California

March 8, 2016 by Kat

Campus Colors (New Stackables Formula)

It was back to school for me last week, attending a week of training at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. I had a bit of time over the weekend to do a photo walk on campus and found some fantastic scenes which have given me a week’s worth of inspiration.

I loved the warm tones in the buildings on the Stanford campus, so I created a new formula in Stackables called Campus Colors to really bring out these tones. Starting each edit with the formula, I removed or adjusted layers depending on what the image seemed to need. Less texture? Stronger color? All adjustable. You can find the link and instructions for installing the Campus Colors formula at the end of this post. Enjoy Stanford!

There were many lovely places to sit on campus…

Oh, that blue chair! What a find. It was sitting outside the Biological Sciences building.

And more benches… You are never at a loss for a place to sit on this campus!

Great bicycles, good colors, fantastic texture… what could be better?

Another great find! The break area outside of a lab. I don’t think they expect any visitors to wander by this little corner of campus. I loved it!

To download the “Campus Colors” formula for your own use in the Stackables app, do the following:
1. Make sure the Stackables app is installed on your iOS device.
2. On your iOS device, download the formula file from this link. (This is a Dropbox link, and you may be prompted to save the file to your Dropbox account, if you have one. Go ahead and save it to your Dropbox and then download from there.)
3. When you go to download or open the file on your device, use “Open in…” and choose the “Open in Stackables” option.
4. Stackables will open and ask if you want to import the formula, tap “Import.”
5. To use the formula, load a photo, go to Formulas (1), choose Favorite Formulas (2). You will see the imported formula (3), so tap to preview. Click the wrench icon (4) to apply the formula and make changes to the layers.

November 17, 2015 by Kat

A Human Snow Globe

Every now and then it’s good to step out of the routine. Whether it’s through a vacation or a class or a retreat, it gives you a chance to look at things from a different perspective. Things get swirled up internally, giving you the chance to review and reconsider your direction. Giving you new tools to use moving forward.

Last week was a jam-packed week for me. It started with a relaxing, but rainy, yoga retreat at the Oregon coast. Good food, good company, good times. After two years of attending right after my open studio, I consider this retreat a little reward after my art fair season.

Normally I would come back from the retreat to my everyday world, rested and recharged. Instead, I went straight from the retreat to the airport, and heading to California for a week-long business and leadership course taught by the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

It was a crazy week, “on” from 6am for a bit of exercise to 9 or 10pm with studying or socializing with colleagues from around the world. Intense classes and discussions, full of new ideas. Whew.

While the content and the tenor of the course was quite different from the retreat, I realized they had something in common: Good food, good company, good times. A great group of people, brought together by a common goal and interest, is always an invigorating space.

And the two events had one other important thing in common, too. They both provided the opportunity to step outside of my normal life. They both swirled up thoughts and ideas that may land in a different place. I’m like a human snow globe right now, a blizzard of sparkly thoughts flying around. Things will be different as they land.

Life is change. If you don’t seek opportunities to learn and grow, they will find you. Sometimes it’s good to get out of your routine and stir things up, whether it’s through a quiet yoga retreat or an intense business course.

It may be a while, but I’ll let you know when and where all these sparkly new ideas land.

Busy weeks mean simple edits! Info on the photos:

Top: Oregon Coast, edited using the Formulas app.

Middle: Hoover Tower on the Stanford Campus, edited using the Stackables app, my Heceta formula

Bottom: Rodin sculpture garden on the Stanford campus, edited in Snapseed. I was able to get an art fix during my morning walks at Stanford. An unexpected bonus!

June 21, 2015 by Kat

Days in Del Mar

Another week come and gone, five days in Del Mar went by in the blink of an eye. You think when you plan a business trip that you will have more time than you really do. But between early meetings and late dinners, there was very little free time. So much for taking advantage of staying near the beach! That’s why it’s called a “business trip” and not a vacation, I suppose.

I did get a couple of morning walks in on the foggy beach…

I had one beautiful evening…

And managed to get a quick stop in at the San Diego Museum of Art. A wonderful find there is the work of photographer Lalla Essaydi. These incredibly detailed, large format color prints were exquisite and intriguing in their subject matter. I encourage you to look her up and learn more.

Now I’m back home and getting back into the routine. Until Thursday, that is, when I’m off again. Stay tuned to find out where!

April 4, 2013 by Kat

The Elusive Landscapes

Landscapes have always eluded me. I could appreciate the awesome landscapes of other photographers but could never create them myself. So I focused in on the smaller scenes and details, and left the landscapes alone. Occasionally trying, and failing, to capture what I felt in the scene.

