Kat Eye Studio

by

The Influence of the Camera

I like to say that the photographer makes the photograph, not the camera. A camera is just a tool.

That is absolutely true. Cameras don’t create photographs by themselves. The photographer chooses what to point the camera at, the framing, the settings.

Oregon Forest Summer Impression Kat Sloma iPhone Mobile Photography

It’s also true that the camera influences the photographs you make. It’s not possible to make the same photographs with every camera out there. A pinhole camera is going to create a different photograph than a dSLR. An iPhone is going to create a different photograph than a large format film camera. Each camera has differences.

So the photographer makes the photograph, but only within the range of parameters available from the camera.

When I choose my tool, the iPhone right now, I am choosing a range to work within. I am choosing both the limitations and the options, the advantages and disadvantages, of the specific camera system. That in turn influences the images I create.

I tell people the iPhone changed my art. It changed how and when I take photographs, it changed what I take photographs of, it changed what I do with them. All this fundamental change, because of the tool I use.

The camera I am using influences me as much as I influence the images coming from the camera. It’s a give and take.

As much as photographers might get frustrated with the ever-present gear obsession and the question, “What camera do you use?” As much as we might want to say the camera doesn’t matter, it’s the photographer…

The reality is, the camera we use does matter. How could it not? It’s the fundamental tool we use to create our art.

Your turn: How does your camera influence you?

by

The Journey Continues

Camera. Italy. Me.

These things together may not have been the very start of my creative journey, but they certainly were the things that launched me high speed down the path. Somehow in the last few days I came across this photo in my archives and my heart leapt. There it is, laid out in a picture… cameras, Italia and me. Taken in the Alinari Museum of Photography in Florence in 2011, somehow this image speaks volumes to me about my time in Italy. My creative journey with the camera.

I’ve been back from Italy for over a year and my journey with the camera continues. The Corvallis Fall Festival this weekend was another step along the way. It was a successful weekend for me. Not just in sales (although that part went surprisingly well), but in learning, in getting to know my fellow members of the PhotoArts Guild, and in pushing through my fears of having my work “out there” in the public.

I learned a ton… preparing my photographs for sale, how to set up a booth, different ways of display… the list will continue on. While this was my first year participating in the PhotoArts Guild booth, for the four other photographers it was their second year. They had learned a lot and made substantial improvements to the booth to make it bright, open and accessible. Not bad for what could be begged, borrowed and bought used! We were also lucky to have beautiful weather the whole weekend, which always helps a festival like this.

I also learned that you cannot predict the public reaction to anything. There were certain photos that many people would spend a long time studying, but no one ever bought them. There were photos that generated a lot of interest in the form of conversation and questions, but no one ever bought them. In previous years, cards were the big money maker they told me, but this year fewer cards were sold and more prints were sold. Go figure.

So, how do you know what people want? You don’t. How do you predict and prepare? I’m not sure you can, other than to have a variety of options to offer. Sometimes people come to the festival with an agenda, something specific they are searching for. Sometimes people come to the festival as a way to get out and do something for the weekend, with no intent to buy. Sometimes people connect with the art you have to offer, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they have money to spend, sometimes they don’t. Responses to art are subjective. There are too many variables to predict an outcome.

After all of this, you are probably wondering: Will I do it again? Yes. It’s the next step on my journey. And now that I’ve taken the first step, gotten over the initial fears and investment, I’ll continue to move forward down this path to see where it leads. Not at a sprint, mind you, but at the pace that works for me. It was fun!

by

Getting Creative

This weekend I had the fun of getting creative with my camera. I took a “Creative Camera Techniques” class at Newspace Center for Photography in Portland. The class involved a lot of techniques for getting blurs and images that are more painterly and less literal. It was fun to get out of my comfort zone, and even more fun to go with a couple of new photography friends from my area. It’s so nice to have local photography friends!

Here are a few of my favorite images from the day…

Creating blur with long exposures.

Moving the camera during a long exposure created "shelves" of light.

Plastic over the lens creates neat effects.

Painting with light. A projected screen saver is behind, creating a silhouette.

Painting with light to create a silhouette.

By far, my favorite was the light painting. There were so many possibilities I could see for this technique, especially in the dark of winter. I left the class with an arsenal of new, fun techniques to explore. Most techniques I had read about before, but hadn’t tried. It was great to have the nudge to try something new. I’ve always been a big believer in play and experimentation as a tool for learning and creativity but have been too busy doing other things. The class reminded me how important it is to let go and just play!

How about you, have you been out playing with your camera lately?

by

Two Things at Once

ReflectionDo you ever feel like you are trying to be two things at once? I certainly do. I am an engineer. A photographer. A mother. A wife. A friend. A teacher. A blogger. A corporate worker. A small business owner. Shall I list them all? No wonder I needed to focus on balance this last month.

The focus on balance led me to this book: One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success by Marci Alboher. As I finished it over the weekend I had to sit for a while and think about what I took away from the book. It had many strategies for managing a “slash” life like mine. Filled with stories of people who have dual careers such as computer programmer/theater director and lawyer/minister, it gave real life examples of people who have made multiple careers work. Marci covered the difficulties and pitfalls, but the rewards too. It allows a new answer to the age-old question, “What do you do?” It validated that I am not alone on this crazy path.

In fact, it’s led to me to reflect that for my entire adult life I’ve been some form of this more-than-one-thing-at-a-time path. After graduating with my bachelors in electrical engineering, I worked full time as I pursued my master’s degree in the evenings. After gaining that degree and a new job, I relocated to Oregon and started a hobby of scrapbooking. (I pursued scrapbooking with a passion equal to a job, completing book after book.) The scrapbooking led me to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator soon after my son was born. If that’s not crazy I don’t know what is: Working at my engineering job, new mom, oh, and let’s do this side business too! To be fair, I didn’t really pursue Stampin’ Up! as a business, but when I started to teach stamping and scrapbooking, I realized how much I loved teaching. I was hooked. It got to the point I loved the teaching more than the stamping, I only stopped that to move to Italy. Is it any wonder that I found something else to fill the void? Travel, photography, blogging – all led to this new passion and desire to teach in a new realm.

The funny part: It’s starting to all make sense. I used to feel like someday I would have to choose between “being” the engineer or the photographer, but now, I don’t feel that way so much. I will probably always default to pursuing multiple things at once. I think that is who I am. It’s just how my energy flows. So it’s no longer about choosing one answer to the “what do you do” question for me, it’s about balancing the different parts to a cohesive, satisfying and not-too-overwhelming whole. It’s about letting myself embrace the idea of the “slash,” that it’s ok to be more than one thing at a time. That I am more than one thing, and I always will be. We all are.

In my “About” page you’ll see the fruits of all of this contemplation – I identified myself as a Photographer/Teacher/Engineer/Mother. I could add about five more slashes on there, but those get to the heart of who I am right now.

How would you answer the question, “What do you do?”

Upcoming Events