Guest Interview: Transform:@kateainger

Tags

#bokeh, #children, #featuredartist, #hands, #kateainger, #portrait, #relections, #sharesix, #sharesix_transform

@kateainger was chosen as our Featured artist for the theme {Transform} and I wanted to learn more about her and her photography journey, so I reached out to Kate. You can learn more about her as well but reading below.

Tell us a bit about yourself?  And, are you a hobbyist or a pro?

I am a British lawyer/actress turned mum/photographer. After working as a solicitor in London and the Cayman Islands, I decided to indulge an old passion to tread the boards and retrained as an actress. Two West End productions and several tours later, I got married and moved to Mauritius, with my husband’s job. We lived there for over 10 years and had our 3 children, before moving back to the UK at the beginning of Lockdown in 2020. I would describe myself as 90 per cent hobbyist and 10 per cent pro.

I am proud of this image for many reasons. Despite my acting career, I am not comfortable in front of a camera lens, but I am learning to push myself occasionally so that our children remember I was there too. This is the first self-portrait I have taken with my Lensbaby Sol45. I discovered I could manually focus the lens whilst sitting in front of it and looking at the Canon App on my iPhone. The overlays are an ICM of a sunset and some colourful restaurant lights.

What inspired you to pick up your camera initially? 

Like many others, I first picked up a camera to document my children’s lives. A friend in Mauritius was a Click Pro and once I saw her family albums I was hooked. I started with courses run by Photography for Parents (a UK based online photography school), which I would highly recommend. They now run courses for all levels of photographers.

This is the another old favourite – my elder daughter singing in the shower in Mauritius. Once again it is a Lensbaby Sol45 image. I converted it to black and white to enhance the contrast of her skin against the dark tiles and to allow the highlights of the water droplets to pop.

How do you improve your technique?

Completing my first 365 Project in 2020, definitely helped me work on my techniques as I needed to keep trying new things in order to give my images some variety.

Becoming involved with the Light Communion loop on Instagram this year also helped me push my creative boundaries and honed my double exposure techniques. The image you kindly selected for the Share Six Transform theme was a fusion of my image with a light overlay gifted by my talented friend, Annick Paradis.

I try to take occasional classes but I’m guilty of having several breakouts sitting untouched on my Hard Drive. I am supposed to be finding time to look at those before I start any new ones!

This is one of my all-time favourites of my youngest daughter. We had to leave Mauritius unexpectedly in March 2020, due to the pandemic and the children had very few toys when we arrived in the UK. It was a time of simplicity for us – no furniture, home school and making our own entertainment. My daughter decided to use the saucepans to make music and she sang at the top of her voice whilst doing so. I moved her pans slightly so that she was lit by the light from our French doors and then took this image from outside, through the open doors. It was worth her breaking all my wooden spoons just for this captured memory!

Most important thing you have learned about editing?

Two things really – collaborate and know when to stop. Particularly with more artistic work, I often ask my wonderful 365 group or a close photographer friend for their critique on an edit before finalising an image. I am guilty of often being at my desktop in the early hours of the morning tweaking edits when I should be in bed catching up on some sleep, so one of my resolutions for 2022 is to stop that!

This base image was just my elder daughter and her reflection in the window, taken from above. The overlay is a Jessica Drossin City Lights image.

Secret weapon. Or piece of advice that’s helped you?

Overlays. I love the energy and textures in Natalie Robinson’s work and since taking her Fused breakout, I’ve learnt how to add elements to my images which were missing in the original.

This was an image I planned in advance. My mum is extremely happy to have us back in the UK and I wanted to record this special connection between the three generations of women in our family. I remember my grandmothers’ hands very clearly but I have no photographs, so I wanted this image as a gift to my children.

Why photographs? Why not painting? Or poems? Or, for that matter, statutes or taxes?

I feel as if my photography meets the needs of my dual personality – my lawyer’s need to follow rules and my actresses’ love of creation. I love how it has pulled together the different strands of my life.

