Kat Eye Studio

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Time to PLAY!

Today’s image is from the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto. We had two rainy days based in this hill town on our spring break trip. I found I took fewer pictures than normal on these days, probably because it’s hard to hold an umbrella and take a picture and keep your camera dry all at the same time. This image normally wouldn’t make it to my blog. I would include it the overall album of the trip as a nice shot of the streets of the town and the weather of the day, but nothing special. But today, just for fun, I decided to play around with it.

You see, the Pioneer Woman Photography blog recently offered their free actions for Photoshop Elements. Yay! So today I played with them on this photo and was amazed at the all of the different feelings I could get with this one photograph. I view actions as a little like candy – easy to overdose on if you’re not careful, but a little bit is fine! I would love to hear your comments on these. Which do you like? Which don’t you like? Why not? (There is no special order to these, I’ve just uploaded them in alphabetical order by action name – because it was easiest!)

Boost

B&W

Define&Sharpen

Dim the Lights

Fresh & Colorful

Heartland

Lovely & Ethereal

Sepia

Seventies

Soft & Faded

Vintage

I didn’t include all of the actions here, just the ones that I thought “worked” in some way with this image. Some really didn’t work at all! What’s fun about all of this playing is that you learn in the process. I hope you have some time to play too!

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Evening Window

Evening comes slowly on, the light fading to a beautiful glow over the palm trees. The city, the sea, the trees.

We were back in our room at the hostel in Nice early on Saturday because Brandon wasn’t feeling well and wanted to nap. I was trying to capture the view and evening light from our window but couldn’t quite get the angle I wanted with the palm tree and cityscape and sea all in there. Until I noticed the reflection in the window, just perfect. With a window to frame it all and give it a sense of place.

Sometimes it takes a problem to come up with a creative solution. You don’t think you want the problem to begin with, until you see the solution and realize that you would never have gotten to that place any other way. That’s what I see in this image, a much more interesting story than if I could have lined up the palm tree just right with the city and sea. Lucky me!

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The Best Bookstore

Let’s take a little poll: Is Powell’s Books in Portland the best bookstore in the entire world? Post your comment below. If it’s not, it’s got to be up there near the very top. A whole city block of books on multiple floors. New, used, all topics. You could probably find almost anything you are looking for. Oh, and for the techie types, there is Powell’s technical books.

And here is a special section to me, the creativity section I discovered last spring at Powell’s. I walked around a corner and felt a jolt, it’s like the section just grabbed me and said “hello, here I am, you’ve been waiting for me.” I purchased and read several books from this section last year before the move and I’ve got several more after a visit on Saturday. Can’t wait to get reading! I just hope my suitcase is not overweight…

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Speaking of Unique Vision


Wow.

Yesterday we went to the Steve McCurry Sud-Est 1980-2009 exhibit in Milano.

What an amazing photographer, able to capture the feel and story of a place and time. Able to capture the essence of a person’s soul in his portraits. You feel like you are looking right inside them, and in return, they move something in you.

My goal of photographing and sharing the exhibit was not to reproduce his work, that is already done beautifully in the exhibit website and on his own website. My goal was just to show how they were presented, and how powerful and moving the photographs are. Seeing them large scale and in person was amazing. It showed me something different about how you can experience a powerful photograph.


In some ways, as a photographer myself, it was overwhelming. I mean, in the face of such greatness, why do I bother? But in light of yesterday’s post, I remember that I have something to contribute too, my own unique vision. Steve McCurry’s vision is beyond amazing, he is clearly an artist of extraordinary talent.

All I can say is… Wow.

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Unique Vision

From photographer Rodney Smith’s blog, The End Starts Here: “If you were to stand right beside me and use the same camera, you would not take this same picture. It probably would look quite different. This is what makes each person’s photographs unique. It is your take on the world, and is special only to you. This gift is not something to be taken lightly or ignored.

It is why I know more about you when I look at your pictures than I know about the subject. I can look deep into your being, know your vulnerabilities, whether you wish to acknowledge them or not. I can feel your perspective, your orientation, and your feelings. Isn’t it funny how life sometimes feels backwards? I look at your pictures and I see you in them, with a greater clarity than I see your subject.”

What a powerful statement on photography. This just completely resonated with me when I read it this morning. I think this captures in an essence why I love photography, and why I feel compelled to share. It’s like sharing about me. Sometimes when I look at my photos after coming home, I’m amazed by one or two. I think, “Wow, I really saw that? I didn’t even know that was what I was taking a picture of!” But somewhere deep inside me, the real me, saw and acted on it.

And when I combine one of those “wow” photos with a thought on this blog, I’m often amazed at what comes out! Pieces of me that I didn’t even know were in there.

So I share one of those photos today, one of those that I said “wow” when I started going through my images later. I was coming up the steps at the old castello in San Vigilio, above the high city of Bergamo, about to exit onto the roof for a view. My own unique vision. Truly the “Kat Eye View” of the World!

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Into the Fog

This morning I wasn’t feeling good, I am in the midst of a cold. Again. My plan was to walk Brandon to school and then come home, not go for a walk in the park today. Then Patrick said, “You should take your camera.” I looked outside at the thick, thick fog and said, “You’re right.” So I ended up going for a walk anyway to take some photos. I’ve loved the fog on my morning walks in Parco di Monza and haven’t had my camera with me, but today I did. And I feel better for the walk and the creative energy. Thanks Patrick!