Latest work: "Mists Begin to Lift"

My method for breaking through a momentary artist's block is to just keep working. Keep looking, keep trying different things, and to riffle through my pictures, deleting the "what the heck was I thinking?" images along the way.

Thus I free up space in the computer AND look at a variety of images with fresh eyes. Between the riffling and the purging, things are bound to happen, as was the case here.

The town of Bluffton, South Carolina is a pretty and funky town. There are lots of interesting shops, humorous signs, and colorful things to photograph, but at the end of a street, just beyond the church, you can look out over the water, through trees dripping moss, and simply enjoy the quiet. When I shot this, a drizzle had just ended, the sun was coming out, and a mist was rising up from the ground, from the water, and made the trees sort of glow. That's what I emphasize in this moody, soft picture.

©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.

From color to black and white (part 2 of 7)

There's a challenge going around in my corner of Facebook at the moment where someone challenges someone else to create one black and white image a day and to post it on Facebook. The "rules" are "no people and no explanation."

For my second photograph, I selected this picture, also taken in South Carolina. Whereas a number of people really liked my first picture, not many liked this one. And I can understand why.

As a black and white it looks even weirder than it does in color. I like both versions, however, and it doesn't bother me that it was less popular than the first. Also, by looking at it in black and white, I think it might just work in a photomontage of some sort. We shall see.

What is it? I was standing on a grassy bank, looking across a bit of water, to a pier. It was the almost Roman numeral-ish look of the pilings that caught my eye, not the actual pier itself.

©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.

From color to black and white (part 1 of 7)

There's a challenge going around in my corner of Facebook at the moment where someone challenges someone else to create one black and white image a day and to post it on Facebook. The "rules" are "no people and no explanation."

Sounded good to me: a new way to look at my images, no "people" photography (yay), and no need to write anything.

The second part of the challenge was to nominate someone ELSE to do the same thing. And so it would go.

Here's the first picture I attempted, a color image I'd taken in South Carolina a few years ago. I had toned it and applied a painterly look to it. Would this work in black and white? And why?

I was pleasantly surprised how nicely this image turned out once I removed the color. The lights and darks in the trees stand out more. The mysterious things in the distance show up more as well. And the dark tree trunks stand out better.

Which version do I prefer? Hmmm... I'm going to say the black and white version. And I never would have created it had I not been "challenged" on Facebook.

©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.

Lighting and diagonality

Early morning. Two different locations. Two different lighting situations. And I like them both.

Up early and walking next to the water on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Very soft overcast light. A good time for a simple composition. Look how the dark-trunked tree in the center leads your eye leftward. So does the diagonal line of the tops of the trees. Nice feeling of movement as a result.

And then there is the early morning directional light on Martha's Vineyard. The lighting and the wide-angle lens make this a busier photo than the first, but shallow depth of field keeps the background out of focus yet enables it to add to the story. And look at the diagonal lines here, how the angle of the boat and the streak of sunlight in the sand move your eye into the frame.

Do we have to choose? The golden light of dawn on Martha's Vineyard versus the overcast skies of South Carolina? Both lighting situations can be excellent for photography.

What I really want to say is that it just doesn't matter. Get up, get out, take a look around. Work with what you're given. Keep it simple. But oh, please, do look at the light.

©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. 

More from the missing memory card . . .

Turns out the missing memory card contains a few images that look pretty good. A great blue heron flies in and lands on a piling at twilight, and a couple of sailboats moored offshore add interest to a quiet scene.

Both taken in South Carolina a year and a half ago, with painterly effects added here and there.

©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. 

It's still difficult ...

... To remember to use the smartphone as a camera. But it IS fun! This is an early-morning shot of the lighthouse and marina at Harbourtown on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Processed with Snapseed. Copyright Carol Leigh

En route to South Carolina ...

Leaving Portland at the crack of dawn.

Left Chicago at sunset. Arrived in Charleston in the night. And there's been just a touch of snow here! Naturally, it's warm and sunny back home on the Oregon coast ...

This shot taken through a dirty plane window using the iPhone 6+.