Eight years of December (part 1)

Blogs are sort of like scrapbooks, you know? Keep at them long enough and you have a visual record of your life.

"Remember when we went to Florida and encountered no-see-ums for the first time?" Or, "I miss Dungeness crab season on the Oregon coast and all that activity, don't you?"

So I looked at the pictures I've posted in my blogs each December, going back to 2009. I selected one photo for each year.

And in '09 there was a big freeze on the Oregon coast, where water oozing out of the bluffs next to the ocean turned into frozen waterfalls. It was magical! And COLD.

Sanibel Island in Florida was NOT cold in December of 2010. This couple was hunting for shells and I liked their silver hair, their matching jeans, new sneakers, and especially her vivid red sweater. I purposely used a slow shutter speed to blur them into unrecognizability yet capture their togetherness as they both bent forward a bit looking for beach treasures.

In 2011 I was making weird things, using photos of (in this case) ice and clock parts. The preoccupation with time remains with me, although I seem to have no concept of it in real life.

And finally, crabbing season about to begin in 2012. All the boats along the docks in Newport, packed with crab pots and colorful buoys... So much going on, so much color, so much activity, and so much at stake for these folks, where a successful haul means a good Christmas and a strong financial start for the coming year.

Four more photos coming up in the next post. Fair warning!

©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.

On this date in 2010 . . .

Hard to believe that it was six years ago today that I was beginning my Oregon coast photo workshop with a wonderful group of people, including my three buddies from North Carolina: Gisela, Jill, and June; Pat from San Diego and Betty from Fortuna; and Anne and Roy from southern California.

Fond memories, and we are all still in touch. How lucky am I?

©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.

Seal Rock night life . . .

The sun was down but I stuck around to see how things would look at twilight. This is a 25-second exposure at f/11, ISO 100, of the waves coming in at Seal Rock, just up the road. Such a long exposure softens the wave action, softens the spray, as well as the sky.

When I looked at this photo at 100%, I could see that there were six seals draped across that little flat rock over toward the right and it was easy to see that in those 25 seconds, they barely moved at all. Well, they're seals and that's their job . . . ©Carol Leigh

After sunset but before the margaritas . . .

It was overcast at sunset this evening (surprise!) but I wanted to shoot some long exposures anyway, so we headed to the Waldport Marina. Folks who had been crabbing this afternoon were packing up their things and leaving the docks. Looking up the Alsea River, lights glow from windows. And then right in front of me, gulls hunker down, relatively stationary except for their heads, constantly rotating back and forth. Exposures ran from 1.3 seconds to 13 seconds to 6 seconds.

No wind, no rain, a little cool (but that's what pockets are for) and a lot of quiet. I packed away the gear and we walked over to have nachos and margaritas. A lovely interlude at twilight on the Oregon coast.

©Carol Leigh

It's a good day to . . .

. . . take a walk on the beach! ©Carol Leigh

Latest work: "Bandon Lighthouse"

This is one of my favorite lighthouses on the Oregon coast, perched at the mouth of the Coquille River in Bandon. When I was working on this image, I had it blown way up on my computer screen. Imagine my surprise when, way out in the distance I could see a bald eagle perched on a driftwood log! Because the picture has been completely redone, the eagle can no longer be seen, even as a white speck. But you and I will always know she's there... ©Carol Leigh

It's a good day . . .

 . . . to be on the Oregon coast! This is what the docks looked like yesterday morning. My little playground! ©Carol Leigh

Sold!

It felt great to wake up this morning, check my e-mail, and see that these three pictures sold yesterday at Fine Art America. Every artist wants their work to be seen, including me, so it's gratifying that (a) someone actually LOOKED at these, (b) wanted them to be a part of their life, and (c) paid their hard-earned money to obtain them. I am so grateful. (And, yet again, thank you Kathleen A. for sending me such wonderful papers to use for the first image.) ©Carol Leigh

A peek at Oregon

No rain this morning but lovely clouds in the sky. Here's the view from the Waldport Marina. ©Carol Leigh

Yaquina Bay Road

We had a brief window of opportunity on Sunday morning to get outside without getting wet, so we drove up Yaquina Bay Road to Toledo. The clouds were beautiful, the air crisp and clean, the trees stately, and the waters calm. A lovely morning.