This image was taken on holiday in Somerset last summer. Our son was in the pool and trying to persuade his little sister to jump in. I was shooting with my Lensbaby, as I love the effect it has on water and I suddenly noticed the shadow on the wet pool edge and the triangle which it formed with the children when they were holding hands. I used a light overlay gifted by Natalie Robinson to our Light Communion Circle as I loved the sparkle it added.

Thank you Kate for sharing your story and your beautiful images. I also love the different overlays that you have used. It’s so exciting to live in another country and get exposure to their way of life. Travel rounds us all.

We look forward to seeing your images on our Facebook page and our Instagram Page.  The theme this month is {Abstract_22} for so tag us with #sharesix_abstract_22 for another 2 weeks. The theme will change on February 5, 2022.

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Guest Highlight: Quote: @cdannhausenbrun

Tags

#outdoors, #portrait, #sailing, #sharesix, #swimming, #windy, s#haresix_quote

@cdannhausenbrun was chosen as our featured artist for the them {Quote} and I connected with Christine to learn a little bit more about her photography journey.

My favorite photos are constantly changing depending on what is technique I am working on in the moment or how I am trying to look at light. This photo of my nephew is one of my favorites at the moment because of the light. I have been looking at light more this year and how I capture it. I just love the light on him and how I caught it on his face so perfectly.

Tell us a bit about yourself?  And, are you a hobbyist or a pro?

What an honor to be interviewed! I am Christine and I am a wife, mother, photographer and public health researcher. I am a mother of six amazing children, ages 11 to 23 years old. I am a hobbyist photographer but have had a few paying clients over the years. My day job includes public health program evaluation, health surveys and working on health issues at the intersection of climate change.

I have been taking photos for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching my dad take photos and put on slide shows for us. I started my own photographic journey messing around with my dad’s 35mm camera and eventually had my own cartridge-based 110 camera. When I started dating my now husband, I could often be found absconding his Minolta 35 mm film camera. I currently shoot with a Canon 5D Mark IV. For Christmas and my upcoming birthday, I received a GoPro 9 and a drone. I cannot wait to begin experimenting with both.

I love this photo of my oldest son for the perspective and how much it captures his personality. He is going after everything he wants in this world.

What inspired you to pick up your camera initially? 

Documenting life is what inspired me to first pick up a camera. I never met my mom’s parents as they died while she was young. There were not many photos of her parents. As young child, I don’t know that I realized why I was picking up the camera then. As a mom I realize what I was doing. I was documenting moments with special people, milestone trips and those moments together at home to help hold onto memories and show us what our life was like in that moment in time. It what still drives my photography.

This is a photo of one of my daughters. We were on a ferry and I was inside the ferry, but she was out in the wind. I just loved the contrast of her eyes closed and almost meditative with the swirl of hair around her. The mask places this photo in a moment in time. These last 21 months and have had so many moments of calm at home together with all my kids, but also moments of complete chaos. It’s all there for me in this photo.

How do you improve your technique?

Practice! Classes through groups like Click Community. YouTube videos. Studying my own photos. I will look back at photos and think, ‘I should have adjusted for that horizon line,’ or ‘if I had moved over a foot, I could have cropped out that stop sign.’ It does not mean I always remember to do these things the next time, but it does help me become more aware over time.

This photo of two of my daughters was captured when I was working on perspective. It captured my daughter’s mood at the time as well.

Most important thing you have learned about editing?

I have a love/hate relationship with editing. I love playing with editing. At the same time, I don’t always trust myself. I second guess what I have done and then I start thinking about photographers who I admire and think that they would do it differently. Editing takes a lot of time and I definitely enjoy the process of taking a photo more than the editing. This means I am working on trying to get better with what I take in camera!

I love the negative space in this photo and just the pop of red.

Secret weapon. Or piece of advice that’s helped you?

I have a few pieces of advice that have helped me. First, critique your own photographs. It really is a skill that helps you begin to stop and look before you take a photograph. Second, stop, look and change your position. Changing position can completely transform a photo. Third, don’t compare yourself to others. Be you as it is what makes your photos unique. Fourth, compare yourself. At the same time, comparing yourself to others does give you ideas to spark your own creativity.