So it came as a surprise a few months ago when I found myself capturing more landscapes. What was going on?

With the “Blown Away” image I shared last week, I finally figured it out. The difference now is that I’m not trying to capture the “landscape.” There is no goal to fit in the entire scene or capture the grandeur.

What I’m doing now is photographing trees, in context. I’m thinking: How do I best capture this tree and it’s surroundings? How do I best convey it’s loneliness or it’s beauty or it’s light? It all stems from that effort. That I end up with a photograph that can be categorized as a landscape is incidental.

Could it really be so simple? I think maybe it is. Landscapes may not be so elusive after all.

Thanks to Brenda’s Photo-Heart Connection post for reminding me of this “aha” moment. I love how the PHC community inspires and grows together! You can still join us this month, the Photo-Heart Connection link up is open until April 7th.

December 19, 2012 by Kat

On the Way Home

I think one of the things I love about the Lights of Night is the storytelling it affords. There is something about looking at a building with the lights on inside that sparks my interest. Are the doors and windows open, inviting me in? Or are they closed, keeping me out? Who are the people around? And, as a photographer, I’m a bit more invisible. People don’t notice me taking photos at night, from the shadows.

This streetcorner shot from San Francisco is a great example of a story waiting to be told. There is the store, inviting you to stop in on the way home, and yet the the business man hurries right by. What story do you tell, from this image?

Handheld, ISO400, 45mm, f/4.0, 1/40

Shot during the blue hour, there was enough light from the store and the sky that I didn’t even have to change to my 35mm “night lens” to shoot this handheld. The slower shutter speed needed to get the exposure actually helps with the impression of the man hurrying home.

The blue hour is a great time to try your hand at night photography if you don’t want to haul around the tripod. Have you tried it yet?

December 14, 2012 by Kat

Exploring with a Camera: The Lights of Night

Welcome to December’s Exploring with a Camera! This month we’re going to be exploring the Lights of Night. It’s the perfect time of year to get out and play around with some night photography, since there are such short hours of daylight here in the northern hemisphere and all of these extra holiday lights hanging around.

I’m going to do something a little different this month. Instead of having a whole new Exploring with a Camera topic, let’s refresh on a few oldies but goodies on the photography of night and lights. Be sure to read all the way to the end because I’ve got an extra-special bonus that I want to be sure you don’t miss!

December’s Fog, Benton County Courthouse in Corvallis, Oregon

Night Photography

Tony’s Studio, San Francisco, California

You can revisit Exploring with a Camera: Night Photography to take a look at the basics of night photography. In this article, you will find tips on everything from the blue hour, reflections, and color cast, to handholding your camera for good night shots without a tripod. It’s based on all of my “lessons learned” from wandering at night on our travels around Europe, where I discovered the fun and beauty of a city after dark. These tips are timeless… The techniques I share on getting good night/low light images while hand-holding the camera in this post are ones I still use today.

Holiday Lights

Tree Lights, Albany, Oregon

In Exploring with a Camera: Holiday Lights, I focused in on the specifics of capturing those holiday lights. Revisit this post to get some ideas and tips on capturing city lights, bokeh lights, and twinkle lights. I also take a look at capturing lights in a different way with reflections and shadows, and address the awful “ghost lights” you might sometimes find in your images upon review.

Creative Lights

Exploring with a Camera: Creative Lights will give you a few ideas beyond the basics! Visit this article to learn about layering in and out of focus lights for an interesting view, using zoom to create cool effects, and capturing the funky hologram effect I’ve shown above. These ideas lead you to more abstract creations with the lights of night.

An Added Bonus

I’ve got an added bonus for you too! In my next email newsletter, which should arrive in your inbox on Sunday, I’ll have a PDF with even more tips on night photography. One of the photographers in our local PhotoArts Guild, John Ritchie, is an accomplished night photographer. Take a look at this gallery to see his night photography work.

Last year, John combined his lessons learned on night photography with a tripod and my tips on handheld night photography to create a tip sheet for our guild. He’s graciously allowed me to share it with you all. It’s a fabulous resource! It will arrive with the next Kat Eye News so be sure that you are signed up.

Are you ready to get started? I am! I’m planning to go out in the early hours of the morning this weekend and capture the lights of night. I’ve just purchased a cable release this week and I’m ready to carry my tripod around to play with some new techniques I’ve learned from John.

You can share your explorations with us here through the end of December. Go through your archive, or go out and try something new. Share your city lights, home lights, indoors or out. It doesn’t have to be holiday-related, anything goes as long as it’s the Lights of Night!

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