What's it made of?

A lot of people ask me, when I make a photomontage, what's in it? Where do you get the stuff and how do you use it?

Well, this morning I was poking around in my "Astoria, Oregon" photos, not looking for anything in particular, and saw a big "S" that was painted on a wooden sign.

It's a good-looking "S," and you can see the original in the second photo.

I didn't like the monochromatic look, so, still in the "Astoria" files, I saw a photo I'd taken of a cement wall that had been painted red, and the paint was beginning to chip and peel. (See the third photo.)

The wall gave me the texture and the grunge and the color that I needed. But I wanted something more.

Still in that "Astoria" file, I found a photo I'd taken of a piece of metal that had holes punched in it. So I used a part of that to create a "base" of sorts to the "S." See the white space below the "S" in the second shot? Too plain and boring. Hence the weird metal.

Look at the very top of the first photo and you can see where I added a bit of the metal up there as well.

And there you have it. An "S" with good bones, tricked out a bit with color and texture. And it's RED! Good way to start the day. (If you're weird, that is!)

©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.

Being thankful . . .

We had a good afternoon the other day up at the docks. Lots of walking, lots of looking, lots of (really bad) photos taken, a tasty lunch. We have so much to be thankful for . . .

At one point this lone crow (hello, Laura!) walked along a heavy rope, something unidentifiable in his mouth. I was shooting straight into the sunlight and look at how the sparkles on the water turned into a lovely bokeh. (Pronounced with the stress on both syllables "bo-keh." The out-of-focus circles.) It was so pretty I added a few more sparkles down at the bottom using Photoshop. Not so many as to be really obvious and gimmicky, but enough to repeat the pattern and to keep your eye moving up and down in the frame as well as horizontally along the rope, following the crow.

Next is a simple shot of the door to a boat's cabin. I liked the dark triangular shadow lower left and how it echoes the dark glass of the window upper right. But the cool part was the patina on the lock/doorknob.

And finally, Chris snickered when we walked past a dumpster and I said, "Ooh, great paint drip! You scoff now, but I will use that!" "I know you will," was his response. "And you'll use it well!" So here it is combined with lettering on the side of a fishing boat. A very messy "S."

In this season of giving thanks, of being especially aware of gratitude, I thank you all for being here, for taking the time to stop by my blog, and, every now and then, taking the time to comment. May we all never take any of this for granted.

©Carol Leigh

Letters du jour

A grouping of "S" photos is my offering for today. The first is a photomontage of the "S" on the fishing vessel "Master Chris," which I combined with texture from a boat hull.

The second is an "S" photographed in Astoria, Oregon, on a textured wall.

The third "S" was recently sold to a textbook publishing company, where it will appear on the cover.

And the fourth "S?" Well, it's totally weird and I'm probably going to throw it out, but it's something I created in Photoshop. Why keep it? Because it took forever to do! It'll eventually hit the wastebasket, but I'm keeping it for now.

Happy weekend, everybody.

©Carol Leigh, back from a quick trip to northern California where she took some of the most boring photos of her life . . .

What are you working on?

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!

"S" is for "Shrimp"

The alphabet game continues with this very cool "S" I found on a building in Florida. Love the red/yellow color combo. ©Carol Leigh

Seventy percent chance of showers? Not on us!

Man, it's been raining like crazy here and I was concerned that our workshop, that began here today, might start on a damp note, but NO! Today was foggy and overcast but DRY until just after our last stop of the day, so the rain gods smiled on our group as we photographed fishing boats, stacks of crab pots, and lots of buoys.

What I especially love is seeing how differently we all see, how people in the group were creating compositions that I never would have thought of making -- it's inspiring! Here are a few quick shots that I took today along with my people. ©Carol Leigh