Monday, June 25, 2018

Good morning from Whidbey Island!

It's summer and the Columbian black-tailed deer's antlers are still in velvet. This guy stopped by yesterday afternoon, took a drink from the birdbath, and then went on with his annual (and continual) yard pruning. He moved clockwise around the perimeter; a few minutes later a doe continued the gardening chores, moving counter-clockwise.

Photo taken from the back deck, so hastily I didn't notice my slow shutter speed. So I turned the out-of-focus picture into a sort of sketch, hoping you wouldn't notice how bad it is. Focus aside, isn't the tilt of the head endearing? 
 
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 for your understanding and kindness.

Thursday, June 21, 2018

A fun day exploring





Yesterday we boarded the ferry, landed in Port Townsend, and then made our way around over to Port Angeles -- just to see what's there.

Well, the coolest things we found were a bunch of old, rusty cars, which kept me busy for a very long time.

But what has now also kept me busy is trying different effects in Photoshop to see how I can change -- radically or no -- the looks of some of these pictures.

The first photo is a shot of the "Salish" arriving at the Keystone ferry docks, which I changed rather radically.

And then here are two different versions of two different shots, the first one in each set being pretty much what the scene looked like, the second being an altered version.

I don't know what I like and what I don't, having spent now way too much time staring at the computer screen. So I'm going to walk away for awhile (more than a week, probably), and see how they look to me then.

These things have to marinate, don't you know?

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Latest work: "Wall Texture #15"



Yesterday Fine Art America sent me a notice that four other pictures in this series sold to a buyer in Australia. I used that as motivation to create three more -- one full-frame, and the other two are squarified versions of parts of the original.

I worked on this image last night for a few hours as well as early this morning, uploaded them to Fine Art America, and done!

More will be on the way to FAA in the coming months as I process the thousand+ images I have to choose from. Love this subject matter! It's always nice to see these pictures sell, because there are many people out there who just don't get the beauty of my textured walls. And maybe that's you! I understand completely. For me, however, they make my heart race!

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Friday, June 15, 2018

Recent work: "Lamppost Shadow" and "Building Boats"


Sometimes, when you get stuck, you just keep on making things. They might work, they might not, but at least you're continuing to MAKE things. Eventually there will be a small breakthrough, one thing will lead to another, and you're off and running again.

If you get stuck, keep working. Because if you just quit, you'll just stay stuck. And that's no fun at all.

The first one here ("Lamppost Shadow"), is based on a building I photographed in Tucumcari, New Mexico. The building was old and funky, but it was the shadow that (to me) looked great.  The number 19 and some of the texture comes from a physical collage I made some time ago.

The second picture ("Building Boats"), began with my photographing cranes and buildings at the Port of Anacortes, Washington. Here and there you'll see depth markers I photographed on ships docked nearby.

Do I like these two images? Yes. Will other people like them? Not sure. Does it matter? Nope! They represent me, moving forward, trying things, experimenting, perhaps turning a corner. We shall see.

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Friday, June 8, 2018

Week-end potpourri . . .




Sometimes we don't really know what we've accomplished until we take the time to look back. These are just a few images I've created this week, and it's gratifying to realize this is maybe just 20% of the total.

I often think I'm not working enough, not putting in enough effort, especially when I compare myself to what I perceive others doing.

Comparison. Big mistake, no?

Anyway, mucking around in my photo archives, I came across two pictures (a number "2" and some rust, both on an old train), shot in Eureka, California, and combined them for something new and different and unique. (If one can consider rust and old metal "new" and "different.")

In my Facebook "Photomotivation" group, we're working on images that relate to "summer." So when I found two "ice" signs on a pole this week, I automatically photographed them for our project. The beauty of giving yourself an assignment on a regular basis is that you become a better observer, a noticer, and your work and your portfolio improves and expands. Plus it's just fun.

In the studio, I made textured papers using acrylic paints and cardboard and stains, then combined my photos of them in Photoshop to make something completely different -- an interesting picture of texture in muted colors to upload to Fine Art America.

And finally, in the middle of a week full of birthdays, explorations, and meals with friends, a wander around the docks in Port Townsend brought me to this lovely wooden boat quietly moored in late afternoon light.

So it's been a week of friendships, meanderings, collage-making, and photography.

I should take time more often, really, to simply recap what I've done in a week. I may amaze myself. Try it yourself -- YOU may be amazingly surprised by how much wonderful stuff you create and experience and contribute. Let us all carry on!

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 for your understanding and kindness.


Monday, June 4, 2018

Small wonders



I hear the calls of a distressed robin. Has to be an owl nearby. Heavy-ish rain. I step outside, find the owl — a barred owl sitting on a bare branch high in a pine tree.

Run, run, run to get the camera and a longish (70-200mm) lens. Owl is too far off, and the rain continues. The robin is gone. It’s 2:19 p.m. when I take the first photo.

I’m now on the front porch, keeping dry, and photographing the owl. Not unlike a dog, he shakes his body and something floats down onto the grass. He leans forward and tracks it as it falls. A feather? A leaf? 

Chris is now watching from the kitchen window. I gently hoot the first three notes of a great horned owl. Usually when I do that, the owl looks at me like, “Really? I know it’s you. Nice try.” But this guy, immediate reaction! Except he doesn’t know where the sound came from. I’m down low and in front. The barred owl quickly swivels his head to his left and looks upward. (Chris, inside the house, sees the owl’s reaction, but doesn’t know yet that it’s because of me.)

The owl sits, head turned, for quite some time. Decides there’s no threat, and seemingly dozes.

At 2:44 p.m. the owl turns, poops, flies into the forest, and disappears.

I get an umbrella, walk out to the tree, and find one small feather in the grass.

The joy (for me) comes from recognizing the robin call, that there’s a threat nearby. And then, in all the trees out there, I can find the barred owl. And he stays for a long time. There’s more pleasure that I can imitate (usually quite poorly) a great horned owl call. (Great horned owls and barred owls don’t play well together). That the barred owl actually thought I was an owl and reacted. And then there was the gift of the feather.

These small wonderments enrich my life. May your life also be filled with such wonders.

(About the pictures . . . They are not good, but for me they are priceless. My lens was too short, the scene was dark, it was raining — often hard — my ISO was 1250 and the pictures are grainy. In color there were too many distractions in the trees, so I turned the images into sketches of sorts, focusing all attention on the owl. The feather was shot here at my desk and I used an iPhone to do it. I turned it into a sketchy monochromatic image as well to sort of “go” with the owl shots. A good photographer knows what NOT to show. In this case, I obviously don’t care!)

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Saturday, June 2, 2018

They got mail . . .




I asked two more people in my Photomotivation Facebook group if they'd like to receive something from me, a little piece of art. They (perhaps foolishly) said yes and so here's what I sent them.

Each received a painted or collaged note card, with a message from me about the picture as well as a personal greeting.

Why? It made me feel good. It encouraged me to make something specific, tangible, physical. And I knew they'd enjoy getting a piece of snail mail. Snail mail that wasn't an advertisement.

And if someone is reading this right now and would like a little personal note from me, send me an e-mail with your address and I'll put something in the mail to you.

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 for your understanding and kindness.