Kat Eye Studio

by

Framing a Flower: Another Process of Elimination Example

Happy Sunday! I usurped my usual Exploring with a Camera wrap up post on Friday to celebrate my 1000th blog post (don’t miss the giveaway!), so I’ll finish up this month’s exploration of the Process of Elimination today with another example sequence from my recent trip to England.

First let’s look at the final image, and then let’s talk about how I got there.

Finished Product

It all started as I climbed a steep cobblestone street in Hebden Bridge, and noticed this lonely pink flower. I was attracted to the bright color and the contrast it provided against the brown of the town and green of the foliage. I took 19 frames of this scene in all, playing with the different elements. I won’t share all 19, but I’ll share enough for you to get the idea of what was going on in my head. All of the photos except the final image are straight out of camera, so ignore the exposure and focus on composition.

#1: Flower against the background of the town below.

The background, even with a shallow depth of field, is too busy and doesn’t give the contrast I was seeking. I changed my point of view to capture the flower against the brick and slate of the building. I have four images with various compositions similar to #2.

#2: Flower against the background of the building.

While this image has an uncluttered background (good elimination!) the images seemed flat to me, so at this point I stepped back to get the wider scene I was seeing. There was so much great texture in the hand rails and cobblestones as well. I took four more images with various horizontal compositions, similar to #3.

#3: The wider scene.

I liked the diagonal lines and the textures, but the original reason I was attracted to this scene, the flower, seems to get lost. I tried again with a vertical orientation, which puts more focus on the pot and flower. Closer!

#4: The wider scene, vertical orientation.

From there, I explored including or removing the different elements that remained in the frame. The hand rail posts and the tree were the main elements I was excluding/including, through both the focal length of my lens (zoom) and the angle of view. #5 is one with more of the tree included, while #6 is one with less.

#5: Including more of the tree and handrail at left.

#6: Excluding much of the tree and the handrail at left.

After 10 vertical images, playing with placement of the tree and handrails relative to the pot, I was ready to move on. This was an extremely steep cobblestone road and it was starting to rain, I was worried about slipping on my way back down.

The best image of the sequence was #5 above, and here it is again with the final crop and edit.

Finished Product

What I like about this is the frame created by the tree in the upper left, the slate roof at top, and the handrails at left and right. These elements frame the pot and bring your eye to it, where you (hopefully) see the lonely pink flower pop out in contrast with the surrounding colors and textures.

If I were able to go back in time, I would try a couple of things that might further help the “framing” of the pot. First, I would see if I could get a little more separation between the leaves of the tree and the pot, by moving myself to the left. I would have to balance that with the space between the pot and the right handrail getting smaller, but there appears to be ample room. Second, I would see if I could get a little more separation between the leaves of the tree relative to the slate of the roof, by getting down a little lower. I think the slate of the roof would make a better framing element to contrast with the brick and frame the pot.

Since I can’t go back and try again, I am happy with the end result. Between the exploration I did with composition in the field and the further review and adjustments at home, I have an image I like that successfully conveys what caught my eye. I’ve also learned a couple of things from the exercise, around paying more attention to the framing elements relative to each other, which will stay with me the next time I go out and photograph.

So, what have you learned in this exploration of the Process of Elimination? Can you see how this kind of intention and attention to detail can help your photos? Share a link to your exploration or let me know what you’ve learned in the comments below.

by

Welcome to Number 53

This is why I love wandering around places. Sometimes you come across a scene that just says, “Hey, life is good.”

Closed doors can provide all sorts of things… barriers to entry, privacy, protection. The idea of a “closed door” is often negative. But somehow, this door manages to switch it up and convey a welcome and a love of life that reaches out to connect with my heart.

Even though actual people aren’t usually in my photos, yesterday’s images being the exception and not the rule, people are still in my photos. They are there through the things they leave out or behind to show that they exist. That they love. That they want beauty and joy and happiness in their lives.

This is a universal truth, across places and cultures. We all want beauty and joy and happiness in our lives, don’t we?

by

The Beauty of Possibility

An open road. A blank canvas. A budding flower. All have one important thing in common – they are full of possibility.

Possibility is fun and open. Possibility is free and exciting. The delicious feeling of “possibility” happens whenever you stand on the precipice of something new and exciting. Something you don’t quite know the outcome, but you have hopes and dreams for what it may be. The hopes and dreams shape the possibilities that lay before you.

I used to be very goal-oriented. One of my favorite quotes was “A goal without a deadline is just a dream.” As if dreams were bad things. As if the only dreams that mattered were the ones accomplished.

Now I know better. Dreams are necessary. Dreams provide us with possibility, so that as our journey unfolds before us, we have a chance to see the branches and explore the options. We have the chance to say, “what if” and feel the possible outcomes.

A goal with a deadline is like marching down a path and not looking either way, at the branches and possibilities that become available. That’s not to say deadlines are bad things. I use them all the time to get things done. If you could see me working furiously behind the scenes to get ready for my trip to England in a few weeks, you would know I definitely use deadlines. But the whole trip started with a hope and a dream. Those dreams led to exploring possibilities. It’s not until you settle on one possibility that things can coalesce into a plan. A goal, if you wish.

We need possibility in our lives. It creates openness and space for new things to form. It keeps us fluid and adaptable, able to respond to what comes along. It allows us to see our dreams come true, because we didn’t decide the details on exactly how it might happen.

