mobile photography

May 1, 2013 by Kat

Photo-Heart Connection: April

Looking through.

That’s the feeling I get from this image: Looking through.

I’m looking through a small, frosted window. It’s dirty, maybe in a warehouse or shop.

(But it’s still beautiful.)

I can’t see the whole of anything, all I see are pieces and parts.

(But it’s still beautiful.)

I can’t see the details. They are only impressions left on the glass.

(But it’s still beautiful.)

We can’t always see things perfectly. Sometimes we can only see what’s right in front of us: Part of something, through a dirty window. That can be enough.

Enough to call it beautiful.

I am a person who is always looking for the big picture in my life. I want to know how everything fits in with a greater plan. I want to see and understand the connections. My Photo-Heart Connection this month reminds me that’s not always possible. It reminds me that even when I can’t see the whole plan, I can still enjoy the part I can see — what’s right in front of me. There is beauty in the parts without seeing the whole. It’s funny… I processed this image to look this way. It started as a silhouette of bamboo against the sky, but it became a window. A window to my heart, with a message I needed to hear.

What is your Photo-Heart Connection this month? What message does your heart have for you? Review your April images, and share with us here.

April 25, 2013 by Kat

Want to learn Smartphone Art?

Since I started to explore mobile photography and app processing, almost immediately I heard the question: “Kat, are you going to teach a class? I would love one!”

“Not yet,” I would answer, “I’m still learning myself.”

That worked for a while. Now, I am still learning for myself, but the teacher in me just can’t be suppressed. When I love something, I want to share it! So there are a couple of ways I’m reaching out to teach what I’m calling “Smartphone Art.”

As a regular contributor on the Seek Your Course blog this year, I’ll be providing tutorials on Smartphone Art. The first one, Smartphone Art I: Getting good photographs with your smartphone, is available today! You can get a short introduction to taking great photographs with your mobile device.

But, no matter how hard I try, I just can’t squeeze all of the info into a few blog posts, so I’ve got a new workshop in the works!

Smartphone Art will be a one day, on location workshop first held here in Corvallis, Oregon on August 10. You can get all of the details on the workshop here and register here. In the one day, hands-on workshop, we will start with the basics of getting a great photograph using the camera on your mobile device, and by the end of the day you will be combining apps to create unique works of art. Sound fun? Yeah, I think so too. I absolutely can’t wait!! If you don’t live close by, don’t worry, I’m sure this material will eventually makes its way into an eCourse, but I’m inspired to teach it on location first. Contact me to talk about bringing it to your local area.

I’ll also be teaching A Sense of Place as a two-day workshop here in the local area this summer! Join me June 8 and 9 to explore your sense of place through photography. I’m running this workshop a little bit differently since I’m not travelling, with the classroom instruction portion on Saturday morning and then an image review and discussion on Sunday afternoon. Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning will be on your own, “homework” time. It will provide a really great opportunity to learn, practice and integrate the material. You can get all of the details on the workshop here and register here.

As I mentioned yesterday, these workshops are part of my shift to “local” that’s been going on over the last year. I look forward to meeting more of you close to home!

April 18, 2013 by Kat

Reset Button

Ahhhhh… Re-entry into daily life. It is nice. Someone asked me yesterday what my upcoming travel plans were and I was startled to realize that I don’t have anything planned until July. Even more startling, I was happy about the next trip being a few months out.

I guess that means it’s time to re-enter and recharge. And also reinvent. I’ve discovered that every time I come out of a very busy period of life, I have the opportunity to hit the reset button. To say to myself… OK, how do I want to do things now? What do I want to do differently? Being away from a routine gives me the opportunity to redefine the routine.

Lots of “re” going on in my brain right now… Re-entry, recharge, reinvent, redefine.

Hang on for the ride. Things may become a bit jumbled around here as I hit the reset button.

April 11, 2013 by Kat

It’s All Connected

Today is the day! My pink suitcase and I head out on another adventure, this time to Las Vegas to teach A Sense of Place at Selah. And also do some other fun things… like travel with my girlfriend Rainie, photograph the Vegas lights at night, and get to know some new creative peeps! I can’t wait. There is still room in the workshop and the extra activities, if you’d like to come join us. I would love to meet you!

