Carol Leigh

Family "jewels"

2012-02-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

My mom and I both had charm bracelets that we began when we were living in Hawaii and then Japan. Her charms were pretty cool — all sterling silver — and so were mine, but some were made of silver, some were enamel, etc. Here you see one of my mom's charms hanging from her bracelet.

My grandmother Carol Leigh had this big silver cuff bracelet that she got maybe in the 1930s, 1940s. It's from Taxco, Mexico and now sits in my jewelry box. I buffed up a section of it and photographed it a couple of weeks ago.

Both these pieces — and now these photos — remind me of two strong (often annoyingly strong) women in my life.

And now I'm going to be strongly annoying and remind you that I have an online macro class coming up that begins March 1. It's a shortened version, with just four lessons/assignments in six weeks. And it's designed for those of you who have close-up equipment and who wish to work on a series of simple yet challenging projects. The first lesson will be, obviously, JEWELRY.

Six weeks, four lessons/assignments, begins March 1, registration fee is $85. For more information and a link to my store to register: http://www.carolleigh.net/classes.htm

©Carol Leigh, insufferably annoying from time to time!

Valentine's Day Countdown: 12 Days

2012-02-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

A purse made from a pair of jeans has a belt with a silver heart on it. It was in a store window in Astoria, Oregon and, of course, I had to shoot it. ©Carol Leigh

Valentine's Day Countdown: 13 Days

2012-02-02T00:05:00.000-08:00

This was an easy one to set up. I have a pink heart-shaped rock and set it on top of some soft white paper which in turn sits on pale pink paper. ©Carol Leigh

Learning

2012-02-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

Various papers, stamps, markings, etc. come together in this photomontage. Vintage inked and weathered papers arrived as a gift in the mail and I photographed parts of them to specifically use in montages such as this. I also photographed a red Japanese stamp/circular stamp that was on one of the first pages of a very old Japanese book I purchased. A bit of torn red paper, and an illustration from an old aeronautics textbook appear here and there.

Have I mentioned how much I love creating these photomontages? No? Well, I LOVE creating these!

©Carol Leigh, who is beginning to repeat herself repeat herself . . .

Valentine's Day Countdown: 14 Days

2012-02-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is just two weeks away. Every day between now and February 14th I'll be posting a different "heart" photo. Here a silver charm hangs from a thin red ribbon and sits on a bit of lace. Photographed using a Lensbaby for very shallow depth of field. ©Carol Leigh

As seen on TV . . .

2012-01-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well, why not? If you're watching figure skating, and there's a camera at hand, it's a no-brainer. So that's what I did. I set my camera for manual focus and purposely threw the image a bit out of focus. Set the camera for black and white. And, sitting back in the comfort of my chair, focused on the television screen and waited.

There's a LOT of waiting involved because you're at the mercy of the TV camera crew and how they are framing the shot. You're waiting for the skater to do something that makes a strong silhouette. And you're waiting for the skater to be in front of a clean and simple background. Since the backgrounds usually contain huge ads, with words that say SMUCKER'S or AT&T, you wait for the overhead shot looking down-ice, or when the skater zooms past the scorer's table.

There are a lot of wasted pixels, too. The skater goes into a spin, you take your photo, you realize his head is completely missing, or his upraised arm blends into the dark background crowd (except for the one nimrod wearing a BRIGHT WHITE jacket), or the skater's leg is going off at a bizarre angle.

But every once in awhile something good happens and the skater looks clean and dramatic against a plain and simple background. In these five photos, I had to do a fair amount of cropping to get rid of extraneous elements (such as the NBC logo!). I also added texture (a photo of the sun and clouds reflected on wet sand) to the images to create a spotlight effect (if the skater is in a competition, all the lights are on, not the moody spotlighting you see in a televised ice show).

Here are some of the better shots I've taken lately. I'm not a REAL people photographer, I just play one on TV . . .

©Carol Leigh, practicing armchair sports photography

Maybe life IS a bench...

2012-01-27T05:43:00.000-08:00

These three benches are brought to you by the (1) city of Eugene, Oregon, (2) Kalispell, Montana, and (3) Astoria, Oregon. The bench in Kalispell had something (don't remember what) very unbenchlike on the right side of it, so I just photographed the left side, copied it, then flipped it to create a (very symmetrical) whole bench. Love the shadows!

The weekend's coming up. Get up, get out, take a look around, but also take the time to just sit and watch and contemplate.

©Carol Leigh, who has spent way too much time sitting this winter, but who knows a good bench when she sees one ...

"M" is for "Monday"

2012-01-25T03:33:00.000-08:00

Monday was a day of actual sunshine, so, not unlike prairie dogs popping out of burrows, we hustled outside just to be outside. Walking along the docks at the fishing boats, I noticed the letters on the bow of the fishing vessel "Ms. Law." A voice behind me said, "Why are you photographing that boat when this one is so much better?" I looked over and the "Tana C" was, indeed, quite handsome. "But your boat doesn't have these cool letters!" He looked, smiled, and agreed.

Not content to leave my "M" photo well enough alone, I added some metal, some paper texture, some scratched paint from another boat down in Charleston, and came up with this. It has a kind of Monet-ish look to it (the colors, the reflective "glints," etc.) that I find appealing.

©Carol Leigh, remembering a Monday morning "M"

Now on Flickr . . .

2012-01-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

I'm finding Flickr to be a convenient way of creating little galleries of my work and so far I've got 9 "sets" of photos up: Buoys, Car Art, Train Art, High Key, Urban Abstracts, Polaroid, Route 66, and Numbers. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/80859324@N00/

It took a little time to understand the format, but basically the photos show up in a stream as you post them, most recent first, but off to the right you can see the different sets, which makes it easier. When I visit someone else's Flickr site, I now just automatically glance at the most recent images and then look over to see what sets or galleries the photographer has created.

Looking for a source of inspiration? Flickr's a good place to peruse and to charge your visual batteries.

©Carol Leigh, being pulled, kicking and screaming, into Flckr, Facebook, Google+, and who now needs even MORE time in the day...

Chinese lanterns

2012-01-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

These have been sitting in my living room since September, when Janet and Ira G. gave them to me. I love how they splay out, how they don't need water, and how some of them have grown pale over time. I cannot bring myself to throw them out or put them somewhere else because they're gorgeous and make me happy when I see them.

Last week I noticed how window light coming through the blue bottle created a pretty shadow on the wall, so took a few photos. (Gotta be quick -- sunlight doesn't last very long around here lately.) I added texture to make the wall more interesting and created this. Which also makes me happy!

©Carol Leigh, finding happiness in small things like orange Chinese lanterns and brief interludes of sunlight

Here comes the sun ...

2012-01-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

©Carol Leigh

Point of Impact

2012-01-20T04:49:00.000-08:00

I transformed a photo taken at Fort Stevens in Astoria last year to create this rather ominous-looking image. I like the boldness and the simplicity and the texture of it. The monochromatic look, too.

Wednesday we had 4.7" of rain; yesterday we had another 2.3". Things are calming down -- winds are subsiding and rain is down to a heavy mist. We put out extra seed for the birds; I saw the most drenched, forlorn-looking mourning dove yesterday. Don't know how they withstand weather like this. A couple hours ago I said to Chris, "Do you hear that?" He said, "What is it?" Me: "Absolutely nothing." Ahhh, the sound of no wind. Music to my ears.

©Carol Leigh, enjoying the sounds of silence

It's the constant noise ...

