Kat Eye Studio

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Balance: Found

We finish up Exploring with a Camera: Balancing Shapes today. While this ends the discussion of balance for the moment, the topic never really goes away in photography. Balance is one of those important concepts that make the difference between a so-so photograph and a great photograph, yet it’s one that can be hard to grasp. I hope that you’ve found a better understanding through balancing shapes these last two weeks.

Balancing shapes can play out in interesting ways. The facade of this church in Bologna loomed large on the narrow street, too big to capture with my lens. I could break it down to the lines and shapes though, balancing the elements to create an unusual point of view. While it’s a simple image in terms of lines and shapes, the subtle details that I find with further examination pull me in.

When you start with a good balance of the lines and shapes in a photograph, the viewer will stay with you longer. More can be revealed, with time. Isn’t that what we want, to engage the viewer and create a connection?

Today is the last day to link in! If you’ve explored the balance of shapes, you can still share your images below. If you didn’t have time this month, visit the links of the participants, and see what they found. There is a whole lot of balancing that went on these last two weeks. Thanks for joining me in Exploring with a Camera!


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Happy Women’s Day

In Italy, the tradition on Women’s Day is to give the yellow Mimosa flower to women in your life. So today I have some Mimosa for you!

I had never heard of International Women’s Day before moving to Italy. Now, I see references to it quite a few places here in the US too. Maybe I was never aware of it before, maybe it’s come into greater prominence in the last few years. I’m not sure.

It’s an important day in a lot of ways, requiring a moment of pause. An opportunity to take a moment and reflect on the lives that we are able to lead as women in the developed world. For all of the challenges we may face, they pale in comparison to our counterparts in other places around the world. I have had so many opportunities – for education, for employment, for freedom in my relationships and life. I have practiced engineering for 20 years, a non-traditional women’s career, without serious issue with my gender. I have a voice here online, without fear of reprisal. We are lucky for the freedoms women have in our culture.

I think that’s why I resonate with the idea of what Nest does so much, helping women build a sustainable career and life for themselves and their families. Today I learned of Kiva, another microfinance organization. Through Marie Forleo, I heard about this special opportunity to give a loan to women in other countries without it costing you anything. Visit this link to see how Kiva and Dermalogica are making this possible, and you can take advantage of the opportunity to give a loan too.

If nothing else today, take a moment to reflect on the opportunities that you have had as a woman, and how lucky you are when put into perspective by other places in the world.

In the tradition of Italy, give a yellow flower to a woman who matters to you. You all matter, thank you for being here. Happy Women’s Day.

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I Will Not Take These Things for Granted

Continuing to work on A Sense of Place this weekend, this morning I’ve been exploring the big picture – landscapes and such. I love the expansiveness and peacefulness of this image, from Lake Como in Italy.

As I write this post, one of my favorite songs, I Will Not Take These Things for Granted by Toad the Wet Sprocket, is playing on iTunes. The image and the song are both a reminder to be grateful for the beauty that exists in this world around us, this day. I’ll leave you with the song today.

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Walking the Path

Life is a path we walk along. Sometimes straight and narrow, other times with twists and turns. Constant endings and beginnings line the path. Yesterday I announced an ending of sorts on Mortal Muses, I’ve decided to leave my position as a regular muse. I join the ranks of the Muse Alumni as of today.

It was a bittersweet ending. I am so grateful for my time as a muse. It helped me connect to the wider photographic community online while I was in Italy. It gave me confidence in myself as an artist, both photographer and writer. At the same time, with the move back to the US and the start of Kat Eye Studio I was finding it difficult to juggle it all. Something had to go, to free up space and time. I breathe a bit easier now.

I will continue to cheer the Muses on from the sidelines, supporting and participating. I believe in the mission of the Mortal Muses. I love the celebration of diverse photographic styles, the combination of photos and words, and the idea of community of photographers who do what we do for the love of it.

An ending of one thing. But beginnings of so many others… the Photo-Heart Connection in progress (March linky is open!), A Sense of Place starting in April, along with my exhibition at The Arts Center.

So I pause on the path to look behind me, give thanks and wave farewell, and turn to go on.

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Scooter Sightings: Keeping Cool

Here it is, the end of February, and I almost forgot the monthly Scooter Sightings post! What is wrong with me! I think the problem is there haven’t been many real scooter sightings lately. My husband said he saw a classic Vespa around town, but alas, I was not with him at the time. I’ve been getting the urge to ride my scooter so I wish the warm weather would hurry up and get here!

Today’s scooter sightings image is from Pavia, a small university town southwest of Milan. This beautiful scooter was parked in the shade at the edge of a courtyard, where students were studying at picnic tables under the trees, trying to keep cool. This was before my scooter obsession so I didn’t study the scene the way I would like to now. I can imagine the creative possibilities here with this red scooter!

I’m happy to share some scooter sightings from other readers too.

This one comes from Robin of Gotham Girl Photography, she found it in New York City. I would be in heaven with that color combo along with the vintage scooter. It’s a made-for-Kat scene!! Thanks for sharing this, Robin.

This pink cutie comes from April of My Captivating Images. April wrote, “This is Katie. She is one of my repeat clients and she is so much fun to photograph. She is always up for anything that I want to try. This particular session was suppose to be her Prom session. The only day we could get our schedules together was on Prom day! As luck would have it, it was pouring! It was too late to try to reschedule though so we were brave and went out into downtown Greensboro, NC. looking for overhangs and any other type of cover we could find. We came along this pink Vespa that just spoke to me. It just matched her dress and playful personality so well. So I headed into the salon to ask for permission to use it. I love the results. Sometimes you just have to accept what you have to work with and use your creativity. Sometimes you just have to accept that the weather isn’t going to co-operate (just be sure to protect your camera!). Sometimes you just have to accept it and make it the best you can. And guess what? Sometimes it far exceeds any of your “normal” work!”

I totally agree with April!! (And I want that pink scooter.)

If you have a scooter sighting, take a pic and email it to me! I’d love to share your scooter sighting here.

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Framed

It’s so amazing how the human brain works. As I’ve studied silhouettes over the last few weeks, certain images from my archive have come to mind. I haven’t seen or worked with some of these images in forever, but the memory of them pops up and I have to go find them.

Today’s image is one I had to go digging for, because my brain would not let it go! Looking out over Verona, this arch in the arena was a perfect frame for the scene, capturing my husband and son in silhouette. I like the juxtaposition of the old and the new, a unique portrait of our visit to this place.

If you ever visit Italy, don’t miss Verona. Not only is it in the Veneto, my favorite region of Italy, it also had my favorite Roman arena. Oh, I know, the Coliseum in Rome was the biggest, but the one in Verona is the best preserved. You can walk in it and through it and sit on the marble seats that are two thousand years old. They still have performances here, although we were never able to time it right to see one. This arena is living history, the best kind in my book.