Crow No. 84

A lot of little things went into this piece. Bits of boat reflections, a couple of pages from an antique Japanese book, a painterly background that I created, a bank note, and more. I like that the crow is here/not here and the little pockets of warmth embedded in a fairly monochromatic field of white, grey, and black. ©Carol Leigh

Drive-by

It's amazing what you can photograph from the passenger seat as your car whizzes past. You usually have only a fraction of a second to recognize a possible subject, raise your camera, compose, focus, and click. Most of the images are awful, but every once in awhile you're rewarded with color, strong shapes, and interesting forms. I love the look of what appear to be red flowers on the ground amid a grove of trees. Yes! ©Carol Leigh

Oh, deer . . .

Never a deer until last year. But now? Camas lily buds nibbled off in the night. $45 worth of red flowering currant now worth $30. I figured we were safe with the currant -- it's a native plant. Ha! So I recorded this day on a journal page and then photographed it. ©Carol Leigh

P-Q-R

The alphabet game continues with these three montages, made from a variety of elements. ©Carol Leigh

Nautilus

What I like about this one is its sandblasted, salt-washed, sun-bleached, textured look. It has a kind of beach-y vibe which is appropriate for the shell. Rains continue here on the Oregon coast. Heavy sigh. But we do have a backyard full of birds, so hooray! ©Carol Leigh

Fresh Pear

Bad dreams of claustrophobia — not being able to move, not being able to see — woke me at 1 this morning. Ever happen to you? Awful, but it pushed me into a creativity frenzy. It's now 4:30 and I've made a lot of new images. This one managed to dispel the darkness of my dreams with its look of sunshine, blue skies, and open vistas. Whew! And now back to bed. Perchance NOT to dream . . . ©Carol Leigh

It's Spring . . .

Finally! A day without rain! So it's off to the garden center to buy flowering red currant bushes and to take a few photos as we walk the grounds. I loved the curve of this African daisy and how it seemed to be looking forward to something.

In the meantime, our yard is filled with golden- and white-crowned sparrows, American goldfinches, spotted towhees, mourning doves, chestnut-backed chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, Oregon juncos, Steller jays, and crows. Three bald eagles flew overhead the other day and ospreys are setting up housekeeping.

"And the seasons, they go 'round and 'round . . ." ©Carol Leigh

3 O'Clock . . .

At an architectural salvage store I photographed the individual numbers on an old clock face. There were all sorts of curved lines on it, little tick marks, wood showing through, etc. This is the kind of thing I love! Not so much a landscape kind of gal, but give me an old beat-up letter or number or car and I swoon! I added more curves and lines and clock hands to put together this piece. More swoonage ensued . . . ©Carol Leigh

Not according to plan . . .

A curtain of rain drifts across the Columbia River.

Tree silhouetted against the Columbia River.

Sunlight through the rain, taken through a wet, screened window in the Roadtrek.

Dramatic early morning sunlight and shadows in Hood River.

Camping along the Columbia River. We were the only ones there. Very green, very quiet (except for the trains!).

Mt. Hood looked particularly good.

Well, the plan was two-fold: shoot stock photography in the Columbia River Gorge (primarily wildflowers on the Rowena Plateau and flowering fruit trees in the Hood River area), and take "Bart" on a quick shake-down cruise.

Bart performed admirably. Alas, the wildflowers were nonexistent and the trees had yet to come into bloom. Even though we'd visited this area on April 27th a number of years ago, this April was markedly different.

Any day out and about, however, is a good one, so no complaints! ©Carol Leigh

Santa Fe in May: Photo Exploration with Carol Leigh

May 23-26, 2011 
SANTA FE PHOTO EXPLORATION 
We've always done this photo exploration in the fall, now let's see how things look in the spring. We'll concentrate on shooting various chapels, southwestern architecture, scenic vistas, definitely the famed Plaza and Canyon Road, and much more. Limited to 8 students. Registration fee: $560

You know me, my photographic style. Let me show you how to photograph not only the obvious, but also how to look for the little details, how to create more intimate studies of this incredible place.