2012-01-19T02:24:00.000-08:00

The storm here in the Pacific Northwest continues. We've been lucky not to have had a loss of power, loss of shingles, loss of trees. Others haven't been so fortunate. Winds have been as strong as 60, 70, 80, 100 mph (up at Cape Foulweather). Strong winds blew a big truck into another vehicle on the Yaquina Bay Bridge, closing the bridge for at least four hours. Yesterday's rain total? 4.65 inches. Yikes! This is the worst storm we've experienced in our nine years of living here.

What's getting to me is the unrelenting noise of the wind and rain. There's no respite, no quick little break in the weather where things become peaceful, even for a few minutes. Instead there's this constant howling, constant inability to even look outside clearly due to sheets of rain on the windows. It's like living in a car wash!

But we're warm and cozy here inside. We have oatmeal, coffee, and tuna noodle casserole (!). I've shut down the big computer just in case of wacko power fluctuations, but still can use this little laptop, the iPad, and even the phone to stay in Internet contact. We have no complaints. Just wish the noise would subside, even for just five minutes.

©Carol Leigh, wishing everyone calm, peace, and gentle breezes today

Weird but fun...

2012-01-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know this is weird... It required a very old National Geographic magazine and Citra Solv® orange-scented cleaner. The process is that you open up the magazine, find pages that appeal to you, and spritz them with Citra Solv®. You close up the magazine, mooshing the pages together. About 15 minutes later you begin opening the pages. The inks have run, pages have stuck together, and the results are often bizarre, abstract, weird, and fascinating. Sometimes the photos on the page are readily apparent (albeit altered) and sometimes they're completely obscured.

In this case, the face was partly obscured. I photographed the altered magazine page and then added a texture layer to muck up the image even more than it was. To me it now looks like a woman peering through a window, perhaps through a sheer curtain, on a train, at night. Fun stuff!

©Carol Leigh, who has a brain exploding with artistic possibilities and a kitchen that smells overmuch like oranges...

Deer Abby . . .

2012-01-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Abby was making a lot of noise, staring out the window at the back yard. I took a look and saw, chewing on I don't know what, a female and a male black-tailed deer. The buck looked like this photo that I took in 2009, only bigger. (For a photo of the cat and the deer and the story, here's the link.)

Whenever Chris and I go out into the yard to scare away the deer, they look at us like we're idiots (no comment, please) and continue munching away. Well, this time I put the harness and the leash on Abby and opened the door. It was raining a bit, but Abby walked out a couple of feet onto the deck and the deer took one look at her and took off! Last we saw, the deer were about 100 yards down the street heading south. Abby shook the water off her fur and came back in, smug look on her face and a swagger in her step. ©Carol Leigh, unleashing cat power on unsuspecting overly large shrub-destroying rodents.

What do you see?

2012-01-14T02:22:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Chris and I went to a local art gallery. The display was of incredibly delicate yet bold weavings. I asked permission to take close-ups of the details — not the entire weaving, just bits and pieces — and was kindly allowed to do so. Hoo ha! Because what I was seeing in the details looked to me like miniature abstract land/seascapes. A rain squall moved across the ocean, waves undulated past, and a headland stood out over a dark sea.

Remember the "art from art" photo walk I did in San Francisco where we extracted bits and pieces, created compositions from huge murals? Well, this is sort of the same thing on a smaller scale.

And isn't that what we're doing with photography in general? We see something, anything, and we extract, create, and present just a section of the whole, whether it's a photograph of Earth from outer space or the eye of a fly in an electron microscope. We've zoomed in on just a part of the whole with the eye of an artist. We see. We think "wow!" We compose. We calculate the light. We tweak our settings. And then we present that "wow" to whoever will be polite enough to look at what we did.

The woman in charge of the gallery that day was quite polite when I showed her my weaving "landscapes" in my viewfinder. Undoubtedly thought I was crazy, but she was very, very polite.

©Carol Leigh, hoping that today you look just a bit longer at something and find that "wow" . . .

Untitled

2012-01-11T02:28:00.000-08:00

In this piece I combined photos I'd taken of a crow, a stained Braille page from the New York Times, an ink spill in an old textbook, and (faintly) characters from an old Japanese book. I like how the ink stain balances the crow and how the "movement" in the ink flows left-right while the "movement" in the crow leads us from right to left.

You know what's weird? As lovely as the black and white beach photo was in the previous post, it's putting together something like this, that most people would not consider beautiful, that is so much more satisfying (to me). And challenging. On the beach I was appreciating and composing a scene. I identified what caught my eye and attempted to fill my frame with just that. In this case, with this image, I had no idea what I was going to make. I just began "building" the picture. One step led to another until I considered it "done."

Bear with me a second . . . Photographing the beach scene was a meaningful experience. The exhilaration of seeing the light and what it was doing, the mystery of the "ghost forest," the adrenaline rush of trying to find a clear viewpoint before the light disappeared — I won't forget that. Photographing an ink stain, some pieces of paper, and a silhouette of a bird cannot compare to photographing at the beach. But the quiet satisfaction of putting together those photos to create this piece, ah, unforgettable as well, but in a different way.

Obviously I didn't create the glory of the beach scene. I interpreted it. Here, I began with nothing, and created something.

It's 2:30 in the morning. I'm babbling. Don't know where I'm going with all this. Probably should just go back to bed!

©Carol Leigh, befuddled with the creative process but carrying on nevertheless . . .

Beautiful light

2012-01-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous day here yesterday -- temps in the 50s and no wind -- so Chris and I took a drive up the coast to Pacific City, then headed back home. It was late in the day and the light was becoming quite directional. Near Neskowin, we could see sunlight shining through mist and so frantically tried to find a good vantage point to photograph it before it disappeared.

I took the top shot as soon as the car stopped and then made my way down to the beach where I saw the scene below. The forms in the distance are "ghost trees," a petrified forest of trees that are usually submerged. During the late afternoon low tide, however, there they were. The light changed quickly, and the scene gradually became somewhat ordinary.

Don't you just love these bits of photographic wonderment? And isn't it for exquisite moments like this that we continue our photographic explorations?

©Carol Leigh, who is not usually a landscape photographer except for yesterday afternoon

From the Rolodex...

2012-01-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

©Carol Leigh

Red and Black

2012-01-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

I photographed a cover of a watercolor journal and created two different photos of it which I then partially turned red. I also photographed a piece of Japanese rice paper with this beautiful calligraphy-ish wash of black ink that I got from Kathleen A. I love the strong yet graceful lines of the ink and how they add a certain delicacy to the bold red stripe. Chris gave me a Chinese "chop" signature stamp over a year ago. I stamped it onto white paper, photographed it, and then added it here. Does it really say Carol Leigh? I like to think so.

This is all quite easily created using Photoshop. If you'd like to take my Beginning Photomontage class to see how it's all done, the class begins Monday. Would love to see you there. ©Carol Leigh

Stars on trains

2012-01-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

I am addicted to photographing graffiti on train cars. With so many files to look at, I begin seeing patterns. And this is one: stars on trains. (Letters, numbers, faces, writings, arrows are some other patterns that are emerging. Fair warning.) Here are five examples of "stars."

Do you do the same thing? Do you find yourself returning to the same subject matter, finding new things in the familiar? Mailboxes is something we all seem to gravitate to. The color red. Reflections in windows. Reflections in water. Riffle through your own photographs and look for "collections" of subject matter. Ten good images built around one theme could become an interesting photo essay.

