Photo love....

I've started a new online class -- Kat Sloma's "Find Your Eye: Starting the Journey."  I hope to discover what inspires me as a photographer, and how to begin the process of translating my inspirations into actual images.  As I've been mulling over what it is that I love about photography, I'm struck by how perfectly this aligns with the theme over at Kim Klassen's cafe this week.  Be sure to visit her site and check out all the "Love"-ly textured goodness there!

I think my primary motivation is to capture images that are portals. I want that Proustian moment, where the image instantly transports me to a particular time and place -- either real or imagined. I think that's why I love textures so much. They give an ordinary photo a "false history," which captures the viewer's imagination and adds a sense of story.

Processed with Kim Klassen's "Mayzee" (color burn @28%) and "Scripted Autumn" (color burn @100% and screen @57%, texture brushed off center)

 This could be "once upon a time...."

Kim Klassen's "Warm Grunge" (soft light @100%)

Sometimes all I have to do is just look at a photo, and I'm reliving that moment in time. Here, I remember every nuance of the lunch-time conversation with my husband, the feel of the spring breeze on my face as we ate outdoors, the joy at being back in Italy, where we spent the first four years of our marriage....

Kim Klassen's "luminous" (linear burn @35%), and three layers of "warm sun" (screen @100%, soft light @100% x2, texture brushed off plate)

....not to mention the fact that food just plain tastes better in Italy!

I also take pictures to recapture a sense of place.  This is more interesting to do when traveling, but I try to think like a tourist at home, too. Not too successfully I might add... these are all from Italy:

My eye is always seeing interesting things, but more often than not I'm too hesitant to move in to get a better shot.  This shot of the men having lunch could have been good, but how do you move a parked car?  I used my telephoto lens here -- the very thought of intruding on their meal made me nervous!  I'm hoping to get better at this.  I love street scenes!

I take pictures to get inspiration for my art.  I am drawn to the graphic designs and patterns I see in nature:

I also take pictures so I can laugh. I ran across this guy on a hike through England's Lake District last summer:

Kim Klassen's "Love in Layers" (color burn @100% and screen @83% with texture brushed off sheep to create a vignette)

And of course, there's Jackson...the only dog I know who sits on the seat in the car and gets indignant when a human tries to share his space.



I guess the idea is that if you know what inspires you to take pictures, you've taken the first step toward actually taking the pictures you want.