autumn

October 22, 2013 by Kat

Creative Cycles

It’s been a year since I started using my mobile device to take pictures. It was this time last year that I began carrying my old iPod Touch with me everywhere, discovering a whole new world in the possibilities. The possibilities of images in the places I move through every day. The possibilities of processing with apps. The possibilities for mobile photography to change everything. Oh my, but it was a wondrous time! Creativity at its best.

This year, things are different and yet not. It is once again autumn, and the sun has been shining through the trees in their gorgeous colors. I’ve been inspired, picking up the pace of collecting photographs, doing more editing. This year, I have better tools in my iPhone 5 and iPad. This year, I have more knowledge of apps and processing. This year, I see even more possibilities.

It almost feels as if I’m waking up after a long, dry summer. I created a number of wonderful images this summer, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t like this. I didn’t make extra time, out and about, to photograph. I didn’t spend most of my free time experimenting with editing. I’ve been having a blast, exploring new techniques like I used for this image here. (You can see more on Flickr.)

I’m a big believer in creative cycles. I know that my creative energy has peaks and valleys during the day, and I try to to honor my personal cycle. I know that on a larger scale, creativity ebbs and flows over time with many variables. But what I wonder, with the arrival of autumn and inspiration, is if it’s possible to have a creative time of year. Because that’s what it feels like right now. As if I hit some threshold on the calendar and inspiration turned on. And I’m having a fantastic time.

I can sense there is lot more to come for me as the trees lose their leaves. There is so much more to explore with my new favorite artistic tools, and what may be my best time of year for creativity. I’m loving every minute.

How about you? Do you have a creative time of year? When is it and how does it show up for you?

October 17, 2013 by Kat

Fading (A Mobile Tutorial)

We have been having some gorgeously sunny autumn days, which means the trees really get to show their colors here in Oregon. We have to take advantage of this photographic opportunity when this happens, because you never know when it’s going to rain again and knock the leaves off of the trees.

I haven’t gotten out to photograph nearly as much as I should, but the fall colors have turned my attention back to the trees and I’m having a fabulous time playing with edits. Today I’ll share a very easy mobile tutorial, combining two autumn images into this piece, called Fading.

The base image is of the tree branches, captured in ProCamera 7. It was a foggy morning and the fog hadn’t lifted yet, giving me a nice blank background.

I started with Snapseed, using the Grunge filter to change the tones. The Grunge filter can have dramatic effects, or can be more subtle when you dial back the texture and the edge blur as I did here.

Next, the image went into Distressed FX to add a texture. The bottom image is ready to blend with the top image at this point.

For the top images, I started with this image of leaves.

Starting with Snapseed again, I changed the tone and contrast. To do this, I used both the grunge and Retrolux filters.

I didn’t like how the leaves in the bottom corner were starting to distract me, and I didn’t think they would blend well, so into Handy Photo for some clean up. Amazing what you can do with this app, isn’t it?

Now the top image is done, so it’s time to blend the two in Image Blender. I adjusted the size and location of the top image relative to the bottom, so that they would overlap in a pleasing way.

I wanted more texture in the final image, so the last step was editing in Pic Grunger. This app is new to me and it gives some great texture effects. Here’s the final image again:

A simple yet effective use of two images to show the transition of the seasons. And now, I need to get out and get some more fall images, while I can!

October 15, 2013 by Kat

Ever-changing

Yesterday I went for a hike on a trail I haven’t visited in a while. It was barely light as I got to the trailhead and started walking with Zoey. I couldn’t even see color. As the sky lightened I noticed the forest around me had changed since I had been here. Sprinkled throughout the trees were the yellow leaves of fall, showing just how many deciduous trees are here, hidden among the fir. Summer and winter these trees blend in with the forest’s green and brown, but in the fall they say farewell brightly, as if to remind us of how much we’ll be missing for the next few months.

In the pre-dawn light with my iPhone I couldn’t hope to capture sharp detail but I could capture impressions. Impressions of bright color in the forest, a fleeting moment before fading into the winter palette of greens and browns. Impressions of an ever-changing forest.

October 10, 2013 by Kat

My Time of Year

Look, look! You can see the branches. It’s getting to be my time of year.

Apps used: Snapseed, Distressed FX, Mextures, XnView FX

I wondered, would I love to photograph the trees as much this winter as last? As my heart goes pitter-patter over this image, I think I have my answer: Yes. Yes, I will.

Along with this image, I have a couple of random things to share with you today…

I’m over at Mortal Muses discussing the importance of print. It’s been a while since I’ve mused with them, and I hope to inspire more people to get their work into print. Come say hi!

I found out my Christmas Valley Sand Dune image has been accepted into the October MobileMagic exhibition at Lightbox Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. Yay! They have a monthly, juried exhibition of mobile photography and I’m excited to be in this month’s exhibition. You can learn more about applying to this monthly exhibition here.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

December 1, 2012 by Kat

Photo-Heart Connection: November

There is a sense of Emerging.

Moving from one place to another.

Emerging

Coming from a place of certainty. Knowledge. Moving toward something new.

And at the point of Emerging, there is clarity. I see the detail of the moment. I see behind me, my journey to this point.

I cannot see the future, still. It is murky. But it doesn’t matter.

What matters is here. Now. This clarity, at the moment of Emerging.

This image wraps up my month. It has been an month of intense self-reflection. Of looking back to see where I am now. You may not believe it, but almost a year and half after moving back from Italy, I finally feel here. I am in this moment, in this place, settled. Emerging from my past into the new. This has been coming out in my home, in my art, and in my plans for the next year. My craziness in September and October was like holding my breath and powering through. November was a release of long held breath. Breathing deeply, sitting quietly and finding clarity. Emerging seems to be the perfect word.

What did November bring for you? What came out in your Photo-Heart Connection this month? I look forward to reading your experience this month. The linky is open through December 7.

And don’t forget about my invitation to write a guest post on your experience with the Photo-Heart Connection! If you want to participate, they are due December 15. I haven’t received any yet, so you have an excellent chance of being chosen. 🙂 You can find all of the details in last month’s post here.

November 21, 2012 by Kat

The Best Laid Plans

I had plans last week. Plans to be creative and get started on some new projects. Early in the week I wrote my blog posts ahead, which I rarely do, so I could have extended time to write on Thursday and Friday morning. And then…

I got sick.

Not horribly sick or anything. Just enough to use that extra writing time I had freed up for sleep. Not sick enough to stay in bed all day but enough to have no creative energy. For those of you who create through chronic illness, I salute you. All I’ve wanted to do for the last week is sit in my comfy chair, cuddled up under a quilt with a book and a mug of tea.

And here I am, a week later, feeling much the same. So I’m surrendering to it. I managed to get the Digital Photography Basic eBook done and out, but that’s it for this week. It’s time to sink into my comfy chair and get better, so I can enjoy Thanksgiving tomorrow with my in-laws who are visiting from out of state.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I’ll see you back here when I’m feeling better.

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