Find Your Eye: Journey of Recognition - Learning from other artists

In the second lesson in my FYE course we were asked to go to an art exhibit and look at the art. To see what we liked and what attracted us.

As I am now back to work and have been very busy I did not find the time to actually go to an exhibit but I found a book on the work of Claude Monet who's work I admire very much.

I read some of the background information and what stood out to me was that he wanted to show the beautiful light that was outside. He wanted to show the beauty of nature while it was usual to paint an inside scene at the time.

Looking at some of his paintings I could suddenly see the "golden hour" light. I had not noticed this before although I was always attracted to his work for the use of colors. I saw his water lily series and thought that I look at the same waterlilies every day and have never seen the beauty he shows in his paintings. I have also tried to photograph them in the past but I have not gotten a photo I like yet.



He has some paintings that show the soft evening light but still have color. This is one of my favorites and this one as well. The weather is so apparent from his paintings. I can suddenly relate to Kat's words of art capturing the essence of a person or place.

I see many images or other types of art that inspire me but until now I have always thought I couldn't capture what they captured. Or sometimes I have tried and it didn't work so I sort of gave up on that.

I took this picture once after being inspired by abstract images and reflections. But then they are not as beautiful as the work I saw and I guess I give up on it. Now on writing this I realize everybody needs time to learn and the image that inspired me was probably not the persons first attempt at that. It was more likely the product of honing a skill for a while. I have just realized I should give myself time to learn and to pursue. I always want to learn something instantly and have the skill instantly. If I don't I give it up and do something else.

Find Your Eye: Journey of Recognition - Exploring Rules (1)

In my FYE class we have been looking at the rules we impose on ourselves when making a photograph. These rules can be conscious or subconscious depending on how much they are already part of your routine. We are now asked to be aware of the rules we follow and ask ourselves if these rules are helping or hindering our image.

When you are asked a question there is always the immediate answer and the delayed answer(s). Once you are aware of the question your mind stays thinking about it. So after a while you suddenly can get a small (or big(ger)) new insight about this question.

It was in the end of the afternoon and the sun was shining through my window. I was working at my computer and my little Siamese cat likes to sit beside me. She feels she needs constant attention when awake and to achieve this she has several strategies. Amongst them making a lot of noise when sitting beside me and jumping on the back of my chair or my back. I looked at her and there were a lot of shadows and contrast. I realized I have always learned not to photograph this and normally I would not have taken out the camera. But having a small insight on this being a rule I follow without thinking I decided to break it.

I also came across a great quote to go with it. It came together for me: I broke a rule and I liked it.

Find Your Eye: Journey of Recognition - Exploring Rules

What rules do I follow when photographing?
That is the question in our first new lesson from Kat Sloma. That’s a tough question because I usually tend to totally forget the rules when I push the shutter button. Only since very recently do I check what’s in the viewfinder other than my subject
- So that is rule number one, check the perimeter.
Other rules I try to follow (if I succeed is another question)
- The rule of thirds (but often only in photoshop)
- Don’t put the horizon in the middle
- The speed has to be at least the length of the lens.
- Fill the frame, get as close as I can
- Focus on the nearest eye, leaf etc.
- Check the white balance and the ISO before shooting.
- Check for blown highlights and sharpness in the viewfinder.
- And last one: don’t loose the lens cap!!
What I feel I need to concentrate on more is to visualize the final result before taking the photo. Think about what the lens does ( compress space – tele or lengthen – wide angle), what aperture do I need. I tend to always shoot at a very low aperture and sometimes don’t get everything in focus

E.g. here I did think about filling the frame but forget about DOF. I also felt the need to resize it in photoshop and to process it. What attracted me to the photo was the repeating pattern which is now not the focus of the image. This was the SOOC shot:

Write now class: Assignment nr. 2

I never thought I would ever write a poem but I did...

Write now class: Assignment nr. 1

My first journal page:-)

Review of my inspirationfile

I went through my inspiration file again looking for similarities and themes.

Some observations:

Subjects: Domestic cats, dogs and horses. Only those that matter to people, there aren't any "wild"or ferrel animals in my file. And at least as many floral images.

Light: There are two types of images there, either it tends towards a high key image or a high contrast image. I realized during the course I sometimes also photograph the light. I also use natural light exclusively but that is because I don't know how to use a flash and often find it's use ugly.

Composition: I like to single out my subject using selective focus through the use of a wide aperture. I tend towards the details, partial views of the subject and macro work. I also like using negative space in my compositions.

Elements of design: I use light bring attention to the subject. I also like to use added texture and manipulate colors.