©Carol Leigh, currently awash in photographs, flotsam on a sea of pixels

Black Geese

2012-01-05T03:49:00.000-08:00

The components of this piece are: photos of old paper, hand-painted indigo paper, Japanese paper, old card stock, an old (1932) matchbox label from Belgium, a photo of splattered paint, and a photo of a card from the post office (the card they put in your post office box when you have a package that's too big and you have to go to the counter to pick it up). I. Love. This. Process. ©Carol Leigh, who is teaching an online class on how to do this beginning next week...

Because I could . . .

2012-01-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

This is a goofy shot, in keeping with my 2012 word "play." I combined a macro photo I took of bubbles in ice with a fish I photographed at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Why not? Makes me smile. ©Carol Leigh, reminding you that you, too, can learn to combine a fish with bubbles in my upcoming Beginning Photomontage class (although why you would want to, I don't know!).

Daily doing and weekly study

2011-12-31T05:16:00.000-08:00

From The Free Dictionary, an artist is:

1. One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.

2. A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill: You are an artist in the kitchen.

3. One, such as an actor or singer, who works in the performing arts.

4. One who is adept at an activity, especially one involving trickery or deceit: a con artist.

The key words in these definitions (leaving out "trickery" and "deceit") are "imagination," "talent," "skill," "adept," and "exceptional creative ability."

We can have the skill, but without the imagination and creativity, we produce lifeless work. And imagination and creativity will get us just so far without the skill.

Whether we're photographers, ceramists, quilters, calligraphers, collagistas, painters, or gardeners, to excel at what we do, to be artists at what we do, requires the wonderful fusion of creativity, ability, skill, talent, and imagination. And all that requires practice.

Tomorrow is Sunday. Just another day. But it's the beginning of 2012. The start of a new year. A brand-new calendar. A "starting over" of sorts. I have no resolutions (other than to spend less time sitting on my butt here at the computer), but I do have plans. Do you?

My plans are to play this year. To play with a new project I'm working on in photography, which will show up in the next few weeks, and to play with learning how to be a better collage artist. Those are my plans. Each of those activities requires creativity, ability, skill, talent, and imagination. How to approach that?

My photography/Photoshop skills need buffing up. So each week I'll be learning a new Photoshop technique, trying to use it every day so that it becomes an automatic part of my repertoire. Because I have a mind like a sieve, a little cheat sheet of how-to info hangs on a clipboard on the wall by my desk. Easy for me to look at, to constantly remind myself.

My collage work needs to be looser, more free. I need to worry less about careful placement of precious papers and just do it. And do it often. So every morning, for at least an hour, instead of sitting looking at blogs and seeing what others are doing, I will be doing the doing. (Did that make sense?)

What this boils down to (for me, and probably for you) is daily practice. Every day, create something. I don't care if it's a doodle on a scrap of paper, a photo of a piece of string, folding an origami crane, or gluing glitter onto macaroni. Create. Anything.

And study. Each week, learn something. How close can you get with this lens? With that lens? Open your camera's instruction manual and read just one thing. One. (If your manual's as miserable as mine, often that one thing is totally incomprehensible, but try it anyway.)

Go to the library or a bookstore or online and look at -- really look at -- art other than photography (if you're a photographer). If you're a quilter, look at paintings. If you're a ceramic artist, look at quilts. Study the forms, the patterns, the structures. You may find yourself turning a corner in your own field as a result. Those carved and scratched patterns someone made on a clay bowl might inspire your quilt work, your photography, your painting. You never know. And it's never time wasted.

I'm going to shut up now. My point today is that 2011 ends in a few hours. Look at 2012 as a new beginning for you and for your art. Take it to the next level with daily doing and weekly study.

For me, I plan on playing more. But I'll be taking this playing thing very seriously! Happy New Year's Eve, everyone. ©Carol Leigh, Artist

Smile!

2011-12-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

A new year is just around the corner. Here's hoping it gives us all something to smile about, even if the smile looks somewhat forced. Happy New Year to each of you. May 2012 exceed our expectations. ©Carol Leigh

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:15:00.000-08:00

©Carol Leigh

Sweet dreams...

2011-12-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

Wishing you sweet dreams and a quiet Christmas Eve. Special greetings to Las Tres Amigas in North Carolina, who read this blog every day, and to Bugsy and Sam, who do the same. And to all, a good night. ©Carol Leigh

Countryside

2011-12-24T05:43:00.000-08:00

Usually, when returning home after a trip, we're in "get home fast" mode and take the quickest, most direct route, no stopping. This time, because the light was so soft and pretty, and because there were SHEEP in the distance, we took a side road and stopped for a few photographs. Love the tree in this one. I added a soft texture layer and sepia toning to emphasize the quiet look of the scene. ©Carol Leigh

Light in a long night

2011-12-22T17:12:00.000-08:00

The nights are long these days, but there's light to be found. This ginkgo leaf fell out of a book today, a symbol of hope, longevity, peace and resilience. I placed it on a piece of paper I'd painted indigo blue, then added the stars. Wishing you lots of light when things look dark. ©Carol Leigh

Two from the "Wheel o' Pith"

2011-12-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Winter Solstice to you... A new beginning of sorts... What are you working on? What artistic endeavors will you pursue this new year? Here are a couple of cards from my "Wheel o' Pith." (I've mentioned this Rolodex idea holder a couple of times this past year, here and again here.) (Click to enlarge.)

In this flurry of holiday activity, take a few quiet moments and think of one artistic thing you wish to pursue this new year. Just one. Maybe it's getting up the nerve to photograph people, something that might really scare you. Or maybe it's to take one good photo a day. Or a week. Or maybe you want to learn one new Photoshop technique every month and really master it. Or perhaps you will give yourself an assignment every couple of weeks. Buy flowers for the house every two weeks and photograph them. Shoot the cat. (You know what I mean!)

DO something, CREATE something, and do it CONSISTENTLY this coming year. The time's going to go by anyway. Have something to show for it.

©Carol Leigh (who pretends she's talking to you, but she's really talking to herself)

Got color?

2011-12-21T04:13:00.000-08:00

While in San Diego I saw a bright red building. When I see color like that, I immediately begin wondering what I can find in FRONT of it. I first tried focusing on the bark of a palm tree, but that didn't work so well. What DID work was this giant bird of paradise plant growing right in front. (Click to enlarge.)

What makes it stand out? A few things...

First, there's the magic number of THREE. Three stems branch out from the base of the plant.

Then there are the diagonal lines, which give a feeling of movement.

Then look at all the red triangles here: left, lower right, another to the left of that one, and the tiny one at the very top.

Finally, we've got complementary colors of red and green, each of which makes the other look especially good.

The final result is colorful, bold, clean, simple, and smooth with just a hint of contrasting texture along the raggedy edges of two of the stems.

©Carol Leigh, wishing you a colorful, bold, clean, simple, and smooth life with just a hint of contrasting texture along your raggedy edges . . .

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2011-12-20T04:52:00.000-08:00

My friends Rich and CJ have wooden Santas placed strategically around their house this time of year, some whimsical, some oh-so-artsy, some adorable. Here's a little sampling of three I had to photograph during my visit. ©Carol Leigh (a Santaphobe but curiously drawn to these wooden figures)

"P" is for "PLAY"

2011-12-16T06:06:00.000-08:00

A "P" found on a railroad car combines with a picture of a boat reflection, resulting in an extreeeeeeeeemly colorful photomontage. (Thinking of you, Janet G.)

This is an example of the alphabetical pictures I'll be continuing to create next year during my "26 in 26" alphabet class that begins January 1.

©Carol Leigh, who believes "P" is for "PLAY," which will be my word for 2012

Dark and sexy . . .

