Local signage . . .

Well, as you can see, we get mixed messages here in the Pacific Northwest. The gentle folks at an antique store in La Conner invited us to walk right in, whereas the less-welcoming folks at Fort Worden in Port Townsend seemed to be closed for the day! And based on the rusty nails, have been closed for quite a while with no intentions of being open any time soon. Sigh . . .

©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.

Point Wilson Lighthouse

Early morning clouds at the Point Wilson Lighthouse, Fort Worden State Park, in Port Townsend, Washington. Nice bit of sunlight coming in from the right.

©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.

A slightly different direction

When we moved here to Whidbey Island, one of my first goals was to photograph the military bunkers and gun emplacements on the island (and nearby). So I began doing that and, instead of creating color images, decided to work on toning them and/or creating black and white versions. They haven’t been successful in my opinion, so although the photography has been continuing, the processing has sort of gone by the wayside.

I was inspired to return to it for two reasons. Fay Henexson showed me some intriguing black and white photos that she had taken. (Here’s a link to her blog, but I couldn’t find the black and white images:  http://henexson.zenfolio.com/blog/2016/4/abstracts-and-other-pleasures.) And I also have begun playing with Nik filters this past week.

I believe I’ve come up with a satisfactory way of making my images into black and white, which involves not only using the Nik filters, but a lot of other techniques as well. We shall see. It’s all an experiment.

Since I continue shooting and I also have a large backlog of photos taken over the years, I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ll post some here from time to time as I move through. You know how excited I get about photographing in boatyards? Well, military bunkers do exactly the same thing. It’s all about texture, line, and design. Woo hoo!

©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!