Archives for December 2015

December 30, 2015 by Kat

2016 Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap is Open!

It’s finally here! The 6th Annual Liberate Your Art Postcard swap is officially open! I’m excited to kick the party off a little bit early for 2016.

Mark your calendars: The receipt deadline this year is March 12, 2016. You can get more info and sign up for the swap email list here.

Already on the list from last year? Then check your email. I’ve just sent out a message to last year’s list with the 2016 info.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what art arrives this year. Let the swap fun begin!

December 24, 2015 by Kat

Wish Gathering, Wish Giving

Wherever you find yourself on this day, I have a wish or two for you…

Holiday Wish Star Tree Kat Sloma iPhone Photography

Wish Gathering

…I wish for you to experience beauty and joy.

…I wish for you to explore your curiosity and creativity.

…I wish for you to be enveloped by people who love and cherish you.

…I wish for you to find peace in your heart, your home, your life.

My most heartfelt, best wishes go out to you this holiday season.

December 22, 2015 by Kat

The countdown has begun! Less than one month until my iPhone Photography Book, Art with an iPhone, begins shipping from Amazon. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see my book in print! There is still time to preorder and get it right away when it ships on January 12.

If you’ve been following my #30edits challenge, you’ve been seeing some of the amazing things you can do with an iPhone camera and apps. This is exactly the kind of art my book teaches you to create. Cool, huh? Here are numbers 9 through 18 of my #30edits:

Interested? I hope so! I’d love to share more about this great art form with you.

December 20, 2015 by Kat

Mandala Coloring Page for Download (and learn how to create your own)

As my #30edits project continues, I’m getting more experimental! Last week I was inspired to create a tree mandala as a coloring page, since adult coloring books are all the rage these days.

I created the mandala first and then colored it with an app called Art Set, which allows you to color and paint digitally on a photograph. I am making the blank version available for you to download here. You can either print and color on paper, or import into a coloring app like Art Set or Procreate to color digitally. Either way it’s good fun!

It is actually very easy to create these mandalas in just a few steps from a photograph. If you want to try it, pick a simple, graphic image — something with good lines and edges. Then, follow these steps:

1. Create a high contrast black and white image of your photograph. Snapseed is a great place to start, using the Black and White filter. You might need to run it through the Black and White filter more than once to get the strong black/white contrast you need for this process.

2. Create a line drawing from your photograph, using an app like Sketch Me or a drawing effect in iColorama. You want to pick up the edges of your shape, keeping the center open so there is space to color. Experiment with settings until you get something like this:

3. Use a kaleidoscope effect to reflect the image in slices around a central point, which creates the mandala. I used the Kaleidoscope effect in XnView Photo FX to create this one:

Easier than you thought, huh? Have fun coloring!

December 16, 2015 by Kat

Composition Workshop in January – Register Now

I’m so excited to bring you a brand new workshop in January!

Have you been wanting to improve your photography? To create more interesting images from the world around you? It all starts with composition.

I believe improving your composition skills is the single most important thing you can do to improve your photography, with any type of camera. But, composition can be really hard to get your mind wrapped around. That’s why I’ve developed simple strategy to help you create compelling compositions in your photographs without worrying about a list of do’s and don’t’s.

And the Corvallis Library is sponsoring a workshop, free to the public, where you can learn this strategy!

Out of the Box: A New Composition Strategy for Creating Compelling Photographs
Corvallis Public Library, Main Meeting Room, Corvallis, Oregon
January 16, 2016, 1pm to 4pm
Workshop details here
Workshop is FREE! Register by calling 541-766-6793 or email askalibrarian@corvallisoregon.gov

And if you aren’t close enough to attend? I’ve got resources to learn about composition available for you too:

My upcoming book, Art with an iPhone, covers similar concepts on composition, which applies to any type of camera. You can preorder today, it ships in a month’s time!
My eBook, Digital Photography for Beginners, covers the basics of composition any photographer needs to know. It is available for immediate download from PhotographyBB.
Exploring with a Camera, a series of articles I’ve written for my blog over the last few years, covers a wide variety of composition topics. Have fun exploring!

December 11, 2015 by Kat

What’s your challenge?

I’m 11 pieces in to my #30edits challenge and still going strong. I’m surprised at how much fun I’m having! Who would have thought editing one picture multiple times could bring such joy?

I think it’s because I’m being challenged creatively. Here is how the #30edits challenge is showing up positively for me so far:

To do some of the things I want to do, I have to solve problems and learn something new. I get great satisfaction in both figuring out how to make something work, and in discovering new techniques when something doesn’t come out the way I expect. There is no downside.

If I reach a dead end, I am forced to move in another direction rather than abandoning my efforts and losing steam. Stopping is not an option, because I need to create something new with this image. Some of my dead ends one day have become starting places the next day, as I see new possibilities given time and experimentation. That is a powerful lesson – there are no dead ends, only altered destinations.

Each individual edit doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. It’s about finding a new way to use the elements I have available. It is pushing me beyond my usual places, letting me experiment with new apps and new ways to use old apps. Sure, some edits result in better images than others. Who cares! I have 30 to do, I can’t get wrapped up in any single result.

And it’s a fantastic reminder of why I love trees. They are such an interesting graphic element. Look at all of the amazing things I can do with one tree! Imagine what I could do with more. (Well, you don’t have to imagine, because that’s what I’ve been doing for the last three years. But it is a reminder to me to get out and photograph some new tree images to work with, once this challenge is done!)

So, do you have a challenge you are working on? Pick something, anything, like I did. It doesn’t have to be #30edits, but find something that gets you excited to keep moving creatively. Something that gets you out of your comfort zone and trying something new.

Who knows what will result? We’ll see what happens for me. 19 more to go!