Color: I love the use of all types of colors strong/pastels and the absence of it. What I am using depends on the mood I want to convey.

Message/Emotion: I am not sure that is there yet. I think I want to show more emotion and place my subject in its surroundings more so it is clear what they are doing. I want the image to be a memory for someone or just a resting point for the mind. Something beautiful to look at and to feel the mood of quiet peace and restfulness. I have discovered storytelling as something I want to start doing with my photography.


The colorful and high contrast image:

The high key image:

I have immensely enjoyed this course. First of all I enjoyed Kats exercises, I did not know them and they took the focus away from wanting to know other peoples opinion of my images to wanting to know my own. I also enjoyed reading all the other blog entries, they taught me so much more than I would have learned om my own. They were a valuable part of this course.

I have signed up for the sequel to this course and hope to see you all again on the 14th of August.

Write now - Vignetting

I entered this course at Big Picture Classes. I think the words behind the capture are just as important as the image and I want to learn how to write. English is not my first language so the number of words I know might be slightly limited, just to excuse myself beforehand.

Our first assignment was to photograph a scenery using a vignetting technique. We were also asked to write down our thoughts about it.

The wide angle view:

This is not very interesting to my, it just shows the big picture but it doesn't mean anything specific to me yet.

Zooming in:


Still to generic...

Zooming in some more:


Here I am liking what I see, I like the detail and the colors and the image is starting to speak to me.

and finally zooming in with the aperture:



This one is my final choice, it zooms in on the lavender and fades out the background, leaving it to the suggestion of the viewer.

I zoomed in further having only the lavender stem visible but I liked this one better.

Inspirational people

Yesterday I saw an interview with Kim Phúc and it was incredible. She is the girl in the photo about the napalm attack in Vietnam, running naked in the street after the attack. She was so happy in this interview while having so much pain from her scars. What stuck with me was that she chose not to focus on the pain but on the good things in life. Someone has written a book about her called "the girl in the picture". I ordered the book so I can remember this remarkably inspirational person.

Another person I find inspiring has written this blogentry. It's also about seeing the positive things in life.

50 images

My subjects that I photograph often are quite clear from my inspiration file (cats, dogs and flowers) and I chose flowers today for my familiar subject in my 50 image photoshoot.

We had one of the sunniest day's in a while and the sun was shining on my balcony. I chose a little plant with lavender colored flowers, it was overgrown a little by my cornflower plant.

I started out with my 50mm lens but soon changed to a macro lens, I wanted more detail and less of the surroundings. I also really dislike the orange color of the ceramic pots so I always try to exclude that. At first I focused on the flower as I had picked that as a subject but after a while I noticed some waterdrops which caused a nice bokeh in the background. I also started to notice some of the shapes in the frills and the buds. I got to 43 photographs before my imagination ran out. In hind sight I could have varied the lens, my point of view and the DOF more and I noticed I immediately looked through the camera in stead of studying my subject first. I did study it later on in the process but perhaps it would be good idea to also start with just looking thinking what attracted me to subject in the first place and to try and see it. What I liked the best was taking the time to really look at my subject and ponder the different possibilities. That's when I actually lost track of time.

After looking at the plant for the photographs I started to look in the immediate vicinity and also noticed some lovely details.

In selecting and processing the images I find I crop them quite often, I really want to think about the frame more when shooting but I always forget. I have also discovered I really like a partial view.

I guess I also love the post processing, I always loose track of time there as well. I liked the partial view as well but I only noticed it afterwards.

Too bad it isn't as sharp as it should have been but I was to lazy to get the tripod.

Trust vs Doubt

One of my two cats has been shaking her head quite a bit and fell over the other day after vigorously shaking her head. She miauws a lot but she's a Siamese so I did not think of it as strange. After seeing her fall over I decided to go to the vet, who examined her ears. The vet could not get a clear view and advised me to have her put under anesthetics so she could have a good look. We made an appointment a few day's later on Monday. During the weekend I visited some friends and they said their cat also sometimes fall over after shaking their head and this was quite normal behavior. Now I tend to always see the worse case scenario and try not to react to this to much. So I heavily doubted my decision to have the cat anesthetized all weekend. Deciding not to go and then thinking she was really shaking her head a lot and deciding to go. This went on until the moment I brought her to the vet, I considered taking her back while at the vet. But in the end I took her to the appointment. The vet called me to tell me the cat had an inner ear infection and will be treated with antibiotics. They also extracted some bad teeth and took a lung photo. She has a history of coughing and the photo confirmed she has some thickening of the longtissue. So now I am glad I did bring her.

I hate doubt!