2011-12-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

I took this picture at an antique car show, but darned if I can remember if this is the actual car or a reflection of the actual car. And I don't even know what PART of the car this is. All I know is that I love the sexy curves, love the mystery, the darkness, love the bit of reflection there as a focal point and how the metal below it seems to be softly squished.

Has that happened to you? Where you shoot something and then later, in the cold, clear light of day, you haven't a clue what the picture depicts nor why you took it? No? Well then it's just me, with my "softly squished" brain. ©Carol Leigh

Squarification

2011-12-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I create my photomontages, I'll create two different versions, one rectangular and one square. And it's interesting to see the different feel between the two. Sometimes I like one version, sometimes the other, but it's always good for me to create them both, just to have a comparison.

I'll often begin these pieces and then walk away from them for a week, a month, a year, to revisit them later with new eyes. That's what happened here. I knew I had SOMEthing, but wasn't sure what, when a couple of months ago I began working on this. It all came together yesterday.

This photomontage was made from a variety of photographs, including typewriting on onionskin paper, peeling paint, a scratch on the side of a train car, a bit of red paper, part of a wall in Mexico, an adding machine tape, etc.

This "squarification" concept works well in "normal" photography as well. Let's say you have a landscape and you've composed your photo so that the barn is more toward the left side of the horizontal frame. What if you were to crop away some of the right-hand side? You may find that now your barn looks pretty prominent; all of our attention goes to the barn rather than wandering around a larger frame. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not, but the key thing is to THINK about the possibility of squaring your frame when you're taking the photograph.

Try it. Take the perfect landscape shot. Then think, "what if this were a square format?" Recompose your photo and take it again.

And think about photographs you've already taken. What if, on a cold and rainy day, you were to rummage around in your computer, looking for images that might benefit from being presented in a square format? You might be surprised (pleasantly) at what you find.

©Carol Leigh, who squarifies more often than not . . .

Macro jewelry

2011-12-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

One of the lessons coming up in my Mini-Macro online photo class is about photographing jewelry, exploring lighting and depth of field. I have this old silver and amethyst necklace in a glass jar on a shelf in my studio. I kept the necklace in the jar and shot through the glass, filling my frame with beads and silver. Weird? Yes. Cool? Yes. Fun? Yes.

©Carol Leigh, who is usually weird, infrequently cool, sometimes fun...

Frozen in time

2011-12-08T04:12:00.000-08:00

It's been cold and clear at night here on the Oregon coast and mornings are sparkly with frost. I got up around 3:30 this morning and looked out to see the moon shining silver on the ocean, lots of stars, lots of beauty, lots of cold!

In keeping with the chilly temps, here's a photomontage I created of a close-up of an ice cube combined with a photo of a clock (of sorts). I made the clock myself, piling up various parts, and then shot straight down onto it. (Click to enlarge.)

Looking at this clock, I'm either extremely early or very late, so I better get moving.

©Carol Leigh, who has no concept of time . . .

Snowy Leaves

2011-12-07T04:42:00.000-08:00

You know how sometimes you start off with one concept and it turns out completely different? Well, that's what happened here. I'm still going to work on my original concept, but in the meantime, I like this shot. (Chris didn't like it at all, but says it's now growing on him. He's SO diplomatic!)

These are cherry leaves that I pressed flat, photographed, and then combined with a photo I took of scratched aluminum. I like the cold, fall-into-winter look. Click to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh, flattening leaves wherever she goes...

What are you working on?

2011-12-05T05:04:00.000-08:00

When you ask most artists what they're working on, they have an answer. Maybe, "I'm experimenting with encaustic painting right now," or "I've developed a different sort of glazing technique," or "I'm using plant dyes to create patterns and designs on fabric," or "I'm working on a series of collages using old player piano rolls."

When you ask a photographer what they're working on, the response doesn't seem quite as defined. "I'm trying to get out more," or "I'm playing around with a new lens," or "I'm learning Lightroom."

Is it time for us photographers to focus more sharply on what we're doing? Rather than wandering about looking for things to photograph, what if we had goals, projects, concepts to pursue? More clearly defined projects to work on?

A new year begins soon. What will YOU be doing next year with your photography? Still wandering around looking for things to shoot? Nothing wrong with wandering. In fact, I live for that. But maybe in addition to that seemingly idle wandering we would learn more, expand our vision, hone our craft by consciously looking for something in particular.

One of my goals for the coming year is to work more with extreeeeeemly shallow depth of field. My fastest lenses are an f/1.7 20mm (which focuses quite closely), an f/1.8 50mm, and an f/2.8 100mm macro lens. In addition, I've got an old Lensbaby which deserves a bit more time, and shallow depth of field is what that lens is all about.

I also have an idea for a book, a book that is handmade and will incorporate physical papers and photographs. So I'm going to be doing shooting that's specific toward the concept of the book and I'm going to have to learn how to MAKE a book!

And I also have an idea for "mail art," a series of photomontage postcards/messages that look real but aren't. And will also continue working on my letter photomontages, such as you see here.

So. I ask you today, just a few weeks away from a brand-new year, what will YOU be working on? Is 2012 the year you conquer your fear of photographing people? Is it the year you begin your "photo a day" project? The year you put together a book of your tree photos? Your "faces in nature" photos? The year you spend a month searching for compositions incorporating the color blue?

Having a specific goal will make you a better photographer. It will encourage you to look at your surroundings differently, with a different focus, a different purpose. By narrowing your vision you will actually expand it. Stick with it and by this time next year you will be a different person, a more confident photographer, and a more creative photographer.

©Carol Leigh, who is conducting an online class beginning January 1 where we'll be photographing letters of the alphabet, one a week, for six months. Could be just the perfect project for YOU in 2012!

What Remains

2011-12-03T02:49:00.000-08:00

Photomontage created using pictures I took of an old building in New Mexico, the cover of a Japanese book, and part of a red boat hull. ©Carol Leigh, who knows she's weird but is old enough to enjoy being so . . .

Faces on the beach

2011-12-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

The first thing I need to say is that none of these was altered in Photoshop to create the faces — all were "as found" on the beach. It's weird. Some days you'll find no faces at all and on others, well, seems like you're being watched all the time. I particularly like the look and feel of the last photo, an angry raptor of some sort, complete with a highlight in the eye created by dried seaweed. Fun stuff, no?

©Carol Leigh, who is comfortable photographing faces in nature, but terrified of taking pictures of actual human beings...

New collage: "Red River"

2011-11-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

I finished this one-of-a-kind handmade collage last night. Thanks go to CJ Middendorf for the "red river" running down the top two-thirds of the piece — a beautiful piece of bright red handmade paper. The grey, black, and blue papers were given to me by Kathleen Amt, who is quite an artist. She also made the bone-like flat disks. The red disks come from a jewelry artist in North Carolina named Nina Bagley. Thank you all again.

For a larger view, please click the image. This collage is for sale in my online store at http://shop.carolleigh.net.

©Carol Leigh, who is having so much fun making both these physical collages as well as digital photomontages. May you derive just as much pleasure from whatever creative things you're producing.

Pi Squared

2011-11-30T05:53:00.000-08:00

One doesn't think of gulls as being mathematically inclined, but when I saw this one sitting next to a cleat (pi), I was most impressed. Naturally, a square format worked the best. Since pi = 3.14, I'm looking forward to celebrating Pi Day on March 14.

©Carol Leigh, who knows nothing about math, but who recognizes the symbol for pi when she sees it (and apple pie when she eats it).

