Mark your calendar!

This year's festivities take place March 7-11, 2016. Alas, they're all held at night. The photography's going to be tricky!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Abby: Day One

We got Abby from the clerk at Ray's Market in Waldport back in 2004. She was maybe six weeks old. We brought her home, she was so cute, she ran around the house, exploring, and then crawled up onto a sofa cushion and crashed. Sound asleep.

That was then. This is now. But I shall not go into all that.

The neat thing is that this photo of Abby sold, via Alamy, last month, to appear in a page-by-page calendar of some sort. This is the second time it's sold, for the same purpose. My take-home pay for this shot? A whopping $10. Ah, the pot at the end of the rainbow that is stock photography!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

A short photo hike yesterday . . .

Well, for you it might be a short hike! For us, of the non-hiking persuasion, 3.5 miles up and down a hill was a trek! My camera gear was in my backpack; Chris carried the tripod.

My goal was to shoot the military bunkers at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington. I've visited some there in the past, but this was a new bunch. Alas, it was a sunny day, which can make photography a challenge.

I took 71 photographs. Usually I don't count, but in this case I was surprised; I thought I'd taken a lot more. Most of the images I'm going to use in subsequent photomontages, but I found a recurring theme in the big metal rings embedded in cement walls and on rusted doors, so that's what I'm showing here.

Chris read information signs while I shot, discovering that the rings were used for "maintenance and maneuvers," where the big guns could be hooked up to chains and pulleys and were moved about by mules.

What I was drawn to were the textures and the weathering and the peeling paint -- lots of grunge contrasted with a nice clean circular form.

We heard, and then Chris spotted, a pileated woodpecker on a distant tree. So I pulled out the cellphone, looked up pileated woodpecker calls, and played one as loudly as I could. The bird immediately flew right toward us, passed overhead, and landed I don't know where.

But the cool things about this were (a) hearing his call so clearly and loudly on a quiet morning, (b) spotting him way off in the distance, and then (c) hearing the rhythmic whuff-whuff-whuff of his wings as he flew overhead. Big bird, kind of a combination pterodactyl/Woody Woodpecker with a big red pointy head.

Lunch was tempura prawns, caesar salad at Doc's Marina Grill, then a quick visit to the Wooden Boat Chandlery (where they have the coolest copper and brass fittings -- things that I have no idea what to do with, but yearn for them anyway just because they're classy and different).

We took the ferry over and back -- always a fun venture. Saw a seal. That was about it.

What a great day. Fun to be out walking, exploring, photographing, having lunch, admiring marine fittings, and who doesn't love a harbor cruise?!

Wishing you quiet mornings, wondrous bird encounters, and maybe even a boat ride or two.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Linda's tree . . .

This is the photograph that Linda (who commented in yesterday's post) purchased. The background is a close-up of an old A&P Worcestershire bottle. I've always liked this image because the color combination is so unusual, and the tree has boldness and character. Thanks again, Linda.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

A good day on the Washington coast

We did a bit of off-island exploring yesterday, heading up and along the Washington coast, staying as close to the water as possible. We passed lots of farming communities, white swans foraging in shallow, temporary ponds and lakes, hawks on posts, a huge eagle nest with two eagles keeping watch, barns, and much more.

I find it so exhilarating to be on a road I've never been on before. Giddy, even.

We took Chuckanut Drive up to Fairhaven (Bellingham), checked out the ferry terminals, found some piles of fishing nets (on private property, but not TOO private, anticipating being shooed away and having my apologies at the ready, but no problem, no one cared).

Wandered around the historic district in Bellingham, had a fantastic lunch at Skylark's Hidden Cafe, with a most friendly server. (I heartily recommend the Grilled Coppa Caprese sandwich.) And then we headed north again, traveling around Bellingham Bay.

And that's where I found them. Fishing boats. A huge harbor of them. And fishing nets. Much better and more accessible than the ones I trespassed to reach.

The day was just perfect -- cool, no wind, big white clouds, blue skies, a little bit of rain that was minimal and lasted no more than a minute, if that.

So here you see some of what I saw ... A fishnet float, a ventilation vent on the side of a galvanized metal building, a solitary sailboat moored offshore, a nautical guard dog, making sure we didn't come aboard without the captain's permission, and some cool weathered numbers indicating depth on the side of an old fishing boat.

All in all, the trip took around seven hours, allowing us lots of time to travel slowly, stop often, have a leisurely lunch, wander around a bookstore, walk the docks, etc.

A very good day on the Washington coast.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Happy Birthday, George!

In case you were thinking of sending him a birthday card, don't bother . . . It's the thought that counts.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Great shapes

There's something about oil cans that's appealing.

They imply people working, doing things, fixing things, keeping things running.

They usually have a very cool patina, a surface texture that comes from years of use, of having things spilled on them, dust collecting on them.

And then there's the shape. Ahh! Solid, sturdy bases, delicate spires rising up. What a great look.

They leak, though, if you put them on their side. As I discovered when I unpacked my box of them here. No matter. Get a rag, wipe 'em down, and they're just like new. Or old. Or whatever.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Little surprises in the mail

From time to time, my friend Kathleen Amt sends me little things in the mail, such as cool matchbox labels, Japanese papers, things she's painted, stuff she has lying around her studio that she thinks I can use. Since we're both weird in the same way, I'm always delighted by what she sends.

