Eight years of February blog photos . . .

It's fun to look over the pictures I've posted here over time, and this morning I decided to look at my February photos since 2009 and selected one from each February for the past eight years.

in 2009 I was doing a lot of "drive-by" shooting, taking photos through the car window as we were out driving around. I particularly like these trees, taken at Ona Beach on the Oregon coast. There's a lively, whimsical feeling to them that I find appealing.

In 2010 Chris and I were down in San Diego, visiting relatives and Rich and CJ. We stopped in Encinitas to check out the sunset. The sea was glassy smooth, a pewter look that echoed the color of the clouds. I like all the horizontal layers, beginning with a dark strip of beach at the very bottom, the incoming waves and foam, the silvery smooth section farther out, the peachy glow of the sunset, and then a strip of ominously grey clouds at the top.

The folks in lower Bayshore, Waldport, Oregon, certainly remember February of 2011, where, after a night of heavy winds and rain, they awoke to find their yards, driveways, and streets covered in huge, wet sand dunes. The homes are built on a spit, right on the ocean, and Oregon weather such as this can wreak havoc. Unlike snow, which shoveled and it eventually melts, these dunes (some so heavily pressing on garages that the doors collapsed inward) do not melt. A company is contracted to come in, load up all the sand, and take it elsewhere. I've heard of homeowners removing the plates off electrical outlets inside their homes and having sand come pouring out. It gets in everywhere.

In February of 2012, I was thinking about giving my online photo students an assignment to take pictures of jewelry, and so I photographed a silver charm on my mother's bracelet, part of a series of charms she got while we were living in Japan in the early 1960s. It's a lovely image and brings up warm memories.

Always a sucker for shooting letters and grunge, the two came together beautifully in February of 2013, where I was in Toledo, Oregon shooting whatever I could find on train cars.

A big wet snow in February of 2014 was fun to see, and I went out into our back yard where we had an old mailbox (given to me by my neighbor Juanita when she moved away) draped in buoys. Wore my wellies to get out there and tromp around, taking pictures.

In February of 2015 I processed a few photos I'd taken in Kyoto the previous fall, and this one I particularly liked, taken inside a temple.

And then finally last February of 2016, our first winter on Whidbey Island, I took advantage of good weather and went out photographing the military bunkers here on the island. I was drawn to the wall texture, the black and white look, the shadows, and the combination of straight lines and the circle. Fun, abstract stuff!

And now we are on the cusp of March. The rhodies are just beginning to bloom; what might be crocuses are showing their leaves, soon to be eaten down by deer; the owls are remarkably quiet, probably nesting; but the towhees, juncos, and varied thrushes are out in force, gobbling up the seed we scatter for them. The ruby-crowned kinglets have come and gone. But I think I heard a chickadee the other day. Spring is about to spring!

©Carol Leigh
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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

A peek at Oregon

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

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.

Local car show

Waldport's annual "Cruzin' for Crab" car show went on today — always a good turnout, always lots of beautifully maintained cars to be photographed. As usual, I concentrated on color, reflections, and simple lines. The last photo is a self-portrait. Sure wish I was as tall and slender as this car made me look! ©Carol Leigh

Aground!

It reminded me of a southern California Saturday night, the sound of a big helicopter circling, the spotlight playing out, focusing on SOMETHING down below. Listening to the scanner we heard that a 40-foot sailboat had run aground about 50 yards offshore and the Coast Guard was trying to figure out if the boat could be towed off the sandbar or if they should just wait for high tide. It was 10 at night, quite dark, kind of scary — for them, not us.

Jetskiers ended up removing the last of the crew and the wait for high tide began.

Sunday morning we could see the boat was still there, masts swaying back and forth, so we went down to the beach, took some photos. A few hours later the boat was gone, freed from the sand, and on its way up to Newport to check for damage.

Not exactly an episode of television's "Deadliest Catch," but a little bit of nautical drama here on the coast. ©Carol Leigh

Sand blizzard ...

We had a LOT of rain last night and 50mph winds, making it a perfect storm for sand dunes to form around the houses down below on the spit. A quick reconnaissance this morning showed us that yes, things looked rather dramatic, as you can see here. To see even more dramatic photos (more sand, better light), I've put together a little gallery of photos I shot two years ago. Here's the link: http://www.carolleigh.net/galleries.htm  ©Carol Leigh

Snow on the coast!

We've had some nasty weather move through, but "nasty" always has a dramatic side, and that's what I saw at 4 this morning — a couple of inches of snow all over everything. Beautiful. I even took Abby out to see it/walk on it, much to her dismay! Here you see our shed and deck, a nearby birdhouse (next to a fuchsia bush that the deer keep pruned), some trees up the street, and then snow on a neighbor's red truck. Quite an exciting morning! ©Carol Leigh

Last car show of the year ...

The "Cruzin' for Crab" car show took place today in Waldport, probably the last car show of the season around here as the weather begins to turn. I visited it twice. First thing this morning it was way too sunny (hard to believe, I know), but I did what I could. When the fog began rolling in in the afternoon, I went back to work it again under better lighting conditions.

I try always to look for something a bit different, and this time, instead of looking AT the cars, I looked for reflections of light, how a brightly colored car would reflect its light onto the one next to it. So after taking a straight shot of a headlamp (first photo), I then concentrated on how a yellow car reflected right onto a black one (second photo), and then how a yellow car hit the chrome on a white Oldsmobile Delta 88 (third photo).

Gotta say, photographing at car shows is one of my more favorite ways to spend time. But then I also enjoy shooting bits of trains, architectural detail, cats, flowers, oil cans, fishing nets, skyscrapers, shadows, hot air balloons, boats, buoys, and, every 20 years or so, even slime eels.

Hope your weekend is progressing as well as mine. ©Carol Leigh

Quietude

In a couple of hours our workshop group is going to be photographing at a local marina, a seemingly nondescript place that I find extremely peaceful just before sunrise. Here's what we saw last week on a foggy morning. It'll be interesting to see if there's a different feel and look this morning, which may be very clear (surprise!). ©Carol Leigh

Trip to the garden center

Paco, the "garden cat" at the Oregon Coast Garden Center, keeps an eye on the bowl of cream that's headed his way. I liked how his tail curved perfectly to follow the grout line of the tile. There are still some remaining colorful hanging baskets for sale -- which always look great at the garden center but quickly lose their beauty once brought home. And finally -- kale! We know it's fall when we see all the kale on display. ©Carol Leigh

Geese at dawn

Chris and I went out to breakfast early this morning and stopped at the little marina here in Waldport to check things out first. The light was beautiful, quite bright, and I like how these two Canada geese turned into striking silhouettes. I also like the spareness of this composition, with the two strong vertical elements on the far left and then the pole in the water coming out on the diagonal. And the geese reflections? Wonderful. A good start for the day. ©Carol Leigh