Postcard #5

The fifth postcard from Kat Eye View's Liberate your Art postcard swap arrived yesterday.  It is a beautiful photo of Hood River, Oregon at night by Ashleigh of bleuoiseauphotograpy.  As the image is copyrighted I am awaiting her permission to include a photo of the postcard. 

In the meantime, now that #5 has arrived, I thought I would share the two images I liberated.





Jellyfish, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon

Black-eyed Susans, Oregon Gardens, Silverton, Oregon

In addition to the contrast between the jellyfish and the bright blue background, I was very happy with how this photo turned out.  It took me many tries to get the jellyfish without any reflections in the glass or shadows from the bright lighting in the tank.  The black-eyed susans just make me happy.



Postcard #4

This vibrant postcard titled "Sunnyside Scramble" arrived yesterday from Patty Meijer.  The colors and energy make me think of a kaleidoscope or maybe a cross between a crazy quilt and a pinwheel quilt.

Just 1 more postcard to go and then a bonus card from Kat.  I can hardly wait to see what arrives next, but then again, what's my hurry, the sooner the postcards arrive the sooner this wonderful swap will end.

Postcard #3

(c) Tracy Swartz photographed and posted with permission

More fun with the postcard swap.  This whimsicle "faerie gourdmother" from Tracy Swartz (tracyswartz.com) arrived last week and it only seemed fitting to photograph her among flowers.

Common Themes

The final lesson in KatEye View Studio's Find Your Eye course was to review our Inspiration File and look for common theme(s).  At first I thought my photos were all over the place and then the theme became so obvious I couldn't believe I missed it ... it's NATURAL.

First of course are pictures of natural things, flowers, animals, etc.

Oregon Gardens

Oregon Gardens

Carson

African Goose at Starker Arts Park

My favorite photos of people are natural shots; unposed, preferably unaware, caught in an expression or act that is natural to them.

Donald & Luann

Bride dancing with her daughter

great-nephew at a family barbeque

My favorite photos of man-made objects are those that show their location/environment.  I'm more likely to be inspired of a single building in a natural setting.  If I'm in an urban environment, I'm more likely to be inspired by the natural elements than the buildings or architecture.

Historic building at Finley Wildlife Refuge

bicycle planter at Oregon Gardens

I am very drawn to photos of urban settings, buildings, architectural elements, patterns, posed and designed layouts in others' photography, but I am totally unmoved and have no eye for photgraphing these things myself.   Good thing I can enjoy the inspiration of others in this area or I'd be missing out!

Postcard #2

Saturday this lovely postcard arrived from Fiona currently from English Midlands.  I love the colors and textures.

For those not in the swap who are wondering, we are swapping 5 postcards plus we get a bonus postcard from Kat because she reached her goal.  I'm excited to see what comes next but already feeling a little sad that the swap will end in just 4 more postcards.

Putting Inspiration to Work

FYE Assignment:  Go through my pics, find my 20 or so favorites and copy them into an inspiration folder.  I had a good time with this exercise and learned a lot about what I do and don't like about my photography and even made a list of things I want to work on and another list of things I like and want to keep in mind as I'm out and about with my camera.  Hmm, go figure, I get an assignment to create a folder and I end up with lists!  Well, at least I got the folder done too. :-)

Next Assignment:  Pick a favorite/familiar image from the inspiration folder and go back and take 50 new shots of that subject.  I'll admit that the picture I selected (shown above) isn't my absolute favorite, but there are a lot of elements I like and I was excited to go back to visit the old barn and see what we might create together.  At first it felt like it would be difficult to get 50 different shots, but more than 150 shots later it turns out it was pretty easy.

Going through the pictures I discovered the shots the struck me the most this time around were the ones where I was shooting the barn through something; where it was partially obscured. 

This shot makes me want to see/know more about the barn in the background

not exactly hidden, but a bit obscured by the shadows and sloping field

more in the foreground than the original

This one is my favorite