good enough person to be a parent. Probably few of us really are.

But one thing I’ve found: Being a parent is certainly making me a better person, every day.

April 18, 2013 by Kat

Reset Button

Ahhhhh… Re-entry into daily life. It is nice. Someone asked me yesterday what my upcoming travel plans were and I was startled to realize that I don’t have anything planned until July. Even more startling, I was happy about the next trip being a few months out.

I guess that means it’s time to re-enter and recharge. And also reinvent. I’ve discovered that every time I come out of a very busy period of life, I have the opportunity to hit the reset button. To say to myself… OK, how do I want to do things now? What do I want to do differently? Being away from a routine gives me the opportunity to redefine the routine.

Lots of “re” going on in my brain right now… Re-entry, recharge, reinvent, redefine.

Hang on for the ride. Things may become a bit jumbled around here as I hit the reset button.

April 17, 2013 by Kat

Stay a While

Let’s take a trip back in time, shall we?

Let’s jump into the convertible, donning our cat eye sunglasses and wrapping our beehives up in scarves, and drive to Vegas.

I know a place our two we could stay.

Let’s splurge for a room with a color TV and air conditioning.

After a few days, we’ll head home. Sunburned and less a few dollars in our pockets. But smiling all the way.

We stayed in downtown Las Vegas at the El Cortez Hotel, now on the national historic register as it’s the oldest casino still standing, since 1941.

I loved being in the older part of the city. I could not get over these hotels that looked like just like something out of the 60’s, complete with their neon signs and some still advertising RCA color TVs. Every image just screams for vintage processing, doesn’t it?

I could also not get over the light. Even in the morning, there is an intensity to it like nothing I’ve ever seen. Some of the images I captured look more like they were lighted by flash than the sun.

Downtown Las Vegas was a great place to be, considering I wasn’t interested in gambling or shopping. I was happy to wander around the streets and capture these hints of the Las Vegas of 50 years ago.

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