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.

Catching up

It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but when packing my suitcase to leave Sanibel Island last year, that big bag o' shells I'd collected/purchased weighed a ton. And have I done much (photographically) with them? Nope. Except for this one and these, and this, I've not made the most of these oh-so-cool subjects.

I handpainted a background texture and used it to create a soft, warm look for this shell. Now, just 4,261 more shells to shoot... ©Carol Leigh

Seashell transmogrification

I was working on a photograph of a moon snail shell I found on Sanibel Island (top image) and then wondered what it would look like if I "orbified" it (lower photo). Both of them are, frankly, weird, but I like the way the orb has a "face" to it. ©Carol Leigh

Softness

Out on the beach in the late afternoon, I was playing around with "sweeps," selecting a small aperture, forcing a long exposure, and then slowly moving my camera right/left or left/right, seeing what would happen. The top photo is a good example of that. I love the softness, the pastel yet tropical colors. Then I spotted a couple as they walked the beach, collecting shells, all crisp in their red/white/blue colors. Without changing my camera settings, I took a slow-speed photo of them, not caring that they would blur out, thinking the blur might (a) anonymous-ize them and (b) might indicate a feeling of movement. The final photo was taken the same way — slow shutter speed, no details, just shapes, forms, colors of people walking on the beach.

And isn't this the beauty of digital photography? How we can play, experiment, try things, without spending anything but our time ... ©Carol Leigh

Egrets on Sanibel Island

It's rare that I previsualize an image (and yes, it's a flaw — I probably won't feel like a "real" photographer until I can), but when I saw these egrets all hunkered down against the wind at water's edge, I knew that I wanted a desaturated, sort of high-key look to accentuate the stark "sticks" formed by their beaks and legs. I therefore turned the image into black and white, softened it, and then let some of the yellow at the base of their beaks and on their legs come through a little bit — just what I was hoping to do when I originally took the photo. The beauty of photographing on Sanibel Island is the opportunity to be close to birds like this, birds who are aware of you, but you don't seem to matter much to them. ©Carol Leigh

Moon snail shell from Sanibel Island

Another shell from Sanibel Island, which I think is a moon snail shell. So simple. So elegant. So lovely. ©Carol Leigh

Sea shells from Sanibel Island

On-location photography can (for me) often be difficult. On Sanibel Island, I had to contend with sand, no-see-ums, light, wind, people walking by, no-see-ums, and minimal camera gear. So I brought these three little shells home where I could photograph them under more controlled circumstances.

Is this cheating? Is it more "proper" to take the photos on scene? Perhaps. But if you've got an idea of what you want, and that "vision" can't be achieved under bad light, surrounded by little biting bugs, and with inappropriate equipment, well, take the subject matter home with you (if you can legally do so) and do it justice there.

And that, my friends, explains all the little glass jars I have on my shelves that contain rocks, feathers, marbles, shells, twigs, eggs, metal letters and numbers, and clock parts. Not to mention the Priority Mail box full of magnolia tree "parts" that I sent myself from North Carolina and STILL am not sure how to photograph! ©Carol Leigh

A few from Florida

Misty morning our first day on Sanibel Island -- just gorgeous. And then snowy egrets wade in the surf while pelicans roost in the trees, catching the morning sun. The trees were FULL of pelicans! Sometimes as many as 24 in one tree. Cabby, was thinking of you while seeing all this. More to follow -- Internet access has been spotty and my photo processing extremely rudimentary. Have experienced no-see-ums for the first time. Ha! Having a swell time. Wish you were here. --Carol Leigh