Kat Eye Studio

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!

by

A Favorite Sign

Today we wrap up July’s Exploring with a Camera: Signs. It’s been quite fun to investigate how signs crop up in my photographs and to see yours too.

I’ll leave this exploration with a favorite sign of mine, from Venice. All over the island of Venice are printed signs saying “Per San Marco” or “Per Rialto.” Since Venice is such a warren of walkways, bridges and canals, it is very easy to get lost. Often we found ourselves wandering and the only way to figure out where we were was to go back to Piazza San Marco or the Rialto bridge and start again, so these signs became a lifeline. My favorite sign image is this hand-painted sign, found off the beaten path in a back alley. There were none of the “official” signs around, so someone took matters into their own hands and created this one. They were probably tired of the tourists asking for directions. 🙂

You can still link in today with your sign images. I’d love to see how you use signs in your photography! Do share.


by

Sign-Inspired Art

We’re one week into this month’s Exploring with a Camera! Are you seeing signs everywhere? We are fed a constant stream of information through them, and yet we may not consciously notice them until we really start to look.

One of my favorite types of signs are the little icons of people doing various things. Every culture, maybe even every city, throughout Europe seems to have their own take on how to warn people with these little icons. This one is from the subway system in Lisbon, Portugal, warning you to not get caught in the doors. He’s a bit stiff, don’t you think?

The best part of this little icon is the art it inspired! In Lisbon, all of the subway stations have a different artistic theme. The Martin Moriz station had marble knights lining the walls, as if they were waiting for someone to say, “Charge!” But tucked at one end of the station, almost as if it was an inside joke to see if anyone would notice, one of the knights was peeking out of the wall in the same manner as the warning icon. I caught a glimpse of it out the window as we flew past one day, and had to go back and this bit of humorous art.

Sign-inspired art. I love it.

What kind of signs are you finding? Have you noticed how much they already show up in your photographs? Share your own sign-inspired art and visit the art that’s been shared so far. Lots of fun!


by

Exploring with a Camera: Signs

It’s time for July’s Exploring with a Camera – Yay! This month we are going to explore Signs. Not signs as in symbols or messages from the universe, but signs as in those things printed on placards, streets, building walls, etc. that give us information. Have you ever noticed all of the signs around you? They are everywhere. I started paying close attention to signs a few weeks ago and have been amazed at the variety and of types and uses of signs. There is much here for us to mine photographically!

A building wall in Astoria, Oregon

Types and Uses of Signs

To prep for this topic, I started observing and categorizing the types and uses of the signs around me and that I’ve captured in the past.

Signs are used to inform…

Hot Dog Stand in rural Oregon

to educate…

A little bit of history about Astoria, Oregon

to direct…

Rainy day in Portland, Oregon

to warn…

Greenwich, England

to advertise…

Milan, Italy

to identify or specify a location…

Madrid, Spain

Do you start to see what I mean? I bet you can add even more to this list. Signs don’t have to have words either. Symbols often work just as well for their intended purpose.

Restaurant Sign in Madrid, Spain

Train Station Warning in Bacharach, Germany

Relative to Place

Signs are one of the “aspects of place” we talk about in my class, A Sense of Place. The language, imagery and surroundings of a sign all give you an idea of where the photo was taken. The signs can be the main subject or part of the background, but either way they are great indicator of place, providing the viewer clues to the location.

Lausanne, Switzerland

Chinatown in San Francisco, California

Signs can also highlight cultural differences. Instead of the bright green, reflective street signs we have in the US on every street corner to make things easy for navigation, the Italian street signs are often small marble placards on the side of a building. Impossible to use for navigation in a vehicle, but they look much more beautiful. A definite clue to cultural differences between Italy and the US.

Varenna, Italy

Modified Signs

A sign is created and placed with a specific purpose, but the age-old tradition of modifying signs to give them a different meaning is wonderful for photographers. The best modified signs are often more subtle than the typical spray-paint graffiti. These signs make you look twice!

All around Europe you will see these stickers on “Do Not Enter” signs. I especially loved this one, where the guy is “carrying” papers tucked under his arm along with the bar.

Bologna, Italy

On a family bike ride recently, I came across this modified sign telling visitors to GO AWAY. My husband and son continued to ride ahead, eventually noticing I was gone and wondering what happened to me. “Just a funny sign I had to photograph,” I explained to their worried faces when I caught up, “Sorry!” To my surprise, they hadn’t even seen the sign that stopped me.

Rural Oregon

Artistic License

We can create some wonderful images with signs, changing the sign’s intended meaning as we frame the photograph. I often like to capture one or two words of the sign with some other context to create a new story.

By framing this image with only the word “ART” and the open door and stairway visible behind, I intended the message, “The door is always open to art.” I think the sign actually said, “Art Studio.” Capturing the full sign would have eliminated this message.

The “Dream More” was added by some creative person to the exit sign of a parking lot. By framing it without the giant “Exit” to the right of the arrow, I focus in on the message of the added text.

One of the most fun ways to use signs is to capture humor or irony. The viewer has to look at the whole and then digest the contradictions within the frame to get the message. Of course, you as the photographer have to see it first, to create the image!

Yellowstone National Park, Montana

Chinatown in San Francisco, California

We can also create new messages during our post processing, combining images or words from various signs. These words both came from an old Levi Strauss ad on the side of a building, but by capturing them individually and combining them in my post-processing I create a new message.

Are you starting to see the photographic possibilities with signs? Chances are, you already have photographed many signs in different contexts, without even thinking about it.

We’d all love to see how you use signs! Go out on a photowalk or look through your archive and then come back and share with us your use of signs. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got!


by

Make Space for Art

An epidemic is sweeping our nation. We are discontent. Workaholics. Stressed.

Often what we need is engagement in a process that allows us to have a voice. We need places to make things without judgment. We need supportive communities of other creative people. We need space to make art and a creative community to join.

The Jumpstart Creativity Tour bringing 50 FREE art-making events to cities across the USA and Canada. The 2 hour events will empower, engage, and introduce attendees to a world of opportunities. Come get inspired and stay inspired.

The tour starts in 10 DAYS! Will you support it? Will you help light a spark in someone’s life? Will you feel the spark?
Attend an event or support the tour at jumpstartcreativitytour.com

— Jess Greene, founder of Seek Your Course

The door is always open for Art

I share Jess Greene’s message with you today because I sooo believe her words. We need art and creativity in our lives. We need community. We are better for it. Jess will be making a stop here in Corvallis, Oregon on her Jumpstart Creativity Tour in July. I can’t wait to meet her and others in our community here as we join together to create! Will she be stopping near your home? Visit the Jumpstart Creativity Tour site to find out.

by

Dream More

Do you believe in messages from the universe? I do. Here’s one I saw on my Sunday excursion in Northwest Portland. I love the giant arrow pointing to the message, as if we wouldn’t see it otherwise. Which, given our busy lives and drifting thoughts, is probably true.

So here’s your message from the universe today, you can’t miss it: Dream More.

Upcoming Events