Another of my daughters and her eye contact in this photo is what draws me in. It was difficult to pick just a few favorite photos. If I chose them tomorrow, I’m sure they would be completely different.

Why photographs? Why not painting? Or poems? Or, for that matter, statutes or taxes?

I love documenting moments in time. For me, photography is the easiest way to do this. Painting a moment in time takes way too long! I admire those who paint and have many family members who have done it. I do also write poems or history letters.  I write a Christmas letter each year that encapsulates our year, but it is always interspersed with photographs. It is only as I have gotten older that I have realized how much of my history is intertwined with creating and documenting life.

We love learning about our featured artists. Thank you so much Christine for sharing your photography journey and your beautiful photographs with all of us at Share Six. We can always learn from each other. Take some time to visit Christine’s IG page at @cdannhausenbrun

We look forward to seeing your images on our Facebook page and our Instagram Page.  The theme this month is {Abstract_22} for so tag us with #sharesix_abstract_22 for another 2 weeks. The theme will change on February 5, 2022.

Share Six: January 2022: Abstract_22

Tags

#abstract, #artist, #cobertphotography, #itsstilllifewillson, #sharesix, #sharesix_abstract_22, #sharleenstuartphotography, #wiredtothemoon_

Happy New Year! We am so excited to be in 2022. There is so many possibilities for creative artwork to happen here at Share Six, and this month is just the start of it. Jan of @wiredtothemoon_ chose the theme {Abstract_22}. We have done this theme some years ago but it is nice to be able to go back to it again. The sneak peaks are awesome.

The Tate in the UK describes abstract in the following way:

“Abstract art is art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead use shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect. Wassily Kandinsky. Cossacks 1910–1. Tate. Strictly speaking, the word abstract means to separate or withdraw something from something else.”

Join us as we look forward to a year of sharing our images and as we enjoy seeing your images. We would love you to share your take on each months theme with us.

Sharleen Stuart Photography

It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson

Cobert Photography

@wiredtothemoon_

This past month we said goodbye to Michele Tremblay. Covid has forced many of us to make adjustments and while we really want her to stay, we know as a group that family comes first. We wish Michele everything of the best for the future.

For now Kathy and Ceri are on a break, and will hopefully be back in the near future. This month we are a small group, but next month Kim will be back to join us next month and we are excited to have her on the team again.

If creative blogging to a theme is something you think you may be interested in doing reach out to us on our Facebook or Instagram page. We would love to hear from you.

We look forward to seeing your images on our Facebook page and our Instagram Page.  Don’t forget to tag the Instagram posts with #sharesix_abstract_22  Each month we will do an interview with the featured artist, so share your images to be a part of this opportunity.

Look out for the new theme on February 6, 2022.

Guest Highlight: November 2021: Transform

Tags

#abstract, #aviation, #bokeh, #countryside, #flora, #layers, #light, #nature, #outdoors, #pavementcrossing, #sharesix, #sharesix_transform, #sunset

Liz of It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson chose the theme for November and she has selected this image by @kateainger as the featured artist image. She chose the image for the following reasons:

“This image immediately stuck me with its stunning composition and textured layers of light. The artist shared the images she combined to create it which further enhances the story. It gives a sense of light-filled connection and the opportunity for hopeful change moving forward.”

Congratulations @kateainger for being selected as the featured artist.

@kateainger

Photos from our Instagram page that we have chosen to highlight are below and are in alphabetical order. Click on the names to link to the photographers page.  Go and like them, show them some love, you will enjoy seeing their images in your feed. Congratulations to you all.

@bethshepherdphotography

@jenniferconnellyphotography

@loupdeloopy

@shellbellephotos

@tlovesr

@wandering_little_soul

michellewrightphotography

Thank you for sharing your {Transform} images with us, they are all so unique and interesting.

We look forward to seeing your images on our Facebook page and our Instagram Page.  Don’t forget to tag the Instagram posts with #sharesix_autumnal.  Each month we feature one artist on our Facebook and Webpage banner.  We will also do an interview with the featured artist, so share your images to be a part of this opportunity.

Look out for the new theme on January 6, 2022