What I'm working on: PHOTOMOTIVATION

I’ve got a private group going over in Facebook called Photomotivation, where I give the group an assignment every month, they post their pictures, and we comment and offer suggestions, joke around, and in general have a casual good time.

The folks in the group are primarily my former students and their friends, and during the 22 months I’ve been conducting the group, we’ve gotten to know one another in a delightful way.

This month the topic is “More is More.” Where maybe one oil can can look good, but a grouping might be even better. Or where one postage stamp with a giant bug on it can be impressive, but three postage stamps with giant bugs on them might be even more impressive.

By the way, if YOU would like to be a part of this group, the web address is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/photomotivation/ The group is a private one, so just click where it says to become a member and you’ll quickly be added to the mix. It’s free. It’s fun. It’s informative.

Here are some examples I’ve posted this month.

Postage stamps from Burundi are pretty dramatic. One bug alone is impressive. Three bugs and you've got an infestation!

One oil can looks pretty cool, but the family portrait I find a bit more interesting.

The single pen nib is competently photographed, but the treatment I subsequently gave it makes a dramatic, slightly mysterious image, doesn't it?

One buoy on top of a pile of others implies more while focusing attention on the one. The second version of the shot isn't necessarily better, but it tells more of a story, especially with the crab pots in the background.

And then while we always see just one viewing scope, a two-fer is unusual and catches our eye.

Finally, one of these colorful toothbrushes might be a fun photo, but a grouping like this has a bit of absurdity and humor to it.

Anyway, that's the concept this month. Want to be a part of Photomotivation? Follow the link above.

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.

Kitchen Art: Shadows

Over in my Photomotivation Facebook group, everybody's working on photographing shadows. So when I saw the sun shining through the kitchen window, I quickly grabbed something, anything, to put into that light. Sunlight can be fleeting around here . . .

I knew my subject had to have a strong, graphic shape. Well, the watering can that sits in the window certainly has a strong shape. I put it on one of the stove burners so its shadow would fall on the wall. I focused on the spout, which is nice and sharp. And see the little bit of blue metal? Bonus! The shadow is FAIRLY sharp, sharp enough to be acceptable.

The sun was still working with me, so quick, what else could I find?

I grabbed a fork out of a drawer and set it on the counter. Wham! Bold shadows, looking really elongated, were terrific. I couldn't include the fork AND the shadows in total, so I composed for just a bit of the fork and a lot of the shadows. The shadows were more interesting (to me) than the fork, so why not give them top billing?

But if I moved farther back (all these were taken with an iPhone), I COULD include both fork and shadows, so here's what they look like. I like the strong darks and lights, but the previous fork photo appeals to me more.

When you have good light, put SOMEthing in it to shoot. You may never have that light again.

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.

Meanwhile on Facebook . . .

Over on Facebook I have a group called "Photomotivation," and every month I post a new assignment.

This month's assignment, to counteract the gloom that often accompanies January, the assignment is YELLOW.

Participants post their photos throughout the month, some better than others, but all of them delightful and interesting to see.

These are the four that I've uploaded so far: a yellow submarine I photographed in South Beach on the Oregon coast; a gel print I made in the past two years; a humorous T-shirt I shot at the Oregon Coast Aquarium; and then a row of yellow taxi strollers I noticed in a shopping mall somewhere -- can't remember exactly where.

The group is a private one, so if you search Facebook for it, it's not going to come up, but if you would like to be a part of this, let me know and we'll get you going.

©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.

Balance and artistry

I've got a "Photomotivation" group over on Facebook consisting of about 60 former students and friends. Every month I give them a new assignment -- some frivolous, some more serious. They post their photos and we talk about a variety of things, not just about the assignment, but about art.

I can't seem to leave the teaching stuff alone, and this helps me keep my brain in the game, as well as interacting with people who have, over the years, become my friends.

Here's something I posted to the group this morning which I believe has overall interest and works well as a blog post.

Balance and artistry.

What you see here is a photomontage that features two immediately recognizable circles. Your eye probably went to them first.

To balance those circles, which are sort of huddled in the upper left, I added a “stack o’ sticks.” Those dark horizontal lines create a vertical rectangle, which leads your eye up and down. The horizontal lines in the stack also lead your eye over toward the right.

My collage, even though it’s technically top-heavy toward the upper left because of the big circle, works (for me) because I’ve balanced that circle with a block of dark, repeating shapes lower right.

Notice, too, how I’ve linked the smaller circle to the larger one, and then how the smaller circle intersects with, or links to, the vertical block of “sticks.” Do you see the movement that creates? Those subtle connections lead your eye along a subliminal diagonal line from upper left to lower right.

When I create a collage or a photomontage, it’s different, in a way, from taking a “regular” photograph with a camera. With a camera I deal with the subject at hand. I work with what’s been given to me.

When I create a photomontage, I pretty much begin with a blank canvas. Or perhaps a canvas that has one thing on it, such as the big circle. I add a texture, perhaps a photo I’ve taken of a painted piece of paper. I keep on adding, subtracting, moving, blending, rotating, etc., until I’ve created something that’s pleasing and meaningful to me.

With a camera, even though I’m working with what I’m seeing in front of me, there are similar decisions to be made. What was I initially attracted to? Is that “good stuff” therefore filling the frame? Am I eliminating all the unnecessary elements, elements that will distract my viewer from what I thought was important? What about the light? Is there so much brightness behind my subject that I run the risk of creating a silhouette? A black blob against the bright light? What if I move to the right, or to the left? Is the background too sharp? Is it not sharp enough?

Whether we’re drawing, painting, weaving, quilting, we, as artists, are constantly making choices. Where’s the balance? Where’s the focal point? Are we including enough? Too much?

Those choices, whether done consciously or subconsciously, are what sets us apart from the casual snapshooter and are what makes us artists.

©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.