Kat Eye Studio

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What are you doing this Summer?

If you’re looking for something to stretch and grow your photography in the summer months, Find Your Eye: Journey of Inspiration may just be your thing! In this course, you’ll begin to recognize your unique style and deepen your the connection between your photography and your heart and soul. Amazing things happen as a result!

Registration has opened for the summer series of Starting the Journey and Journey of Inspiration. See more about the course series here and you can find registration information here.

I’ve found my eye. It’s full of texture and details that make my heart sing, like this door from Korkula, Croatia.

Won’t you join me to find yours? Class starts June 17.

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Tomorrow’s the Day!

The Photo-Heart Connection link up for April opens tomorrow! Plan some time to revisit your photos from April, to find your heart connection. I wonder what my heart connection will be this month… will it be an image like this, from Korkula? A city scene from San Francisco? I never know until I go through the process. You and I will both find out tomorrow!

If you haven’t participated before, all are welcome. You can join in once or every month – no expectations or commitments.

To participate, follow these easy steps:

  1. Choose your Photo. Review the photos you worked with in the last month, either new or archive, and find the one with the strongest connection to your heart. Not sure how? Read here.
  2. Write from your heart. Looking at this photo, start to write. See what comes from your heart. There is a message in the image for you, if you open yourself to it.
  3. Share online. Pair your photo and words somewhere online where others can read it, and learn from your experience.
  4. Link in. Visit my blog between the 1st and 7th of the month to link in your Photo-Heart Connection. Connect with other participants by visiting the links.

You will find a great community of kindred spirits, waiting to meet you in the Photo-Heart Connection. See you tomorrow!

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The End of the Diagonal

Ah, here we are, finishing up our study of Dynamic Diagonals. This has been a great exploration! It’s been fun to take a closer look at all of our images, seeing how we naturally use diagonals and the impact.

As I was looking at images from Korkula last weekend, this diagonal jumped out at me. Completely created by my perspective and the angle of the camera, the diagonal strongly leads me through the frame from the bottom left, where the plant is in focus, to the upper right. With the line running almost corner to corner, I break every rule of diagonals and yet I like it.

This exploration, more than almost any other, has made me want to throw conventional composition knowledge out the window. Yes, it’s useful to study what the experts have to say. But it’s important to not blindly spout or follow their knowledge. There is so much more to how we put together an effective image than compositional “rules.” That’s what makes photography an art form. It’s not just point and shoot, no matter what some may say. It takes the engagement of our whole minds and hearts. That’s what I love about it.

So, let’s wrap up out exploration of Dynamic Diagonals today by breaking every rule. Go crazy! You can still link in below and share your findings with the rest of us. Please take the time to visit your fellow participants and see what they have to show you. The more you see, the more you explore, the more you learn.


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Filled with Intention

This morning, I continue to ponder the difference between intention and expectation, and the relationship between the two. I continue to seek a way to maintain the space created by letting go of expectations. With all of the random thinking I’ve been doing around this topic, I might have found a way.

Here are my thoughts:

  • Let go of the expectations. No easy task, here. But it’s the starting point. Identifying the expectations that are driving you in a direction, examining them and letting them go if they do not serve you. I started with this, in Lessons from Abroad: Letting go of Expectations, but I didn’t know where to go next.
  • In the space created, explore how you want to feel. Maybe it’s a feeling of peace. Maybe it’s acceptance of what is, or love for the world around you. For me, there is always this desire for balance. I have so many different sides to me, always pulling me different directions. I somewhere gained the expectation I should choose among them, but I have come to realize I am not complete without any of them. I’ve become clear: A feeling of peaceful, joyful balance is what I desire.
  • Fill the space left by letting go of expectations with the intention to feel as you desire. Intention becomes the mirror for evaluating actions. As I set out on a path, I reflect the path against my intention (non-physical feelings) instead of comparing it against some expectations (physical outcomes). If the action fits with the intention I continue; If it doesn’t fit, I change course. The path is guided by the intention, in the moment. I lose the rigidness of a predetermined plan.

I’m liking this sequence. Instead of holding the space left by letting go expectations empty, I’ve filled it with something. But that “something” allows me the space, flexibility and non-attachment to outcomes I am seeking. With my intention filling the space and becoming the guiding factor, maybe I can avoid getting myself into the same situation again. That darn situation of letting expectations for outcomes drive me. Or maybe I can avoid getting myself into the same situation as quickly – I seem to keep coming back to this place so I can only hope that someday I will truly learn and move on.

Thanks for joining me on my journey, no matter how many times I might circle back around to the same place. Especially thank you for your comments; they have been invaluable. Each one is like a spark of thought being shared across a distance. I take the thoughts from you and add them through my own, weaving them together in different ways until they bring me to a new place of understanding. That we can do this with miles of distance between us is testament to the power of human connection. But that’s a topic for another day…

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Making Space

As I play with the concept of intention the last couple of days, I am finding an adjacent concept of space. Call it space, openness, expansiveness, or freedom – all represent the feeling that I am sensing should come along with an intention. My impression is that when I set an intention, it should not be for a specific outcome. When I intend with a specific outcome, I close down the options; narrow the possible results. Look at the words I’m using: close down, narrow. In direct opposition to open and expansive.

A place to pause in Korkula, Croatia

Whoa, I thought intentions were supposed to be specific and clear? You know, the Law of Attraction and all that.

But now I’m considering, maybe they shouldn’t be “specific and clear” in the way I was thinking – in terms of actions or results. Maybe I need to get clear on the desired outcome in terms of how I feel and not in terms of what actually happens. In my search for beauty on Saturday, there were multiple ways it could have been found. I didn’t limit the possibilities with my intention, I didn’t set any expectations, and the results were surprising, delightful and immensely satisfying.

Aha, there’s a clue in the previous sentence: Intentions are not expectations. I’ve tried to shed expectations recently, and hold open the space that comes when the expectations are cleared. All of this is related.

Here’s what I’m thinking:
– Intentions relate to feelings or internal, non-physical ways of being.
– Expectations relate to outcomes or external, physical results.

There is space and openness with an intention, because there is no attachment to a specific, physical result. None of that expectation stuff. If I intend to live a life filled with beauty, peace and love there are multiple ways that can happen. It doesn’t require a specific outcome, if I’m open to the possibilities that present themselves. If I intend (expect) to live in a mansion and have 10 cars, I am tied to a specific outcome. I’m going to be disappointed, disillusioned and unhappy when it doesn’t come to pass.

I’m going to continue to play with this concept of intention. It feels like I’m on the right track. Thanks for following my meandering thoughts today, as I work through these concepts. I’d love to hear your thoughts, experiences and suggestions too!

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The Simplicity of Intention

When I went in search of beauty on Saturday, I found it. I rediscovered the beauty of flowers against warm stone. I revisited a time and a place from a couple of years ago. I recreated a feeling of peaceful exploration through my images from Korkula. It was a joy.

Is this an example of intention? I wanted beauty. I intended beauty. I found beauty. It seems too simple, but maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s the perfect example, showing that intention is not hard. It just is. Wherever we set our attention, wherever we place our thoughts, we develop intention. When we switch it around, putting intention first, it changes the dynamic. Our thoughts and attention follow.

The concept of “intention” has been coming up for me a lot lately. It’s as if there is a cosmic neon sign flashing, “Start here.” This example tells me maybe I’ve been struggling too hard with it. It really is this simple: Intend beauty. Find it.

I sense there is more for me around intention… things like not trying to control outcomes, and being open to what comes. But this is enough for today. I’m going to keep it simple, and enjoy the beauty I found.

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