You can see a gallery of my pictures from Santa Fe here: http://carolleigh.net/SantaFe/SantaFe/index.html

And you can sign up for the trip here:
http://www.shop.carolleigh.net/product.sc?productId=34&categoryId=4 

©Carol Leigh

Are we photographers or are we hunters?

I irregularly keep a journal, a place where I write down ideas, interesting quotes, random thoughts, and where I do a lot of doodling. I was looking at an entry I made last December, the day after walking and photographing on the beach.

As photographers, we think we see so much, notice so much. But do we really? The top photo shows you what my journal entry looks like. Let me transcribe it for you here. Before I do, however, let me also show you the photo that I took at the very beginning of my walk and another I took at the very end. I like both of them. But . . .

What if I hadn't had a camera with me on the beach yesterday? Would I have seen or noticed less? Or more? Would the experience have been richer?

It surprises me to think that maybe I would have seen more. Moved more slowly. But why?

I think having a camera with me gives what I see more importance. But (for me) there's always the quest for the next photo. So while I'm admiring the composition in front of me, my mind is subliminally thinking about the next shot, my eyes flickering left, right, ahead — what am I missing as I shoot this?

We're photographers. But are we also hunters? Instead of concentrating solely on what's in front of us, are we keeping an eye out for something in addition to what we're seeing now? And is that diluting the experience of the moment and, as a result, the photo we're taking at the moment?

How many fireworks displays have we not seen because we were photographing them? And I'll always remember a balloon "glow" in Albuquerque that I never really saw. How about you? ©Carol Leigh

Tree Through the Window

Another senseless drive-by shooting combined with a painterly background that I created. I'm rather fond of this one. ©Carol Leigh

Coastal Pine

I photographed this tree through the car window as we drove past. A painterly sort of background was added as well as some waxed paper to enhance the coastal feel. (And you're probably thinking, "Yup, nothing says 'coast' quite like waxed paper, Carol!") ©Carol Leigh

Oh Boat

This one began with the letter "O" photographed on a fishing boat. Very cool texture there. Then I added a close-up of a dried leaf for additional texture. And finally even more texture from a different boat I photographed in a boat yard. As usual, various paint splats and splotches complete the look. What makes it for me? The diagonal line the dried leaf made. Doesn't take much to make me happy. ©Carol Leigh

L in Copper

I took a letter punch and pounded it on a weathered copper strip and it came out like this, photographed with a macro lens. Oh, man, this is so much fun! ©Carol Leigh

Optimism

©Carol Leigh

A Pair o' Pears

Is it any wonder people have been using pears in artwork for hundreds of years? You just can't beat the shape, the sensuous curves.  ©Carol Leigh

Pennsylvania Autumn

©Carol Leigh

A new path ...

 

Tree and Clouds

Clearing Storm

©Carol Leigh

Trees Within Trees

©Carol Leigh

Tie-Dyed Fern Frond

It almost looks as though the Easter Bunny used watercolors to paint each individual little fern frondette, doesn't it? Nope, it's just the painted background layer showing through. ©Carol Leigh

Pearishable

I'm experimenting with creating my own painterly backgrounds and am pleased with the light and airy feeling of this one. ©Carol Leigh

Color on a grey day

It rained every day but one in March, and April's turning out the same way. We did have a few rain-free hours, however, and so we scurried out to take a few photographs. All these grey days make me gravitate toward color, which I found in these fenders or bumpers, as well as in the fishing nets. And now we're back to another week of rain. 32" of the stuff so far this year... ©Carol Leigh

More letters ...

Letters are always on my mind, and here are a few I've created during the past couple weeks. I love the outrageous colors in the big pink "N," the sort of white-washed and faded look of the "A" (originally photographed on a burlap sack in San Diego), the hard-edged boldness of the "C," and the weathered "G," originally shot in Goldfield, Nevada years ago. ©Carol Leigh