We had 90 inches of rain last year. Can you imagine? Ninety inches? But it's moments such as this that make the rain almost bearable. ©Carol Leigh

Oregon fall = getting ready for crab season

This time of year along the Oregon coast means that folks are gathering, cleaning, repairing, repainting their crab pots and buoys for the upcoming Dungeness crab season, which usually begins around Thanksgiving. These bright red and orange buoys caught my eye the other day, gleaming in the overcast light, glowing against the darker background of stacks of pots.

And then you see a cute little black and white cat we met one year as she emerged from between crab pots.

If the weather's right and the crabs are filled out and the prices are acceptable to the local fisher people, we all may be enjoying fresh cracked crab in December. Save a bite for the kitty. ©Carol Leigh

Foggy morning in Newport

Chris had a dentist appointment early yesterday morning so I asked him to drop me off at the boats and then pick me up later. So while poor Chris was in the dentist chair, I was cruising the bayfront, enjoying the solitude, the cool air, and the boats. As the fishing vessel "Finn" moved away from the dock, I was attracted to how isolated the boat looked, removed from all the others, with just the jetty and the hills in the background.

One of my last photos of the morning was an overview of some boats moored near the processing facility, where pelicans and gulls hovered about, looking for tender fishy morsels. I especially like the way the Yaquina Bay Bridge can barely be seen through the fog. An early morning hour well spent. ©Carol Leigh

Reflect on these . . .

Lately, reflections of fishing boats have caught my eye and captured my heart. Depending upon the wind, the light, and the current, they move, morph, and mystify. My job is to give them some sort of structure (ha!), color, depth, and design. Here you see seven examples, photographed in Astoria, Oregon during the past few weeks. ©Carol Leigh

A perfect day . . .

Every year there's a big car show in Florence. It never disappoints. The streets are closed so we can walk around unimpeded, the cars are spectacularly beautiful, and the people are friendly and talkative. One guy had driven his Dodge down from Alaska and referred to "road rash," a new term for me, describing the resulting wear and tear on the finish. Don't know how many cars were there — maybe 150?

Here you see a bright red 1939 Mercury, a pearlescent grey 1936 Auburn Boattail Speedster, and a turquoise blue Ford Skyliner Glasstop. I love creating these abstract images, images that rely solely on color, chrome, line, design, and movement.

And then... And THEN! On the way home there was another car show going on in Yachats, with maybe 80 cars. And THEY were gorgeous. The cars were packed in on the grass, maybe 200 yards away from the ocean. It was great.

A sublime day with beautiful subject matter, soft and cool overcast skies, a piece of fresh, grilled salmon for lunch, and Chris being the terrific guy he always usually is. How lucky can one be?

©Carol Leigh

Very Pacific Northwest . . .

The next four or five days here on the coast are supposed to be spectacular, with lots of sun and, of course, lots of tourists. So we scurried out this morning for a quick walk around the fishing boat docks, then to run a few errands, and then we'll spend the rest of our week at home, probably going absolutely nowhere.

Most of the boats are out fishing right now for tuna, shrimp, and salmon, which is rather nice because their absence gives me unobstructed views of some of the boats across the way. I used a 24-85mm lens and, with a full-frame sensor, was delighted by the wide-angle-ness of the whole experience. When I shot film, my 24-85mm lens was my go-to lens. It quickly turned wimpy, however, when used with my digital cameras where the sensor "magnified" things by 1.6%. Thanks to John W. for selling me his "seasoned" Canon 5D Mark II so I can now experience the "true" focal length again of this lens.