So dream. Hope. Allow the possibilities to unfold around you as you take a step into the unknown. Sooner or later, you might turn some of the dreams into goals. But for today, allow the dream and see the beauty of possibility.

by

The Solution to “Overwhelm”

When you are overwhelmed by complexity, come back to the one thing you are doing. You can’t really do more than one thing at a time in any event. No matter how fast your mind is racing, there is just this present moment. There is no other time. There is no other place to be. There is nothing else to be doing. Just this. When this one thing is done, you will do the next thing, and that will be the only thing there is.
— The Practice of Contemplative Photography: Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes

So simple. So true, in both photography and in life. When the world threatens to overwhelm, focus in on one thing. This moment, this action, this detail, and the complexity collapses down.

I’m looking toward overwhelm. Not this very moment, but in September when I have some pretty big things all happening in less than two weeks of each other: My brother is getting married in Colorado on the 15th, I’m participating in the Corvallis Fall Festival on the 22nd-23rd, and then I leave for England to teach my on-location workshops on the 25th. Deep breath. OK, what to do? I take the advice I read in The Practice of Contemplative Photography and do one thing at a time. I have my list, I know what needs to get done. I can sit and worry, or I can focus on this moment and use it.

It’s amazing what focusing on one thing brings. My PrintMania! weekend is a good example. I focused on printing over the weekend, and wow, here I am pretty much ready for the festival. That doesn’t mean that’s all I did… I still went back-to-school shopping with my son, visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gordon House (more on that later), enjoyed a nice afternoon on the deck of a Bavarian restaurant reminiscing about Oktoberfest with my family, and finished a book. But when I chose to focus on the “to do” list, I focused on one big thing and got an amazing amount done.

I think that’s really why I’m productive – I can focus. I don’t believe that “multitasking” makes us more productive. The idea that you can do more than one thing at once distracts us. How often do you stop doing something to read an email only to go back to your original task, trying to figure out where you were? Distractions and interruptions waste time, and ideas. If you start and stop, especially with creative projects, you lose the string of ideas and inspiration.

If you want to do something well, and quickly, you need to focus on that one thing. The better the focus, the better the outcome. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t do many very different things in the grand scheme. I certainly do! I just do them serially, one at a time. It’s how I manage to work at my corporate job as an engineer, create new classes for Kat Eye Studio, practice my own art and enjoy time with my family. I don’t try to do them all at once. I focus on the one thing that needs to be focused on, in that moment. It’s all I really can do anyway, as the quote above reminds me.

Are you struggling with overwhelm? Are you facing a crazy period of time, like my upcoming September, and wondering how you will manage? The answer really is as simple as this: Do one thing at a time, and focus on that one thing, until it is done. Then move on to the next thing.

by

Warning Signs

Imagine you are walking down a path and you see this warning sign:

What do you do? Do you turn around and head home? Do you continue on, taking every precaution? Or do you wing it, figuring that you’ll be ok? We encountered this sign on one of our hikes in Glacier National Park. There were several options available to us, to avoid bears:
1. Don’t hike, because then you are sure to avoid bears.
2. Get a bell and make lots of noise, to warn the bears of your coming and scare them away.
3. Purchase the bear repellent spray for $49.95, to spray a bear if it comes near you.

Since we weren’t doing any serious back country hiking, just short hikes popular with the tourists, we opted to purchase a bear bell and continue. We already have our own noisemaker with us, in the form of an 11-year-old boy, so we figured we would be ok.

Bear Precautions: An 11-year-old boy and a bell

We were fine. No bears sighted on our hikes! Some beautiful things sighted along the path though, like gorgeous wildflowers and light dancing on the leaves. Experiences we would have never had, if we stayed in the developed areas bears avoid.

Fireweed

We could have been warned away by the sign. We could have avoided any chance of meeting bears by not going down the path. Hiking in bear country is a good analogy for living your life. Do you avoid any chance of danger, by not going down the path at all? Or do you weigh the options and risks, and move forward down the path with some precautions?

I especially love the phrase on the sign: “There is no guarantee of your safety when hiking or camping in bear country.” Really, there is no guarantee of your safety anywhere.

There is one absolute guarantee though, if you decide to avoid the path, you will miss some wonderful views.

by

Carved by Ice and Time

I’m back! We returned this weekend from a week spent in northern Montana, exploring Glacier National Park.

Signs in Polebridge, Glacier National Park

To The Park

My husband has been wanting to go there for years, before the glaciers all disappear. There were 150 in the park when it was first explored, and now there are 25 left. Even these have dramatically shrunk when you see the pictures of long ago compared to today.

What’s left is the rocks, the trees and the water. A land carved by ice and by time. And it’s gorgeous…

Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park

Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park

Nature is not my usual subject, and it took a while to get into a groove with my photography. It took a while to get into the groove of this kind of vacation, to be honest. This trip didn’t yield new discoveries, but rediscoveries. The joy of being out in the woods on a trail, hiking. The fun of being in the water on a canoe as a family. The capture of tiny bits of beauty that have been scattered by nature’s hand.

Wildflowers, Glacier National Park

After a few days of walking and looking with my camera in hand, I began to see the colors of the forest. The patterns found in the trees. The lines of the mountains. I found that new perspective I was looking for. It’s always there, when I settle in and give myself a chance to see. I’ll share it with you over the next week or two.

The Photo-Heart Connection link up for July is still open through tomorrow. Come join us!

Upcoming Events