Daily bit of creativity, #001

This morning, just to keep my head in the game, I decided to post one bit of something I've created every day.

I work on a lot of art projects, photography being just a small part, and thought it might be fun to photograph stuff that I'm making, that I'm drawing, thinking about, seeing, experimenting with, etc.

And this is my first one. It's a gourd I made eons ago, with beads hanging from it and a crow feather stuck into some leather at the top. It sits on a shelf over my desk. There's a wall lamp immediately to the right, my only light source in the early morning hours.

The iPhone was right there, why not take a picture and see what happens?

Well, the picture wasn't so great, but it wasn't awful, either. I transferred it into the computer, tweaked it using Camera Raw, then used an effect from Topaz which I can't remember now, then added a texture. By this time the shot was really muddy, so I made an adjustment layer and, with Levels, lightened and brightened the image, trying not to lose some of the mood.

Is this a wonderful piece of art? Nah. I don't think so. But it's something different. And that's the important thing, that it's different.

That's what this daily project is supposed to give me -- the motivation to create something, anything, every day and post it here.

I did something similar years ago -- a photo a day. Man, it was hard! But it kept me thinking about photography all the time. And my photography improved.

This might be difficult as well. After all, if it were easy, everybody would be doing it, right?

Wish me luck. And be prepared to see some pretty awful art. But there will be a lot of good stuff, too. I guarantee it.

©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.

iPhone photos of the day . . .

Having fun with this . . . Took photos this week of:

Penn Cove on Whidbey Island
Decorative gourd detail
Car taillight

I've got three different photo projects in mind to play with between now and the end of the year, but still haven't unpacked my DSLR equipment, with the exception of a few lenses and two bodies. Haven't found the battery charger for one of the bodies, which is just a momentary speed bump.

This is where being cautious bit me in the butt. I didn't want to label certain boxes "EXPENSIVE CAMERA GEAR. DO NOT DROP!" when we moved because that's just asking for problems, isn't it? But I THOUGHT I would remember which boxes the good stuff was in . . . apparently memory's the first thing to go . . .

©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. Thank you!

You never know ...

This was a throw-away photo. I took it because I liked how the rope suspended the gourd and wanted to do the same thing at home. So I took the photo for Chris to look at because he's good at ropes and knots and things. I knew the background would be blown out but that was okay because it was just a model for Chris. Well, this morning, looking at some of my older photos with new eyes and new skills, I figured hmmmm ... what if I add some texture and turn it into more of a sepia-toned shot? How would THAT look?

Ah, the power of "what if!" ©Carol Leigh