Northern Lights

2011-11-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

This photomontage began with a picture I took of a cement wall. That didn't work, so I tossed it out, but it LED me to what DID work. All this is is a combination of a photo I took of a very old Japanese book and a photo I took of a scratched boat hull down the coast. Ta da! Click to enlarge.

©Carol Leigh, who knows she makes this sound easy, but it actually took a few hours to create.

No "Black Friday" here

2011-11-25T17:03:00.000-08:00

As is our wont on holidays (when it's not raining), we went for a little drive. First to the fishing boats to see what's going on there, where I found a blue buoy/bumper hanging down against an equally blue fishing boat.

Then we followed the river road toward Toledo, stopping to photograph the remains of an old train trestle. Then to Toledo to photograph graffiti on the sides of railroad cars — a favorite photo subject which I try not to mention very often because it's weird and I hate graffiti but love to shoot it, which is also weird...

Steam spewing from a smokestack at the Georgia-Pacific facility caught my eye because of the beautifully textured cloudlike formations the steam created. Powerlines even looked good silhouetted in front of the "clouds." And finally back to South Beach to photograph multicolored buildings.

We did not contribute to America's economy by lining up at 0-dark-thirty to purchase anything (thereby avoiding nasty pepper spray and trampling possibilities) and we bought nothing except lunch at a local restaurant. It was a TERRIFIC day, though! Peaceful, nobody on the roads, and beautiful things to see.

©Carol Leigh, who is thankful for being able to wander, look, and take photographs.

End of the day

2011-11-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

Just before sunset, while there was still just a bit of light in the sky, we left the sand-covered houses and headed over to Waldport Marina. Warm lighting on the "caution" sign caught my eye and I quickly shot it, knowing that the quality of light would be fleeting. They're not kidding about outgoing tides — the current was screaming past.

Walking down on the docks, I photographed this gull using a 20mm lens at f/1.7, focusing on him and letting the rest of the scene go soft. It's a pretty look, I think. The photo of the sign above was taken the same way. Loving this 20mm f/1.7 lens!

This was a quiet, peaceful way to end the day, especially after all the sturm und drang of the storms, which should begin again today around 10.

©Carol Leigh, wishing you all a happy and quiet Thanksgiving.

Sand blizzard

2011-11-24T04:43:00.000-08:00

There was a break in the storm late yesterday afternoon so we went down to lower Bayshore to check out the houses, which invariably become engulfed in the blown sand. The homeowners' association had been removing sand all day, which was great for the homeowners, but not so great for photography. (Click photos to enlarge.)

A few years ago I put together a series of photos showing the results of these storms, which you can see here: http://carolleigh.net/Bayshore%20Sandstorm/index.html

And just this past February, the houses were covered again: http://carolleigh.blogspot.com/2011/02/sand-blizzard.html

If people were to disappear from Earth, I'm sure these houses would melt into the sea and sand within just a couple years.

©Carol Leigh, happy to be on the east side of the coast highway and up a few hundred feet.

Postcard from Oregon

2011-11-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

A big storm has been pounding the coast the past few days with lots of rain and LOTS of wind. (Those of you who have been here for my annual Oregon coast workshop are familiar with the Alsea Bay Bridge, well, a truck and its trailer tipped over onto its side due to heavy wind yesterday afternoon, blocking traffic for a bit.) Rumor has it we may experience a few hours of sun this weekend . . .

Chris and I both wish you a happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful you keep checking in here, leaving your comments, making me feel part of a creative village (if not the village idiot!). ©Carol Leigh

Paper 12

2011-11-21T06:45:00.000-08:00

Photomontage consisting of photos of boat reflections, rivets, a torn piece of Japanese paper, photos of hand-painted papers, a "12" from a sign on the docks, and hand-drawn arcs and rectangles.

I'll teach you how to do this in my beginning photomontage online class that starts January 9th, 2012. For more information, click onto my 2012 class schedule at http://www.carolleigh.net/classes.htm.

©Carol Leigh, who is bracing for a big storm to hit us here on the Oregon coast today

Rule of Thirds?

2011-11-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

Weird photo, no? A small boat up at the docks is covered with a white tarp to protect ongoing repairs. Holding down the tarp are three plastic partially filled jugs, floating in the water, holding the tarp in place. And it must work really well, because I believe those jugs have been floating there for at least a year! Click to enlarge.

©Carol Leigh, who has projects in her garage she hasn't finished in NINE years!

Raven, Santa Fe #1 (original collage)

2011-11-16T03:10:00.000-08:00

"Raven, Santa Fe #1"
I made this collage using blue, black, and warm brown mulberry papers, rice paper, calligraphy from an 1880s Japanese book on philosophy, acrylic paint, and a raven photomontage that I printed on Japanese rice paper. (See below for a close-up photo of part of the collage.) What's especially fun for me is incorporating my photography into the collage. Hope you enjoy seeing what I'm doing!

Size: 6½" x 4½" in an 11" x 14" mat, ready to pop into an 11" x 14" frame (not included). Price: $80, which includes First Class Mail shipping. To order, please visit my online store: http://shop.carolleigh.net

©Carol Leigh, overwhelmed by the possibilities!

As seen on TV . . .

2011-11-14T02:57:00.000-08:00

This is just an experiment... I photographed images on my television, purposely taking them out of focus, blurred them a bit more in post-processing, and added texture. Not sure what I think yet, but it was a fun little experiment. ©Carol Leigh, who apparently is more comfortable photographing people on TV rather than in person!

Possibilities

2011-11-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

Combination of my photographs of a bird nest, a page from an old Japanese book, a painted piece of paper, and some cement. ©Carol Leigh, who is conducting a beginning photomontage online class next year and who can't get enough of this stuff...

Gridwork

2011-11-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

As I work more with creating physical collages, I'm noticing the concept of using a grid as a compositional "structure." The way I tear and place papers tends to have a grid background. And so it is with these photographs, composed of squares and rectangles that also form an overall grid pattern. Just as I select papers and choose their placement, my photographic eye selects lines and shapes and isolates them to create a (to me) pleasing composition.

The strong vertical lines of a building in Salem, Oregon are "punctured" with smaller, more varied, more colorful little rectangular windows.

The side of an old building in Reedsport, Oregon always catches my eye with its square windows set above equally square non-windows. The texture, the sign, and the broken panes relieve the uniformity of the squares.

In the third photo, a large rectangular shape at the bottom holds up the lighter, smaller rectangular elements above it. And to make it more interesting, there are squares and rectangles within larger ones.

The way books were arranged in an antique store caught my eye. I purposely cropped the scene to form a square to emphasize the squarishness of everything within it.

And finally, the red-painted wood and all the vertical/horizontal lines on a building in Colorado turns into another grid of squares and rectangles.

Strong patterns, vertical and horizontal lines, squares and rectangles within more squares and rectangles . . . these are good compositional elements for us to be looking for as we're out and about.

©Carol Leigh, thinking it's hip to be square . . .

On the beach

2011-11-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

A woman works with her horse on the beach near Newport. It was a very bright — glaringly bright — day and so I purposely overexposed the shot to wash out the waves and the sand while keeping the bold silhouette of horse and rider intact. ©Carol Leigh

The power of backgrounds

2011-11-08T06:07:00.000-08:00

In addition to the various drives contained within my computers, I also have 10 external drives — all containing photos. It's getting out of hand, to say the least. I'm in the process of consolidating, moving photos around, and as a result, I'm coming across pictures I'd forgotten about, such as these three.

I took the photos to illustrate what a difference a background can make. I set the pushpin on top of a glass brick. In the first shot, I used holographic shiny paper as my background. Why? Because the pin and the glass are translucent/transparent. I wanted a colorful and "light-encrusted" background to echo the lightness of the pin and the brick.