This travel is the closing chapter of a month and a half of trips… Singapore, Spring Break, Vegas. I’ve noticed I do this: pack a whole bunch of trips and activities together in one short, and crazy, period of time. I did it last fall too, with travel for my brother’s wedding, England and then Vancouver all in a month and a half.

Do I do this on purpose? I’m starting to wonder. I can’t say it’s bad necessarily, looking back I see my mobile art renaissance coming out of that period of time last fall. Who knows what will happen this time? One thing I have learned: It all comes together, in some way, in my art.

The other thing that came out of last fall’s trip to England was a desire to have an easier way to connect without a computer. I had such a struggle with sharing and connecting during my England trip! Through the iPhone and iPad I now have a system, and today I’m sooooo thankful. Last night my son called me down the hall in a concerned voice, “Mom! Your computer has an error! It says the fan has failed and you need to service your PC!” Needless to say, the PC was shut down immediately. So now I’m without my desktop PC until I can fix the fan, which won’t be possible until after my trip. I’m relieved I have other options to connect now, so I can keep in touch with my classes and drop a note to you all today on the blog.

So, looking back I can see: Good things come out of the experiences of crazy times. And in then next couple of months, when my pink suitcase is put away for a while, I’ll figure out what new growth and inspiration has come from this recent time. Right now all I can do is live it and enjoy each moment as it comes.

March 22, 2013 by Kat

Radiating Beauty

I love it when a plan comes together! When I captured this photograph of lotus flowers*, I knew immediately I wanted to do a painterly edit. No doubt this desire was influenced by my love of Monet’s water lily paintings!

So I was thrilled yesterday morning when I played with the image and came up with this final result. Perfect timing to share with Paint Party Friday too!

I love the way everything seems to radiate out from the grouping of flowers. There is an energy I feel when I look at it, even though the edit softens things up. It’s dynamic and yet beautiful at the same time.

* What flower I actually photographed seems to be up for debate. There is a difference between lotus and water lilies, but I don’t know enough to tell. All I know is the native Singaporeans I was with called these lotus. Does anyone know the answer? Here’s the original photo for more clarity.

One more parting note: I will be doing a giveaway of a space in my upcoming A Sense of Place online class in my email newsletter coming out this weekend. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter if you aren’t already a subscriber, so you can enter.

March 1, 2013 by Kat

Photo-Heart Connection: February

The light on the trees caught my eye. That beautiful winter-almost-spring sun, warming the world around us. That sunlight encouraged us to go out and enjoy the world. Everyone nodding and smiling at the others on the path we walked. It’s amazing what a little sun will do for your mood.

There is much that draws me to this image. The fine detail of the branches against the softly colorful sky. The lines of the trees, pulling me in and through the scene. The contrast of light and dark. The colors of green and blue and gold — my colors of late.

But I keep coming back to the light.

A light of strength. See how it shines on those branches? It highlights the thin yet supple, strong beauty of the tall trees.

A light of hope. Even if the sky is a bit dark in places, it is not gloomy. Far from it! While the sun is shining, there is hope.

A light of future. It is still winter, but spring is coming, and with it, the light. And while I will miss some of what this winter has brought me, the warm sun that will come more often brings something else beautiful and new.

It’s not long now. You can see it in the light.

I think I say this every month, but this month it was really hard to select my Photo-Heart Connection. By the numbers, I created much less in February than I did in January. By the quality though, I had several images I truly love with strong connections to my heart.

It was hard, too, because as I got it down to the last few images to decide between, the house went crazy. My son was getting ready for school and upset that there didn’t seem to be any food he liked. My husband was sitting there talking to me about one thing or another, tossing the ball to the dog who was scrabbling around on our hard wood floors to catch it. How can you hear your heart in all of that noise and distraction? You can’t. At least I couldn’t.

So I took a break from the process and came back to it again later, when the house was quiet. When I had the space to myself and peace to hear myself think, everything came together and I could finally feel the heart-connection in this image above all others. Just like many things in life, we often need time and space to clearly hear the messages of our heart. It we want to live a more heart-led life, then we need to intentionally create that peaceful space more often.

How about you? What time and space do you need to complete your Photo-Heart Connection practice? How does that translate into listening to your heart in other ways in your life? I’d love to hear, so share in the comments so we can all learn from each other.

You can link your Photo-Heart Connection for February in below, through February 7th.

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