Recent work: "Ladder in Truchas, New Mexico"

It’s fun, isn’t it, to wander around little towns you’ve never visited, seeing new things with fresh eyes? So while in the small town of Truchas, I walked up and down the roads, just to see what I could find. 

 

This ladder was just the best! It leaned against a textured adobe wall, everything in the shade except for the ladder and a bit of the wall. 

 

I opted for a black and white rendition (with a bit of brown toning) of my original color photo. Why? The lightest elements are the wall and the ladder. I emphasized the contrast so that the ladder and wall stand out and the rest of the scene retreats into darkness. There wasn't nearly this much drama in the original shot.

 

Wandering without expectations and then finding a small, intimate scenario, well, it doesn’t get much better! 

 

I uploaded this image to Fine Art America the first day of this year. If you'd like to see it larger and with more detail, click this link and then hover your cursor over the picture to use the 100% enlarger feature.

 

©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.

Take your time . . .

"The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the art." --Junot Diaz, Dominican American writer.

Photographed 2004 in Bandon, Oregon with my first digital SLR. Processed June 4, 2017. Finally!


©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.

Things I love . . .

Wandering around Anacortes, Washington, I made two photographs that incorporate things I love:

Boats! As a Navy brat, things nautical have an appeal. I love being around boats, don't want to be ON boats (except for little harbor cruises), but I hyperventilate when I find things like this.

Diagonal lines. They imply movement and power. They lead your eye from one part of an image to another. Both these photos contain diagonal lines, and, in the top image, repeating diagonal lines.

Quick note: The second photograph is of a "pilot ladder" hanging off the side of a ship. They're built to strict specifications, and every four to eight steps there's a "spreader." Why? To keep the ladder from twisting around in wind and weather as the pilot makes his/her way up or down. Never knew that.

Numbers. Numbers have intrigued me since I first began in photography.

Abstract simplicity. I'm not especially a "big picture" sort of photographer, but rather a "move in close, see what others don't, and keep it simple" person. So, voila! Weird pictures.

And there you have it. Two souvenirs from a wonderful time spent just wandering around and looking.

©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.

Horizontals and verticals

Photography brings joy on a number of levels: just being in a particular location, looking around, seeing something new, or seeing something old in a new way, and then processing the photo later, when you discover a few more things.

In this case, wandering around the Palouse in Washington, I liked the look of this building, how old and weathered it was, and I especially liked the ladder.

When processing the shot, I also realized that I had created a wonderful combination of a strong vertical element (the ladder) and a strong set of horizontal lines that lead your eye to the vertical element. And then, as though that weren't enough compositional candy, I liked the repeating pattern of the skinny vertical boards that lead your eye horizontally across the frame.

But there's more. There are two horizontal rows of nails that also lead eastward. And then, behind the ladder, there is a vertical grouping of wider boards, boards that lead your eye both vertically and then horizontally out of the frame.

If you squint, you see this is a very simply composed photograph. If you look closer, there's so much going on, so much for your eye to see, so much to lead your eye left, right, up, down, that I get dizzy just talking about it.

P.S. Good morning, C2, who was there with me when I shot this. Remember?

©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 a good day to . . .

. . . rethink the corporate ladder . . .

©Carol Leigh