rambling photo journal to share with Kat & classmates (and former student of Kat's)

Sometimes the things we learn don't seem to have anything in common with the original lesson, but of course if you look deep enough you may find it.

This photo is in my head and I am going to try to understand why.  It feels like the 1920’s to me shiny and sleek and yet old expensive and classy like a commercial that this car should be parked in front of a beautiful old house by the sea – aha ha that’s where I am.  I used to dream of living in an old house by the sea.  With acres of fields to walk through and the friendly village a short walk away – an idyllic place to live.  And I would be a writer or an artist working in my studio and coming out to work in my garden and spend time with my dear ones cooking in a big old kitchen with a beautiful aged wood table and we would carry our plates outside and eat on the patio, lots of laughter and drinking wine.  Mmm .. images in my head that developed over time after reading lots of romantic novels and lovely stories that take place in Scotland. Ideas that I pictured of how I could live my life.  Very drastic comparison between there and here.  Here being the way I live my life now.  What can I do to make some changes?  Do I want to make changes?  Is this image of an idyllic life still the same image?  There is also an image of living in a sparse uncluttered modern city loft.  I think the two things I see in common here are a studio.  A haven.  A room for me.  Hmm maybe that’s where this journaling post is going.  Yes and the colors!!  For 53 years I have said “if I have to choose a favorite color..I suppose it would be ROBINS EGG BLUE”  why the heck can’t I say robins egg blue is my favorite color.  It doesn’t mean I have to change my wardrobe and redecorate my house and it doesn’t mean that I can’t love other colors as well.

I approached the photo journaling exercise a little differently.  I had a photo in my head and didn’t know why.  I pasted the photo in a word doc and started writing immediately.   My writing is very internalized and doesn’t share much with others, but it came right out of me and so I am sharing it with my class mates.  I think that Kat will be pleased to see what powerful results her prompt to photo journal  had for me.  I will definitely do this again.  As a follow up, after writing this I received an email the next day.  It was a newsletter regarding an on line class about creating your own HAVEN.

 I just L-O-V-E synchronous events.  They always seem to happen when you are on the right course.

different lighting

Thinking about photography absorbs my mind.  Planning a photography adventure excites me.

I get lost in the process of taking a photograph.  I am anxious to review the results uploaded to the laptop.  I am totally lost in the process of editing a “good” photo and enhancing it through editing to make it looks like an artistic photographic representation of itself.  It is rewarding and educational to share with others, and I am always excited to receive their feedback.  I get lost in the process of taking photographs and photo editing in the same wonderful way that I can get lost in a good book.

In our most recent journey with Kat Eye Studio, we were prompted to explore photographing in different lighting than we typically take photographs in.  I decided to try photographing my beautiful Valentine’s Day roses indoors, in the evening.  I tried setting up additional lighting and covered the top of a cardboard box with aluminum foil to use as a reflective object.

I didn’t really know what I was doing, and after a long day at work I am not usually my most energetic and motivated self.   I moved the light source around quite a bit and took photos from many different angles.

I found the light to be quite harsh and severe casting a lot of shadows.  I also experimented with the light in the editing process using the features “brighten” and “bloom”.

I noticed that the bloom feature gave it a kind of soft and blurry feeling which was different but nice.  If I were to change anything in the process it would be taking more time to learn about studio lighting and setting up the lighting more appropriately.

New subjects photo shoot…

Continuing our on line photo class journey with Kat Eye Studio

Get out of our comfort zone, take at least 100 photographs. 

 My oldest son said “don’t take photos of flowers” and suggested photographing people.  I asked if I could take 100 photos of him, but he declined.  I thought about photographing a sporting event, as that would certainly be different.  The time crunch was on and I still hadn’t chosen my subject.

  My mother and I went out to run errands and grocery shop.   My camera is my baby, and I wouldn’t leave it locked in the car, so it went in the store with me.  My mother commented that 100 photographs is a lot and suggested taking photos of the fruits and vegetables.  My reply was that taking 100 photographs was the easy part. Choosing a subject was the hard part.  There is no way I would want to take photographs in a crowded grocery store on a Saturday afternoon.  That was further out of my comfort zone than I was willing to go.

Finally, afternoon was approaching and I hadn’t decided.   At this point I didn’t have much “oomph” in me and I didn’t approach my lesson wholeheartedly.  I decide to photograph books.  I love books.  We have a lot of books in the house.  I have many books that I have collected over the years. 