Here you see the blue F/V Caremi, loaded up with pots, ready to fish for slime eels (hagfish). Two years ago almost to the day I photographed slime eels being offloaded from a boat, an experience that was interesting, but, frankly, one I never want to have again. Here's a link to that post: http://carolleigh.blogspot.com/2010/06/not-for-squeamish.html

In the second photo you see a photo of F/V Finn, out of Brookings, Oregon. I like the simplicity of the boat sandwiched dead center between sea and sky. (This boat is also the very last one on the far left in the upper photo.)

Our morning continued over at a fishnet storage/repair facility, a quick stop at the library, then for groceries, and then home. The combination of weather and boats and fishing nets and lighting today made me feel like we are truly living in the Pacific Northwest, where water and sunshine, coastal pines and cool fresh air come together beautifully. As much as I grumble about our winter weather, it's days like these that make me feel exhilarated and that life is full of possibilities.

©Carol Leigh, wishing you a week of wonderful weather and lots of possibilities . . .

Quiet afternoon

Excellent weather here on the coast and most of the fishing boats are out, um, well, fishing. The Golden Dolphin was still in port, however, as we took a quick walk on the docks this afternoon in Newport. We sure can tell it's summer — lots of motorhomes on the coast highway, lots of traffic, and lots of people doing 40mph in the 55mph stretches (better than doing 55mph in the 40mph stretches, however). We even saw someone on the beach the other day wearing a bathing suit! Hysterical laughter ensued. Tourists. Gotta love 'em. ©Carol Leigh

Fresh crab

It's tough to maintain a schedule here on the Oregon coast because the weather is a huge factor, and when the weather's good, as it was yesterday, you want to be out and about. So we headed out and up to the docks in Newport, where the water was smooth and glassy, things were quiet, and we slowly walked around, seeing what we could see. Live crab and (not live) halibut were available on the fishing vessel Chelsea Rose. ©Carol (still live) Leigh

127 minutes on the beach

When I first saw it, I thought it was a piece of paper plastered onto a wet rock. Then maybe it was part of a fish. But when I got closer, I saw it was a fossil of a shell, encased in rock. Part of the shell had worn away, but the darker grooves of the shell remained, looking almost like shell shadows in the photograph. The rock was pancake flat, encircled by a little moat of sea water.

We spent 127 minutes on the beach this morning at low tide. How long has this shell spent embedded in rock?

©Carol Leigh, seemingly embedded in a computer chair ...

Beautiful light

Gorgeous day here yesterday -- temps in the 50s and no wind -- so Chris and I took a drive up the coast to Pacific City, then headed back home. It was late in the day and the light was becoming quite directional. Near Neskowin, we could see sunlight shining through mist and so frantically tried to find a good vantage point to photograph it before it disappeared.

I took the top shot as soon as the car stopped and then made my way down to the beach where I saw the scene below. The forms in the distance are "ghost trees," a petrified forest of trees that are usually submerged. During the late afternoon low tide, however, there they were. The light changed quickly, and the scene gradually became somewhat ordinary.

Don't you just love these bits of photographic wonderment? And isn't it for exquisite moments like this that we continue our photographic explorations?

©Carol Leigh, who is not usually a landscape photographer except for yesterday afternoon

End of the day

Just before sunset, while there was still just a bit of light in the sky, we left the sand-covered houses and headed over to Waldport Marina. Warm lighting on the "caution" sign caught my eye and I quickly shot it, knowing that the quality of light would be fleeting. They're not kidding about outgoing tides — the current was screaming past.

Walking down on the docks, I photographed this gull using a 20mm lens at f/1.7, focusing on him and letting the rest of the scene go soft. It's a pretty look, I think. The photo of the sign above was taken the same way. Loving this 20mm f/1.7 lens!

This was a quiet, peaceful way to end the day, especially after all the sturm und drang of the storms, which should begin again today around 10.

©Carol Leigh, wishing you all a happy and quiet Thanksgiving.