Kat Eye Studio

by

London Photowalk: The Report

Have you ever met an online friend in person? If you haven’t, I encourage you to try it. You might be a little nervous about how it is going to work out, but you will likely discover that your online friendship and interests translate into real life meetings naturally. That’s been my experience anyway, and I’ve now met quite a few of my online friends in person as we travel around Europe.

The London photowalk was a great way to meet a few photography friends at once. Justine, Laura and Christine joined Kirstin and I for a few hours of walking and talking last Sunday. I’m thinking we should call them phototalks, because we talked about photos more than we took photos. It was chilly so we popped into a cafe for some hot chocolate for a while, and later finished up with lunch.

A few hours with some fellow friends who love photography was heaven. We talked about cameras and classes and what we love to shoot. We talked about our families and kids and jobs and current events. They already started talking about where to go for future photowalks, and I’m sad I won’t be there!

Below are a few of my favorite images from the photowalk. I’m happy to have these images, but I’m even happier that I now have a real world connection with more of these wonderful women photographers. Justine, Laura, Christine, Kirstin – thank you all for coming! Links to their photos can be found below.

We met at the Greenwich train station and started through some of the old brick houses. I wonder what’s up in this attic?

The Greenwich Circus is beautiful, I love all of the shades of brown.

Along the way we found some nice color, and texture. Justine had fun peeking in to see what was behind this broken window.

Christine must have been attracted to the brick buildings too, stop by her blog post here to see her photos.

We stopped to talk equipment now and then, it was fun to see what everyone had. We had quite a variety among the five of us. Below Justine and Laura admire Kirstin’s tiny Lumix.  Kirstin has another photo of us talking cameras on Flickr here (scroll down to the comments below her photo).

We climbed to the top of the hill in the park (not sure which one it was!) to the Royal Observatory. I enjoyed the mpressive views of the city and another wonderful English sky.

But the best part of the Royal Observatory was visiting the Meridian line. Greenwich Mean Time ring a bell for anyone? Thanks to Kirstin for capturing the moment for me.

One of the things I wanted to learn from Kirstin was flare – she’s a master! Thankfully the sun decided to appear for a few brief moments for some instruction. I think I figured out my big problem – I need to learn to use the Live View mode on my camera because I need to shoot into the sun. Below is an image straight out of my camera using live view, I didn’t even know how to focus in this mode at the moment I took it. I kind of like the tilty-out-of-focus-odd-composition though, as a memory if nothing else.

We ended up at the naval college, which is where many movies are filmed since it still looks like the 19th century with no stoplights, etc. Gulliver’s Travels and The King’s Speech are two recent films that had scenes shot here. My favorite part was this collonade. I loved how the light was streaming through, and the light/dark contrast of the columns. Laura has another image of this same location on her blog here, Justine’s is here, and Kirstin took one of all of us shooting this area that is really fun (linked above).

We stopped for lunch after this and then went our separate ways, although we’ll stay connected online. Another great day, bringing my online connections into the real world.

So, where shall I go photowalking next?

by

And this time, with Color

As I go through teaching Find Your Eye, I am following my students in their assessments of their eye and rediscovering mine all over again. It’s been a wonderful experience. I’ve been able to define my style even further, to state that my best images have an element of line, color or texture. Yesterday’s images were about line, devoid of color. Today I’ll show you more of the dance center Kirstin took me to – the inside is all about line and color together! 
Such wonderful, bright colors, green and pinks together. Lockers of green, walls of pink. Hallways of green. Everything bright, cheery and open. Can I come study here?
I even played around with bokeh lines. How’s that for some influence from my muses? 
Even wavy lines to catch my eye! There is a companion photo to this one, of me, floating around on Kirstin’s memory card. 
Thanks again Kirstin! I hope you all enjoy this little bit of summer color today. I’m off to photograph some more fog this morning in the park. 

by

Reflecting Inspiration

Do you know how much fun it is, to meet up with someone who has the same passion as you? It’s amazing and exhilarating. We had a great weekend with my fellow muse Kirstin and her family in London. It’s funny, I took fewer pictures than normal, but it was a creative boost just to be around Kirstin with her enthusiasm, love of photography, warm personality and great sense of humor.

On Saturday, Kirstin took me with her to the dance center where her kids have lessons. She thought I would love the building – and she was right! It was great fun to wander the building for an hour seeking out interesting images. We discovered some new things, like this repeating reflection at the exit shown above. (Many thanks to Kirstin for “modeling” for me – that’s her in the image.)