I enjoy the peacefulness of books and the peacefulness of photography.  I enjoy going on photo adventures with my husband or by myself.  Even in a crowded city, no one takes much notice of you.  But in that crowded, bustling grocery store too many people would have noticed me, and I would not have liked it.

Once I started taking photos, I was easily lost in the process, even though I wasn’t that motivated.  As I was taking the photos, one of my treasures caught my attention.  It is a scrapbook that I found.

Based on the styles and date found on one of the items, I am guessing it was made sometime in the 1920’s. The person who made this scrapbook must have been a woman and she certainly had an artistic and creative streak in her.  I was excited at the thought of sharing her book with my classmates and blogging friends. Here are some images from her scrapbook, much different from the scrapbooking style around today.

Attend an art exhibit…

This was one our “assignments” in our photography journey with Kat Eye Studio.

My first thought was “oh, a nice trip to Boston to visit the MFA or the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum”.  But after an extensive on line search I was reminded about all of the artistic displays and events here in Metro West Boston.  My husband and I visited the Decordova Musem and sculpture park located in a neighboring town.  Fortunately for us, it was a sunny, mild day and a treat to spend time wandering around outdoors in the fresh air.

There was an outdoor interactive display of what my husband referred to as musical pipes and I referred to as a standing xylophone.  There was no way to resist picking up a stick and running it along the pipes to make music.  I observed two elderly gentlemen stopping to play, and one of them complimented the other telling him “that was very nice”.  You couldn’t resist and it made you happy.

Bubbles floating through the air caught my eye.  I went to find the source of the bubbles, and called my husband to come see.  There was a man with a rope attached to two sticks.  He dipped the rope into a bucket of liquid and made the greatest bubbles.  Grownups and children alike had their arms stretched out in delight, trying to catch them.  Again, something else that you can’t resist and it makes you smile.

I was excited to photograph the bubbles and really wondered what they would look like captured in a photo.

Our favorite outdoor sculpture had to be the Two Black Hearts.  I don’t think it would have been nearly as appealing if there was only one heart.  My last name is Hart, my husband proposed to me on Valentine’s Day and gave me a heart shaped engagement ring … and so I am partial to hearts. ♥♥       

As a piece of art work, I appreciate the fact that the artist chose to create two hearts.  The texture of the hearts and all of the objects embedded in the surface give your mind and eyes a lot to look at and absorb.  And the size of the hearts provided impact.

The next sculpture appealed to me because of its colors and surface texture.  I looked at it for a while and then exclaimed “it’s a pinecone perched under the trees!”  When I looked at the photograph later, I thought it looked like many breasts, but I like my perception of a pinecone more.

The sculpture/exhibit which least appealed to me was an actual bed encased in a glass structure.  It did nothing to resonate within me.  But, for some reason, I really like the way the photograph turned out!

I was disappointed with what we found inside.  The rooms were small and choppy, and some of the hallways abruptly ended and you had to turn back.  The only large room didn’t feel large and open.  I saw one oil painting, and my reaction to it was “oh finally a painting.”  In retrospect I know that I react to what my preconceived ideas of what art is.  I once had a VERY lively discussion with friends about “What is Art”.  It was one of my favorite conversations. Many points of view were expressed but no one answer was agreed upon.  The perception of art is so individualized.

In reviewing the photographs I took at the museum, it confirmed my previous post declaring what I like and am drawn to.  I am drawn to shiny and reflective objects, textures both smooth and rough, color opposites and the enjoyment of editing a photo.

Attend an art exhibit... you won't regret it.

photo-heart connection january 2012

This month, my heart sings with this photograph

It sings because I am so pleased with the results

It sings because of the shades of robin’s egg blue and aqua

It sings because it feels like a painting to me

It sings because it is a beautiful orchid

It sings because a dear friend gave it to me

It sings because I edited it

It sings because I enjoyed the morning I spent experimenting with my camera and new tripod

It sings because I started experimenting with aperture

It sings because I didn’t have a preconceived idea of what it would look like after editing and I was so pleased with the results

The results were more like an unexpected present than intentional and that is ok

I sing because I continue to learn and grow and create

Kat from the Kat Eye studio came up with a fun monthly photo prompt called

The Photo-Heart Connection

Each month we will post the photo that most captured our heart and explore why it did so

Visit Kat's site here to learn more:  kateyestudio