In the second photo, I put an American flag behind the setup, just to see what it would look like. I LOVE how the stripes look through the pushpin, but the background itself is kind of blah.

And finally I used (if I recall correctly) the holographic paper AND some translucent, gauzy purple fabric, which I waved around during the exposure so that it would blur out.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have a bazillion more images to move around!

©Carol Leigh, who will soon be announcing a new, "Mini-Macro" online class for next year . . .

Autumn

2011-11-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

Fern frond and a page from the New York Times in Braille. ©Carol Leigh

Pursue some path...

2011-11-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence." —Henry David Thoreau

Cuervo de Colores

2011-11-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

Don't know what the fascination is, but I'm drawn to the Corvid family! This photo of a Santa Fe bird was combined with a photo I took of the side of a fishing boat here in Oregon. Love the subtle colors. ©Carol Leigh

Coockoo

2011-11-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure about this one. The components are a leather jacket photographed in Santa Fe, an old carpet shot on the docks in Newport, Oregon, and a matchbox label (thank you, Kathleen A.) from Poland (vintage 1965 or thereabouts).

©Carol Leigh, who is teaching a beginning online photomontage class beginning January 9, 2012.

Boo !

2011-10-31T00:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, whatever costume you may or may not be wearing! ©Carol Leigh

Pelicans!

2011-10-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drove up the coast and, passing Seal Rock, noticed all the pelicans on the rocks. But what really caught my eye were the pelicans down on the beach, something we don't see all that often. Pelicans and gulls were clustered around the mouth of a little creek, preening, resting, seeing what they could find to eat.

Two people climbed down to the beach and began walking south, keeping their distance from the birds (yay), but the pelicans were especially wary, and slowly began taking off. A shutter speed of 1/25 second enabled me to capture the motion of their wings.

Driving back home, late in the day, all the pelicans were gone, and a big storm was coming in. Wonder where they went to ride out the storm? ©Carol Leigh

Fall feathers

2011-10-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

About eleven years ago one of my students, Ingrid K., gave me a pheasant "pelt." I don't know if "pelt" is the correct term, but it was part of a bird's skin with all the feathers intact. My plan yesterday was to photograph Indian corn, but when I saw the pheasant, I changed my mind. Aren't the colors lovely?

May your fall be filled with colors like these. ©Carol Leigh

Count your blessings

2011-10-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

Tacked to the bulletin board at the fishing docks. ©Carol Leigh

After the dentist visit . . .

2011-10-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

After this morning's dentist appointment, in lieu of a lollipop, I treated myself to a walk around the fishing boats in Newport. First off, I was drawn to the turnbuckles, and anyone who has been with me here at my Oregon Coast photo workshop will recognize these, especially you, Janet G.! Their high-tech forms and repeating patterns make them a photographic natural. I commented on Janet's turnbuckle photo just yesterday, so it was fresh in my mind and made me think of her as I shot.

Next is a reflection in the water of a rusty fishing boat. Love the zig-zag pattern and the rich brown/orange colors. The pattern of the reflection sort of moves down the frame in a quasi-diagonal way, thus catching my attention.

The next shot of the drips of water, rust, paint, and general weathering on the stern of a fishing boat is something I'll probably use in a photomontage sometime, somewhere, somehow.

The bright orange float hanging down off the blue boat (and its accompanying reflection) is a good example of complementary colors, and maybe something I'll use to illustrate the concept. Plus the colors were just outrageous and pixels are free.

Below the buoy photo is a shot I took of flags flying from the mast of a fishing boat. The colors are what caught my eye, plus the sky was a lovely blue, something we don't see too often here on the coast. We're close to Halloween, so a photo of a pirate flag seemed like a natural.

The kind of blah brown, white, and black photo is (once again) something I will use down the road in a photomontage. I took a number of versions of this image because, well, you just never know when you'll need something like this.

And finally, a shot of gouges in the metal side of a fishing boat. They were up so high I just held my camera over my head and pointed. What I like is how the scratches look kind of like Asian calligraphy, and that's always useful for a lot of the photomontages I make.

I also took images of cormorants with their wings spread, overviews of the boats in general, more reflections in the water, a bunch of overexposed seagull photos that NO ONE will EVER see, and shots of ropes, cleats, buoys, etc.

So there you have it, kind of a typical shoot for me after a dentist appointment. Or jury duty. Or after an office supply run to Staples. Or if it's a Thursday. Or . . . ©Carol Leigh (who is conducting yet another Oregon Coast Photo Exploration September 9-12, 2012)

Note: Blogger has been doing some strange things lately. If you click the image to make it larger, often a panel will come up and all three images will be at the bottom, so you can click one after another. But if you click the back arrow to return to the blog, the blog often disappears. Instead, click the "x" in the upper right corner of the panel. The photo panel will disappear and you'll be back in the blog. I'm sure somebody thought this was an improvement...

Another day, another leaf

2011-10-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

I found a leaf, quite pretty. I placed it on top of a piece of paper I had painted. I stretched the photo and cropped out the edges of the notebook that the paper was in. And then (in the last photo) I tweaked it (as is my wont of late). Fall. Sometimes all you need is a leaf, a piece of paper, and some paint. ©Carol Leigh

Note: Blogger has been doing some strange things lately. If you click the image to make it larger, often a panel will come up and all three images will be at the bottom, so you can click one after another. But if you click the back arrow to return to the blog, the blog often disappears. Instead, click the "x" in the upper right corner of the panel. The photo panel will disappear and you'll be back in the blog. I'm sure somebody thought this was an improvement...

Six windows in Salem

2011-10-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

We did a bit of walking around in Salem last week and, before getting sidetracked in an art store, I found myself photographing windows. These two shots are the ones I like best from that quick walk. Must go back and spend more time. ©Carol Leigh

Not so obvious . . .

2011-10-21T02:58:00.000-07:00

We may be seduced by the outrageous color of autumn leaves, but often it's the subtle elements of the backs of leaves that hold our interest.

I continued to work with the soft-focus properties of f/1.7 during our two days spent this week at The Oregon Garden in Silverton. Much more to follow as I begin working through my photos. ©Carol Leigh

Yet one more note of thanks

2011-10-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

And to the "Bears..." Your package arrived -- very heavy -- full of money! Thanks for all the foreign coins. Canada, Denmark, Bahamas, Israel ... beautiful graphics on the Bahamas coins. And then I thought I'd show you how good the Chinese lanterns still look. Thank you for EVERYthing. Wish I were half as generous as you two. Love, Carol (and, of course, Chris) ©Carol Leigh

Thank you, Sandra T.

2011-10-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

Sandra Torguson is a photographer, quilter, fiber artist, and calligrapher. In response to a post I'd placed elsewhere, she kindly sent me a copy of a magazine containing an article pertinent to my post. I gotta say, her packaging was almost as good as the magazine! The envelope was beautifully addressed and the note she enclosed, written on a piece of painted watercolor paper, was quite pretty. Thank you, madam. I may just rip up your note and use it in a collage! ©Carol Leigh

Thank you

2011-10-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

Think. Turn around. Buy fish.

2011-10-14T04:02:00.000-07:00

"Think" spray-painted on a railroad car in Santa Fe, a sign here in Waldport, Oregon, and a composite of a building in Bandon, Oregon with a little painting on a wall in San Diego. Love photographing signs. ©Carol Leigh

Over the transom ...

