Constant change . . . PC to Mac

As you might imagine, converting from the PC to the Mac means I'm rummaging through a lot of files, discovering photos, figuring out where to put them, etc.

I came upon these three images that I shot in Alaska last year and they reminded me of a most delightful trip where we encountered vivid colors (top photo, closeup of a painted carving on a door), the lack of color (unpainted carved section of a totem pole), and overall weathered-ness (bottom photo of oars mounted above a door on a metal building).

Time will pass and the red owl face will fade. Maybe someone will paint the raw wood on the totem carving. And the blue building will continue to weather beautifully.

When you travel to Alaska, you might see these same things, but you'll see them differently. The light will be different. You'll be seeing them with your own unique vision and from your unique vantage point. Some of you will paint, some of you will sketch, others will photograph. And maybe you won't notice these three subjects at all.

Each of us brings to the table all past experiences, memories, proclivities. The result is that you and I (artists, painters, photographers, makers of things), see and create in such different ways. We change. Our vantage points change. Our tools, colors, and styles all change.

So changing from a PC to a Mac is resulting in me seeing my pictures with new eyes (always a good thing) and encouraging me to use old tools in a different way.

Equally important this morning is realizing that the computer switch, although excruciatingly frustrating, maddening, and exasperating, is probably a good thing.

If I live through it.

©Carol Leigh

Alaska views

Continuing on with my black and white series of photos from Alaska... the coastal views were amazing traveling now from Juneau to Sitka, Glacier Bay, and Ketchikan. A snow-covered mountain peak stands alone at one point; a strange cloud formation hovers over a peak that's reflected in Glacier Bay; clouds roll over a secluded inlet; rays of light angle down above low-lying hills; a gull takes off from a small iceberg in Glacier Bay; and our ship, the Westerdam, awaits offshore as we are tendered in from Sitka, my favorite town on the trip. ©Carol Leigh

South of Juneau

Gotta say, I'm enjoying all this "monochromicity." What I loved about seeing Alaska was how BIG everything was, so I tended to emphasize space rather than subject matter (if that makes any sense). Processing my photos as black and white images forces attention more on the shapes and shadows rather than the colors, which I found almost inconsequential. (Click to enlarge.) ©Carol Leigh