Oregon

May 21, 2013 by Kat

Silent Communication

There is a moment when I feel the forest in my body. When I step out of the car at the trailhead, the change is palpable. The quiet is immense. My soul breathes a sigh of relief.

It’s a different kind of communication, between my heart and the forest. It’s one of the senses. Hearing the quiet between the sounds of the birds twittering and my boots along the path. Feeling a gentle breeze against my skin, or the cool wet of misty rain, or the warmth of sunshine. Smelling the new growth of the earth or scent of spring blooms. And seeing, my primary sense, is enhanced. Seeing what is and what could be, through my camera’s lens. Feeling the abundance of having so much to photograph I can leave most of it alone, and only stop for what truly moves me.

As I sit here writing this I’m struck by the contrast in sound the most. It’s early morning and I’m the only one awake, but the house is not quiet. There is the ticking of the clock. The faint high-pitch whine of the computer. The whir of the refrigerator. The spit of sprinklers turning on in the yard. Trucks rumbling along the nearby street.

Maybe that’s why my soul breathes such a sigh of relief at the trailhead. I must need the quiet of the forest. Stilling the sounds of everyday life for just a little while, so I can hear my true thoughts and desires well up from deep within.

Shhh… What do you hear?

May 20, 2013 by Kat

Happy Monday

Popping in here with a little boost of graphic color for your Monday enjoyment.

I went to an iris garden with some photographer friends yesterday, and photographed everything BUT the iris. (Well, maybe just a few…)

I particularly loved these alliums. They have such a cool shape! I’ll have to play around with these images some more.

May 13, 2013 by Kat

Inhale Spring

I inhale
Fresh scent of spring
Tickles and tingles my nose

I exhale
With the earth
Matching her breath through branches

I step
Along hard-packed earth
Winter’s mud only imprints in my path

I blink
Flashes of sun
Revealing forests of white petals

I see
Joy in sunshine
Leaves sprouting with wild abandon

I pause
One last tree
Waiting sheltered in earth’s shadow

Not long now.

May 8, 2013 by Kat

Too much of a good thing

You know that saying…. “Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.”

So. Very. True.

Too much of a food you love, and you can get sick of it. Too much passion for something and you can get burned out.

And too much computer time can injure you. I’m struggling with a sore shoulder right now, which comes out of too much mousing on the computer. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was the marathon editing session I did on Saturday to prepare the Liberate Your Art swap video. 215 photos that needed to be straightened and cropped. the same motions again and again. I should have broken it up a bit more. Now I’m really going to have to cut back, or I risk a permanent injury. The pain is always the reminder to cut back.

It all aligns with what I want to do anyway… Spend more time outside as the weather is nicer. Hike in the mornings. Hang out with my son. Cook more from scratch. Read good books. Capture and create images that make me pause and breathe, like this one.

Thankfully carrying an iPhone doesn’t cause the same stress on my shoulder as carrying my dSLR, and editing on the iPad doesn’t cause the same kind of pain as mousing on the computer. Maybe there is more than just my creativity at play in this newfound love of mobile photography. Or maybe I’m just lucky that I’ve got this alternate creative outlet, or I would be incredibly frustrated at the pain and might work through it, damaging myself further.

Either way, the pain is my body screaming at me to change course. It’s just too bad I have to get to this point to get my brain to agree.

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!

March 19, 2013 by Kat

Under the Weather

This was the scene as I descended toward PDX airport on Saturday morning. Back to the clouds, back under the weather.

I’ve been under the weather figuratively since returning home too. I developed a cold on my trip home and I’ve spent the last three days in bed sleeping or laying on the couch watching movies. That’s about all I could muster the energy for.

I’m trying to get back to a normal routine today. There are photos to edit, postcards to pick up at the post office, errands to run and work to be done.

But maybe a nap first wouldn’t hurt.

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