2011-10-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Because I'm weird and people like to encourage that weirdness, I receive interesting things from my peeps. Some of these things arrive in person, some in the mail. Here's what came in the mail this week. . .

Big ol' rusty nuts, bolts and washers from Janet and Ira. They're large and frame-filling, so will be relatively easy to shoot and turn into something else.

And then a pretty card and some lovely Japanese stamps from Jim and Patty. They say they have more they can send, if I wish. Let's see what I can do with these first, even though I'm lusting for the rest.

Janet and Ira again . . . Not content with sending rusty metal, they also sent a bamboo knife, fork, and spoon, which I know I'll have fun photographing.

I'm extremely lucky to have people such as these around me. And extremely lucky that they understand my oddness and actually promote it! Thank all four of you. You know me way too well . . . ©Carol Leigh

Fall to Winter

2011-10-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

I like how the warm brown colors contrast with the cooler blues. Kind of like a transition from autumn to winter. ©Carol Leigh, wishing for a looooong autumn.

Nine Sycamore Seed Pods

2011-10-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's post was about how all you need is one leaf. Today we apparently need nine sycamore pods! All conveniently numbered for your viewing pleasure. Click to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh

All you need is one leaf

2011-10-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

We dream of orange and yellow aspens flowing down hillsides like lava, leaf-strewn country roads, fiery red maples framing a covered bridge. But sometimes Mother Nature doesn't cooperate. Freezing storms turn the leaves black; wind blows the leaves from the trees; or autumn didn't arrive the same time you did (or left too soon).

But surely you can find ONE leaf to shoot! One good leaf to evoke a feeling of fall. Which is what I did yesterday. We have a few red-flowering currant bushes in our back yard (kind of — the deer snack on them). I picked up a fallen leaf, put it in a book for a couple of days to flatten it, then took it out to the studio to photograph.

I rummaged around, found some various papers to put it on, and began shooting. The orangey-red photo is the leaf on handmade paper; the blue/brown photo? Hand-painted Japanese paper. Next is the leaf placed on top of a piece of rusty metal that Chris found (this one's my favorite), The golden photo is the leaf on a piece of paper that I painted with watercolor paint. And finally, you see the leaf on a piece of paper I used to clean my paintbrushes. This is just the tip of the iceberg; I have more than 30 variations from this one shoot.

What's my point? We have expectations of what we'll find this fall, what we'd like to shoot. Sometimes those expectations aren't met (especially for those of you in California's eastern Sierra right now). Rather than bemoan the fact that you're not seeing what you want to see, look around and see what's there. Put a leaf on a rock, on a bed of pine needles, float it in a stream, or, like Stacy B. did one year, lick the leaf and slap it onto the trunk of a tree to shoot at eye level!

All it takes is one leaf and a decent background. Happy fall! ©Carol Leigh

Limitations

2011-10-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

A 20mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.7 is a very cool lens to play around with. It forces you to look at things differently -- and that's always a good thing. The beauty of this lens is (a) it's small, (b) it's fast, and (c) it's easy to focus on a foreground object and have everything behind it go soft, soft, soft.

I decided that today I would limit myself to this one lens and always have it set to f/1.7. As a result, I lost out on photographing a couple of cute cats we encountered on our walk, but that was okay, I was on a QUEST!

In a restaurant, I set the camera on the table and focused on a spoon. All the condiments in the background are completely out of focus, but they still retain their shapes enough to be recognizable.

In Nye Beach, I focused on a foreground post and let everything else, including the beach in the background, go out of focus. Same thing in the picture of the "open" sign: The lettering is in focus, but everything else went soft. THIS is the beauty of this fast lens -- shallow depth of field.

The lens focuses rather closely, too, enabling me to shoot a couple of wet hydrangea blossoms and a starfish affixed to a garden gate. And in the last picture, I used the lens just as a "normal" lens, the only difference is that I had to move in much closer to fill my frame, much more so than I would with a longer lens. Since I use a longer lens most of the time, it was a novelty having to step right up to my subject rather than lurking in the shadows.

Thanks to the "bears" for this wonderful gift of new eyes. They know who they are. ©Carol Leigh

Inkwell

2011-10-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

A vintage inkwell, a vintage pen, and a photo I took of a page from an antique Japanese book combine beautifully here. The warm color comes from a background I painted and then photographed to add to the mix. All the elements in this piece were photographed here and then, not unlike a collage, pieced and blended together into one picture. Click to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh

More from the Wheel o' Pith

2011-10-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

Three more Rolodex cards from my famed "Wheel o' Pith." A quick scribble-sketch, a reminder that I want to photograph graph paper to use in photo montages (which I've done, can check that off the list), and then a reminder to me of what Scribbles paint looks like and maybe I might want to use it somewhere. That's it! Fun little colorful ideas, thoughts, examples, all tucked into one place. ©Carol Leigh

High key effect

2011-10-05T04:02:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with purposely overexposing my photos, from one to two stops, just to see what happens. I've had this rattlesnake grass for years in a jar in the studio and thought it might look good against a white background. Next to the jar o' rattlesnake grass is a jar containing some of this year's poppy pod harvest. I selected two that had really wonky stems, put them against a white background, and overexposed by two stops. This way the curving forms are really exaggerated.

The overall look is clean and spare and, to me, quite appealing.

Faux Fall

2011-10-04T04:15:00.000-07:00

When I have extra paint on my brush, I'll slap it across a piece of watercolor paper, just to see what happens. Well, in this case, I took a closer look at the paper, this brush-cleaning paper. The paint looked like a strange fall landscape, so I got out my macro lens and took a photo. Isn't it cool what we find when we really, really look? ©Carol Leigh

Definitely the last of the summer color

2011-10-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

The rain has begun in earnest here on the Oregon coast and will be here for the foreseeable week. It's raining in New England right now, so I hear. A bit of colorful brightness is in order, so I present the very last of these vibrant flowers. ©Carol Leigh

Color, Texture, Repeating Patterns

2011-10-01T04:05:00.000-07:00

There's a store in Eugene, Oregon called Mindy's Needlepoint Factory which just sucked me in. With an aversion to needles of all types, and not being a person who sews AT ALL, I still found this shop intriguing simply because of the colors, the repeating patterns, and all the texture. It almost made me wish I were a quilter, or a needlepointer, or somebody who did something with fabric embellishment. Almost. I did buy some ribbon to use in collages, but mainly spent my time simply admiring. And touching. Ahhhh... ©Carol Leigh

From the wheel o' pith ...

2011-09-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

Pith: Soft, spongy cells which store and transport nutrients throughout a plant. Pithy: Having substance and point, tersely cogent.

Remember Rolodex files? Offices used to store (some still do) names, addresses, telephone numbers on small (1.75 x 3.25 inches) notched cards which were attached to a "wheel." You spun the wheel to find the card holding the info you wanted.

I have so many photo ideas, art ideas, and quotations I want to remember that are scattered throughout notebooks that are scattered throughout the house. How to keep all this info in one spot? How to find a pithy quote? How to remind myself of ideas I had maybe five years ago? How to inspire myself to keep on going? Enter the Rolodex.

Note: The cards that come with the Rolodex are incredibly thin and flimsy. So a lot of the time I make my own, cut up a photo I'm throwing out, let's say, use a special punch to create the slots, and voila! Instant (more substantial) card. Or I'll glue a scrap of painted and torn watercolor paper to the card to give it substance. The result is a Rolodex wheel bristling with mismatched and often colorful cards. A visual treat (to me) as well as a mental one.