We also found this fabulous ramp, a little nook Kirstin had never seen before. She thought her son would love it, so we brought him back after the lesson to show him. That’s when Kirstin discovered the fabulous light, and set up to take a few portraits. I had fun capturing the moment as well, with the dramatic contrast of light and dark.

Here is Kirstin’s image of her son from that mini session, isn’t it fabulous?
The boy

I love that we can share this image from two points of view – Kirstin’s and mine. I love that we both discovered something new, in that one hour together at the dance center, even though she goes there every week. Inspiring things happen when you get people with a shared passion together, reflecting that energy back and forth. Don’t you agree?

by

London Bound

We head out today for a weekend trip to London, to visit my wonderful muse friend Kirstin and hopefully meet some of you at our photowalk on Sunday.

It’s so amazing to me, to find I now have friends all over the world because of my blog. I hope that I get to meet some of you on my future travels!  Drop me a note via email if you are in any of these places we’ll be visiting in the next few months, I would love to meet up:
Sicily, Italy
Santorini and Athens, Greece
Prague
Oslo, Norway
If you are anywhere around northern Italy, let me know too. A day trip is always fantastic!

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to capture some fog with your camera if it shows up near you.

by

Meet Me in London

I’m coming to London at the end of the month, want to meet up with me? My fellow Mortal Muse Kirstin and I have planned a photowalk and we would love for you to come and join us! Meet us at 10:30am on Sunday 30-January at the Greenwich train station. We’ll be the ones holding the cameras and laughing.

If you need details on the meeting place, you can contact Kirstin: kirstin [at] pobox.com. For other general questions, drop me a note: kat [at] kateyeview.com.

I can’t wait! I would love to meet some of you who’ve I’ve gotten to know online, and meet some new people too. There is something really wonderful about meeting our online friends in person. It’s a fabulous to make a face-to-face connection along with the digital. Even if you’re not a photographer, come and hang out with us. I hope to see you there!

by

If it could talk…

Last week, as I walked through the gate of our apartment building, the portinaia (doorkeeper) flagged me down to give me this package. It was the most interesting package, covered in all sorts of stamps from the UK, addressed to my husband.

“Oh wow,” he said when I brought it into the apartment, “I didn’t think that would ever come!” Turns out he had ordered some mosaic tiles from a shop in England, five weeks earlier. I asked him to save the package for me, so that I could photograph it. I was intrigued by this wrinkled envelope, covered in colorful stamps.

What stories would this package tell, if it could talk?  Could it tell me the story of why it had such a diverse set of stamps? Maybe someone had cleaned out their desk, and they were trying to use all of the old stamps that were left over when postage increased.

What about its journey? What would it tell me? How did it get to be so crumpled and rumpled, with the stamps peeling off? Why did it take so long? Maybe it was waylaid, because it needed to be hand cancelled. Or possibly it got stuck in some sorting machine. Likely the delay was due to Poste Italiane, famous for its inefficiency, but I like the fanciful stories better.

After photographing the package for a while, I decided to soak the stamps off and save them, for some craft project in the future. When a treasure trove of textured imagery comes your way, you have to take advantage of it. Reaching back into my brain archives, to a time in my childhood when I was a junior stamp collector, I taught Brandon how to remove the stamps without damaging them.

It wasn’t until I had removed the stamps that I realized all of the stories they collectively carried with them. There was the College of Arms Quincentenary, World Hockey Cup London 1986, and Royal Mail 350 Years of Service. The Most Ancient & Most Noble Order of the Thistle Tencentenary of the Revival, The Domesday Book 1086 and The Queens Award for Technological Achievement 25th Anniversary can be added to the list. Some celebrate artists as well: Sea Pictures by Edward Elgay, a photograph of Alfred Hitchcock by Howard Coster, and a vase by Hans Coper. A total of 24 stories are held in the stamps on this one little package.

Normally we don’t stop and notice the stamps on our mail. We don’t stop to think of the story they are representing. In fact, it’s becoming rarer to actually have stamps on our mail, with the decline of people sending personal mail and the increase in use of electronic postage. What luck then, to receive a package like this. It’s a treasure trove of culture and history and art.

If any of my UK readers can fill me in on the story behind this colorful stamp with the yellow house and the green robot looking guy, I would love to hear it!
Today’s 9 Muses Musing prompt is STORIES. I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying these prompts. They are inspiring me to tell stories I wouldn’t have told otherwise. Tomorrow’s prompt is TRADITION.

Upcoming Events