Yesterday afternoon I got an envelope from her with this cool heart in it, obviously made from some of her paper stash. Love it!

I then combined it with something I had lying around my own studio -- a heavily textured and layered paper with a white gesso topcoat. I added some cottony thingies, toned down all the colors to unify everything, and here's how Kathleen's heart ended up.

Thank you, my friend, for sending me this. And in the meantime, I'm putting together a package for you -- hopefully just as cool as this heart.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Minimalistic photography

The details are in the corners at Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Especially to Chris, who has made so much possible.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Not-so-terrible twos . . .

For this second month of the year, February, I was going to post a "2" photo or photomontage every day. I quickly found 23 pictures, but during my search for six more, time got away from me and before I knew it, it was February 3 and my moment had passed.

Undeterred, and, frankly, not knowing what to write, damned if I'm going to let some of these go to waste! So here are four twos, four that I particularly like and don't mind inflicting upon you.

The first "2" is a very early one, so I don't remember where I got the number, but I do know that part of the background came from a sign I photographed at the Getty Museum years ago. I like the soft blue colors and the way the "2" seems to be "swimming" left while the arc leads my eye right.

The second "2" I photographed on a railroad car and the background a photo of a rusty and weathered Jeep. (Personal hello to Bugsy, my photo friend who was just as enthusiastic as I was photographing at the Orange Empire Railroad Museum in Perris, California.) The monochromatic/neutral colors appeal to me, as does the grungy texture. 'Tis a weathered yet stately "2."

The third "2?" I don't even remember making it, but I do know the element on the right is a set of lines made with a marker. The horizontal element is probably a strip of rusted material I photographed. The picture is muted and subtle, quite a contrast with the next one...

The bottom, colorful "2" is part of a series I made called "Numerical Flotation Devices" that were entirely computer-generated. I know the "Flotation Device" series is a weird one, but love the big bold numbers and how I made each number and background a different color.

So there you have it. Four twos that don't add up to eight, nor, apparently, a leap-year 29 . . .

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Things that go bump in the night ...

At 3:45 a.m. I woke to the sound of someone hitting the side of our house with a stick. Three distinct whacks. Was it a dream? Or was someone really out there? Abby jumped off the bed and scampered away. Aha. It wasn't just me.

I suspected what caused the sound, but I wouldn't know for sure until daylight.

After breakfast I went out to check. Sure enough, the fresh green shoots coming up right next to the house had been nibbled away. Someone had been up early for a snack, his antlers banging against the siding as he went for the choicest bits.

Chickens, deer, owls, coyotes -- creatures that cackle, bang, hoot, and howl day and night. Who says rural life is quiet and serene?

Local "wild" life

We have chickens! Well, we don't really HAVE chickens. They're not ours. But for the last two days they've come to visit. And they stay for hours. There are four of them -- a rooster and three hens.

For this suburbanite, having a herd of chickens come to call is very, very cool! They apparently belong to our neighbor to the south, making their way through the woods, and then scrabbling about here and there in our yard. How they find their way back, and how they avoid being snagged by owls, I don't know (although yesterday there were just two hens, not three).

It's fun having them around. But I swear if I hadn't shut the car door, one would have jumped up onto my lap.

This is a cellphone shot that's not very good. I never realized how active chickens are -- jerking their heads this way and that, constantly in motion. My iPhone couldn't really stop the action. If their visitations become regular, I'll be using the big guns to see what I can do.

Chickens. Not the most exotic of animals, but it's just too cool to have them around. Hope they continue visiting during slug and carpenter ant season!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Lines and shadows

When it's sunny, seek out the shadows. Photographed at Fort Casey, Whidbey Island.

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Latest work: "Red Riley Collage"

I took a book apart (reverse engineering?) and then reassembled bits and pieces of it to create this collage.

The book (which, I hasten to add, was not in very good shape to begin with) was a book of poetry by James Whitcomb Riley, known as the “Hoosier Poet.” I thank him for putting some color into my life. Had I not known him as an American writer, I would have said this piece has an Asian vibe to it, which pleases me on an entirely different level.

When I prepped this image for Fine Art America, not only did I upload the original horizontal one, but also created three more in square format (a crop from the left, a crop from the center, and a crop from the right). One never knows...

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

What else was selling in January

January was an interesting month, seeing the sorts of things that people were buying. None of the images were "normal" or "regular" photography; instead they were photomontages, most of them abstract, except for one containing crows, another with a fish, and a third with the number 4 on it. Oh, yeah, there was also one of wall texture, to which I did nothing in post processing.

What I'm liking is that people are buying more than one of a "series," which is quite nice.

Here are more images of what was selling in January:

What's really cool is that the buyer of these first two pictures, "Indigo Clouds," bought BIG versions of them, each one four feet square. Wow! I would LOVE to see them that big! And I think they'd look especially cool on metal.

The fish photo, "Tropical Dream #1," was one of a two-part set. The buyer selected just one, however. I particularly like the warm salmon and coral colors.

But another purchaser ordered a set of four different prints, "Tropical Panel." I think I have six variations of this picture available.

Gotta say, for a photographer who creates pretty much weird stuff, I'm incredibly pleased with how well my pictures are selling. And so grateful that I can earn a few bucks doing what I so love to do.

May you all be so lucky.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!