I showed the Rolodex to some of my workshop students who thought it was the coolest idea and who sat at the table just rummaging through it. I offer you a few examples here, hoping you'll find it interesting as well. These cards are not meant to be polished works of art, just colorful little pithy quotes, ideas, reminders. As usual, click on each one to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh

Things that have come into the house lately

2011-09-27T05:21:00.000-07:00

A few things made their way into the house last week. Fun gifts from friends, fun photography for me. First is the box of rusty washers and coins from Elena, who knows the way to this girl's heart! And the box they came in? She created the coolest texture on the lid, which I photographed close-up and which will undoubtedly find its way into some of my photomontages.

And then a close-up of a daisy plucked from a bouquet from Janet and Ira. This flower is no bigger than a half-inch across, so I used a macro lens and a couple of extension tubes to fill my frame with it. A blue scarf creates a natural-looking "sky" behind it.

A bouquet of bright orange Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi) is now hanging upside-down to dry, but not before I photographed part of this stem. The pods are so colorfully saturated that I took an opposite tack and toned them to a bluish-grey color. (The opposite of what Janet, the color maven, would have done!)

Chris, while our group photographed fishing nets last week, picked up a couple pieces of rust, thinking I could do something cool with them. So you see a photo of the two pieces he found, and then my close-up macro shot of one of them, looking remarkably like some rocky landscape. He's got a good eye for this sort of thing, doesn't he?

The rusty washers and coins will make their way into photomontages and collages. The textures? Same thing. The flowers? Always in my heart. The wine, bread, biscotti, and other goodies people brought have, unfortunately, made their way into my stomach! ©Carol Leigh

Local car show

2011-09-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

Waldport's annual "Cruzin' for Crab" car show went on today — always a good turnout, always lots of beautifully maintained cars to be photographed. As usual, I concentrated on color, reflections, and simple lines. The last photo is a self-portrait. Sure wish I was as tall and slender as this car made me look! ©Carol Leigh

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

2011-09-24T05:06:00.000-07:00

New collage: Metal Button and Linen

2011-09-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

"Metal Button and Linen"
This collage is made of vintage papers, tracing paper, ink, paint, linen and a vintage silver-colored metal button. I bought a jar of old buttons at a flea market and this one stood out, looking kind of dilapidated and textured and weathered (and I mean that in a good way). I sewed it onto a piece of frayed linen and made it the focal point. Size: 5" x 5" in an 8" x 8" mat. Price: $60, which includes First Class Mail shipping. To order, please visit my online store: http://shop.carolleigh.net/

For information about the rest of my collages, please visit my website at http://www.carolleigh.net/collages.htm. Thanks! ©Carol Leigh

Texture Tuesday

2011-09-20T05:01:00.000-07:00

Our group worked the Yaquina Bay Bridge yesterday afternoon, which gave us lovely photos of architectural detail. A feather on the steps caught my eye. Okay, I'm lying. I saw a feather on the grass and placed it on the step. Is there no TRUTH in photography any more? But was there ever? ©Carol Leigh

Monochrome Monday

2011-09-19T00:04:00.000-07:00

We've got a photo workshop going on right now and it's fun to see "my" neighborhood through others' eyes. I took them to shoot the fishing nets and found I was particularly attracted to these two very monochromatic scenes. Lots of texture, lots of flowing lines, and classic Rule of Thirds. ©Carol Leigh

To zee five

2011-09-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

These three have been sitting around for awhile. Time to get them out of the folder and into the light.

The "2" is part of a collage I began but, dissatisfied with it, never completed. As I create physical collages, I photograph bits and pieces of them along the way because, well, because you never know...

The "Z" is a photo of a child's block and then combined with a photo I took of the texture on a wall.

And the "5" is a combo of a picture I took in a bunker in Astoria, Oregon and a 5/flag I photographed on a building in Williams, Arizona.

Happy weekend, everyone. ©Carol Leigh

Why yes, we DO have a room available...

2011-09-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

And there's a pool!

In April of 2005 I drove from Oregon down to Tucson to conduct a photo workshop. Along the way, on Highway 40 in Arizona, I passed this fine establishment. Screeching a U-turn, I stopped to photograph a bit.

I never really processed these photos until this morning, when I came across them while rummaging through an older external drive.

This was six years ago. The motel is probably gone. Wish I'd taken even more photos while I was there. Why, why, why do we not spend more time at the time? There always seems to be some internal pressure to keep moving.

One of my dreams is to spend two weeks in one location, wandering about, photographing by day and making collages in the evening. Silent. Exploring. Creating. Ahhhh! ©Carol Leigh

Take a seat . . .

2011-09-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

The little town of Wheeler on the Oregon coast is always worth a photographic stop, and this time coming down the coast I was drawn to a bench and a planter full of nasturtiums. The overcast light and the warm color of the building added to the appeal. I had to wait for a car to leave a parking space before I could frame this shot, but it was worth the wait. ©Carol Leigh

(Another) Pair o' Pears

2011-09-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Back in April I posted photos of two pears, which you can see here, if you wish. And here are two more. (Click to enlarge.) Do you find yourself drawn to certain subject matter? It can become an obsession, can't it? Well, pears do that to me. I do not like the taste, but boy, oh boy, they sure look good! So what's one of your photographic obsessions? ©Carol Leigh

In remembrance

2011-09-09T04:02:00.000-07:00

Get a grip...

2011-09-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

As I move photos around in my computer, working on old ones, filing newer ones, little themes develop such as this one. It's a cool series of door handles, beginning with a golden door in Colorado combined with a background texture I made myself.

The purple door with the terrific shadow was shot in Fredericksburg, Virginia. And below that, the rusty car door and handle was shot in the sun (gasp!) here on the Oregon coast.

A more muted but very rich door handle was found and photographed in Jacksonville, Oregon (I believe — could have been Oakland, Oregon, but I don't want to go back and check right now). The double handles on the car were shot in Colorado.

The bright red photograph I took at a car show here on the Oregon coast, but now I can't figure out what my shooting angle was. It's an MG car, but neither Chris nor I can figure out what the original configuration was. Still, gotta love the color, the blue thingies, and the shiny chrome. ©Carol Leigh

Deer-proof

2011-09-07T04:26:00.000-07:00

We have three little bushes of these guys in the back yard and they've bloomed beautifully all summer. Amazingly, the deer (who have given my fuchsia bush a very bad haircut) don't eat them. I used to know what these were and now, wouldn't you know, the only "safe" plants to grow out back and I'm clueless.

From a photo-geek standpoint, see the beautiful out-of-focus background? I shot these with a 50mm lens and an extension tube. The aperture was f/1.8, a super-wide-open aperture, which caused the background to go really, really soft. And I find it really, really pretty! ©Carol Leigh

Digital collaboration

2011-09-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

In the papers that Kathleen A. sent me there was this vertical swooshy brush mark that she'd made. I made some brush marks of my own on a different piece of paper. Photographed both papers. Combined them here. Woo hoo! ©Carol Leigh

Beauty in the ordinary

2011-09-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

I sent each of my macro students this year a set of toothbrushes to photograph, encouraging them to look at them in a slightly different way than simply topped with toothpaste en route to their mouth. It's always fun to see what they come up with.

In the first shot, I concentrated on the handle shapes, making them look like little translucent hills.

In the second shot, shallow depth of field turned the handles in the background into soft sweeps of color.

The more straightforward third shot consists of a simple repeating pattern.

Dental hygiene ... who knew it could be so pretty? ©Carol Leigh

Pueblo moderne

2011-09-02T06:06:00.000-07:00

It all began with a bit of architectural detail photographed in Santa Fe. Love the colors. Click to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh