Eight Years of November

I took a look at all the photos I've posted in the month of November over the past eight years and selected one from each November for each year. (What a confusing sentence. Darned if I'm going to edit it, though.)

In 2009 snow covered a still-blooming fuchsia bush as well as a cute little birdhouse in our back yard in Waldport, Oregon.

Another year I was out on the beach in Oregon, looking for patterns in the sand. That's one of the big things I miss here on Whidbey Island -- big empty beaches. Miles to walk, and if there were four people out there, it was crowded! There are lots of beaches here, too, but many are private, others are smaller. No huge expanses of sand during minus tides. Not a complaint! Just something I miss.

Below that is a photo taken at the Seal Rock overlook in Oregon. A long exposure helped emphasize water movement and the spray from the waves.

And the fishing boats in Newport, Oregon? I miss them, too, although I've found a few extremely cool places here in Washington to photograph. Just takes a bit more driving to get to them. The fishing vessel "Finn" looks pretty good there on a foggy morning.

Below "Finn" is a photomontage I made out of paper and copper and rusty metal that I call "Northern Lights."

The weird photomontage below that is called "And the Rains Came." I would have to go back to see all the elements I used to create it. But I do remember that the vertical "raindrops" came from a photograph I took of a carved and painted wooden support pole in Santa Fe. Gotta say, the results surprised me. In a good way.

The sepia-toned image is the Coupeville Wharf, taken in 2015 when we moved here to Whidbey Island.

And this year's November shot is called "Experiment #9504." An ongoing series that is simply fun at the moment.

So there you have it. November's been a pretty good month photographically over the years.

©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.

Nautical bits

A gathering together of various nautical shapes, textures, bits and pieces.

©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.

City graffiti

A couple of fun things found on walls in Seattle earlier this month.

©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.

Clean and simple

Rummaging around in old photographs, I came across this one that had been mis-filed. (Yeah, like my filing system is so fine-tuned!) And it took me aback.

It's a really good shot!

I wasn't taken aback because it was good; I was surprised I hadn't done anything with it. So I began working on it.

The dark blue fishing net behind the buoy really sets it off, and I like how the rope stands out. Even the little knot of rope at the bottom of the buoy is kind of cool.

Overall a clean, simple, pleasing little photograph. Patiently waiting over the years to be discovered.

And aren't we all?

©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.

Latest work: "Standing Ground"

This has a definite Native American vibe to it, which I really like. The wide center strip is a piece of corrugated cardboard I painted, and so is the smaller center strip.

A political message? Perhaps. A simple graphic, composition, line, design? Perhaps.

But really. Have we not done enough to these people?

©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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yup, my iPhone camera no longer focuses. Taking it in next week to have it looked at/replaced. In the meantime, feeling grateful today for friends, love, and the fact that I have a couple DSLRs to turn to!

Thankful, too, that I saw this graffiti on a train years ago that I could pull up and use in this space.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

©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.

Experiment #9132

©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.

Giving thanks . . .

Here’s the big bonus to what I do. And fair warning: This is a long post.

Back in October I received a message via Fine Art America from a potential customer. She had praise and she had questions.

She wrote:

I love your work. Everything is so beautiful! I am thinking of buying Sunstorm no. 2. I am wondering whether you would advise that I choose canvas or acrylic. I am trying to decide between 24x24 or 30x30. Thank you for your time. And thank you for your beautiful art.

Now, who wouldn’t love to get a compliment like that?

So I went to see which image she was talking about. Here’s what I wrote back to her:

Good questions.

First of all, regarding size… I always read the “buyer reviews” that FAA posts. (There’s a link to them down at the very bottom left of their pages.) This way if there’s a problem with a particular product from FAA, I’ll know about it. I also see the buyer remarks in general about the buying process. One comment I see a lot is that customers often wish they’d bought the next size up. The pictures always look smaller when you receive them than you thought they’d be. So if you are wondering about 24x24 versus 30x30, I would suggest the larger of the two. And please know that I’m not trying to increase my profit here — I genuinely think that sizing up when buying online is generally a good recommendation.

However . . . You know the space you’re thinking about, not I. Would the larger version crowd things for you? If it were me, I’d tape together some pieces of paper to both the 24x24 size and the 30x30. Hold the taped-up paper on the wall where you’re thinking about hanging the picture and see what you think. The 30x30 might just be way too huge; the 24x24 absolutely perfect. I just know I’ve never read a buyer’s comment saying, “I wish I’d gotten a smaller version of the picture.”

Now, acrylic versus canvas. There’s a bit of sheen to the acrylic that, if the picture is facing bright light, might not let the color come through cleanly. And, frankly, the picture’s all about the color and simple design. If you opt for canvas, glare will be reduced, but the picture might appear to lose some of its crispness and vivid color. Soft landscapes, romantic scenes, etc. lend themselves to canvas. Sunstorm 2? Not so much.

Here’s another option: metal. The photographs that went into making this montage were all taken at a boat yard on the Oregon coast. The boats were metal. The colors are vivid, bright, bold. I’ve heard nothing but good reviews about the metal prints that FAA sends out, no complaints. And the next item I order from them for my house will be a metal print. They are sleek and really lend themselves to images such as Sunstorm. Anything that has a sort of industrial vibe, or super-bold colors looks amazing on metal. I believe the cost for metal is less, too, which makes the 30x30 size, if you wish it, more affordable. There’s the potential for glare, however.

Brief aside: I was recently in Nova Scotia and bought a framed print that was super-colorful. It’s behind glass. Had it shipped home. When I received it, we put it on a wall that faces a huge wall of windows. I was super-concerned about glare. But the only time we see the glare is if we are standing parallel to the picture; when we move a little to the right or left, the glare disappears. You might try putting a framed picture on the wall you’re thinking about to see how the glare reacts there. I just know I was surprised to see that glare wasn’t a problem at all, as long as I was at a slight angle.

I hope this answers your questions. It’s probably way too much info, in fact. But I do want you to be happy with your purchase.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

I put a lot of thought into my response to her. Maybe more than she needed. I wanted to make the sale, but I wanted to make the sale AND have her be happy with it. Win-win.

Nothing more until today. Here’s what she wrote:

I took your advice and purchased Sunstorm #2 at 30×30. I've attached a picture, although it's crooked but I'm no artist. I am a writer and professor and it cheers me immensely to be able to look at it as I work. Thank you for such a beautiful picture.

Now, how cool is that?! When someone tells you they like your work, is willing to pay you for it, and then takes the time to tell you how pleased they are, well, it doesn’t get much better than that, does it? Very thankful this holiday season to have received that feedback. Simple pleasures. May our lives be filled with them.

©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.

The power of wonkiness

These letters look cool together. The top one, I believe, was on the side of a fishing boat, and the lower one was on the side of a shipping container in a salvage yard in Washington.

The rusting metal, the overall texture, and how they each have similar colors is what I find appealing. And their wonkiness gives them more energy, more life, than if they'd been perfectly level.

©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.

Experiment #9405

I'm not quite ready to talk about all the strange images I've been creating lately. I'm finding it so very exciting, but by talking about it, I fear I'll dilute the experience.

©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.

Experiment #9039

©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.

Experiment #9068

©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.

What I saw, what I made

I get this all the time. "What the heck are you shooting?" "Why did you take that picture?" "What are you gonna do with that?"

And I completely understand. Here's my thought process.

We were poking around a boatyard/dump/repair facility in Anacortes, Washington and I saw a weathered wall with grungy stuff running down it, with scrapes and scratches and bits of paint.

Adrenaline rush!

I knew there was something there that I could use later, but I didn't know why or what. I just knew it was important.

Click.

My first go-round with the elements in that top picture turned into this vivid blue and red picture that could easily have been an old metal sign, perhaps a graphic element on the side of a weathered fishing boat. To create it, I took my original photo and simply added more lines, some color, and part of something else that I don't remember now.

Colorful grunginess. That's why I like the second photo. It's almost an oxymoron.

I came across the top photo again another day and wondered what else I could do. I copied it, flipped it, put in a bit of color here and there, and added the two yellowish vertical elements on the left.

I felt the arrow had to be pointing toward something, so I added a photo I'd taken of some rivets in Oregon.

But then the bottom right seemed empty to me, so I added a photo of some lettering I shot on the side of a Willys Jeep on the Oregon coast. Done!

And now you know why I get up so early in the morning.

©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.

Same scene, two cameras

Before Halloween we went over to Sherman's Farm in Coupeville to check out their pumpkins and to see families enjoying the trolley rides through the fields, the cows eating pumpkins (who knew?), and excited children running around all over the place.

Off to one side I saw this old wicker chair with pumpkins on it. I shot the top photograph using a DSLR and a 100mm lens. The scene was deeply shaded and I left a bit of the bluish color in the shot because I liked the mood.

Then I used my iPhone 6+ and took the second picture. I was able to move in much closer and sort of hover overhead to compose it.

That wasn't enough, however. I used a Prisma app to change the entire look, from a moody, shady image above, to this light, bright, more festive picture. I like both of them, but find myself more drawn to the iPhone shot, just because it's a bit more fun to look at.

Yes, it's not real. Yes, it's an app. But it's not PRETENDING to be anything else than what it is -- a tricked-out cellphone shot.

Happy election day. May this all be over soon.

©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.

Collage work . . .

I make a lot of envelopes. Not sure why, other than they're relatively small (this one's maybe 6"x6"), seemingly useful, and I create collages on them, turning them into little works of art. I also make collage postcards, which I will post here from time to time.

What I particularly like about these envelopes is how tactile they are. They're thick, yet soft. They've got lots of texture, lots of heft, and just feel old. I layer the papers both front and back and often the flap has more weight to it than the rest of the envelope. They're meant to be handled. If not fondled.

This is the front of one I made a few months ago. Old Japanese papers, torn bits of brown paper, and a little hint of red were all I needed.

©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.

Then and now . . .

Rummaging around in old photos (2003!) I came across this image of a painted/rusted chain on a fishing boat in Oregon. I loved this subject matter then, love it now 13 years later.

The camera was my very first DSLR, a Canon EOS D60, which had, I believe, a 6mp sensor.

I was shooting JPEGs, knowing nothing about shooting RAW. Think I'd had the camera maybe two weeks.

But I did use Photoshop (sort of), and so did some post-processing, as you can see in the first photo.

Times have changed and so has my skill level (sort of). And you can see the difference in the second photograph.

So what did I do in the second picture? I used Curves to create a bit of depth. I used the Clarity slider to add a bit more texture to the rust. I darkened the image, added a layer mask, inverted it, and then used a soft brush to reveal the darker area in the lower two thirds of the frame. I used Photoshop's saturation "sponge" to pump up the blue paint on the metal a bit. And then I used some software I bought yesterday -- Aurora 2017 -- to add a bit more grunge and brightness to the image.

The result is a picture where the colors are richer, where there's more depth, and where the blue paint really stands out better against the complementary rusty orange colors.

Not bad for a photograph that began its life as a 3mb JPEG.

©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.